CW4 Drone with Camera

This drone is amazing. It has a ton of features that many drones three times its price don't even have. My favorite features: * Easy to learn to fly. * Takes GREAT video. * Take off and holds altitude with the click of a button. * Lands with a click of a button. * Responsive controls. Doesn't seem too sensitive or two sluggish. Seems just right. As others have mentioned, the camera points slightly downward. I really don't mind this, because I usually want video or pictures of the people on the ground rather than the horizon or of the general landscape. But if you want scenic video, others have mentioned that you can adjust the camera by simply loosening a couple screws and wedging something between the camera and the body of the drone. I haven't tried it, but based on how it all looks, that appears to be true. I might try it in the future if I need a certain kind of shot, but I'm happy with the camera angle for now. But the customer service is really what gives this drone five stars. When I lost my first drone, the company contacted me and offered me a replacement, saying that they strive for 100% customer satisfaction. Well, I've got to say, I'm 100% satisfied! If you're buying your first drone, don't hesitate to buy this one. It's great. A few recommendations: * Thoroughly understand the controls and pre-flight procedure before your first flight. * Have a plan for what to do if you lose control of your drone due to unforeseen circumstances * Write your phone number on your drone with a fine tip permanent marker. That way, if you lose it, hopefully some kind soul will give you a call. * Attach a GPS tracker to it. I ordered a Tile Mate tracker and will be securing it with a zip tie to one of the drone's feet. It's not a perfect solution, and does add 50% to the drone's cost, but it does give a bit more peace of mind in case you lose control or sight of it. * Cheerwing makes it clear that it's really not for windy days. Stick to that recommendation. All that said, I have no regrets about this purchase. I wish I could use it when it was just a tad windy out, but for the price, you really can't complain, especially with how awesome the customer service is. If you're looking to buy your first drone, you can't go wrong with this one. --- ORIGINAL REVIEW --- I had high hopes for this drone. I did a ton of research before purchasing it. I compared it to all the drones in my price range, and this one seemed to be the one I'd always wanted. I was blown away by its features. My only hesitation was the same one regarding almost every drone out there: stories of how the drone would randomly fly away on its first flight, never to be seen again. Nevertheless, I told myself that it must just be the user's fault, not taking the time to properly learn how to fly the drone, or neglecting to calibrate it before each flight. So before my first flight, I read every word in the manual. I took it slow. I practiced in safe places. I always followed the proper pre-flight procedure. I was amazed how fast I got the hang of it. Within a couple hours, I could fly it fine. And then, disaster. On my second day of having it, after many successful flights, I took it out in front of my house, where this is a wide-open field. I flew it for a few minutes, and then heard the low battery alert (which also doubles as the "out of range" alert). So I hit the "one touch down" button, and starting directing it to come closer via the controls. It was coming closer, but it didn't seem like it was descending. So I hit the "auto land" button again, and also directed it to descent using the altitude control. It was overhead at this point, so I tried to tell it to go forward again, but it wasn't responding. It kept going backward, over my house, so I ran around the house to the backyard as fast as I could so that I could see it and keep controlling it, but it was too late. It was nowhere in sight, and even though I spent hours looking around my neighborhood, I now reluctantly have to admit that it's lost. Was it my fault? Maybe, I really don't know. I really thought I had a good handle on how it operated, but I'm starting to doubt myself. Did I turn off "headless mode" when I thought I pushed the "auto land" button? Did I fly it too high and it therefore just wasn't responding to anything I was trying to do? I don't think so, because it was just barely able to fly over my house, which is a ranch-style home. But I guess I'll never know. My advice: make sure you are 100% confident in your ability to control it before letting it get too far away or too high. Not 99%. Not 99.9%. 100%. Otherwise, you may never see it again.

I spent some time researching drones in this price range for both ease of flight (and learning to fly without too much electronic hand holding) and a reasonable quality of video. Reviews for the CW4 plus those for Cheerwing customer service won the day and it was delivered in quick time (2 days with Prime for me). While the drone is easy to control for a beginner pilot and is a good drone to learn the basics of flying manually (recommended to get to the next level) the drone itself did not meet up to my expectations in some areas: First, be careful when you read many of the reviews on this page which mention an onboard SD card. I would have preferred one, but there isn't one (FPV only)!! Confusing that the reviews suggest otherwise. Second and even more concerning is the fact that the operating instructions pdf on the product page (at the time of purchase in April 2022) is for a different version of the CW4 which has an SD card slot and a different controller which looks more feature-rich than the one that came with my CW4. (Full disclosure, I contacted the seller after receiving the drone and was told that the old version of the CW4 has an SD slot, the current version does not (FPV). Who knew there were 2 versions ? (I hope the old pdf will be replaced because it is confusing to potential customers, showing as it does a version that is apparently no longer shipped). As for the myriad "onboard SD card" reviews, I guess that's down to bundling together reviews for different versions of the CW4 which have different features and hardware than that sold on the current product page). Finally - and this may be a unique issue to the particular CW4 I received - but the low battery constant beeping noise kicks in after only a few seconds of flight, even with a full battery! In fact, I've flown a total of 3 times now, all with full batteries (3 different ones and each time I barely get off the ground before the annoying beeping starts. And it clearly is not appropriate because I can continue to fly for several minutes like this as the battery is slowly depleted in flight, so it cannot be almost depleted at launch even though the beeping would suggest otherwise. In summary, make sure you know - despite the reviews and documentation here saying the contrary - that you are ordering a FPV drone with no SD card slot. You can fly it as a raw drone without a phone (just the controller) but you'll need a phone and a downloaded app in order to use the picture and video functions. Hope this helps. Undecided yet as to whether to return. Update: April 8th 2022 The seller reached out to me to help with issues. I think they genuinely want to back up their product so extra star for that. The pdf on the product page is now the correct one so that's good. The beeping I isolated to additional supposedly compatible batteries I bought to get more flight time, so not sure if a few charge cycles might cure the problem. I decided to keep the drone but as it's not exactly what I wanted, I'll likely gift it to a neighbor's child.

WOW! what a great product this is at such a fantastic price ! I saw the CW4 reviewed on quadcopter 101 web site. I must say it beats the competition in so many ways! I have 2 Syma X5C's which my grandson and I fly for fun. One got lost in a tree about 100 feet tall. I did order a BNF model to replace the Syma. I then saw the review of the Cheerwing CW4., placed the order and I am totally pleased with the CW4. It has a great stability and control while flying. So easy to control, and not bad video and photographs, no jello! Best quadcopter money that I have ever spent. While this is considered to be in the toy drone class, I would say that it beats several other drones costing five times as much. I just can not tell you in words how much I am pleI would like to add a comment about the video quality of the cheerwing CW4 as it out performs many of the drones in its price category for sharp, smooth, clear output. Due to the fact that the CW4 is such a gentle flyer with altitude hold, it makes for such a easy flyer as you can use this drone for aerophotgraphic uses where a more costly drone would pose danger to objects, places or people (I have one of those). I have used indoors in a setting to show off Christmas advent scenes church (no service in progress) , outdoors to photograph Christmas decorations and fall colours from a different perspective. I have even attached a 808 #16 lens d camera for additional spectacular footage. While GPS (and costly) is nice, you will be amazed at the CW4 for steady shots without GPS. True this in not intended for windy weather, is still does a great job in flight control in slight breezy conditions. This is a excellent quadcopter for younger people or older ( I am 74 and worked in aerospace education at a air force university) who truly want to master the art of UAV flight without the erratic behavior of the small palm size drones which is most difficult to fly. I think that if you or a beginner, intermediate or experienced pilot of drones you will be very pleased with the Cheerwing CW4 it is remarkable to purchase a quadcopter with so many features at such a great price! I really, really like it! ased with the Cheerwing CW4.

Started out great. This is my second drone, first got caught in the wind and has gone somewhere not to be found. This drone was easier to fly than the first. The altitude hold and one button launch were great. The camera was more than adequate. Started to be able to control the drone and use it to survey my second story roof. Flight time was better than my first drone but still only about eight minutes max. Because of losing the first drone in the wind, did not fly when windy, so could not fly every weekend. Charging times on the batteries was not bad and having two batteries was a plus. After the tenth flight, went out to make my eleventh flight and when I pushed the one button launch. the drone sat on the ground with props spinning, but no lift off. One of the rear motors had been having trouble since the third flight starting but if you spun the blade, it would start. I thought the battery must have not been fully charged. I changed batteries and still sat spinning no lift off. HAve charged batteries, changed batteries in the controller and nothing works to get it off the ground. Would not put money into repairing this unit. Was enjoying the drone, but a bit expensive for such a short life.

I recently purchased this for my son's 7th birthday as a gift. I know...it's a bit young to hand over controls to a drone, but he's only allowed to use it under my supervision and he's been flying RC helicopters since he was 3. Since any father purchasing a drone for their children, like me, probably has the secondary motive of finally having an excuse to play with one also, we initially looked at more expensive units. However, after seeing a father and son flying together at our local soccer field and witnessing dad's very first flight land the quadcopter in the top of a tree about 60 feet up, I realized our enthusiasm for flying these things would last longer if we destroyed a $50 flyer rather than a $300 one. The Cheerwing CW4 originally stood out as having positive online reviews for younger users. And at the price, I figured if we broke or lost it we would have at least had fun in the process without being out much money. That being said, I also didn't expect much from this unit at all. It's under $50. A small toy RC helicopter at WalMart is $20, so I truly thought we were still in the "toy" quadcopter range. I was wrong. I'm not a drone connoisseur, but I was blown away by the number of features and ease of flight at this price point. For starters, the one key take-off, headless mode ability, altitude hold, and speed adjustability features make this so easy to get used to. We went to a local baseball field and had a very first fun outing with zero damage. My son took the controls first and had a very smooth first flight. It was around dusk so the front/rear light indicators were very visible and made it easy to stay out of headless mode. However, we went for a second flight in the middle of the day and had no problems keeping our bearings then either. If we got in trouble, we were able to make a second quick touch to the automatic take-off/landing button and gently guide it down without panic. We did have to pull the two-second emergency landing hold on it once and completely shut down the motors, but at an altitude of about 30 feet and dropping onto grass there was not a single thing wrong with the copter. Add to that the fact that it comes with a full replacement set of rotor blades, two batteries, 4GB SD card for the camera, and a USB card reader, we were completely geared up right out of the box at less than $50. The only issues I've noticed so far that I'd even mention are that it seems to have pretty limited range and altitude and also that the camera quality isn't something you're going to be shooting videos with to send to National Geographic. But again, it's fifty bucks! Besides, being beginners we probably should not be flying with much range anyway until we're a bit more skilled. If you're looking for an entry-level quadcopter to learn to fly and consider the camera there more for fun than for charging realtors for a flyover shot of a property, I can't recommend this little guy highly enough!

This was the second drone. The first was completely dead out of the box. The second worked but was completely uncontrollable. It would not hover, instead would begin moving as soon as it reached the height programmed (about 5 feet). The second time we tried using it it took off by itself, flew over our house and disappeared. We live on undeveloped land where there are juniper trees and not much of anything else. We couldn't find it and we really looked. I thought that once it reached outside the range of the transmitter, it would land. It didn't. I read some really glowing reviews about this and I wonder how the one we got could be so different from others. Well, that was then and this is now. Problems with QC? Perhaps but I cannot recommend this to anyone. It's junk from my perspective.

The CW4 was my first drone and I'm really glad it was, for several reasons: 1. It has altitude hold, which means that you can fly it to a certain height and it will hold that height (more or less). Drones without altitude hold are much harder to fly. 2. It's very sturdy. Face it, you're going to crash your first drone a LOT. I crashed this thing probably 10x every time I'd take it out but it took it like a champ. Even the blades, after many flights, had little more than surface scuffs and scratches on them. 3. The controller will feel familiar to anyone who's played video games in the last 30 years. Many other drones have big bulks controls that are made to look like R/C airplane controllers and they just don't fit the hand as well. The CW4 has a nice medium sized controller that will fit both small and large hands. 4. Flight time is pretty good and wind resistance is okay. Flight time could be better, of course, but with brushed motors this is pretty average. Likewise for a lightweight drone wind is going to be an issue, period, but this one at least has the power to fight it to some extent. 5. Power. For such a cheap drone this thing has enough power to lift and fly a GoPro camera attached to the bottom of it. Now mind you battery life will be cut in half (if not more, so expect 2-4 minute flights) but nevertheless it CAN lift one. 6. Comes with two batteries, many drones only come with one 7. Has a camera, not a great one, but not a totally abysmal one either. It's usable. Cons: Like any product there are some cons. It's far from a perfect drone, but you shouldn't be expecting that for $50. Even at $250 most drones are still fairly cheaply built. 1. Range, it's not abysmal but it's not fantastic either. You won't be hitting 500ft in altitude (nor should you for safety reasons!) 2. Camera takes okay 720p video...but the problem is that it is not a very wide angle at all. It's a 50mm equivalent so provides a fairly narrow field of view. Also, in stock form, it points down at like a 30 degree angle meaning you have to get some altitude to shoot anything. A little tinkering can fix this though, as I did on mine. Thoughts 1. Remove the blade guards. The provided props are very durable and all they prop guards do is add wind resistance (cut down on flying time) and provide a convenient spot for branches to catch if it goes near a tree. 2. Take apart the little camera and modify the plastic inside to allow the little circuit board to slide forward a few millimeters, this will allow the camera to face forward, making it much more useful. 3. I can not stress this one enough, PAINT THE REAR OF THE COPTER A BRIGHT COLOR! If you can't tell what the front is and what the back is you will have a hard time flying it. I sprayed some red on the rear pylons and landing gear. Made a world of difference in me being able to tell from a distance what my orientation is.

Bought this based on all the excellent reviews. Features for the money are great. The phot and video quality are very good. The controls are excellent and really make learning to fly a drone great. I was looking forward to using this drone. Then on about the 10th time flying it, one of the propelers quit working. It will not take off with only 3 working. I tried turning it of and back on, as well as removing batteries and trying again. No luck. The company contacted me and has sent me a replacement motor. Excellent customer service and I will continue to suggest this drone when people ask.