How this Started
It seems like
incredible aerial photos and videos are everywhere now. Recently, a friend of
mine brought a drone to a party and flew it hundreds of meters above us to take
incredible photos. This really made me want to buy one for myself. I talked
about this with my wife and incredibly she said yes. Maybe she’d seen all the
photos and videos I’d seen and was just as curious. We decided to buy an
aircraft, but our budget wasn’t too much, just a bit more than a new iPhone I
guess. We wanted one that would be easy to fly, not crash and have an amazing
camera.
Research
I’m the family’s
designated gadget buyer and I buy all of our devices because I would like to
think I’m really good at comparing products. Talking the talk is not as good as
walking the walk after all. So, I spent three days collecting information from
online and found a few aircraft that might fit the bill. Personally, I also
respect a product’s brand. A big company might not be better than a small one,
but at least you can rely on the products they make.
There are a few well known UAV companies, and it seems
like all of them are from China so I looked at aircraft from DJI, Zerotech, and
Yuneec. The one that inspired me in the first place was a DJI, and apparently
this company takes up 70% of the drone market and does all of its research and
development itself. That’s just incredible. The company’s boss was only born in
the 80s and is the youngest Chinese entrepreneur worth more than ten billion
RMB. The company’s drone has even been on the Times’ list of the top 50
influential technical products.
(DJI Phantom 3
Professional)
From my research, it is clear that the products
produced by DJI, Zerotech and Yuneec vary a lot, so I narrowed down my list to the
Phantom 4, Xplorer 2 and Typhoon H. These were all released this year and
feature obstacle avoidance, which is a function found on very few aircraft.
(Zerotech Xplorer
2)
I know many people
tend to buy things based on how they look and the price but I think it’s
important to understand the product you really need. Companies, media, or even
your friends have their own ideas when they recommend products, which can
influence you but may leave you buying a product that isn’t quite right. I’ve
made these mistakes too, but luckily with all the information available now, comparing
products is easy.
Requirements
I made my
selection based on the following five points
1.
Image quality. This was also the feature my wife
cared most about.
2.
Obstacle avoidance. I have never flown anything
before so this was vital.
3.
Stable flying and responsiveness. I figure it’s
like a car. A good car will be better to use than a bad one.
4. Ease of use. The
simpler the better. I don’t want to have to worry too much.
5.
Easy to carry. I should be able to carry this
everywhere
Here is the comparison
between Phantom 4 and Yuneec Typhoon H
|
Requirement
|
DJI
Phantom 4
|
Yuneec
Typhoon H
|
|
Image quality
|
4K video, 12
megapixel, 94°FoV, 3 axis
gimbal
|
4K video, 12 megapixel, 115°FoV, 360°three axis gimbal, retractable modules
|
|
Obstacle
avoidance
|
Active obstacle
avoidance, passive ultra-sonic obstacle avoidance, recognizable distance of
obstacle, active braking, return to home
|
Passive ultra-sonic
obstacle avoidance
|
|
Performance
|
Max speed:
20m/s, flight time: 25
minutes, vision positioning, dual compass modules and dual IMUs
|
Max speed:
19.4m/s, flight time: 20
minutes, 6 redundant axis
|
|
Flight mode
|
TapFly、ActiveTrack、Follow Me、Point of Interest、Waypoints、HomeLock/CourseLock
|
Orbit
Me, Curve Cable Cam, Point of Interest, Follow Me/Watch Me, Journey
|
|
Easy to carry
|
Weight: 1380g.
You will have a suitcase for free once you buy a Phantom 4.
|
Weight: 1800g.
You need to buy a suitcase separately.
|
(DJI Phantom 4)
(Yuneec Typhoon H)
Image Quality
It was pretty hard
to compare the image quality of the Typhoon H and the Phantom 4 because I could
find enough information from Yuneec or much about independent review of the
CG03 camera. The Yuneec’s gimbal can rotate in 360 degrees, but I don’t know
how useful this will be for me. My friend just turned his Phantom on the spot
and it the video looked great.
In terms of
shutter speed, DJI’s camera can shoot long exposures of up to 8 seconds, which means
it could take amazing night photography. Plus I’ve seen hundreds of photos from
the Phantom 4 of everything from roads to buildings to islands and animals. The
Yuneec only seems to be able to shoot 1/30 second photos which means it isn’t
too good at night shoots. I’ve not found many photos from it either.
Looking at their
websites, both cameras look similar and advanced settings for customization are
available. I haven’t been able to try the software for these cameras, but I
imagine they’ll come with the basic settings I need.
Conclusion:
Phantom looks like the winner here.
Obstacle Avoidance
I taught myself a
little about sensors to properly judge obstacle avoidance, and found that there
are two basic kinds of avoidance – active and passive. Active obstacle
avoidance is based on stereo vision, allowing it to perform more reliably as it
is able to have long sensor range, rapid response and because it sees in 3D it
can make an aircraft plan its own route around an obstacle (amazing right?).
Passive obstacle avoidance however is infra-red based. It has a shorter range
and can only see the obstacle not the scene so an aircraft cannot think for
itself. Based on this, it seems like active obstacle avoidance is the best
solution for aircraft.
From my research, Yuneec
aircrafts feature passive obstacle avoidance with the sensory range of 1.5m. I
wonder this range is enough for an aircraft to slow down before it hits an
obstacle and would really like to test it out or find some videos online. They
were going to launch another version of the Typhoon H with Intel’s RealSense
powered obstacle avoidance which they demonstrated at CES but I keep hearing
that this is fake. When they showed the Typhoon H again at Shanghai CES it
still didn’t have Realsense so that’s all that I’ve got to go on. Since UAV
technology is robotic I want something that’s reliable but I’ve no idea when
I’ll be able to see Realsense in action and I don’t feel like waiting any more.
Conclusion:
Phantom 4 wins.
Flying Performance
Flight time for
both aircrafts are almost the same, and I’ve seen a comparison video that shows
they are within 5 minutes of each other.
This same video
made it look like the Typhoon H is a little unstable when hovering. It makes me
a little nervous, especially when compared to how stable the Phantom 4 looks. I
had to fast forward the video to see the Phantom 4 moving. This makes me thing
Yuneec’s positioning tech is not as advanced as DJIs. Perhaps this is also why
the Phantom 4 has vision positioning and the Typhoon H doesn’t. Propellers spin
fast. Can you imagine if one fell from the sky because it was too unstable? I
just want to take aerial photos with my wife so an accident is the last thing I
want to worry about.
The Typhoon H is a
hexacopter which features five propeller redundancy. This means that it will
still fly even if one propeller breaks. DJI’s Phantom 4 is a quadcopter and apparently
doesn’t have any redundant design. I wonder if it’s possible to add redundancy
to a quad. Yuneec wins in this respect.
Phantom 4 redundancy
is found in the IMU and the compass. It has two sets of sensors on these parts
in case one set fails. Typhoon H does not have this.
I don’t know what
the probability of failure of a motor, propeller, IMU or compass is but I’ve
read about crashes because of all these things so I can’t tell which redundant
design is better.
Conclusion: DJI’s
vision positioning system makes Phantom 4 more stable when it hovers. Typhoon H
six propellers redundancy and Phantom 4 IMU and compass redundancy make them
pretty equal. Given that positioning technology will also make it easier to fly
I’ll give the win to the Phantom 4.
Flight Mode
Both aircraft
feature common flight modes, intelligent flight modes and some are actually the
same, such as Follow Me and Point of Interest. Some modes are also quite
similar, such as DJI’s Waypoints and Yuneec’s Curve Cable Cam, which makes the
aircraft to follow a planned route so that the user can control the gimbal and
camera to shoot images.
Some modes, like TapFly
and ActiveTrack use a vision system that is only available with DJI. I watched
some YouTube videos and found that people can take incredible photos while
flying in TapFly and ActiveTrack modes. Other modes, like HomeLock and
CourseLock, are used to make flying easier. I don’t know how often these modes
would be used though but I’m sure they can help take better photos.
Yuneec has a few
special modes too, including Journey. This means that the Typhoon H will
automatically fly up to capture the perfect aerial selfie which looks like fun.
The Phantom 4 doesn’t have this movement, but it can be done manually, but I
don’t see why it couldn’t be added as a software update? Does anyone know if
DJI will be adding this?
DJI’s remote
controller is relatively simple. If you want to use it, you just connect a
smart phone or tablet and use the DJI GO app. Yuneec’s remote controller is a
little more complicated but it is embedded with a tablet computer running
Android.
After watching more
YouTube videos, I found that DJI’s remote controller is easy to learn and you
control most settings in DJI GO App. This powerful app lets you do everything
from control the aircraft and camera, to edit images and videos, to sharing.
You can also find resources and active users from an online community in the
editor, which will be great for learning about aerial photography.
Yuneec’s remote
controller is large and embedded with a tablet computer so you do not have to
worry about forgetting your phone or tablet. It does have a lot of buttons and
switches though which makes it look more like a model aircraft controller. I’m
actually a little afraid it. The embedded tablet can only be used only for
aircraft and camera control but there is are no editor, community or forum to
learn from. I think this makes it less fun than DJI GO and is maybe more geared
toward experts.
Conclusion: In terms
of flight mode, Typhoon H has one that Phantom 4 does not. DJI’s remote
controller is simpler but a smart phone or tablet computer is needed. Yuneec’s
integrated tablet does not feature editing or community features like DJI GO does.
This tips things towards the Phantom 4.
Easy to carry
Phantom 4 is
smaller than Typhoon H if all its arms are unfolded and Phantom 4 is almost as
large as the Typhoon H if its arms are folded. Phantom 4 is shorter than
Typhoon, so if you want to put the aircraft, remote controller, and battery
into a box, the Phantom 4 will take up less space.
Phantom 4 weights
1380g and the Typhoon H 1800g. I couldn’t find a weight for the Typhoon H
remote but I assume it’s heavier because of the big size and screen.
The biggest
difference I have found is that when you buy a Phantom 4 you get a strong
carrying case that I’m told you can stand on. For the Typhoon H you’ll need to
buy a separate carrying system.
Conclusion: The
Phantom 4 is definitely easier to carry.
Summary
After spending
days learning about drones, I think I understand them. I think DJI is No.1
right now and may stay that way for quite a few years. Yuneec doesn’t match it
in terms of product quality or the features I look for but I can’t deny that
there are some highlights in the Typhoon H’s design.
Specifications of
Typhoon H is similar to the Xplorer2 and Phantom 3 4K. The Xplorer2 is not on
the market yet and the Phantom 3 4K doesn’t have obstacle avoidance so it’s not
for me. Only essential difference between Typhoon H and Phantom 3 4K is the
1.5m passive obstacle avoidance function.
I finally decided
to buy the Phantom 4 because it is better for a new flyer like me who just
wants to shoot aerials without worry. The Phantom 4 is easy to fly and carry and
features are good so that I can focus on getting better shots when I fly. The
large and active user community will also help me be a better photography.
If you have the same requirements or questions as I did
when it comes to the consumer drones, I hope this article is helpful. If you do
not agree with me, please feel free to make comments. I hope everyone could
find your favorite drone. Cheers~
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