Quadcopters are going from strength to strength, and not just for official uses. More and more people are buying them just to have fun, even though they’re pretty tricky to fly and not for the faint hearted. But the over-riding drive is to get a camera up in the air, to see the world as you don’t often get the chance.
The Seraphi P Quadcopter is a good looking craft which follows closely on from the DJI Phantom 2 design formula. It’s upright girth and simple white decoration, with red and green running lights mimics the Phantom to a T, although there are a number of crucial differences.
First impressions
The quadcopter comes in a flat box, and inside there are the basic components you’d expect to find, including 6 props, controller, charger block and cable and a USB cable. There’s also a fairly rudimentary user manual, which is written in both Chinese and English.
It’s definitely useable but not as lavish as the contents of the Phantom box, although you might expect this since the Phantom is a fully fledged semi-pro flying camera. We also noticed that the finish of the radio controller was not up to the same quality standard as the Phantom, but again it worked fine so these are more like cosmetic quibbles.
The one great thing about the Seraphi P is the inclusion of a stonking great 5600 mAh battery, which really does give a nice 28 minutes of flight time per charge, which is perfect for doing those long leisurely runs in the air. Charging also didn’t take that long, and the charger although small seemed to handle the task well.
In use
As you can see from the video above, the quadcopter flies well, thanks to the on-board GPS stabilization system. There’s a fairly complex orienteering process you have to go through before the first flight, to make sure the craft is aligned with the geography or something, and also there’s a software update you can do (or have to do, we weren’t sure from the user docs?) to improve the flying stability.
We have to say we found that bit to be rather cumbersome, with rotations needed while attached to a PC with the USB cable. Definitely not as simple as the Phantom and something we suggest the manufacturers improve quickly. Apart from that set up was fairly simple, and attaching the props was a matter of dropping them on and screwing the caps on. No auto locking on these props.
The craft flies well enough, and certainly the GPS was good enough to hold the quadcopter nice and steady even in a strong wind on our first test outing, which says a lot for how far the technology has come in a very short while. Remember this is a new brand, and although it’s not ultra cheap, it’s still offering some very good specs for the price, especially that flight time.
Conclusion
All in all we found this to be a capable quadcopter which certainly holds its own in the new market. There are a few rough edges in the overall product, for instance the user manual is rather poorly written, which makes it look as if the product has been a little rushed to market. But apart from those niggles, it’s definitely worth considering if you’re in the market, although for the price we’d suggest you spend an extra $30 and get the Seraphi H which comes with its own dedicated HD camera and mount.
Price: $409
Specs
•GPS & Compass (It can hover in position and return if it is out of control)
•Build with flight controller, easy and flexible to operation,
•10″ high efficient propeller, efficient power system
•Bright LED indicate, can fly at night
•Come with 2.4G remote system, control distance range 500M, can be more than one Seraphi Phantom flying at the same time, without interference
•RTF, do not need to debugging.
•Built-in 3S 5600mAh lithium battery,flight time is 28 minutes
[Thanks to quadcopter specialists HobbyWow for the review unit]