Hubsan H501S WATCH BEFORE YOU BUY

Warning to potential Hubsan H501S or H501SS buyers!
18 months into ownership of my Hubsan H501S I am speaking out.
The quad, if you get a good one is OK. If you buy from Banggood or similar you will get a reasonable price.
Customer service on the other hand is not good, not by British standards. I am in Britain and those British standards are what I have become accustomed to.
Today I am told by Hubsan that if I pay $50 I will have a replacement board sent to me as compensation for 'them Hubsan' being the cause of mine failing beyond reasonable/firmware update repair.
Loosely translated. They break it, I have to pay for it!

The moronic nature of Hubsan customer service has no bounds. Please read email just arrived (13.42 GMT) Tues 8th August. 45 minutes after uploading this video.

You can also send it back to us and we can help you get it repaired

Thanks
LOL they know I have already done it....!!

I encourage all Hubsan H501S and H501SS users to post their positive and negative experiences here, maybe between us we can provide support to each other.

[adolforosado]

Dear Elecifun, I also wish I didn't have to make this comment. I fell in love with the H501S shape, concept and what I thought was flawless functionality. However, by the time I'd saved the cash and bought mine, they sent me an SSH in a new box, unannounced, kinda sneaky and it turns out it's not an S, it's a Frankenstein 501A. I felt literally betrayed. The amount of knowledge about the 501S that was already here on YouTube and the mods that I had learned and planned to do, all fell by the wayside, this was a new beast, known by nobody, twitchy, disobedient and unreliable. Oh, and with a rattly rear right motor. When I called to get the motor replaced, they sent me another rattler. Thank you. Today, frankly I don't fly it, the last time I did, it dove from about 15 feet high onto tall grass, unharmed, but it had shut itself off, no power, no video, no lights.
I've taken to building a couple of Alien FPV racers and learning to fly them. I will never forget the romance I had with the 501S, it's burned in my soul, but the company betrayed: me, you and the designer of the subtle, delicious body of this poor quad. Thank you Elecifun!

[Sonic_Ox]

Thank you Elecifun. It's important to hear the bad experiences as well as the good. Gives us all a heads up on what to look out for.

[GunDrone]

The website as of this posting says as well at most sites that sell the H501s( SS as it stands now). State that when you get your H501s that they do not need to be updated. They already come with latest firmware and updates installed from factory.

[-Bond]

Thank you so much for this! You have just saved me $300. I was going to buy one of these drones but after this educational video, I will not go near the Hubsan brand again! I thought this was the perfect drone for me until I watched your video and a few others' videos, your video being the main influence.

[chris-rghy]

26:10 you mention change the props, may i ask for a link or which props work better, thanks. well done on review i have the 502s but it fell out sky 16th flight, 1 motor died, now waiting on a bnf 501s man i hope it works, so many vids saying otherwise, we will see, but a link to the props you mentioned would help!
cheers

[VeritasSuperarachnid]

this video is insane. the h501s is the best quad for $197.

[michaelphenry]

Elecifun, Thanks for the info. I just bought a h501S X4 Pro (cant tell what the hell it is, they name everything different, but they all look the same...). Question - the H501S yoiu are showing in this video - what is the RED thing sticking up out of the rear top of the quad? Is that something you installed yourself? a blinking light? a find-me-im-here-indicator?

[olskool]

So with the current hunsan 2019 model are they having issues with firmware.great video

[waddac]

Hi, I was told that if in GPS mode when low battery it will return to home? I bought one today but not had chance to play as at work and on holiday next week.

[johnnythehat]

Sorry but I disagree about your comment on it dropping out of the sky when the battery runs out. In my experience it will just land where it is.
Now this may be a problem, I agree if you are far away from the drone at the time it runs out but any sensible pilot would bring the drone close as the volts drops.

[ABirdInTheHand]

Touch wood mine has been alright except for one tumble of death (saved),  but I have heard loads of horror stories so I know where you are coming from,  and I haven't flown it as much as I would have liked to. They make  themselves look like money grabbers the way they badger for a paypal account in the emails. Thanks for the information and keeping us up to date.

[stzig]

hey mate, thanks for video, i ordered already as my 1st drone, chinese are all about getting rich quick, hope mine is a winner

[tonymcclendon-hobbytime]

Wow! I just ordered the advance edition. I guess if all is working fine, it best to never ever update the software. From the reviews I have seen, that is where the problems start. Feeling concern ! 😳

[GorillamansGarage]

From a Canadian perspective: I have 4 Hubsan quads. H002, H502e, H216a, H501s. H002... Had a faulty charging port that I had to fix.. Hubsan offered nothing. H502e... Has a known Focal camera issue that Hubsan refuses to acknowledge. H216a... after 4 flights... Had 2 fly aways, horrible connection issues, Burnt out motor, TX lockouts... Even though Hubsan aknowledged probable WiFi controller issues and FC problems... I still had to pay to ship it back. H501s... out of the box... 2 motors were bad... the bearings were shot and therefore it affected flights. Also both "B" props were cross threaded and burned both prop shafts so they needed to be re-threaded... Hubsan offered nothing. I was dealing with Anne Lu at Hubsan USA and (like you) their emails are either very cryptic and Policy correct or completely useless with technical babble that makes no sense. I just bought mine 2 months ago. It has the 1.1.41 firmware that I had to re-flash using their cryptic programming instructions. I mentioned that the programming should be plug and play. Plug the craft in.. go to the web site and it should tell you the version you are running and update it by a click of the mouse... not the hoops and ladder system they have. I also mentioned the Expert/Normal mode should be a default setting... but to date... it always reverts to expert mode each time you power up. So the USA Hubsan Customer Service is a Nightmare as well. A month of fighting with hubsan over the 2 motors I gave up. They insisted that it was within normal working range... I emailed the seller (Amazon vender) who instantly sent me 2 brand new motors.. free. Lesson.... Buy anything online... you are really gambling... dont spend what you can't throw away... especially from overseas. Although... I have had great success from AliExpress and Gearbest and Bangood... The really seem to try and help... But Hubsan has been a nightmare.... Even if the admit there is a problem with whatever it is you send back... You will have to pay 2 way shipping... But I have never heard of anyone who has ever sent anything back to them where they admitted to 100% fault.... Sorry.. Just my 2 cents worth.

[gandsnut]

1:21 in video. Finger points at drone. "This is not gonna be a cut & dry experience". OK. Umm, doesn't bode well for Hubsan over the rest of the video. But, let's resume watching. :)

[Hooverdarnit]

You sure pay a lot for these Quads in the UK. In America, you can get one for about $250. That includes the Quad, the controller, 8 props and a 2700 mAh 7.4V battery. I do like the ON/OFF switch you put on your quad. I'll bet that saves you a lot of hassle plugging it in and out all the time.

[RADERFPV]

Thank you for this insightful information. I'm considering buying the bird, but am a little hesitant based on videos like this. Are there any drones that have similar features/price that you would recommend? I fly a Syma x8c now, and like the idea of FPV, small size, 1080p, etc... I see several comparisons to the Bug series, but don't like the controllers MJX offers. Thanks Simon!

[bluelobster]

Damn, I have been watching your videos because you are one of the few who seems to have fun with the 501s and not having much drama. But now the drama and pain are rearing their ugly heads here too 😞
I actually won one in a YT Giveaway and am just waiting for delivery. Starting to wonder if I should sell it off unopened and get something more stable.
Anyway, thanks for the honest truth of your experience.

[Northstar-Media]

Hello late to the party, but I am thinking of buying X4 501-S advanced online . I can get none advance controller model from local from model shop, but do I go lower spec local/advice or better spec online would appreciate your advice .

[gwolfe]

I'm just now finding all these vids on the H501S' problems, wish I would have found this before I bought mine. So far so good I'll keep my fingers crossed that it I got a good one. If the Bugs 2 had 5.8 FPV I probably would have went with it but I see they have some problems as well. I think for the price point the 501S is the best spec'd quad for your money, but China has never been known for their QC or Customer Service.