Review Xiaomi MITU Drone / The drone for Top Gun aspirants
In gadgets held by a true technology fan certainly can not miss a drone, professional or not, these small aircraft give the feeling of become a real driver and they manage to bring together the tastes of children and adults who can together share moments of pure fun. But how to do if the budget is limited? On the market there are hundreds of low-cost solutions, and honestly I have tried a lot, but no one has ever really stuck: maneuvering difficulties, cumbersome remote controls and commands difficult to understand that led me to close in a drawer or even trash the unwary purchase. Fortunately Xiaomi in the drone industry is famous for its Mi Drone 4K has decided to release a mini drone, with functions similar to the DJI RYZE Tello, but with much lower costs. We speak today of the Xiaomi MITU Drone, which is a candidate for the right to title of best buy in the category to which it belongs. Let's find out together in our full review made available, thanks to sending the sample from Gearbest.com, that we deeply thank.
Very pretty package, in blue color, which shows the graphics of the small MITU Drone on the lid and some information in Chinese along the perimeter and the back of the box. Inside we find the partially disassembled drone, in fact apart from the battery, 4 protects propellers that will be mounted interlocking as there are no screws or other. We also find 3 CW and 3 propellers CCW propellers for which 2 are spare if one of them is damaged. Finally, the endowment is completed by a instruction manual in Chinese and cable with micro USB connection for charging of the gadget.
The assembly is done in a few minutes since it will be enough to insert the propellers, measuring 2,8 inches, making a pressure leve above the rotation motors. To distinguish the correct positioning some props are marked by a red dot, the same red color that we find on two engines. At this point it will be necessary to mount the propeller protections, making even for these a slight pressure respecting the conjunction of these on the small slit placed in the lower part of the engine skeleton. All that remains is to mount the battery in its housing respecting the internal side where the contacts are present.
The design of the Xiaomi MITU Drone is truly minimal and elegant at the same time, with a main coloration in the classic white of the products to which the company has accustomed us, while in contrast we find light gray inserts as well as the bright orange of the battery with stylized logo on the top. The structure is completely realized in polycarbonate highly resistant to shock, while the only metal parts we find in small engines. Also below them we also find 4 grommets which ensure a softer landing.
Along the circumference of the quadricopter we find themicro USB input for charging, as well as for connecting to a PC to transfer photos and videos shot from the 2 megapixel camera with HD resolution 720p, positioned on the front profile where we also see the presence of a infrared sensor that will be exploited for virtual battles with other MITUs, through the application. Inside the MITU Drone we have theoretically well 4 GB of memory to save photos and videos, but in reality they are 3 GB those really available, as the rest of the memory is occupied by the firmware. The photos and videos can also be downloaded to your smartphone for instant sharing on various social networks. Continuing we find the power button and a small release plug related to the battery, a unit from 920 mAh that guarantees a maximum autonomy of 10 minutes, while it takes about unow for full recharge via network from 5V / 1A.
The lower part of the drone instead hosts the ultrasonic sensor used for VPS assisted positioning (Visual Position System), which works in combination with a small camera. For a better functioning an ambient brightness of at least 15 lumens is required and not exceeding the height of two meters to maintain a stable and precise position, thus limiting the range of action to some situations. In reality through the settings we can set the maximum and minimum height in which to push the drone, with variable from 2 meters to 25 meters maximum while at the level of flow with regard to control we push ourselves up to 50 meters.
Theoretically Xiaomi has designed this product for indoor use but also outdoors the fun is assured, provided of course to have a moderate wind if not absent.
Small size (91 x 91 x 38 mm) with a spacing between 114 millimeter engines, including protections, and one weight of only 88 grams they are really appreciated qualities, making the aircraft ultra portable without having to resort to extra bags, if not the backpack. The small size requires the use of brushed motors but this does not mean that the little drone is missing anything. We find in fact a 6 axis gyroscope, barometer and VPS positioning system (ultrasound + optical) while GPS is absent albeit the stability and precision of MITU Drone are really excellent thanks to the data processing through the quadcore chipset to 1.2 GHz.
You will have noticed that we have no controller to control our aircraft, as it will be possible to do it fromapplication for smartphones as much as you can download directly from the Play Store and that is in English; always better than having to download it via QR Code in the user manual that will give away the download in Chinese. We will connect to MITU Drone via WiFiIEEE 802.11a with frequency to 5.0 GHz.
Theoretically it is possible also take advantage of Bluetooth controllers; I could not test the compatibility, while the company said that soon will be released that specific, but personally I prefer to control the MITU Drone via the smartphone. And by the way, make sure your tablet / smartphone supports the 5 GHz WiFi frequency, although to be honest the channel used by the network created by the small drone is the 149, which in Europe is not used by most Android smartphones, therefore there may be problems detecting or disconnecting from the MITU Drone. However, I have tested everything with a Xiaomi Mi 8, with a Samsung Galaxy S6 and I have not encountered any problems whatsoever. But there is a temporary and a permanent solution to the problem.
The first consists of put your smartphone in airplane mode and then enable the phone's WiFi subsequently connecting to the small Xiaomi drone. No problem for iOS users but in case of uncertainty do not be afraid because the company (FIMI) has created a small tool that allows you to make a switch from the 5 GHz frequency to the classic 2.4 GHz. Here you find the tool with relative explanation to proceed with the operation. This brings many advantages such as the fact of being able to use any Android smartphone with WiFi module (not necessarily double bandwidth) and therefore to extend the range of action through WiFi extender like the one proposed by Xiaomi.
The application is really simple and easy to use. When you first start you need to log in with your Xiaomi accounti or create a new one if you don't have it. Alternatively, you can use the data from social networks Facebook or Twitter to create the account. At this point the software will show us some initial screens that illustrate the drone's functions and at the end we will be asked to connect to the MITU Drone WiFi network (which of course we have switched on) by logging in with the 123456789 password, which can later be changed from the app settings.
The layout of the initial screen shows us at the top left of the icons relating to take-off from the ground or from the palm of the hand and landing on the ground or on the palm of the hand. We can also enable "battle" mode (icon in the shape of joypad), a sort of game with lots of sound effects about the shots, with which let our gadget compete with other MITU Drones in a virtual battle, using infrared sensors. Finally we find the headless mode which allows you to fly the aircraft as if it had no head, so for example by pushing the forward key, it will go on regardless of the orientation, and also the control through the smartphone's gyroscope. Below this group of icons we find another that allows you to make i 360 ° automatic flips.
On the sides of the main screen we find the controllers that replicate the commands of a classic remote control with which to fly the small drone and finally in the lower part we have the photo shutter button and another for video recording. In the upper right part of the screen we find the WiFi signal status icons and residual charge as well as the settings icon to which we will access a series of menus including:
Gallery - From here we can access the photos and videos on the drone's memory. We can delete them or download them to the phone memory.
Camera - You can choose video resolution (1280 x 720 or 640 x 480) and images (1600 x 1200 or 1280 x 720). We can also decide to format the internal memory and decide whether to enable the FPV view.
Wi-Fi Management - From this menu we can rename the WiFi network of our drone and decide the password.
Firmware Upgrades - As the name suggests, it will be possible to start the firmware upgrade when company updates are released.
Height Restriction - It is possible to choose the minimum or maximum limit of flight height, choosing values between 2 meters and 25 meters.
Horizontal Calibration - From here we will perform the gyroscope calibration.
Sensitivity joystick - The menu allows you to decide the sensitivity of the commands, or rather the actual speed at which the drone travels, choosing between three different levels (low, medium, high).
Toggle Joystick Mode - You can decide between two different command interfaces.
Beginners Guide - The screens will show the various main instructions for a successful flight with the mini drone.
As we have already said, the MITU Drone integrates an internal memory from 3 GB that gives the possibility to record videos or capture photos of our flight sessions. Having an integrated memory and not external allows a better fluidity and speed when writing data, eliminating the problem of deterioration of photos and video due to WiFi streaming reception (blocks, jerkiness, pixelization, etc ...) Everything happens thanks to a 2 megapixel sensor camera, which offers a recording video with maximum HD resolution 720p to 30 fps. The absence of a stabilization, both optical and electronic, you notice and also a lot and the final rendering of the videos is perhaps not what I expected. Of course it must be said that the MITU Drone has a very low price and the features offered are so many, so you can not expect much, but I am convinced that a future firmware update could improve a little bit. Also photos, which can be taken with a maximum resolution of 1660 x 1200 in jpeg format, are affected by the same considerations made for the videos.
I have repeatedly said that the small Xiaomi drone was born for indoor use, and in fact in these days of pure infernal heat, the flight range has been very affected because after about 6 / 7 minutes of use an over-heating protection mechanism came into play (overheating), a system that automatically stops the flight of the drone by making it land and warning us about what is happening through the application. In fact, Xiaomi guarantees a correct operation with temperatures ranging from 0 ° C to 40 ° C. On the one hand it is good, because it underlines the attention to detail that Xiaomi has placed on this "toy" as adults, but at the same time it forces us to wait a long time before starting to play. Because it often comes compared to the DJI Tello, Below you will find a comparative table in relation to the technical specifications offered by the two models. Also immediately after I leave you some links for the spare parts of the small MITU Drone, like propellers, paraeliche, batteries etc ..
ORIGINAL DOCKING CHARGE 2 BATTERIES + CHARGER
STORAGE BOX WITH CHARGING FUNCTION
SET 4 ELICA + 4 PARA ELICA + SPARE RUBBER ANTI URTO
PROJECTED IMPACT
Do not forget the base price proposed by the MITU Drone of Xiaomi that at first glance might seem a toy and nothing else. During use, however, they appreciate the flight performance with excellent stability both indoors and outdoors. Good construction, good materials and above all good resistance to shocks and falls like the sensor equipment is really valuable including the FPV camera. Battery life is in line with direct rivals, such as the DJI RYZE Tello which actually costs more but also offers more features, such as stabilized optics. I personally would not compare them, because MITU Drone is born mainly with the address towards school age users, while the Tello is hoping for more adult beginners with drones. So Xiaomi did a great job for which my judgment is really positive. I recommend it especially to those who are really at the very first arms with drone driving, or who wants to make a gracious gift to their son / nephew, but also as a personal gift. You just have to rush to the store in bulkBanggood.com, ed buy one or more MITU Drones, and maybe you can challenge your friends in battle mode.
