Phantom 2-vs Typhoon H
This is MY opinion and review of the two since I have both. I have had the Phantom for over 18 months and am used to the way if flies and how to use the APP.
I was going to get a P4, but thought I'd try the Typhoon H because of the WOW factor of the Hex, and retractable legs, and just wanted to try something different.
I just received a useable Typhoon H one week ago and had had about 20 10-12 minute flights. so I just want to give MY likes and dislikes of the two, with my short Typhoon H flight experiences.
Size: The Typhoon H is definitely a LOT bigger. It sands taller with the arms down, and there fore is more difficult to transport. I do not have a backpack yet, so transporting in the beer cooler is cumbersome. I don't think any backpack will be comfortable to transport the H on a long trek. The Phantom is small and compact and the backpack I have lets me take 5 batteries, prop guards, tablet and even a bottle of water. The Typhoon styrofoam container does not even have cutouts for more than two batteries. Maybe in the near future someone will come out with a better designed container. Again, this is just my first impression.
EDIT UPDATE: I just received my"Yuneec Typhoon H480 FPV Drone Backpack Bag Carrying Shoulder Bag" which looks like my Phantom Shoulder bag. It is a little bigger in size and carries my Typhoon with 4 batteries and accessories quite well for my purposes.
Flight: My new Typhoon is ROCK Steady ! The Phantom is a little more solid in a hover, but the Typhoon does very well. It twitches with controller input, but I guess that is a characteristic of a Hex. Worried me at first, but I am now used to it. It doesn't seem to effect video, the gimbal works quit well. I have played a little with flying with no GPS and It does seem to fly a lot faster !
It will take me time to trust it (me) with any kind of strong wind in that mode. I can go between Non GPS and GPS while flying with no effect on performance. When I go into GPS from Non GPS it just stops and hovers perfectly !
Controller: The ST16 is a lot bigger than the Phantom with a Ipad and has more switches, knobs and levers. I like but dislike the fact that the controller has a built in tablet. Just concerned about replacing the tablet in case something happens.
The screen is definitely smaller than the Ipad Air and harder to see, smaller screen equals smaller readouts for Distance. height, and other important information displayed on the screen. More on this later.
Overall, it is not that heavy or awkward to handle. With the supplied neck strap I find it easy to carry over my shoulder when carrying around then placing it around my neck for flying.
The supplied sun screen is useless and flimsy. I have trouble keeping it in place as it seems to always come loose from it short pins mountings. I have to make something in the future to help secure it on the controller and to provide better sun shielding.
I was first concerned about all the knobs and levers, but now find everything easy to use and my fingers just go to the lever I want and control the feature I want to use. Just takes getting use to.
Everything works by touch while watching the H in the sky.
Battery Level Voltage: This to me is a weird feature, I am sure the engineers who designed it understand what is going on here, but for the normal person a gas gauge type of display should be used, In real life every manufacture from cars, to boats, planes, and even my garden tractor uses a Full to Empty gauge. Yuneec should use the same. I still do not know when to tell how much flight time I have. Maybe Yuneec and change it in a later firmware update, Maybe it works for some. But in my opinion the other Multi rotor's have a better idea.
And talking about battery's charge levels, I like the lights on the DJI products to see how much charge I have BEFORE I insert the battery in the craft.
One more thing about the batteries, Almost TWO hours to charge a battery is WAY too long.
With my four batteries I am going to be buying a second charger to speed up the charging.
Again not a dislike, just what I am used to with my Phantoms.
Display: Ok First I am older and I have trouble seeing the readouts. Yes a 10" ipad vs the 7" on the ST16 is different, but I wish the readouts would be larger, maybe larger important readouts along the bottom instead of along the side. I do not need or use the Positioning readouts of Long and Lat nor the Ground speed. I would just like to see/use Altitude and Distance. The H Sat readout could maybe placed along the top left side opposite the MODEL:Typhoon H logo inline with the time and controller line. So far I have found I do not use the GPS or SAT readouts after acquiring lock at start up. Again, just my preferences and suggestions.
With the new update I do like the Replay mode for viewing video shots while flying.
SD Card: Harder to remove and replace than on the Phantom. I find it more difficult to remove the SD card from the camera in the H, It is at an awkward angle and my fat fingers cannot grab the small card, plus trying to rotate the camera ball and hold it in position while trying to remove or replace it is difficult to me, in the Phantom I can just push it in and it pops out.
I can watch my videos on my Samsung tablet by just removing the SD card and inserting it in the Samsung tablet, but doing the same with the SY16 is a little more difficult.
Small point, but just another thing I noticed. Maybe it will get easier over time.
Camera: Some have a dislike for the CGO3P, but not doing anything professional, I really don't mind it, Nice color with the blue sky and green grass. Only small complaint is that the camera washes out the darker ground if I have too much sky in the frame. Maybe a ND Filter will help. I do not notice that in the Phantom Camera.
I do like the idea of the retracting legs and rotating camera, I haven't used it to its full potential, or If I would ever use it for anything, but something I can experiment with in the future.
Flight Modes: Some have complained about the "Circle of Death" in Smart Mode. Reading on the forums of this feature I was aware of the risk of crashing if too close to the controller. I wish this could be adjusted to a smaller radius, something like 12' should be good. I have never had any problems with the Phantom coming too close and creating problems. I have no problem arming and taking off and I really like the fact that I can turn on Smart Mode and use it as a Home Lock feature like on the Phantoms. RTH works well and I so far have use it from 5000 ft. Sometimes I wish I could get it to return faster as there is the LOOOOONG wait until it returns into view. Hasn't failed me yet !
Range: Far better than the P2 but nowhere near the P3 ! I seem to get varying results depending on the terrain. I can get usually about 1800 to 2400 ft around where I live, positioned on a hill, Rural with a few homes and developments and, with Large trees blocking reception. If I launch from my back yard and go south thru the valley I have reached 5540 ft so far before losing video feed, but not losing control input ( I am assuming this as I can use the sticks to bring it back and it does not go into RTH.) I do plan on getting a range extender soon to see If I can make improvements on the range. ( Oh...sorry... I mean CLEARER Video feed ! )
I also seem to fly further at night than during a hot and humid day.
I also noticed that with the new firmware update I am able to get better range than with the older firmware. Might be my imagination or learning how to position the antennas, but just an observance. Yuneec returned my original Typhoon after repairing the Compass and I was able to test My new replaced Typhoon with the repaired one and noticed the difference.
Obstacle Avoidance: Not really needed. A Gimmick to me. In Both the Phantom and Typhoon. I do not fly that low that I have to worry about running into something. Maybe important to others, but not to me. I see no use at this time for the Real Sense.
Wizzard: Haven't tried it out yet, but something to look forward to in the future.
Color: Easier to see against the clouds vs the White Phantoms, especially at a distance. I like the black color a lot better than the Phantoms. Plus its larger size might help !
Lights: Hard to see the lights unless just over head. The Phantoms slightly domed shape transmit more light than the Typhoon, thus making the colors more visible. The Typhoons lights are small and transmit the light straight down not at an angle. I find it difficult to distinguish front from back at any distance, especially with the landing legs up. The Phantoms battery level lights make noticing the back a lot easier. Again maybe something I have to get used to. I do plan on getting some external strobes to help with visibility.
Props: I like the quick release props, a lot easier to use than the Old Phantom twist offs.
This is most of my observations for now and I am sure to notice more in the future, especially when I have more stick time and get more flight time out of the batteries. Still breaking in the batteries and I'll report back in with battery flight time. Having four batteries, flight time doesn't matter to me right now, I just land and take a break and put in another battery and fly away !
Next week I'll take time off from work and go to the lake and mountains and see what it can really do !
This is MY opinion and review of the two since I have both. I have had the Phantom for over 18 months and am used to the way if flies and how to use the APP.
I was going to get a P4, but thought I'd try the Typhoon H because of the WOW factor of the Hex, and retractable legs, and just wanted to try something different.
I just received a useable Typhoon H one week ago and had had about 20 10-12 minute flights. so I just want to give MY likes and dislikes of the two, with my short Typhoon H flight experiences.
Size: The Typhoon H is definitely a LOT bigger. It sands taller with the arms down, and there fore is more difficult to transport. I do not have a backpack yet, so transporting in the beer cooler is cumbersome. I don't think any backpack will be comfortable to transport the H on a long trek. The Phantom is small and compact and the backpack I have lets me take 5 batteries, prop guards, tablet and even a bottle of water. The Typhoon styrofoam container does not even have cutouts for more than two batteries. Maybe in the near future someone will come out with a better designed container. Again, this is just my first impression.
EDIT UPDATE: I just received my"Yuneec Typhoon H480 FPV Drone Backpack Bag Carrying Shoulder Bag" which looks like my Phantom Shoulder bag. It is a little bigger in size and carries my Typhoon with 4 batteries and accessories quite well for my purposes.
Flight: My new Typhoon is ROCK Steady ! The Phantom is a little more solid in a hover, but the Typhoon does very well. It twitches with controller input, but I guess that is a characteristic of a Hex. Worried me at first, but I am now used to it. It doesn't seem to effect video, the gimbal works quit well. I have played a little with flying with no GPS and It does seem to fly a lot faster !
It will take me time to trust it (me) with any kind of strong wind in that mode. I can go between Non GPS and GPS while flying with no effect on performance. When I go into GPS from Non GPS it just stops and hovers perfectly !
Controller: The ST16 is a lot bigger than the Phantom with a Ipad and has more switches, knobs and levers. I like but dislike the fact that the controller has a built in tablet. Just concerned about replacing the tablet in case something happens.
The screen is definitely smaller than the Ipad Air and harder to see, smaller screen equals smaller readouts for Distance. height, and other important information displayed on the screen. More on this later.
Overall, it is not that heavy or awkward to handle. With the supplied neck strap I find it easy to carry over my shoulder when carrying around then placing it around my neck for flying.
The supplied sun screen is useless and flimsy. I have trouble keeping it in place as it seems to always come loose from it short pins mountings. I have to make something in the future to help secure it on the controller and to provide better sun shielding.
I was first concerned about all the knobs and levers, but now find everything easy to use and my fingers just go to the lever I want and control the feature I want to use. Just takes getting use to.
Everything works by touch while watching the H in the sky.
Battery Level Voltage: This to me is a weird feature, I am sure the engineers who designed it understand what is going on here, but for the normal person a gas gauge type of display should be used, In real life every manufacture from cars, to boats, planes, and even my garden tractor uses a Full to Empty gauge. Yuneec should use the same. I still do not know when to tell how much flight time I have. Maybe Yuneec and change it in a later firmware update, Maybe it works for some. But in my opinion the other Multi rotor's have a better idea.
And talking about battery's charge levels, I like the lights on the DJI products to see how much charge I have BEFORE I insert the battery in the craft.
One more thing about the batteries, Almost TWO hours to charge a battery is WAY too long.
With my four batteries I am going to be buying a second charger to speed up the charging.
Again not a dislike, just what I am used to with my Phantoms.
Display: Ok First I am older and I have trouble seeing the readouts. Yes a 10" ipad vs the 7" on the ST16 is different, but I wish the readouts would be larger, maybe larger important readouts along the bottom instead of along the side. I do not need or use the Positioning readouts of Long and Lat nor the Ground speed. I would just like to see/use Altitude and Distance. The H Sat readout could maybe placed along the top left side opposite the MODEL:Typhoon H logo inline with the time and controller line. So far I have found I do not use the GPS or SAT readouts after acquiring lock at start up. Again, just my preferences and suggestions.
With the new update I do like the Replay mode for viewing video shots while flying.
SD Card: Harder to remove and replace than on the Phantom. I find it more difficult to remove the SD card from the camera in the H, It is at an awkward angle and my fat fingers cannot grab the small card, plus trying to rotate the camera ball and hold it in position while trying to remove or replace it is difficult to me, in the Phantom I can just push it in and it pops out.
I can watch my videos on my Samsung tablet by just removing the SD card and inserting it in the Samsung tablet, but doing the same with the SY16 is a little more difficult.
Small point, but just another thing I noticed. Maybe it will get easier over time.
Camera: Some have a dislike for the CGO3P, but not doing anything professional, I really don't mind it, Nice color with the blue sky and green grass. Only small complaint is that the camera washes out the darker ground if I have too much sky in the frame. Maybe a ND Filter will help. I do not notice that in the Phantom Camera.
I do like the idea of the retracting legs and rotating camera, I haven't used it to its full potential, or If I would ever use it for anything, but something I can experiment with in the future.
Flight Modes: Some have complained about the "Circle of Death" in Smart Mode. Reading on the forums of this feature I was aware of the risk of crashing if too close to the controller. I wish this could be adjusted to a smaller radius, something like 12' should be good. I have never had any problems with the Phantom coming too close and creating problems. I have no problem arming and taking off and I really like the fact that I can turn on Smart Mode and use it as a Home Lock feature like on the Phantoms. RTH works well and I so far have use it from 5000 ft. Sometimes I wish I could get it to return faster as there is the LOOOOONG wait until it returns into view. Hasn't failed me yet !
Range: Far better than the P2 but nowhere near the P3 ! I seem to get varying results depending on the terrain. I can get usually about 1800 to 2400 ft around where I live, positioned on a hill, Rural with a few homes and developments and, with Large trees blocking reception. If I launch from my back yard and go south thru the valley I have reached 5540 ft so far before losing video feed, but not losing control input ( I am assuming this as I can use the sticks to bring it back and it does not go into RTH.) I do plan on getting a range extender soon to see If I can make improvements on the range. ( Oh...sorry... I mean CLEARER Video feed ! )
I also seem to fly further at night than during a hot and humid day.
I also noticed that with the new firmware update I am able to get better range than with the older firmware. Might be my imagination or learning how to position the antennas, but just an observance. Yuneec returned my original Typhoon after repairing the Compass and I was able to test My new replaced Typhoon with the repaired one and noticed the difference.
Obstacle Avoidance: Not really needed. A Gimmick to me. In Both the Phantom and Typhoon. I do not fly that low that I have to worry about running into something. Maybe important to others, but not to me. I see no use at this time for the Real Sense.
Wizzard: Haven't tried it out yet, but something to look forward to in the future.
Color: Easier to see against the clouds vs the White Phantoms, especially at a distance. I like the black color a lot better than the Phantoms. Plus its larger size might help !
Lights: Hard to see the lights unless just over head. The Phantoms slightly domed shape transmit more light than the Typhoon, thus making the colors more visible. The Typhoons lights are small and transmit the light straight down not at an angle. I find it difficult to distinguish front from back at any distance, especially with the landing legs up. The Phantoms battery level lights make noticing the back a lot easier. Again maybe something I have to get used to. I do plan on getting some external strobes to help with visibility.
Props: I like the quick release props, a lot easier to use than the Old Phantom twist offs.
This is most of my observations for now and I am sure to notice more in the future, especially when I have more stick time and get more flight time out of the batteries. Still breaking in the batteries and I'll report back in with battery flight time. Having four batteries, flight time doesn't matter to me right now, I just land and take a break and put in another battery and fly away !
Next week I'll take time off from work and go to the lake and mountains and see what it can really do !
