Xiaomi Mi Drone Flight Test Review

Pros
- Very modular design. Easily foldable & stowable.
- 3 Axis easy snap-in gimbal with tilt control
- Camera 1080p 60fps or 4K
- Long range (1K/2K) 2.4 Ghz control and FPV achieved via printed circuit board (PCB) antennas.
- Extra precise GPS + GLONASS + Visual Positioning
- Automatic return to home/landing on loss of signal or low battery, or manual return to landing at push of a switch.
- Automatic takeoff and landing
- Orientation Lighting
- Large Battery 17.4V 5100mah. Gives up to 27 minutes flight time

“Mi UAV” App Features
- Compass and controller calibration
- Satellite and quadcopter status monitoring
- 720p FPV
- Three automatic flight modes: Fly to Point, Waypoint Route, Circle Point
- Real time position tracking

Cons
- Excessive flight restrictions. Can not fly further than 50m altitude or 100m horizontal range until the quadcopter has achieved 5 hours (300 minutes) of cumulative flight time. Additionally, the quadcopter will not proceed beyond hover if flown in restricted areas.
- Official Xiaomi "Mi UAV" app is in Chinese. It's somewhat impossible to use unless you know Chinese. There is a non official translated version in English, however it is an older version of the app.
- Smartphones (like mine) can be very hard to see outdoors in daylight. Might be a good idea if Xiaomi included an AV output port for goggles.

and here are current links to the Mi UAV app

Vendor Description:

HD CAM: Equipped with HD 1080P camera supports max to 1920 x 1080p / 60fps video recording.

Real-time Transmission: The built-in phone holder of the transmitter facilitates WiFi FPV function. Also the max to 3km superior long control distance ensures the good performance.

Pointing Flight / Tap to Fly: Order your quadcopter to where you pointed in the map.

Surrounded Flight: Pick what you wanna record or photography 360 degrees and let your Mi Drone surround it.

Route Planning: Plan and preset your flight line and get yourself a more smooth / high quality work of art.

3 Axis Gimbal: Stable and accurate photography / recording guarantee.

Other Functions: One key automatic taking off / return / landing, real-time electric quantity monitoring and low-voltage return warning.

2.4GHz
High anti-interference performance and powerful signal.
Specifications
General
Type: Quadcopter
Brand: XiaoMi
Features: 360 Degree Surround
Motor Type: Brushless Motor
Functions: Camera,Forward/backward,FPV,Hover,Low-voltage Protection,One Key Automatic Return,One Key Landing,One Key Taking Off,Tap to Fly,Turn left/right,Up/down,Waypoints
Built-in Gyro: 6 Axis Gyro
Material: Carbon Fiber,Electronic Components,PC
Kit Types: RTF
Level: Advanced Level
Connectivity
Remote Control: 2.4GHz Wireless Remote Control
Mode: Mode 2 (Left Hand Throttle)
Control Distance: Above 800m
Detailed Control Distance: About 3000m
Model Power: Built-in rechargeable battery
Battery: 17.4V 5100mAh
Flying Time: About 27mins
Charging Time (h): About 3.5
Camera
Video Resolution: 1080P

Package Contents: 1 x Quadcopter, 1 x Transmitter, 1 x Camera, 1 x Charger, 1 x Chinese Manual

Affiliate links: At no cost to you, I do receive a small commission for sales resulting from these links.

MUSIC LICENSE
"Awel" by stefsax
is licensed under a Creative Commons license:
music was shortened to fit length of video.

[GordSearle]

My new drone I purchased is a Xiaomi 4k drone, the drone actually works well. Here is the issue, you cannot purchase batteries for this drone in Canada, as the batteries are illegal. Pretty much making the drone useless. I have contacted both Xiaomi and Banggood.com about this.
As it turns out they knew about this issue, but neglected to mention it in their ads. Their reply, Xiaomi told me to contact Banggood as they no longer sell this product because of this issue. Banggood told me, that it is not their problem and that is that. Now this is not a toy, I have spent close to a thousand dollars on this product and accessories for it. This is how they treat their customers.
My personal recommendation is to stay away from Xiaomi products and definitely stay away from Banggood.com.
If you are like me, I don't have money to just waste on deceitful companies or companies that refuse to stand behind what they sell.
Gord Searle

[asianskywalker]

Your best drone yet. Professional level quad.

[BodomRose]

this is just exactly what i was going to ask for... The Mi Drone review ...awesome

[ThatVideographerNick]

The footage in this is so smooth it's unreal. Thanks for the review, appreciate the time :)

[TechnoViel]

Nice scenery! Very smooth video, but some awkward horizontal artefacts in it. Hope to see more videos with this one.

[grahamharris]

I'm waiting for my 4K MI Drone to arrive from GearBest. Cant wait!

[Quadcopter]

Today I did another flight of my Mi Drone. I used a different phone with Lollipop installed (Android 5.1). The above flight with disconnects was with an older phone with Jellybean installed (Android 4.2).
Long story short, the Mi seems to prefer Lollipops over Jellybeans ;-) It flew great, with no disconnects throughout the entire flight. Was also able to successfully upgrade the firmware with Lollipop. Will try to upload this flight for tomorrow's Quadcopter 101 video.

[azrilsyazrin]

very nice flight.. makes me interested to buy one

[jameslinden]

Another great review! I can't afford it, but it's way more affordable than the DJI's. One thing, aim your camera on your head a little more downward. In some parts, like at 1:55, we can't see what you're doing. Keep up the great videos.

[rlachermeier]

Thanks again for a great review. Love watching your videos. I am a subscriber and always give a thumbs up. One suggestion I would have is to add time locations in your comments for example sometimes a person would just like to jump to the actual flight instead of watching the explanation of the features.

[EGOS]

Looks really good. Nice price too. A neutral density filter would help with the rotor banding. Looks like good competition for DJI when they get the software up to speed.

[donniemarks]

This is what I want to see more of reviews of high end expensive quadcopters with premium features, not those cheap plastic drones with very basic specs they’re fun I had a syma x5c-1 it was great but I like my dji phantom 3 a lot more.

[charbax]

I watched this video thanks, subscribed.

[MrJob]

Very nice review! and heads up for xiaomi for bringing such a good product on the market for that price!

[Robnord]

Thanks for another great review !   I enjoy watching these, and don't mind lengthy at all, especially on more sophisticated units such as this one.  I agree about the beginner range geofencing, it should be owner preference and easy to disable, like with DJI.

[dasonstalnaker]

I like this location better you should do more flights here pls

[DaveAerialPhotography]

Great review! You should review the 4k version too as it has many improvements. Sine I bought mine I made a handful of videos and I really enjoy this quad. It's faultless!

[brendancunningham]

Great review, only wish we'd seen the video from high altitude.

[Quadcopter]

The app IS available (in Chinese) on iTunes, but not yet on Google play.

[Цогт-ЭрдэнэОдсүрэн]

is there any camera control function. not recording format. iris, white balance example.