Blade Chroma Part 1 - Hangar Review

find lots of infos + VIDEO INDEX down here!!!!
Horizon asked me if I want to take a look at their Chroma. Sure! I was curious how this Phantom2 (or3?) competitor would fly, work, film...

Videoindex Hangar-Review:
01:02 Backpack friendly
01:35 different versions / pricing (this will surly drop!)
03:01 Powering up the Chroma / Radio closeup
04:05 Display on radio
05:08 Flightmodes
06:09 Battery / Flighttimes
07:34 charging adaptor tip: bl8624
09:28 note on follow me / tracking mode setup
10:05 Low battery behaviour
11:29 Video range?
12:39 Props
13:12 motors
13:37 size / weight
14:27 cgo2 video quality?
15:30 final thoughts; Chroma vs. Phantom3...

Follow or Tracking mode:
you have to enable it ON THE GROUND for it to work; as soon as you're in the air it will follow/track you if you go into smart mode

Test Followmode:
RTH flies to your current (radio) position and lands around 5m infront of you
RTH flies at about 13km/h and descends pretty fast on landing approach to land very smooth (good autolanding!)

Low Battery behaviour:
vibration alert on radio at 10.6v and the max alt is reduced to 60m - LEDs are blinking RED
initiating autoland (whereever it is at this moment - NOT RTH!)
if you're getting below 10.4vs

I had little over 1min from first alert to autoland.
so if you're out far and you get the first alert - try to fly a safe route home - a route where it can land safely if it chooses to (no water, trees etc.)

Flighttimes:
28.11.: Flighttime 24min, 500mASL and mostly hovering, did autoland on 10.5v

3.12.: warm battery; 10 degree C sunny, no wind, 700m ASL: 19mins (50% hover 50% flying around medium fast, not much climbing - I was around 50m once)

Range: how to get more than 200m?
As per default the "Geofence" is at 660ft or 200m! And this is a direct line from your Radio to the copter. So height also counts - not only distance as seen from above.
There is a way to enlarge this Geofence:

Cam quality below Gopro3, a bit oversharpened, pixelated
Bitrate: 30mbit on 1080p50fps

Nice portability - easy to pack in a sleek backpack landing gear easy detachable cam with quickrelease and only one plug (looks like the wifi happens directly in the cam)
GPS tower foldable

Status leds:
Motor POD LEDs are very bright
RED blinking means LOW Batt! - return imediatly or it will autoland soon where it is!
purple LEDs indicate the "angle" Mode (which I normally flew it in)

Remote:
well built, all switches labled and logically placed;
gimbal tilt slider on one side, speed slider on the other
Built in touch display with suction cup mounted sunshade - computer is android based
video transmission is 5.8ghz wifi, latency notable (400ms)
- suctioncup mounted sunhood doesnt stick too well (mod it with velcros might be a good idea)
- position of screen is not ideal, screen ABOVE joysticks is better

Props are similar to Phantom - selftightening
10" Props - very silent - efficient
Motor: 3508 780kv. blh8611

Battery: 3cell 6300mah
important TIP: get the bl8624 adaptor to charge on your normal charger to have it recharged faster and with more control over how much juice was put in
25-30mins Flighttime at 0m ASL in warm temps

WEIGHT: 1,3kg
PACKING SIZE: 33x33x9.5cm
gimbal 12x12x8cm
radio: 25x19x11cm

Useful Links:
The main Chroma thread on RC Groups is found here:

related Playlists:

[hotliner]

Hi Mario, looks like a good competitor to the DJI Fantom with some pros and cons ;-) I guess Blade products are really nice because they have a lot of models for beginner and advanced pilots and you get a lot of fun for a good price :-)
All the best to you and I'll see you! Paul

[BMSWEB]

Great review Mario. Funny because I've been thinking about getting something like this just for general aerial video. Looking forwards to seeing the footage from it :D

[DFDuck]

The touch screen sun shield is a very poor design. It rattles, it falls off, and when it's on you can't easily touch the screen. I removed the bottom part of the shield (it just snaps off) and that makes it much easier to reach the touch screen. And I found if I wet my finger (stick it in my mouth) and wipe it on the suction cups to moisten them it stays attached to the screen much better. But I too would rather have some sort of velcro strap to hold it in place.

[likitoto]

I heard some Arnold in ur voice when u said charger!!. lol.. good video

[davehafner]

Thank you very much . This is great info you have a great unhurried narration really enjoyed the video sincerely Dave Hafner

[maxkraus]

Hey, weißt du wo man ne phantom 2 vision + noch kaufen kann? Ich finde das Gerät echt Hammer, aber phantom verkauft sie ja nicht mehr und die phantom 3 is mir ein bißchen zu teuer ^^

[waldo]

Hallo,
nicht schlecht, das Video,
ich hab den Chroma mit dem MK58 Videosender, incl., GPH4 Gimbal,
leider, ist die GoPro nicht mit ST10+ Sender, steuerbar, (Video u.Photo aus u.einschalten)
hoffe, es kommt da eine Lösung,

[waldo]

Hallo,
ja, am Chroma incl., ST10 letztes Update drauf, leider noch keine Lösung in Sicht,
an d. GoPro, lt., lt.Verkauf,
WIFI unbedingt deaktivieren, sonst kann möglich sein, Fly away, das Risiko möcht ich nicht

[DroneHDTV]

This basically a Yuneec q500 drone with a different quad. To me this is a way to get rid of surplus stock from old yuneec models. I would not buy it as DJI offer a better solution right now at a better price. I have Yuneec products and dont really see any advantage with this quad chroma. Thanks for the review

[DeadmiXSoft]

Deutsche Beschreibung, Englisch Video. Warum machst nicht öfters deutsche Videos? Hier geht auch einiges damit. ;)