Aries BlackBird X10 Quadcopter with Built-in 16MP Still/Cine Camera

2017-04-10T20:47:06

I bought this from Adorama a while back and only got a few uses. It was ok when it worked. It sometimes worked magnificentally on GPS staying still and hovering. But at times it would take off with a mind of its own. The last time I used it, it flew away and crashed onto a freeway, destroying it :( The pictures and video were ok but not very steady.

BRIAN M.

2016-02-15T09:33:28

Cool drone great price

HENRY G.

2015-12-04T13:34:52

The Drone is very unstable, it will go out of control more times then it will fly normally wither in GPS or normal mode. It will usually start out OK but as others have found, eventually during flight it will start to pull to a certain direction, for me usually back and to the right. If I move the right stick around I can sometimes get it back to stable, but usually when it starts its little dance it will end up at full throttle for that direction and sometime I can't compensate fast enough and it ends up crashing into a tree. I've tried calibrating the compass and sticks before each flight but it does not help. Considering this continuous faulty functionality I would have to advice not to buy the unit at any price.

Joe S.

2015-11-19T08:25:16

The price was right on this quad copter so I took a chance. The quality seems nice. The packaging is good. It is easy to setup. It flies well...when it works. You can fly it and then just randomly it will go nuts. If you are close to the ground it flips over and crashes. If you are higher up it goes out of control and then normally comes back. The video lags as well. it is close to real time but not so if you were trying to fly from only video you would have an issue. Also the video is a little shakey as it is attached to the craft. I read reviews on this before I purchased it but i was hoping they weren't true but they are, I watched a video review on it and the reviewer had the same exact issues I am having with it. It just goes crazy on you sometimes for no apparent reason. It is not a range issue either. I tried it about 10 feet from me low to the ground as well. It would just out of no where decide to make an abrupt turn and flip over out of a hover. At that point you can't stop the blades. They run until you flip the power switch on it which is both dangerous to the operator and damages the unit more than the crash. I would spend the extra cash and get something else.

Rudi H.

2015-11-19T03:26:33

Was looking for a Drone to get into this hobby and found this one. Easy setup. Camera was a bit shaky but it was due to wind. Only flew it on 1 day, since other days were too windy

charlesmd

2015-07-28T21:00:00

Easy setup and flies great. BE sure to "forget" local wifi so if there are slight interruptions in the wifi signal the phone won't jump back to the local wifi and leave the X10 in the dark.

LINDSEY M.

2015-07-25T21:00:00

The second BlackBird I purchased was very easy to calibrate without any problems and I find the BlackBird to be nimble as well as fast or so I feel being a novice and all. I am very happy with my purchase

Charlie

2015-06-30T21:00:00

Pretty much went right up into the air within minutes of putting it together. Went amazingly high ... almost couldn't see it! Still picture and video quality are excellent. Setting up the local network for my Droid and iPad took a few tries. It's my first drone, so I was very pleased with how things went. Don't under estimate the learning curve though on flying it as with any remote controlled unit. I almost sent it where I didn't want it to go.

Larry S.

2015-06-28T21:00:00

The Aries drone is gorgeous and has all the necessary gadgetry including GPS, compass guidance and gyro stabilization for the camera. However, cross winds will always force the quad copter to tilt to maintain position. The camera is attached to the main body and its gyro stabilization is limited so steady shots suffer in even light breeze. I have been waiting for a zero wind day to take aerial shots of our house and some slow pan video from about fifteen feet altitude as a test. The ultra wide angle ( similar to GoPros wide shot) has a little too much fisheye for my taste. I am still experimenting with the narrow camera angles. The Aries is extremely well built, has excellent flight time and is quite easy to set up and fly. Adorama's price was so good I click bought it on the spot. I had researched drones ranging up to $5,500 but I'm hoping this Aries will save me a fortune and still get the shot. I just have to remember to fly slow during the shoot to avoid the yaw and roll causing an unsteady shot.

DOUGLAS S.

2015-04-11T21:00:00

I've own the X10 for about 6 weeks now and I am 90% happy with it. I've owned 4 Parrot Bebop drone and had to return them for different reasons. The Bebop have great steady video but the picture quality was very poor. After owning 4 Parrot Bebops, I never felt confident to fly them real high. I feel very confident about flying the X10. It took a little time for me to control the speed of the X10, but now I have it. I love the picture quality but the video has a jello effect to it. The video is more detailed than my old Bebop, but I really hate the shaking of the X10. Before buying the X10, I couldn't find any sample footage. Now I'm trying to post as many videos as possible on Youtube to help others. I really like this Quad-copter and bought another battery my 2nd week of owning the X10. I can fly a little over 20 mins with each battery. I really would like to own 2 more batteries. I did find out that this is just like the AEE Turok AP10. I created a facebook page for the Aries Blackbird X10. So please do a FB search to see some discussion.

Darnell P.

2015-04-02T21:00:00

Very nice UAV. Very easy to operate. Pictures and video are much better than I expected. I plan on using this as part of my crop management program. One word of caution: As much as you may want to fly this right out of the box, take the time to thoroughly read the instruction manual. There is a minor calibration of the gyro that take only 5 minutes that must be done prior to your first flight.

Kkrat

2015-02-07T19:00:00

Best Drone I have flown so far. I started out with $50-$100 drones, then ended up with a Parrot Drone Elite, which was pretty cool, but had a VERY short flight range (around 200 ft.). This drone can go over to my grandmother's house almost a 1/4 mile away. It has a pretty steep learning curve, and it is definitely something that takes an hour + to learn before you fly it, but it flies well and for quite a while (I got about 20 minutes out of my first flight). Really amazing drone so far.

hung

2014-12-27T19:00:00

I am a pro photographer and videographer. I was hired to shoot some interiors and real estate (stills) and I convinced the client to spend an extra $800 to get aerial shots of the development. I had never flown a drone before, but how hard could it be right? I billed the client and got a drone out of. Pretty good deal. I ordered it from Adorama with and extra battery, apparently everyone else did too because they ran out of the batteries, but I called customer service and they said as soon as they come back into stock they are going to expedite me one. I was kind of nervous since there is not a lot of history about the Aries X-10 out there, except some pro magazine reviews, and YouTube is empty on it, but Adorama custumer support has always done good by me, so I decided to go ahead and purchase. I practiced like 3 times in a local park ballfield until I felt confident, and checked the photos and video, before going to do for the client. I know I was nervous because there wasn't a lot of customer feedback on the item, so even though I only have it a week, I am going to write my impressions. The manual is very clear (I ALWAYS read manuals). There is a lot of info in there, and I like how the safety tips and "what can go wrong" is clearly marked. I don't need my insurance to go up. Or deal with the FAA! Once I charged the battery and attached the blades, I took off in the ballfield. Takeoff was fairly straightforward and I was able to control the camera angle from the remote which was nice. But it would not record. After beating myself on the head, I realized I had never inserted an SD card. Since I was already at the ballfield, I continued to fly and practice with it. It is simple and intuative to control once you remember which joystick is to change orientation and which is to move. The controller is comfortable to hold, the neckstrap is nice because I wouldn't want to worry about dropping it and losing control. When you are flying it, regardless of speed, and you let go of the controls, it immediately stops on a dime and maintains position. I think that's great for safety so it won't fly off and crash if it slips of something. Even it wind, it held its position very well. My first landing was very nerve wracking, but it went fine. The drone bounced once and then stayed down, I held down the joystick until the wings stopped spinning. Later I tried the automatic landing, I was very impressed. I flew it off to a disctance, and turned off the remote, sure enough, maybe 30 seconds or a minute later it flew itself back to where it had started, landed, and turned itself off. There is a lag between the video you receive on the mobile app and the actual drone, I spoke to people at Adorama and other flyers and they said its normal. My next flight I took with an SD card, and I was able to record photos and video. The lens has a very wide angle, which I understand is very good for action filmaking and stabilizing, but is a pain for photography with all the distortion. I had to apply a lens correction in LR. And that sorted the shot out. Now it looks great. The photo is 4608x3456, so 16 megapixels as advertised. This left me room to crop for the brochure image. On the day of the shoot it was windy, which made me nervous. The client too! We took off from an empty section of parking (we are now cloned out) and I flew up pretty high, I wanted to minimize the distortion but not waste any pixels. As I was so nervous I took regular photos, burst photos, and some video. Here's some tips for the video: • Plan the shot, so you don't have to re-orient in the middle, re-orienting the drone in the middle of a video makes the video stop and jump • Driving at a steady rate will give you smooth shot • Slowing down the video a drop in post will make it even smoother For photo, the regular mode and the burst mode both worked great, I got plenty of usable shots. For overheads of buildings, you want to get them at a time of day when the sun is not directly overhead, but at the same time not too far down. Like an hour after noon. (Check online for your area.) This way you get depth to your structures but not long, creepy shadows. Both the client and I were very happy with the results. Impressions of the drone: • Aesthetically, I like the black body. I feel it looks way more professional than the white drones which look a bit toy-ish. More like the pro units with the solid metal bodies • Clients LOVE the use of this drone, it takes their offering to a whole new level vs. say a satellite shot or mockup. I also delivered some video files to the client with the understanding that if he uses them he will pay me more $$$! • It is very easy to fly and control. It stays where it is supposed to. The built in repeater makes the range of this drone very far • The phone holder clamp was a perfect fit with my phone case, so this may vary based on phone make and model. I don't think it would fit a tablet, although they would add way more production value • For real estate, take into account that you will fix the lens distortion in LR or PS. Don't sweat fitting too much extra space in the shot • 16 mp is great, the HD mov files are easy to work with in all programs Cons: • Pretty annoyed I didn't get my second battery right away. Waiting for a recharge is no fun. I will cut Adorama some slack cause of the good service dept, but I was pretty nervous the day of. Luckily I overestimated how much time I really needed. A car charger would also make me feel better. I don't think they have one :( • The black color could make it harder to find if it dies for some reason. Unless it's snowing :) • The GPS doesn't work indoors, I don't know why, I assumed it would. • If you make sudden moves during video it makes the shot shake. After watching some pro movies I realized moving past the subject and coming back SLOWLY is not the end of the world, and actually looks pretty good. Conclusion: If you can budget this drone into your next project or vacation, go for it! The extra megapixels and price difference made this the smart choice for me, coupled with Adorama's cutomer service which has NEVER let me down. This is an easy drone to fly and use to capture useful footage. My kid loves it and keeps asking me when he can try it (NEVER?). It adds great production value to projects, and the added vantage point and abilities are great. The GPS and safety features mean that if you have a brain (not like some people in brooklyn) you won't have to worry about anything with normal use. Sorry if I rambled, I wish I could have read an honest hands or review before buying, so I gave a blow-by-blow.

Jason P.