Altair 818 Hornet Beginner Drone with Camera | Live Video Drone for Kids & Adults, 15 Min Flight Time, Altitude Hold, Personal Hobby Starter RC…

First of all, Altair Aerial’s customer service is top notch. They were quick to answer my questions, and did so in an easy-to-understand manner. They are also quick to fix any mistakes, and take important things such as holidays into consideration when they do. They just sent out replacements to every person who recently ordered the 818 Hornet Plus, because there were some orders sent out with missing parts. Every business makes mistakes at times, it’s inevitable. These guys know how to make up for it.

On to the product.

Cons: the trim and skill level selector are buttons on the back of the controller. It does make adjusting the trim a bit tricky if you’re not familiar enough with the button locations and controls. Must use the auto-takeoff feature. It would be nice to be able to do it manually, especially flying inside. I don’t consider the camera quality a con because a high quality camera would make the price skyrocket.

Pros: customer service. The drone is very easy to fly. The auto-takeoff feature works very well, so does the altitude hold. I ran into the walls a few times (operator error), and didn’t leave a scratch on it. The three skill level modes are awesome, and you can definitely tell the difference in them. It’s a great beginner drone to learn the controls and get some flying time in. I can’t comment for experienced flyers, but it’s ideal for beginners. I would recommend giving them a try before going anywhere else. I’m looking forward to many hours of learning and flying. I may leave more comments after I’ve flown it for a while.

This is mine and my daughters first drone. She loved flying the little choppers from the local stores so we decided to step it up. What sold be on this drone was the 15 minute flight time per battery and that replacement batteries are cheap and quick to swap out.

To be honest we haven’t tried to use this drone past beginner speed yet but we are having a blast with it learning to fly. It did take a bit to get used to the controller, as for video games the sticks are opposite from the drone. The right stick goes forward/backward instead of the left but after a little practice we are getting adjusted.

The spare motors and blades are a nice addition that I am sure we will need in the future. Also this drone seems pretty duarble since we have flown into every wall, tree and bush we can find.

Very impressed with this and glad we chose this to learn with. Not sure we would have had this much fun with only 5-7 minute flight times of other drones.

Just got the AA818 but have flown it indoors and out. Seems very stable in flight. Have had the Altair AA108 for some time and they are completely different animals. The 108 seems quicker and quite capable indoors or out. The 818 hovers more easily for video and is not as quick to respond to the controls (in a good way). We have a lot of windy days here, especially in March, and the FAQ’s on Altair’s site about limiting your flights with either one to breezes under 10 MPH are not kidding. When you read a review that one flew away my guess is that 90% or more of those flew away on days that were too windy. Gravity is the only thing bringing these little babies down, and an object a foot across weighing 6/10ths of a pound (AA108) or 1/2 pound (AA818) isn’t coming down as planned in a strong wind. Although I am pretty much a newbie the learning curve on these is hours, not days, and both seem very forgiving to minor crashes. Have not had a high speed into concrete crash but furniture and grass doesn’t hurt them much if at all. These are still “toy” drones but much superior to my previous toy drone that cost half as much as the AA108 and was worth about a dollar. Nice work Altair. I’d recommend either of these as a learning drone and they are OK for an intermediate even. You certainly get your money’s worth. And oh yeah. Customer service is unexcelled. Contact them and you will get a quick response and they will bend over backwards to help you and make you happy.