Typhoon H VS phantom 4 - LET'S BE IMPARTIAL !

[Eric]

Hi all !
As you know, my H had some issues and because I started to deal with the awful Yuneec germany customer service, I was compelled to buy an other drone to be able to do my job. So I bought a phantom 4. After 2 weeks of use, I think I'm able to make an impartial comparison.
Now and thanks to the perfect Yuneec UK customer service, my H is back and operational.
That's why I start that little thread and each day I'm going to try to explain how I feel about these two machines and find out what is good and what is bad (in a pefect english !!!!)

 

[Eric]

Preparing the flight :

- the remote :
I prefer the Typhoon because the remote is all integrated. Switch on and that's it. Unfortunatly, there is problem with the time needed for the connexion between the ST16 and the CGO3. Sometimes it takes until 2 minutes to bind. But what are two minutes !!!
I'm not fan of the Phantom because you need to use an external tablet (and you need a very good tablet), so you have to set it up on the remote, plug the usb cable, start the app. All is well done but it's boring for me. Good luck if you want to add the sunshade (not provided with the P4). You have to perform many handlings to install it correctly. The sunshade of the TH is much more simple (and provided) even if the efficiency is.... questionable. TH wins
- the drone :
no problem for the both, installing the propellers and the battery is easy. One good point for the P4 who has the SD card slot in the body. It's much more easy to insert than in the TH where you have to "fight" with the gimbal to insert the Card. P4 wins
- the software :
before take off, the P4 gives you more informations about the battery capacity. I often use the automatic take off on the P4 because you just have one click to do it.
One thing I hate of the TH is that if you have to change the battery, the connexion with the camera is lost (normal) but the settings (balance, shutter speed) are lost too !
P4 wins

Here is the video. Finally there is not so much lap between the H and the P4, but the P4 wins (if you don't install the sunshade !).

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**************************************************************************
WIND :

Yesterday we had a windy day : 15 to 20 knots so I went to the sea to shoot some friends on the water.
Take off from a flat concrete surface OK for the TY and the P4.
Take off from the beach (not flat) is very hard for the P4.
The both drones were able to hover but the P4 seems to produce much more efforts to stay in place and sometimes I noticed variations of altitude (maybe the IPS is disturbed by the waves).
Flying is not a problem,
Filming is not a problem but sometimes I had propellers of the P4 in the field of view.
I give an point to the P4 and the gauge of the battery wich is much more precise than the TH (when you 800 m down wind from the beach you really want to be sure that you have enough power to come back)
I was even impressed by the tiny P4, but when I needed to go up wind with the P4, I was obliged to switch in sport mode to have much power.
No problem for the TH, it is solid as a rock.
Landing on a flat concrete surface OK for the TY and the P4.
Landing on the beach (not flat) is very hard... impossible for the P4 so hand catch.

PS :
I did not put a propeller correctly on the typhoon,
So 30 seconds after take off, the propeller has gone ...
Message of error motor on the ST16...
Controling and landing with 5 motors without any problem

Here is the small video of that day. There were many kitesurfers so impossible (too dangerous) to go down to go near the action. I don't tell who did what. Try to discover !

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WINNER IS :
- TH is more secure with the TH and its 6 propellers.
- P4 is more secure with the precise gauge of power.
It's a draw...

**************************************************************************
Strong wind :

So I tried to catch my friend on the water. The wind was strong (25/28 knots) but not gusty. The TH and the P4 had the same settings (ND16 or ND16CL and 100 iso shutter 1/50).
About the behavior :
- I feel more secure with the typhoon. thanks to the 360 gimbal, it is much more easy to "catch" a windsurfer and follow him. But I don't feel so secure because of the imprecise gauge of the battery on the ST16. I set my own stopwatch to 12 minutes and then I come back over the beach whatever the gauge shows me. I had to turn the GPS off because I was unable to go beyond 30 mph when on.
- The P4 produce much more effort to fly but it does the job. As it is impossible to use the course lock function in such a situation, I had to fly like a crab and sometimes I had the landing gear in my field of view because the P4 bends a lot to fight against the wind. I really appreciate the sport mode that gives you the ability to go very fast (40 mph) with the GPS on, the software that gives you precise informations about the battery. I didn't have problem with altitude over the water with IPS on.
As a conclusion,
for filming windsurfers (speed, not waves) I prefer the H because of its behavior and its gimble, BUT I love the P4 because of the power gauge so usefull when you are a little bit too far from the beach.
for filming something more calm like sup paddle, kayak etc, the H wins (because I stay near the beach so I'm so worried with the battery.
And now I can really say that the video quality (in 4K) is the same on both drone. I would like to test the HD at 60 or 120.

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first plan from behind : TH
second on the top side : P4
third on the top front : TH
fourth on the top side : P4
the rest : TH

 

[LooseSid]

Nice video Eric!

 

[sdharris]

Nice description I've found launching and landing from damp sand is about the same with both the Phantom and Typhoon H, but for me where the Phantom is a benefit is launching from dry sand where you need to use a backpack or similar platform to launch from. The Phantom being more compact is easier to handle whereas the Typhoon H needs something quite large to launch safely.

Your observations about holding place in wind is true though, the little Phantom works a lot to keep position.

Why not provide a timeline beneath your videos showing which craft provided which shot, will be interesting to see if people get it right. I'm pretty biased and for me anything that looks remotely washed out, or lacking in dynamic range is Typhoon H footage ;-)

 

[LooseSid]

Nice description I've found launching and landing from damp sand is about the same with both the Phantom and Typhoon H, but for me where the Phantom is a benefit is launching from dry sand where you need to use a backpack or similar platform to launch from. The Phantom being more compact is easier to handle whereas the Typhoon H needs something quite large to launch safely.

Your observations about holding place in wind is true though, the little Phantom works a lot to keep position.

Why not provide a timeline beneath your videos showing which craft provided which shot, will be interesting to see if people get it right. I'm pretty biased and for me anything that looks remotely washed out, or lacking in dynamic range is Typhoon H footage ;-)

It's pretty easy to tell which is which, by the red tinge present in the blue of the sea and, in particular the blue of the sky. It's prevalent in all Typhoon H footage!

You can see it quite noticeably at 2.12 in the video, compared with the Phantom footage at 2.05

 

[sdharris]

It's pretty easy to tell which is which, by the red tinge present in the blue of the sea and, in particular the blue of the sky. It's prevalent in all Typhoon H footage!

You can see it quite noticeably at 2.12 in the video, compared with the Phantom footage at 2.05

Yes, the Phantom reminds you the sky is blue.

 

[Eric]

In fact, I used different filters (ND16 ND8 and CPL) because of the changing weather. I did not take time for grading the video.
2'05 : typhoon
2'12 : phantom

 

[sdharris]

See that's why we need a key to the video!

Looking forward to tomorrows.

 

[QuadBart]

I look forward to TRULY impartial information to see if you have the same impressions as I do. I also own both and have for sometime. For me its hard to be impartial right now as firmware upgrades are problematic for me with the Typhoon H. IF the firmware upgrades worked like they should I'd make it a much harder comparison.

Regarding "Wind" - Agreed, while the Phantom 4 works well, I feel the TH is more stable in higher wind speeds.

I'll reserve my comments regarding other features when you get there. I won't jump a head

 

[Nuance]

Great review. I've been waiting for this kind of comparison for a while and it seems the Typhoon H needs a better camera to be better than the P4. As i'm a hobby photographer, the TH is my photography platform and not the P4 so let's hope for a better camera at some point.

 

[chiloschista]

Very interesting Eric, thanks a lot!
I could be wrong, but it's easy to guess watching the difference in the board wakes white and the general color separation.
Probably this could be fixed with camera firmware, isn't it? And maybe with a better lens as lenses contribute to that also, beside sharpness.
Ric

 

[Eric]

Preparing the flight :

- the remote :
I prefer the Typhoon because the remote is all integrated. Switch on and that's it. Unfortunatly, there is problem with the time needed for the connexion between the ST16 and the CGO3. Sometimes it takes until 2 minutes to bind. But what are two minutes !!!
I'm not fan of the Phantom because you need to use an external tablet (and you need a very good tablet), so you have to set it up on the remote, plug the usb cable, start the app. All is well done but it's boring for me. Good luck if you want to add the sunshade (not provided with the P4). You have to perform many handlings to install it correctly. The sunshade of the TH is much more simple (and provided) even if the efficiency is.... questionable. TH wins
- the drone :
no problem for the both, installing the propellers and the battery is easy. One good point for the P4 who has the SD card slot in the body. It's much more easy to insert than in the TH where you have to "fight" with the gimbal to insert the Card. P4 wins
- the software :
before take off, the P4 gives you more informations about the battery capacity. I often use the automatic take off on the P4 because you just have one click to do it.
One thing I hate of the TH is that if you have to change the battery, the connexion with the camera is lost (normal) but the settings (balance, shutter speed) are lost too !
P4 wins


Here is the video. Finally there is not so much lap between the H and the P4, but the P4 wins (if you don't install the sunshade !).

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[digicrea]

Hi Eric,
I'm flying with both too, in the air I prefer the H with is 6 rotors and redundancy,
outside with winds I prefer the H, but p4 is more stable with IPS off.
inside it's the P4 but I do not have the H pro with IPS and realsense.

the P4 software even on tablet is really better than the H, time gauge, easy iso, shuter control, realtime map and position, easy to read telemetry and for me the really best advantage of the P4 on the H is the way you can choose what to display on the second monitor with HDMI, a real +++ when you do broadcast, it important to not have alert message, rec information etc etc etc.

So for me P4 win, but I hate DJI, sniff, Yuneec when will you react

PS: the time you need to connect the H is on european firmware (45 to 110s), I swap for standard firmware and it's take 15 seconds to 25s

 

[sdharris]

the remote :

I prefer the build quality of the DJI remote, and I don't mind having to connect and load the DJI GO software as its quicker than the ST-16 boot time and wifi connection. But the Phantom remote with a tablet in the cradle has an awful balance and always feels like it's about to drop the tablet so I prefer the ST-16 overall.

the drone

You didn't mention portability which I think is important and the Phantom wins for me. The Typhoon H is a great looking drone, but it's a hassle to carry and after nearly 6 months I still do not have my Yuneec backpack.

the software

No competition for me, the Phantom wins easily.

 

[Vegasrobbi]

P4 does not have dynamic altitude with the GO app and the follow mode pales in comparison to the H's 360* gimbal. My H sees more use than my P4 on the trail, the P4 is great technology but simply does not offer what I need.

 

[Dragonflyerthom]

Nice Eric. Now you have both kudos.

 

[Tuna]

The problem with a comparison is that each owner has different priorities.

For me, the DJI controller is a deal-breaker, but I appreciate some people like the flexibility. If my priority was portability, I'd probably not choose the Typhoon, but I wouldn't choose the P4 either. I like that the Typhoon is the start of a platform that can grow and evolve, whereas the P4 is being superseded by the Mavic... You can't talk about which is the 'better' drone because that depends totally on how you want to use it.

 

[Twowingers]

Well let's see a clue 6 props to 4 props so for what u gain in time I don't worry about as much let me also see u lose one prop on Dji say bye to that time apples to oranges u had the iPad or phone booted up do it again with the phone off

 

[Dariusmixich]

Well let's see a clue 6 props to 4 props so for what u gain in time I don't worry about as much let me also see u lose one prop on Dji say bye to that time apples to oranges u had the iPad or phone booted up do it again with the phone off

How often is your phone off? I keep mine on at all times.

 

[Eric]

The problem with a comparison is that each owner has different priorities.

For me, the DJI controller is a deal-breaker, but I appreciate some people like the flexibility. If my priority was portability, I'd probably not choose the Typhoon, but I wouldn't choose the P4 either. I like that the Typhoon is the start of a platform that can grow and evolve, whereas the P4 is being superseded by the Mavic... You can't talk about which is the 'better' drone because that depends totally on how you want to use it.

I FULLY AGREE ! I don't want to tell that one is the best and the other is awful. I want to present the pros and the cons of each depending of what you want to do.
At this time, I would say that :
the TH is the best for those who want to have cinematic shots with complex movements of camera.
the P4 is the best for those who want an ultra portable drone easy to fly
I continue my investigation.
Today 25 knots and shooting with my personal windsurf team !