Walkera H500 Carbon Edition Ready to Fly Hexacopter

Product Description

In the box, we found the drone and:

• iLook+ 1080p camera 3-axis G-3D gimbal to mount it5400 mAh lithium polymer (lipo) batteryBattery chargerDEVO F12e transmitter

                                                                         

This hexa's great impression starts with the first look: the very sleek exterior hides every last cable inside while other drones often have e.g. battery cables protruding to the exterior. It's easy to handle: for instance, the legs are very simple to attach and detach. Unfortunately, they're also a bit more flimsy than we'd have liked.

The Walkera Tali H500 will stay in the air for 25 minutes in one session, giving you the freedom to move very far and get some tremendous video footage along the way. Once you run low on battery, the device will warn you so you can bring it home and wrap up the session.

Flight Characteristics

With 6 (!) propellers, this drone achieves amazing stability and nimbleness. At a whopping 1 km (0.62 miles), its range far exceeds any other drone we've tested.

Featuring 12 channels, the fully FPV (first-person view) capable Tali H500 gives you maximum control over every aspect of your flight, allowing you to monitor your flight in real-time streaming video. It appears on the large PCD screen that's built right into the transmitter, alongside sophisticated flight information like battery life, temperature and GPS data, including altitude, distance and more.

It's most comfortable to fly in GPS position-hold mode, simply because the drone will stop moving and hold its position any time you release the controls. This is quite convenient and makes it easy to handle the hexa.

Needless to say, the drone can come back home and land safely at the press of a button or if you lose contact, and its autonomous flight and path-finding capabilities are highly advanced. However, please note that it climbs to an altitude of 15 meters by default when it flies autonomously: if it runs into obstacles at that altitude, it'll crash into them. Change the default setting if you need a higher altitude in your area
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There's one more thing we particularly liked: the Tali H500 is capable of circling a GPS waypoint you define!

Video Features

This drone comes with the high-quality iLook+ HD camera that shoots stills at 13 megapixels and provides you 1080p video at 30 fps. It's attached to the drone's body with a sturdy, stabilized gimbal that allows for smooth 3-axis movement and is compatible with both iLook and GoPro cameras.

The gimbal is one of the accessories you can replace, if you so desire. On its own, the included gimbal goes for roughly 150 Dollars, and more pricey pieces provide even smoother movement, e.g. when counteracting fast movements of the drone to preserve still and smooth video.

The TALI is also designed to carry a host of other (superior) compact cameras, like the GoPro, the Sony RX1000 or the Canon EOS-M.

That said, we were quite happy with both the video and still photo quality that the iLook+ HD camera delivers. In this price range, you can expect professional quality, we predict you'll do just well with the Tali H500's default cam.

Our Conclusion

There's no two ways about it, this is a highly impressive piece of technology that far exceeds hobby usage: it screams for professional implementation. Whether you want to take your photography business to the next level, provide presentations for your architectural plans or film your skiing team's acrobatics, this drone is your number one choice. Out of all the drones reviewed on this page, this is the most serious one.

Provided you've got the money to burn, that is. We'll have more on that in our final words below. For now, here are the obvious pros of this device:

• Highly comfortable handling
• LCD screen integrated into transmitter
• Features live video and flight data
• Very good default camera
• High-quality default gimble
• Replaceable accessories in case you want to upgrade
• Long battery life
• Fantastic design

Beware of these issues:

It takes up to 3 minutes to lock on to GPS. Give it enough time, otherwise you'll lose precision or, worse, the hexa. The 967 Dollar DJI Phantom 2 Vision is comparable in many ways and costs less Manual isn't too informative. Refer to tutorials online to figure out all features

No doubt, we've got a real badass on our hands here. If you want to use it for professional purposes, go for it. Get it as it is, and once you're broken in and have some extra money saved up, you can upgrade to a better camera and other useful accessories.