Drones are becoming ubiquitous in society; you can buy them everywhere from Best Buy to 7-Eleven. There is an incredible amount of variety available should you be interested in a drone. I’ve had the opportunity to review drones big and small, expensive and cheap.
Recently I was given the Eachine E10C mini video drone to review. It’s a small, 720P video drone that should be fun to use.
Let’s find out how it compares to other drones I’ve used.
In the box
- Eachine E10C
- 2.4 gHz remote control
- USB charging cable
- User manual
- 4 spare blades
Specifications
- Size: 60 x 60 x 28 mm
- Weight: 15g
- Camera: 2MP, 720P
- 3 speeds
- Flight time: 5 – 6 minutes
- Flight distance: about 20M
- Charging time: About 35 minutes
Design
The E10C is a fairly small drone, barely larger than a standard SD card.
The front of the drone contains a 720P, 2MP camera. The drone is capable of recording video and taking pictures.
The right side of the drone contains the power switch and the charging port.
The left side of the drone contains a micro SD card slot. Neither the manual nor Eachine’s website provides a maximum micro SD card size.
The E10C has an LED notification light below each rotor. The lights can be used to determine orientation or keep track of the drone at night. The front of the drone has blue LEDs, while the rear has red.
There is also an LED indicator which can be seen in the lower right corner of the first picture above. This LED lights up when you are taking a photo or video.
The remote control for the E10C is pretty standard. There are two joysticks for flight control, trim control buttons below the right joystick, and photo/video buttons in the bumpers. Between the joysticks is a power button, with a notification LED directly above. The rear of the remote contains a battery compartment for two AA batteries.
The E10’s design is remarkably similar the drones I’ve previously reviewed. It seems like a dead-on match of the Axis Vidius drone. I actually think there is a third-party company manufacturing these drones and allowing other companies to re-brand them.
Operation
The E10C pairs almost identically to the previous drones I’ve reviewed. First, you turn on both the drone and the controller. Then, you move the left joystick all the way up and all the way down. Like other drones I’ve reviewed, you have to do this every time you want to use the controller. I find it hard to believe they can’t create a permanent way to do this.
After being paired, the left joystick controls the throttle and rotation; the right controls forward/backward and side to side motion.
The E10C is also capable of performing flips. To do this, you press down on the right joystick, then move it in the direction you wish to flip. It’s a really simple thing to do.
You are also able to change the speed of the drone. This is done by pressing down on the left joystick.
The E10c starts off at 40% speed. One press will set it to 75% speed. A second press sets the drone to full speed. A third press will set it back to 40% speed.
The E10c flies exactly like the other small drones I’ve reviewed. I can generally control and fly the drone for extended periods without crashing, but it takes constant adjustments and I’ve yet to get one of these drones to hover in place. I attempted to adjust and reset the trim, but it doesn’t really change anything.
These small drones aren’t very difficult to fly, but it definitely takes practice.
Video and Photo quality
The E10c comes with a 2 megapixel, 720P camera. All the data is stored on a micro SD card that you have to supply.
Taking photos and video is pretty easy, there are two bumper buttons on the controller. The left button takes pictures, while the right records video.
Picture quality isn’t too bad; it’s certainly not anything you’re going to frame, but it’s leaps and bounds better than the last drone I reviewed.
If you want a cool aerial picture of your kids playing sports, or something along those lines, photos from the drone should be good enough to make your Facebook wall.
Video quality is roughly the same as photo, maybe a bit better. Again, it should be good enough for posting on social media, but I’m not sure it will be good for much else.
For such a small drone, neither photos nor videos were bad quality; I actually expected much worse based on my last drone review.
Conclusion
The E10c is almost identical to the Axis Vidius drone I previously reviewed. It has an identical design and flies the same; however, there are two things that set the E10c far apart from the Vidius….camera quality and price.
The camera is far better than the Vidius camera. Every picture and video I took could be posted on social media and enjoyed by friends or family.
Second – and perhaps most importantly – the E10c is only $35.99. That’s almost $63 cheaper than the Vidius.
If you have been considering purchasing a drone, I think you should definitely give the E10c a look. It’s a great starter drone at a great price.
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Eachine. Please visit their site for more information and Amazon to check prices and order.
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Hi Dennis,
Thanks for the review. In a way, it’s good to know that my little Wallet drone (no camera) is just as good as one like this. I guess there’s just not much more you can do to increase the quality in such a small machine, at least, at this price point.
That is actually AMAZING video quality for a drone at that price point!!!
I feel so silly: I can fly the drone no problem but I can’t figure out how to download the pics or video; can someone help please? very much appreciated.