Hubsan H501S X4 Brushless Drone

I used to fly RC planes and I've had numerous 4x4 nitro buggies. I have flown a few quads, a micro and mini. This is my first FPV quad with brushless motors. With that in mind, here is my review of this Quad.
The quad itself is of an excellent quality build, easy to put together. After reviewing the manual, I put it through the tests. Every function works as promised. Follow me, GPS hold, altitude hold, and return to home all work very well and are as described. The quad has an excellent camera that gives a very clear picture even a long distances (I've only flown out to 200 meters so far). The transmitter works as promised and the switches are placed well. The LCD screen is bright but I would recommend a sun shade for it. Overall this has to be one of the best RC investments I've made. My 7 year old son can operate it while in GPS mode, but I must stress if you are a beginner, leave it in GPS hold. When you take it out of GPS hold, it will fly around at a very good pace and it's easy to get a little reckless. I would recommend this for anyone that has flown a quad before and maybe even a beginner IF they practice plenty on GPS hold and take it slow. Also, the manual may not tell you but with the proper firmware you can change the LED function to either blink every second, turn off, or have them on all the time.

Suggestion

There aren't many cons for this Quad. Every function works very well. The LED lights could be brighter for beginners daytime orientation. The transmitter feels clunky and cheap at first but it grows on you. It is built with quality but the type of plastic does feel funny. The instructions, for the most part are pretty thorough, however I had to google how to check what firmware I was running. After which I found that I could change the LED function to either blink every second, turn off, or have them on all the time. It's helpful for night flights.

Oct 26,2016

The drone is really fast. It came with a US-EU adaptor and an extra battery for the controller (that wasn't mentioned in the specs). I have made two flights until now. First at night next to the sea and second at a cloudy day at noon. The drone reacted fast even when tested at a high of 30 meters. RTH was working perfect. I even tried changing my position during the process and the drone landed in front of me. "Follow me" also worked fine. Headless mode was so and so. It needs some time to start working, which is frustrating sometimes but it's OK. All the cons have to do with the camera. Neither pictures nor video looked like HD. The quality of the colours was less than expected. I haven't tried the filter that was included in the box yet, but there wasn't too much sun so I don't think that it will do any better (it's supposed to help when the day is very bright). Also, the lack of kimbal is more important than I thought. The drone is fast and when it turns, watching the video makes you feel dizzy. On the other hand, it's something that you know when you buy it and maybe making turns with less speed will make the experience better.
Overall: A nice cheap drone, perfect for playing but not for taking pictures or video

Feb 09,2019

I will not elaborate on the product - Hubsan S501S is a decent drone for good money. In the set, I also received the power pack for the transmitter and the sunshield. I received both these items and the EU plug adapter for free along with the parcel.
The most important thing I wanted to say to GEARBEST's future customers - THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE, the purchase made on 30/07/2012 - the parcel WAS DELIVERED 01.08.2018 ... less than THREE DAYS to POLAND. Faster as a domestic shipment.
I will tell my grandchildren about this parcel. In the meantime, I received a few e-mails with tracking the progress of delivery - I really buy a lot in international trade ..... but with this transaction you killed the competition.

Full respect and congratulations for the Gearbest team. Regards. Trex.

Suggestion

Brak

Aug 01,2018

This is a great quad for the price, it even included some things not in the description. I've only flown it a few times but it's working incredibly. It's very easy to set up and learn to fly especially if you read the whole manual, which isn't that long. I received the H501S-S version of the drone which is great I assume they fixed some of the issues people have had with them. Even though it wasn't listed, It came with a rechargeable battery for the transmitter, which also seems to have a new simpler design for installing the AAA batteries if you ever want to use those instead. Also included a sunshade for the transmitter and a filter you can put on the camera lens. Definitely would make the same choice again.

Suggestion

The battery compartment has no extra room at all making it very difficult to use any other battery other than the official ones. Very small feet really limits where you can take off and land, it also keeps it very agile and fast, but it feels like there could be at least some type of legs without sacrificing too much speed.

Aug 28,2017

This is my third H501S-S version and I am satisfied. Very nice quad for the price, the package is nice and was delivered without damages. It has last firmware at drone as well as at remote control - which looks very cheap and the display is not good (compare with advance control, but the functionality is the same). Very good FPV more than 600 m without any mod. RTF works well. Strong motors allows fly in a really windy condition, Flying time is about 18 min, but with gopro camera only 8 - 10 minutes. Flying under GPS is too slow 5 m/s, so it is fun to turn GPS off and you can fly 15 m/s. Recommend this product and thaks to GearBest

Suggestion

none

Aug 05,2018