If you have been mostly a plane guy or gal and want an opportunity to get into quad copter flying or see if it is something that you might like to get into, there is a great little quad copter out there that for just a few bucks you can get a true feel for what quad copter flying is all about. I have to admit that I was a little bit skeptical when I first saw the Proto X and thought that it probably wouldn't give the real feel of truly flying a quad. However, I was wrong! This little quadcopter is a great flying machine for the money and size and it really can help you get into quadcopter flying albeit in your living room if you want!
This truly is a nano quad! This thing fits in the palm of your hand and truly is a tiny little beast. The controller is equally small, and some might consider that a con and I guess it can be, however, after getting used to the feel and design of the controller, I didn't really have a problem with it. The stick movements are fairly decent and from a $40 package you really can't complain about having this kind of little flying machine for the very inexpensive price.
A really nice feature of this tiny quad also is the lights that definitely help with orientation. With something this small, keeping the orientation, front, back, left, right, could be a challenge without a way to gauge the position. The red lights in the rear and the blue lights up front definitely keep you pointed in the direction that you think you are heading or want to head. Still yet, even with the lights, orientation is probably one of the bigger challenges of flying something this small.
Also, I was pleasantly surprised at the durability of the Proto X. Even after crashing it many times into the walls of my living room when first learning how to fly it, no broken props or damage motors. This little quad is definitely sturdy! To help however, the package does include 4 extra props, 2 for the front and 2 for the rear. So far, with all of my crashes indoors and such, I have yet to need to replace the props. The ingenious design also allows the props to pop off when taking trauma in a crash. They simply press back on the motors for the next flight.
Charging the Proto X is a snap as you can simply hook it up to your laptop or desktop computer to charge. When the red light goes out on the charge cable, you know you are ready to fly. Flight times are pretty minimal as a full charge will usually last me a couple of minutes of solid flying around with various throttle movements. However, it is a very enjoyable 2 minutes of flight. Also, many vendors are coming out with Proto X add on battery packs that will allow virtual unlimited flying time with this amazing little quad.
All in all this is a great little quad and I don't have much to say in the way of negatives with the Proto X except for the obvious. It is tiny! However, this isn't really a con as you realize that before you buy it. Just make sure that you understand the purpose of this quad before buying and take the size into consideration. The controller is also very small and could have been slightly bigger, but it definitely gets the job done. Battery life and flight time is definitely on the low side with the Proto X, however, as mentioned above, there are many add on battery packs popping up on the net that allow for tremendously extended flight times.
Tips
- Don't forget to trim the controls - Just because it is small doesn't mean it is perfectly in trim
- Before getting crazy with this quad, practice hovering in place and getting familiar with the feel of the controller as it is small
- Make sure you get familiar with the lighting scheme and practice small circles to get orientation down
