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So...I got frustrated with my Typhoon H, bought an Inspire 1. Here's what I know after 2 flights...

It also has the same operations as TH only in a quad. I do like mine. As you can see in the video it is stable as a rock. It is more bang for the buck and a great back up drone. Fly safe.
 
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Autel is doing some great work right now. They also have larger drones for industrial applications. they are here to stay and they have some great things they are going to release in the future.

Kestrel - Autel Robotics


The big advantage I see with that kind of hybrid drone is when things fails you can still glide it in for a landing.

Some research I have done in the past shows Autel buys the DJI base drone and modifies it to there liking.
I know they license the DJI light bridge technology.

Do you have any further info on this?
 
I just recently purchased a second drone the X-Star Premium on Amazon Prime day and am very impressed with the camera. Its so sharp it cut me. But I do love my H (dont get me wrong) and can't wait for it to come home. Hopefully with the new camera for the H - I am receiving it will be better.

Here is a little video of my X-Star Premium flying over a lake. I was flying with a friend who has a DJI 3 and he was impressed with the X-star as well. I am just lately trying to understanding filming and processing video. So I am new to it but here you can see a 3 min video of how sharp the lens is.


I have a camping trip in Wyoming planned for mid-October and if Yuneec hasn't done anything to really improve the CGO3+ then I'll pick up an X-Star for that trip. I'm simply not driving from Louisiana to Wyoming to shoot beautiful landscapes and wildlife with poor video and picture quality. Compared to the CGO3+ on the H, how do still shots look with the X-Star's camera?
 
I have a camping trip in Wyoming planned for mid-October and if Yuneec hasn't done anything to really improve the CGO3+ then I'll pick up an X-Star for that trip. I'm simply not driving from Louisiana to Wyoming to shoot beautiful landscapes and wildlife with poor video and picture quality. Compared to the CGO3+ on the H, how do still shots look with the X-Star's camera?

Currently I haven't taken many shots with it the X-Star but what I have to compare with is this.

Two albums on Flicker that I am placing my images.

Autel Robotics X-Star Premium <-- Autel Robotics X-Star Premium

and

Yuneec Typhoon H <-- Yuneec Typhoon H
 
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Greetings fellow H users,

I've owned my H since the end of May. I've been hanging around here since that time to share my experiences and videos with everyone. I've also learned a good many things from your posts, thank you BTW.

I've been lucky perhaps, as I've had no problems with my H aside from the crappy camera that we ALL suffer with. I love flying my H. She's very responsive and goes where I want, when I want. I've logged about 100 flights so far with her and always feel in total control....but that **** camera made me increasingly unhappy.

So...I went out and bought an Inspire 1 v2 with the X3 camera. First time with a DJI product. I still own my H of course as well as a Typhoon G (GoPro 4 Black) and a Q500 4K. I thought some of you might find my comments after two flights with the Inspire interesting, so here they are...

Since i preordered my H back in the late winter, things with the FAA rules have changed quite a bit. The new rules make it possible for me to consider setting up some kind of drone venture. While the H may fly wonderfully, the camera is terrible and there's no upgrade in sight. The new rules and the poor camera pushed me into considering the Inspire. When they reduced the price to $1,999 (US) I couldn't resist...

I purchased my Inspire from Frank at Carolina Dronz. He offers tremendous personal service. I also purchased my H and Q500 4K from Frank.

Along with the Inspire I had to purchase an IPad Air 2, so the total initial cost with taxes and what not came to $3,200 (US). This includes 3 high capacity extra batteries. The initial cost for the H was a little over $2,000 (US) also including 3 extra batteries. The Inspire cost much more than the H, so to compare the two is unfair. That's not what this post is about. I'm not comparing or extolling the virtues of the Inspire versus the H. This is simply a commentary about my first two flights using the new bird.

The Inspire is heavy, much heavier than my H. Built of mostly metal and carbon fiber, with some plastic, the Inspire feels more solid and better built than the H. But this extra weight works against you with battery life and of course when things go wrong and they crash.

Unlike our H batteries, the Inspire has 'smart' batteries that keep track of charge cycles among other things. They also have firmware. You can set the battery to self discharge over a period of time, avoiding the dreaded full charge storage problem. I don't know yet if this is a good thing. Not thrilled about yet another item with firmware.

The base X3 camera performs much better than our CGO3+, and I have a 'good' lens on my CGO3+. On my X3 sample the entire frame is in focus. Better dynamic range is readily apparent along with more details. The nasty over exposed blowouts we get with the Yuneec camera are tamed here. The X3 suffers when trying to capture fast movements and the picture quickly breaks down into dancing pixels. The CGO3+ does a much better job at this in comparison. I wanted to purchase the Inspire with the X5 camera, but the $4,000 (US) ticket was too much for me. If I like the Inspire I can always upgrade. The Inspire v2 comes ready for the heavier X5 camera/gimbal weight. I should mention the X3 camera feels better constructed and of higher quality compared to the CGO3+. But the X3 is still a board camera without aperture control just like the CGO3+.

I've always been captivated by those guys doing long range FPV flights on DJI products. As I became more experienced with almost the entire Yuneec line, I salivated at the long range of the "Lightbridge" product, while I suffered with poor range. After my first test flight I was anxious to see what the range was. The range was the same as my H with the improved ITELITE antenna! I was shocked when the video started breaking up at around 2,400 feet, just like my H does in the same area. I brought her back, went back out and again the video faltered at the same distance. 2400 feet is far enough really, I could not LOS anyways with either craft at that distance. At this early stage, I'm a bit surprised with the poor showing here by DJI.

The Inspire flies a bit faster, especially in GPS mode. I'm too chicken to fly without GPS on my H, so the fastest I've gotten her is around 42 MPH in angle mode with GPS on. The Inspire gets up to 45 in a jiffy and goes even faster with GPS off, but I won't be trying that any time soon. I certainly can live with 45 MPH. There's no rabbit/turtle switch on the Inspire remote. I personally like that switch, not sure how to set this up easily on the Inspire yet. The H feels like a well planted sports car, going into turns happily and ready for whatever you throw at it. The Inspire on the other hand feels like a traditional boulevard cruiser. Fast and somewhat responsive, but that extra weight causes it to flop around more. It takes much longer to stop the Inspire compared to the H. I can understand now why I've seen so many videos of Inspires flying into trees and buildings while the pilot is trying to stop or change direction. While I'm very new to the Inspire, I prefer the flight characteristics of the H much better so far.

The IPad Air 2 is a great tablet. I'm a longtime Android guy, but the Air 2 works nicely in conjunction with the controller. I thought the larger screen of the Air 2 would cause the controller to be top heavy, but that's not the case. I've grown accustomed to the Yuneec way of doing things with the integrated video display on the controller. I must say that having the option to mount a smaller phone or a bigger tablet is a nice flexibility that we don't enjoy with the ST10+ or ST16. The Air 2 offers a much better display than either Yuneec controller offers, but of course it costs $525 extra.

The controller is well balanced and feels good in my hands. The ST16 looks much more professional than the toyish DJI controller. Aside from looks, the switches feel solid and work well. Boot times are almost instant with no waiting for the camera to connect like we do on the H. While the Inspire looks cool when it does the 'transforming' (landing gear) thing. I prefer the landing gear setup on the H. You need to put the Inspire into 'travel' mode when you want to stuff it into the case.

The software on the tablets controlling the drone is where DJI really seems to have the lead. The interface in the DJI Go app offers much more and better detailed information about what's going on. The Go app also keeps a flight log, has tutorial videos and a flight simulator you use with the bird powered on and the props off. I tried it and it works fine. You can relive every flight with the telemetry data and map overlay. The interface is just leaps and bounds ahead of what I've gotten used to with Yuneec.

Battery life so far is about 16.5 minutes average with the single 47 series battery. I have three of the higher capacity 48 series coming this week. Charge time is about 70 - 90 minutes. The battery is has been quite warm after the first flights, much warmer than the H batteries.

The case included with my Inspire is decent, but it won't be practical for checking in on a plane. It will work fine around town and trips in the car, but to fly on a plane another solution must be found.

What I've learned so far about the Inspire is that our Typhoon H birds are pretty **** good in comparison. DJI has awful customer service which I've only heard about. My experiences with Yuneec CS have been nothing but a pleasure with the 3 calls I've made over the last year answered promptly by a human who spoke English and helped me almost immediately. I dread ever having to call DJI.

It comes down to the camera my friends, the camera is the biggest problem we suffer with on the H. If they had an upgraded camera coming soon, I would've waited, but I need a better camera now, not next year.

So, after 2 flights am I pleased with the Inspire? Yes.
Would I upgrade again knowing what I know now? Yes.
Am I still hoping for an upgraded camera for the H? Absolutely.

I hope this post may help those in a similar situation. Happy flying!


Ted - i am looking at a second drone for building survey work and i have been trying to decide between another Typhoon H (advantage of a 2nd st16 plus spares) or an Inspire.

Did you go for the Inspire v2? I have also spotted the new z3 camera with 2.5 optical zoom which looks awrsome so not sure what to do next??

Thermal, dual control and a small optical zoom are the 3 things i am after. The hex redundece is very good but so is a parachute.

Any advice?
 
Ted - i am looking at a second drone for building survey work and i have been trying to decide between another Typhoon H (advantage of a 2nd st16 plus spares) or an Inspire.

Did you go for the Inspire v2? I have also spotted the new z3 camera with 2.5 optical zoom which looks awrsome so not sure what to do next??

Thermal, dual control and a small optical zoom are the 3 things i am after. The hex redundece is very good but so is a parachute.

Any advice?
Greetings MikeL,
The new Z3 looks very interesting. Still very new to the Inspire. Did buy the v2 version, which is ready for the X5 or X5R cameras. Good luck.
 
No plans for a parachute right now, but that could always change.
 
Thanks for the review Ted. I purchased my TH a week and a half ago and after shooting a bit of footage on it I'm a bit concerned with the quality of the video. As this is going to be a tool for my video production company my goal is to have the highest quality footage, not the best drone. Right now I'm awaiting the delivery of an Inspire which should be here tomorrow. My plan is to do some camera tests and then return the one with the worst performance. So far I love the way the TH flies and I love the redundancy of the hex design. I'm hoping the camera isn't the Achilles heel on this bird, but from reading your post and others, I think it might just be.
 
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Happy to share my experiences. I've learned much by reading what others posted.

I love flying the H. She's very responsive and goes fast enough to make me a bit nervous. I've flown about 50 flights with the H and just 4 so far with the Inspire. The H is more fun to fly, but the Inspire is the better tool for the photog/video guy IMHO. I think you'll agree after you get your bird going. I certainly will be interested to hear what you'll have to say after s few flights on the Inspire. I think I might have found a slightly used X5 with the DJI lens for less than retail and hope to pull the trigger on that in the next few days. Did you get the X3 or X5 or X5R camera?

I'm going to keep both as I cannot return the H now, but I'm not too unhappy with it really, just the **** camera. I'm hoping Yuneec introduces a better camera at some point in the not too distant future. Good luck with your Inspire.

Here's a quick look at what I did on the second flight...

 
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Hey Ted, thanks for posting that clip. One quick look and I can confirm it is far crisper and cleaner than what I am getting off of the TH. Did you shoot that LOG and then color grade it? For what it's worth I did some experimenting with shooting different frame rates this morning and I am a little more concerned at the non-standard rates the CGO3+ is recording at. More on that in this thread...

Oddball framerates

As for the inspire camera I'm starting out with the X3. The client of mine that has been requesting drone footage has been getting footage from a Phantom 3. Since they're loving that quality I don't feel the need to go to the X5 yet. I'll let the X3 pay for the X5 upgrade. Once I get a few flights on the Inspire I'll report back in this thread.

Thanks again!

Mike
 
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Hey Ted, thanks for posting that clip. One quick look and I can confirm it is far crisper and cleaner than what I am getting off of the TH. Did you shoot that LOG and then color grade it? For what it's worth I did some experimenting with shooting different frame rates this morning and I am a little more concerned at the non-standard rates the CGO3+ is recording at. More on that in this thread...

Oddball framerates

As for the inspire camera I'm starting out with the X3. The client of mine that has been requesting drone footage has been getting footage from a Phantom 3. Since they're loving that quality I don't feel the need to go to the X5 yet. I'll let the X3 pay for the X5 upgrade. Once I get a few flights on the Inspire I'll report back in this thread.

Thanks again!

Mike

I shot that in LOG with none as the style and the exposure was AUTO. I did color grade in Premiere Pro using the Lumetry plug in. I just got back from shooting some at 4096 x 2160 24 fps video testing. I'll have to take a look at that thread, thanks. I also dropped you a note on your site.
 
I've asked a couple timesabout the cgoet/flir/camera on the fcc site seeking approval, and gotten nothing from customer and tech support. That is the item that will clinch my purchase. I dropped the pre order from B& H when I saw copter source had a couple pros in stock, but then decided to still wait a couple weeks when some actual reviews come out.
 
Hi All,
This forum is great. I really appreciate all the input and this review of the Inspire was thorough and professional.
I have a Q500+, which I use for real estate videos and stills. I am pretty happy with the camera, which is much better than my last P3. How much worse is the CGO3+ than my CGO3? when the CGO3+ is in focus?
 
I do not disagree with anything posted here really. Even with the faults on the H there is just something... extra cool about it though. Others seem to lack that feeling.

I don't own other drones but seen/played with a few and most of them are..oh cool a drone...

The H is just <homer voice> Mmmmmm drone... i:)i
 
I do not disagree with anything posted here really. Even with the faults on the H there is just something... extra cool about it though. Others seem to lack that feeling.

I don't own other drones but seen/played with a few and most of them are..oh cool a drone...

The H is just <homer voice> Mmmmmm drone... i:)i

I like the way the H flies very much actually. After 8 flights with the new Inspire, I prefer the flight characteristics of the H compared to the Inspire. I agree with Paladin about the 'cool' thing. It's just more fun to fly than it should be for some mysterious reason. Maybe the 6 rotors?

What you notice is that drones are like automobiles basically. Some folks just use them for the utility value they provide. Others get into the microscopic details on trim packages, cubic inches and performance statistics.
 
Another app that you could try for your Inspire is the "DJI Ultimate Flight v3". I'm using that app on my Phantom P3P works great and support is awesome.
 
Without trying the inspire pro x5, I can easily say it's better than the H !
Tes, but what is better ? just the camera. But maybe we should compare what it can be. TH=1300€ vs IPX5=4400€.
I own a H and for the price I'm satisfied with the drone and the video (not really with the photo but I knew it).
If my wallet was a bit more consisting, I would certainly choose an inspire pro x5. If I were rich, I would maybe think about the H920/H4
But actually, for my first experience with a drone, the H was really a good choice.
And don't compare it with the P4 either, it's not the same price (You have to buy an ipad...)
The H can be compared to the P3 and all the birds with a price lower than 1500..
 

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