UDI U818A Review
UDI U818A Review
The UDI U818A quadcopter is a solid entry-level quadcopter option. It offers integrated video recording and stable flying with its 6-axis gyro, at a reasonable retail price of about $50. Read on for our full UDI 818A review!
Packaging
The UDI U818A comes in a medium sized cardboard box with a handle for easy carrying on top. It comes with all the quadcopter accessories that you need to start flying, including:
- UDI U818A Quadcopter
- One 3.7V 500mAh Lithium Polymer Battery
- 2.4Ghz Remote Controller
- USB Charging Cable
- Instruction Manual
- Spare Propellers
UDI U818A Packaging
UDI U818A Quadcopter Design
The UDI U818A is similar to many other quadcopters in design, with a plastic cross frame and pretty much entirely plastic parts. It is a mid-size quadcopter, measuring about 13″ by 13″ and about 2.5″ tall. If you’re familiar with the Syma X1 quadcopter, it is nearly identical in size – and has very similar propellers too! Personally, I think this is a great size quadcopter to learn on as it is big enough to see easily, it can be controlled with easy and isn’t too twitchy like some micro/nano quads, and its still small enough to fly indoors.
UDI U818A - Similar size to Syma X1 or X5C
The motors are standard and the drive assembly is exposed just like in the Syma X1, so you can see the gears that drive the propellers. Be sure to check them for hair, dust, etc. after a few flights as that can interfere with your performance and its best to keep it maintained and free of debris before it becomes an issue.
Battery slides in then connects
Like most quadcopters in this price range, the lithium polymer battery slides in a compartment on the bottom and you manually connect the wires together. Having a swappable battery is a big plus, though I do hope that at some point manufacturers turn towards batteries that clip into place, i.e. as in the Parrot Rolling Spider MiniDrone. There are four LEDs that illuminate the bottom of each propeller/quadcopter arm, two in the front that light up blue and two in the rear that light up red. This can be very helpful when you’re flying to help you orient the aircraft, and additionally, there’s a bright white LED right on the front of the quadcopter that also helps you know which way is facing forward.
Surrounding the body of the quadcopter is a fairly solid, but somewhat flexible, plastic bumper that protects the propellers from damage. While this adds weight and restricts your maneuverability a little bit, this integrated bumper is very helpful for indoor and outdoor flying. A crash that may have resulted in a broken propeller or damaged frame on a Syma X1 would probably just be a minor scuff for the UDI U818A quadcopter.
Flying
The U818A is very easy to fly and performs just like any other quadcopter in the same size range. It is responsive, surprisingly stable for the price, and does well in (very) light wind conditions outdoors. The UDI U818A is able to do flips and inversions, which are easily performed via the buttons on the remote. Overall, it is a fun quadcopter to fly and has a very easy learning curve.
Camera, Video, and Photography
One of the best features about the UDI U818A is that it is video and photo enabled right out of the box! It has a small video camera integrated into the bottom of the quadcopter, and no additional tinkering is necessary to take videos and pictures.
The camera has a resolution of 640×480 pixels, which is not HD but is still useable and produces a decent picture. Of course, with any camera and sensor of this size, the quality of the picture is going to leave something to be desired. At this price point, you can’t really expect to have an amazing picture, but for what it is it isn’t all that bad. As one reviewer put it, “the quality of the camera is like a cell phone camera from six years ago.” The videos and pictures are stored on a microSD card that is inserted into the back of the camera module.
Battery and Charging
The UDI U818A quadcopter comes with one 5oomAh Li-Po battery, which is the standard type for this size of quadcopter. The battery will give you about 7 minutes of flight time, which is not really that great, but also not particularly short either. The battery does take a while to charge though – the manual and documentation states 120 minute (two hours!) but I got about 1.5 hours. Still, that is very high for this size of battery/quadcopter so I would definitely recommend that you purchase multiple batteries and have them pre-charged before you want to go out and fly.
Remote Control
The transmitter is a solid size and has a good weight in your hands. It has an LED to indicate On/Off, it has buttons on the top left to assist with flips and maneuvers, and it also has two buttons on the lower left face of the controller to activate the video and/or photo modes. Additionally, you can select the High/Low speed with the lower right button on the face of the controller. It takes 4 AAA batteries (not included) and will enable you to control the quadcopter up to about 100 feet (30 meters). Another great feature in the transmitted is the integrated monochrome LCD display that shows information about the battery, trim levels, and video/photo status. You can also turn on and off the white LED lights on the quadcopter.
UDI U818A Review – Final Verdict
The UDI U818A quadcopter is a solid value for anyone looking for their first quadcopter to learn on. The integrated video on a quadcopter of this size is a very nice selling point, and its ease of flying and stability make it a strong contender in the consumer quadcopter market. The integrated bumper will help anyone who is just learning how to fly, and as you become more advanced you can also remove the bumper and fly without it (thus increasing your flight time and maneuverability). We highly recommend the UDI U818A quadcopter and we’ve featured it on our best quadcopter page.
UDI U818A with Remote
UDI U181A vs. Syma X5C – many folks may ask, is the UDI U818A or the Syma X5C quadcopter a better deal? The UDI U818A is a bit larger than the Syma X5C, but they both offer similar capabilities and features - and both are easy to fly and great quadcopters to learn on. Both quadcopters are excellent choices and will provide hours of entertainment!
Where to Purchase
We recommend purchasing the UDI U818A quadcopter on Amazon.com. They offer the lowest prices, quickest shipping, and excellent customer support. The UDI U818A quadcopter is actually one of the best sellers on Amazon; it currently holds the #1 position in the Helicopters sub-section of the Toys and Games category. Let us know if you find any other better buying options though!
Links to other UDI U818A Reviews and Quadcopter Information
The Might Thor! gives us a solid UDI UDI U818A review:
XHeli brings us a classy UDI U818A review:
Sodizzle3113 has a solid unboxing video and UDI U818A review:
my son got this drone for Christmas. This morning when he went to use it one of the propellers won’t rotate at all- I need help troubleshooting - any ideas on how to fix/
Hi Rachel, sorry to hear about that! The most likely issue is that the small gear on the motor is not connected to the larger gear on the propeller. Flip the quadcopter over and inspect the gears that are housed inside the landing “feet” on the propeller that is not working. If the gears are misaligned, the propeller will not spin at all - look at the other gears on the propellers that are working to compare. You may be able to push the motor (the silver cylindrical piece) up or down so that the gears lock in together.
You can also check to see if the motor is working by turning the quadcopter on while upside down, holding it in one hand so the props don’t hit the ground, and very lightly increase the lift (left control stick up). If the small gear on the motor isn’t spinning at all, then either the motor is dead, the wire connection is broken, or the hardware in the drone is broken. In that case, you should reach out to the retailer and/or the manufacturer for a refund or replacement. If the small gear does spin, then the issue is just the connection between the motor and the propeller, which you can likely solve by pushing the motor to the right height so it lines up.
Here’s a close up view of the motor/propeller connection where the two are NOT connected yet: http://www.dx.com/p/replacement-r-c-aircraft-parts-carbon-fiber-cw-motor-for-udi-u818a-black-multicolored-389088#
Here’s a smaller view of how the motor/propeller assembly should look: http://resources.sloughrc.com/product_images/large/A/A-U818A_f.jpg
Good luck and let me know if you are able to fix it!
Can you tell me why all of a sudden when flying the controller starts beeping? Thanks.
Hi Chris - how far into your flight are you? On some of the UDI U818A models, the controller will start beeping when the battery is running low. This is a useful feature so you have time to land and avoid a potential crash. If that isn’t the cause of the beeping, let me know exactly what is happening (when is it beeping, what is the pattern, etc.) and I can try and diagnose more accurately.
It is probably 5-10 minutes into flight. I was thinking is was the batteries. Because nothing seemed to be going wrong, so did not think it would be anything else.
Hey there!
I got one of these drones for Christmas and already trying to figure out the maximum optimisation for the U818A in terms of upgrading the battery to increase flight time. However, I’m getting confused by the mAh, discharge values and how much an individual motor pulls from the battery, etc. Are you able to help advise on what specifications of a battery I should be looking for? More mAh and a certain minimum discharge rate (c value)??
Thanks for your help!
Tom, I would just buy several batteries they are only 8 bucks a piece. But by chance would anybody know where to find a manual for it? I lost it in the Christmas chaos.
I m a complete novice with drones, and am a bit frustrated with the U818A HD+. I can get it to fly, often in the direction I want it to, but the user guide is almost incoherent so trying to get better at operating it is pretty much trial and error.