budget mini with a good camera

Introduction

After the release of the budget Ryze Tello, Xiaomi decided to compete with the popular drone and introduced its own version of a quadrocopter called the Mitu drone. It combines excellent flight characteristics, a 2MP HD camera of good quality and various flight modes, including air battle mode, which allows Mitu owners to play a team air war. The drone is easy to fly and perfect for kids or beginners who want to quickly and safely learn how to fly a UAV. Further details and in order.

Peculiarities

Weight 88 grams
Powerful 1.2GHz quad-core processor
Built-in infrared sensor for exciting aerial combat
Positioning barometer + ultrasonic and optical sensors
Capture video in 720p at 30fps
HD video streaming (FPV over Wi-Fi)
Auto take off and auto landing
360º auto flip feature
Max. flight time 10 min
Max. removal distance 50m
4GB built-in memory
Smartphone/tablet control

Equipment

Quadcopter Xiaomi MiTu
Battery 920mAh
4 × rotors
2 × spare rotors
4 × rotor protection
USB cable
Chinese instruction

Specification

Flight weight:

88 grams

Dimensions:

91×91×38mm

Motors:

collector type

Food:

removable battery 3.7V 920mAh LiPo

Charging time:

about 60 min

Charging port:

Micro USB

Control:

WiFi IEEE 802.11a 5GHz

FPV:

WiFi IEEE 802.11a 5GHz

Max. removal distance:

50m

Max. lifting height:

25m

Max. flight time:

10 min

Appearance

Motors

The Xiaomi Mitu drone quadcopter is equipped with collector-type motors. The potential is enough to realize a comfortable flight. The developer does not specify information about the performance of the power plant.

Camera

In the arsenal of MiTu 2MP HD camera. All recorded material is stored on the built-in memory of the drone with a capacity of 4GB. There is no image stabilization, which generally affects the quality of shooting. We hope that in the future the developers will still add electronic stabilization for video, since everything is solved programmatically. This will slightly degrade the quality of the video, but it will be smoother. The quality of the photo is not very good, and often the photos taken are blurry.

Sample photo

Video example

FPV

To implement the first-person flight, the MiTu camera works in tandem with a Wi-Fi video transmitter, which in turn transmits a video stream at a frequency of 5 GHz. The quality of FPV flight is respectable, but there are still transmission delays. Fly carefully.

Food

The drone is equipped with a 1-cell (1S / 3.7V) lithium polymer battery with a capacity of 920mAh. Provides a flight duration of no more than 10 minutes, which is generally true and depends on the piloting style (active / calm). The user will spend about one hour to charge the battery.

Control

By default, Xiaomi MiTu is controlled via a smartphone / tablet via a mobile application (for IOS – FIMI, for Android – MiDroneMini). The application interface is quite convenient and does not require long getting used to. The user can also control the drone using a Bluetooth controller, which is purchased separately. In both cases, the removal distance will be no more than 50 meters.

air battles

Just above the camera is an IR sensor, which is activated in air combat mode (Infrared Battle mode). Pilots can hit the enemy drone with an infrared beam, but don’t forget to dodge other people’s hits as well. In infrared battle mode, each hit, the displayed “life level” will gradually decrease. When the level reaches zero, the drone will not be able to continue attacking, it will be necessary to wait for the end of the battle (if there are more than two opponents) or exit the mode.

The “Infrared Battle” mode is not new, was first implemented in the Cheerson CX-60.

Recommendations

In order to increase the removal distance, you can buy a repeater – Xiaomi Mi Wi-Wi Amplifier 2 and install it at a distance of 20m. This will significantly improve the quality of communication and make FPV flight more comfortable.
After the end of the flight, do not rush to immediately proceed to the next one. Let the motors cool down. This approach will extend their performance. Recall that the main disadvantage of collector-type motors is a small resource.

Price

The Xiaomi MiTu quadrocopter is sold through all known Internet trading platforms at an average price of $78.

Conclusion

Xiaomi MiTU Drone $78

Functionality

6/10

Flight time

4/10

flight qualities

6/10

compactness

10/10

Equipment

10/10

Reliability

9/10

Price quality

10/10

pros

Design
Price-quality ratio
Control (Stable)
Excellent flight performance
Camera (capture quality)
Air combat mode
Built-in storage

Minuses

Small resource of collector motors (which is generally the norm for this type of motor; after a drop in thrust, they change to original or analogues)
No image stabilization
Not long distance
Flight time

The quality of performance deserves respect. Interesting design and good functionality. Like most drones in this price segment, the drone can flip, change speed modes, take off and land autonomously. The air combat mode deserves special attention; a rare drone can boast of such an option. Remarkably stable in the air and excellent handling. Best ever for beginners and kids. If you are looking for your first drone, then Xiaomi MiTu is worth paying attention to when choosing.