Best Yuneec Typhoon H Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020:

A direct competitor to DJI, Yuneec is a Chinese firm based in the United States and an ally of the American giant Intel, with which it developed the RealSense technology. The model we are testing here is equipped with 6 motors , a UHD camera mounted on a 360 ° swiveling gimbal , but also and above all an automatic obstacle avoidance system .

In the unforgiving world of drones, for the moment, DJI reigns supreme, thanks in particular to two flagship products: the Phantom 4 , which presents an excellent quality / price ratio, and the Inspire 1 , based on an evolving platform and which targets the pros. However, in this constantly changing market , boosted by an announced growth of 600% over the next two years, this domination will undoubtedly not be immutable.

In fact, Yuneec, a Hong Kong company founded in 1999 and specialized in electric aviation, does not intend to be beaten by the pawn and wants to position itself as a real alternative to DJI. After a rather successful quadcopter , the. Q500 , and a surprising hexacopter, the Typhoon. H Advanced , the outsider returns with a professional version of the latter: the Typhoon H Professional RealSense.

Behind this slightly barbaric name, there is certainly one of the most interesting and successful drones on the market. We took the road to Normandy to discover its potential.

Given the very strict regulations governing the use of drones , we practiced our test in a leisure setting, keeping the device in view, at an altitude below 150 m, far from any agglomeration, housing, area of aerodrome or person.

Best Yuneec Typhoon H Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020

1. Yuneec Typhoon H Wizard Controller, free extra Battery and Props

2. Potensic T18 GPS Drone, FPV RC Quadcotper with Camera 1080P Live Video, Dual GPS Return Home. Follow Me, Adjustable Wide-Angle Camera, Altitude Hold, Long Control Range -Black

3. Drone with Camera for Sale – 509V Quadcopter RC Drones Helicopter – Beautiful HD Cam. Air Pressure Sensor Altitude Lock, Easy Control Headless Mode, Return Home Key, 6 Axis Gyroscope, USA Warranty

4. Yuneec Mantis Q YUNMQUS Foldable Camera Drone with WiFi Remote

Presentation

If the Inspire 1 is the drone with the most worked look that we have tested, the Yuneec Typhoon H Pro is more raw, less refined, but presents a pencil stroke all the same very personal with a silhouette which will not fail to remind you some buried arachnean nightmares.

Based on a platform containing the GPS, various sensors, the battery and the motherboard, the 6 retractable arms of this hexacopter accommodate brushless motors equipped with “twist and lock” propellers and retractable landing gear.

Deployed, the Typhoon H Pro measures 52.1 x 45.7 x 29.5 cm, but once stored, it fits in a rectangle of 35 x 27 x 25.4 cm, which ultimately makes it a compact and easy drone to transport according to its potential.

Its weight of 1.695 kg wet allows it to be approved easily, especially as its maximum flight height of. 122 m prevents it from exceeding the maximum height of 150 m authorized by the DGAC . Its 6 motors propel it at a maximum ascending speed of 5 m / s, a maximum descending speed of 3 m / s and a maximum horizontal speed of 20 m / s (i.e. around 70 km / h), all with theoretical autonomy 22-minute flight time thanks to a 14.8 V and 5,400 mAh 4S Lipo battery.

Beyond these technical characteristics, the Typhoon H Pro is sold with the Ground Station ST16 . A real drone cockpit, it incorporates a 7-inch touch screen (≈17.8 cm) based on a very complete. Android interface and providing HD. 720p image transmission on a band frequency of 5.8 GHz in Wi-Fi. The maximum distance for video transmission and control is given for 1.6 km.

Test configuration

For this test we used the Yuneec Typhoon H Pro in its optional configuration equipped with the Intel RealSense module. 2 batteries, the SC4000-4 charger allowing the simultaneous recharging of the. ST16 remote control and, precisely, of the ST16 Personal Station Ground. The capture is ensured by the Yuneec CGO3 + camera mentioned above.

As an option, we also had the Remote Control Typhoon Wizard which allows us to take control of the drone. But which we did not have time to test. The transportation of all this equipment was simple, since we also had the Typhoon H Pro backpack.

Getting started

Folded back in its backpack, the Typhoon H Pro does not augur well for its interesting flight capabilities. Indeed, this drone is relatively compact for a hexacopter, and ultimately quite light. A weight that does not affect its quality of finish, construction and assembly. With these landing gear and carbon arms, we are actually dealing with a drone. That is not burdened with stylistic frills and goes straight to the point: to fly efficiently.

Thanks to its GPS placed on top, its front and rear sonars, its camera for Visual Positioning and, of course, the addition of our Intel RealSense module, the Typhoon seems to have eyes everywhere and ensure stability in any test.

Besides, Yuneec is also very reassuring on safety: in addition to the various functions linked to obstacle avoidance, the Typhoon H Pro is also able to fly and land safely even with one engine less, thanks to in Fail Safe mode. A point that we have not tested, but which inspires confidence.

The Typhoon H Pro is the first hexacopter we have tested. Its line is very different from its main competitors, the Phantom 4 and Inspire 1. Its finishes place it just behind the Inspire 1, which is rather a good point.

In terms of pure flight performance, here too, we are a step behind the Inspire 1, but this point does not come into account in our tests, unless it has an impact on the taking of photographs. The maximum speed of 70 km / h seems sufficient to film a moving vehicle when we know its waypoints, so we will not develop this aspect too much.

Propeller loading and installation

It takes around 1 hour 30 minutes to fully charge a Lipo. 4S battery of 5,400 mAh, and that of the radio control just under 4 hours. The batteries do not include diodes to know their level, which is annoying when you are in the field with several sets of drums.

Once all of your batteries are charged, all you have to do is fix the propellers. To do this, you must first reassemble the 6 articulated arms so that they fit well in the body of the drone, then screw the propellers according to the ingenious ” twist-n-lock ” system. We position the propeller respecting the color code and the drop cap, we press at the same time as we screw in barely 1 / 8th of a turn, and it is fixed.

With everything assembled, make sure that all of the arms are properly clipped. That the battery is correctly inserted at the rear of the drone and … wait, we are coming back!

Remote control

The ST16 remote control is magnificent. Obviously, we can be accused of being too easily seduced by the profusion of commands, switches and buttons, but it is a fact: we love this remote control and we finally find it worthy of a product of this price. The finish is serious and we don’t have the impression of having a simple hollow plastic rectangle stuck with two joysticks, unlike the Phantom 3 Standard. Even the Inspire 1 remote doesn’t compete with it; only that of Robotics 3DR Solo is doing with honors.

So we have a real control panel, equipped with shortcut keys to access certain functions and, above all, a beautiful 7-inch (17.8 cm) touch screen that provides HD 720p feedback and above all makes it possible not to have take your phone out of your pocket, connect it or download a dedicated application. In addition, thanks to an HDMI output, it is possible to take advantage of a remote screen or to couple the ST16 to another remote control so as to have an operator dedicated to camera movement.

However, despite its beautiful appearance, the range of the remote control is not very high compared to what DJI offers: radio control and video feedback are limited to 1.6 km. It is sufficient and allows you to keep the drone in sight. But in large landscapes or in the mountains, you will soon reach this limit.

The application

There is no application to download on the radio control. It is automatically equipped with an OSD developed by Yuneec and based on an Android kernel. We therefore easily find shortcuts to return to the main menu or to the previous page. The tactile feedback is rather reactive and we have not noted too significant or disabling latency. Even if we are far from the latest smartphone tiles.

The telemetry information is located on the left of the image, and there are shortcuts on the right to access the different flight and calibration options. It is possible to configure the remote control further, but the menus are dense and you will have to master the language of Shakespeare or … Mandarin.

Shooting settings

The remote control interface provides direct access to white balance, exposure control, UHD and HDTV. 1080 photo / video shooting mode, and image preferences. Note that it is possible to shoot in RAW and that the shutter goes from 4 s to 1/8000 s.

Steering modes

The take-off procedure is as follows: first turn on the ST16 radio control, then the drone. Once the acquisition of the satellites has been completed and the Wi-Fi connection initialized with the camera, it suffices to press the red button on the remote control for 3 seconds to start the motors, then slowly point the stick which controls the height. We immediately feel a remarkable stability and all the efficiency of the Visual Positioning System. A flick on the switch located at the top right allows you to go up the landing gear and take full advantage of the 360 ​​° control of the nacelle.

The flying experience is very pleasant. The controls are very gentle without compromising responsiveness and, above all, the control is done with precision and speed. Above the cliffs of our test site, despite the few sea shore winds that shook our machine a little, its stability proved to be exemplary.

The driving pleasure places it above a Phantom. 4, and just behind an Inspire 1 which is more responsive and faster in acceleration. However the pleasure of taking aerial images with the Yuneec Typhoon H Pro is very present, even addictive. The addiction will however be short-lived, since it will not count on more than 20 minutes of autonomy.

Obviously, to precisely manage an unplanned flight and a good smooth reception, a third hand would have to arise and take control of the pan , for example , while we are already managing the height and the throttle. But the restriction is ultimately the same on any drone of this type: for a professional aerial shot, you need a pilot and a cameraman, period.

Image quality

In the photo, the image is generally pleasant, pitted and detailed, but if you zoom in to 100% appear unpleasant compression artifacts on the finest details. It must be said that the speed limited to 50 Mbps in. UHD may seem a bit low for some scenes. Likewise, the edges and corners are slightly blurred and, on the most marked contrasts, slight chromatic aberrations are noticeable. In addition, the dynamics are a bit weak and the highlights are a little too quickly burned. Fortunately, it is possible to work in RAW DNG .

On the other hand, the argument put forward by. Yuneec of a 14 mm lens ” without deformation ” is a bit of an exaggeration. If indeed the deformation is less than with a number of action-cams tested (including GoPro), it does not appear better corrected than at DJI. Colorimetry is also a little better controlled at DJI, but. Yuneec seems to be playing even, or even a little better in terms of general sharpness.

Examples of photos from RAW

In video, the quality will obviously depend on the mode chosen. But in terms of UHD video, the rendering is superb. The image is well detailed, crisp and precise. At times, a granulation appears and noise is present, but it contributes to the rendering of textures. In any case, the smoothing is less than with the DJI camera. In HDTV, same observation, especially in 60p where the rendering is superb.

However, two negative points should be noted. First, be careful to work well in manual white balance: automatic management is poor and, depending on the orientation of the light source, you very quickly go from a warm white balance to a cool white balance with a clear desaturation of the colors. In addition, the 1080 120p mode supposed to be able to generate fluid slow motion did not convince us at all: the image is noisy and jerky, without us knowing precisely why.

Related

1. Best DJI Inspire 2 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020
2. Best DJI Mavic Air Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020
3. Best Parrot Anafi Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals & Sales 2020