Why you should NOT buy the 3DR Solo Drone
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- *UPDATE OCT 5, 2016*
I just wanted to follow up today with an article released by Forbes. 3DR has stopped production of all drones and will not be making any more. The sales at Best Buy people keep commenting on are simply to move stock and they are being sold at an incredible loss. I stand by my review and encourage people to NOT buy the drone as they are obsolete and will not be supported by 3DR in the future.
Watch my follow up review here
• 3DR Is No Longer Makin...
I've had the Solo Drone by 3DR for 5 months and have nothing but bad experiences. It's time to share this with others and hopefully you can learn from my mistakes. I bought into the media hype and PR from them. I dove in deep. Don't make the same mistake.
The Drone I Replaced my 3DR Solo With;
click.dji.com/A... - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
![สักวันฉันจะหายดี - INK WARUNTORN [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qyKVXta1vVY/mqdefault.jpg)
I bought mine back in July 2015 along with 4 spare batteries. It has behaved and flown flawlessly for over 200 flights and I am still using the original props. I am sure that there are a few Solos out there that have developed faults, but there are hundreds that haven't. The same can be said for any drone whether it's made by 3DR, DJI or any other proven manufacturer.
i have had mine over a year and still flys amazing.
that's awesome. sounds like you received a good one. hopefully you'll never have issues and you can hold on to that one.
Tallguysd do have issue losing signal when Solo is not visible?
Fastbloom Messi i have flown mine out over 1/2 mile
Tallguysd considering the Phantom 3 can easily fly a mile & a half without losing signal you have to factor in all the pros & cons. Especially since this device & the Phantom 3 series were the same price point when they were first released. I was in Best Buy today & couldn't believe they still had this & the Karma in their display case.
Same, but now I'm nervous since they no longer make or will be supporting. Gonna have to drop another G on the Mavic. Still it was a good drone to learn on.
Three years later and my 3DR is still flying. Never crashed, never failed to return to the spot I launch from. My friend is on his 4th DJI after two fly aways with no recovery, and two RTMs. Looks like I chose correctly.
Hi can i ask a question. Why my 3dr starts alarm when i turn it on and the front lights turns white and back is red ?? Can you please help me what are those alarms ???
That's too bad you didn't have good luck with yours. I just got mine and it Flys great.
pro tip : you can watch series at Kaldrostream. Me and my gf have been using it for watching all kinds of movies during the lockdown.
@Mathias Hunter yup, been watching on Kaldrostream for years myself :D
@Mathias Hunter yea, been using KaldroStream for since december myself =)
Been flying mine for awhile now. Never had an issue. Best Drone for the money!
Roberts R/C Radio just bought two of them myself where did you get yours at?
Still feel the same?
Im thinking about getting one.
I had the parrot b was great but batt battery time voor the first verion
I had a dji phantom did not likes this
So how is this one
Hell no even back then we all knew this was a dud from what we've seen and heard how the company made these.
I stopped listening when he said "Ive not really used drones before" ...
3dr solo is still the must stable and nicely made than all the other drone I have it and I never get an issue with it
Ive had my solo for over 6 months and have had nothing but great flights. I also fly Dji Drones and they too are great, The solo has much more to offer and has been much better as far as video quality. I flew it a few days ago and the range was awesome. Right now you can pick these up for a song, add a gopro and you will have a pro caliber camera platform...good job 3DR !!!
Lol! "Range was awesome" ya ok. Range SUCKED on al non modded 3DRs
Only talking about feelings, need to focus more in technical details
Dario Rivera I agree. Mine works great. Even crashed it several times and replaced parts and it’s still trucking.
2019 into November, still flying mine...along with my spark
Had mine for over a year. Used it in high winds, used in temperature between below 0 and over 80 degrees F. Always steady footage and has always worked. Follow me mode and orbit are awesome. Sorry to hear your experience was not as good as mine.
You are very lucky and seem to be one of the rare models that wasn't messed up from factory. Glad it has worked for you!
I just wanted to follow up today with an article released by Forbes. I'll link it in this comment but essentially, 3DR has stopped production of all drones and will not be making anymore. The sales at Best Buy people keep commenting on are simply to move stock and they are being sold at an incredible loss. I stand by my review and encourage people to NOT buy the drone as they are obsolete and will not be supported by 3DR in the future. Here is a quote from the article,
"“We’re not making anymore Solos and we’re not going to make another drone,” said Anderson, who suggested that 3D Robotics would start developing software for other drone makers. “I love the idea of other companies making hardware so we don’t have to and we can focus on the software and services side. We’re a Silicon Valley company and we’re supposed to be doing software and there are Chinese companies that are supposed to be doing hardware.”
In the meantime, consumers can still purchase the drone that helped Anderson arrive at that conclusion. While Solo and its accompanying gimbal cost more than $750 to manufacture and ship and once retailed for $1,400, a savvy shopper can now find it at a significant discount. Best Buy now offers both products together for $500."
There you have it.
www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/10/05/3d-robotics-solo-crash-chris-anderson/#7ce8f8ae4840
$380 today
Gotta move that stock. I'm uploading a video now explaining the Forbes article and what it means to Solo owners. Check it out later today!
I bit, I don't want to afford a DJI yet, just want to test out how a REAL drone works and get some experience first, and if I like it Ill go for a higher end DJI down the road. Ill probably be able to get most of my money back if I sell it.
DJI Phantom 3 Standard is just around that price. Without the problems, or dead end product/company.
Regardless of whether the solo is discontinued or not it is a far better option than a P4/mavic due to cost, besides the superior flight modes.
I got my 3dr solo a week ago on Ebay for 180. The first time I flew it it lost GPS signal and crashed into my garage shattering all of the propellers. After buying new propellers and thinking it was just user error I attempted a second time in a more open field. This time it wouldn't take off properly. Whenever I hit the fly button to let it take off it took off several times at an angle even when it was flat on the ground and crashed. I don't know if there is something wrong with the motors or what but that obviously shouldn't happen.
Thanks for sharing! Back when I was deciding to upgrade a prosumer drone, 3DR was one I was seriously considering. I'm SO glad I went with the Phantom 3 Professional. It's been such a positive experience flying DJI that I preordered their latest Phantom 4 Professional a couple weeks ago... hopefully it will arrive this week! As for Amazon, I've been purchasing from them regularly for 14 years now and they provide the absolute best shipping & customer service in the industry! The only reason I purchased my P4PRO directly through DJI, is because nobody else was carrying it yet, otherwise I would have gone through Amazon. Thanks again for sharing your experience. I'm a new sub to your channel and look forward to following you going forward. Take care!
Chris
I have one that is sitting at the bottom of a lake right now. Flew it up, hit the home button. The drone stuttered and slowly descended into the lake. Pressed every button possible but it did not respond. In the process of dealing with the logs and 3dr solo.
Totally understand your sentiment, but I don't share it. My experience with the Solo has been excellent. No troubles at all and very happy with it. That being said, I have a Mavic on order! Mainly due to the size. But I will say one reason I went with Solo was I had heard horror stories about DJI support. I don't know if support has ever improved, but I am sure their support with be better than 3DR once they have completely closed down their consumer division. I guess it is all relative. Thanks for sharing your opinion. I would probably share it if I had your experience with it.
That was part of the point of my comment. I said that, as bad as DJI's support has been, it will be better than 3DR's since they are leaving the consumer space. BTW, love my Mavic. But DJI sure screwed people over in their launch and the long wait to get it. I think they launched earlier than planned to take on Karma. But Karma is now dead too! But very happy with the Mavic.
thank you for this. we had picked one up at best buy and watched this and decided to return it right away... as best buy only has 15 days to return these and no warranty!
I bought this during this years Amazon Prime Day sale. Took a while to get, and when I got it, I had problems from the beginning. First issue got fixed after 6 days chatting with their customer service. I finally got it to work more than a week after receiving it. It worked amazingly perfect for about 5 flights, then got weird sounds coming from the gimbal. I contacted them again about it and they wanted me to send it in for repair....I Said "sorry, I got it from Amazon 3 weeks ago, I'll send it back to them and get a new one" Well, that happened, and Amazon sent me a new one before I sent the first one back. Unfortunately, the 2nd one never worked out of the box. After contacting 3DR about it, they said it was an issue internally, and nothing could be fixed by me or over the air. Sent it back to Amazon, got refunded, they wouldn't send me another one. I was upset because I really wanted it.....now I have a Mavic on its way.
The features were great, being able to use a GoPro was a plus in my mind, but it failed. I'm looking forward to my Mavic.
Isn't Amazon awesome!?!? Sorry for your back experience but I'm glad Amazon is making things right for us.
Timothy Sunday Amazon was great, 3DR was great too... But all this happening in such a short time was bad. It did have some great features and the price was at my price point. Nice video too.. Watched another one today about the Solo being the a good fit to be your first... Haha.
Scott Lawless thanks. Be sure and subscribe as I've got some awesome products on the way for more reviews
I have 3 Solos, 2 Inspires, P4, and older diy quads. Your problems with the Solo are not uncommon. You are going to find the same problems with DJI as well. 3dr's customer service can be frustrating but so is DJI's. Your drifting problem is due to a poor GPS lock. You should get more comfortable flying in manual mode. Never trust the gps. You can loose gps at anytime, even if the app says you are still locked. I notice you are using the alpha antennas. The alpha antennas don't help at all, actually make it worse. Someone made a youtube review saying Alpha gave them better range, but its not true. Use your stock antennas, you will maintain better connection. The green screen is due to a poor HDMI cable connection from the main board to the gimbal. I still fly the shit out of my solo and get awesome shots. Now that BB has them so cheap I do more risky shots with them. I dont want to do that with my $4k Inspire. I think your biggest problem is this is your first drone and you dont understand how they work. It would help if you bought a cheap Syma x5c-1 and fly the crap out of it. If you can fly the cheap little drones, (fix them too) you can fly and understand/pilot the big ones even better.
+Mike Johnsen Hey thanks for watching and commenting. I agree with a lot of what you said. But I still stand by my review. As a consumer who paid over $1200 for this setup, the use/down time ratio was horrible. And the amount of defective hardware I encountered is inexcusable when purchasing a high end drone, in my opinion...software and GPS aside.
Be sure to subscribe as I have the mavic pro.on it's way for a full review.
This reply is spot on.
Because of your response. I'm going to buy a solo it sounds like you know what the hell you're talkin about thanks man.
I bought the same drone from best buy about a month ago, came in a bundle package. For $399 got the drone, gimbal, extra battery and some extra propellers. I fly it almost every weekend till both batteries die out and only had 1 problem with it. In mid flight over a cliff LOL its controls stopped working and after a minute or 2 just being able to spin around it lost signal and just came right back to me. Besides that I have had nothing bad to say about it! I think I got a great deal so no complaints here! sorry you had such a bad experience but now you can get the new Mavic! hahaha
I agree. My 3DR Solo was great at first but then went south. I haven't flown it in over 5 months. I just got my Mavic Pro and so far love it. Loved my Phantom 4 and loved it too. I know what you mean. Sorry man.
I never liked the idea of using a phone and WiFi on any of the quads. That is one reason why I fly the X380 with a decent camera
using a 600 mw transmitter at 5.8 ghz. The camera captures the video on a SD card and the camera also sends the video feed
back to a 7 inch dual-channel monitor for FPV. You can get some breakup on the FPV feed signal while flying and changing
direction but the video saved on the SD card is always perfect. There are too many things that can interfere with WiFi signals
including the gimbal and WiFi is limited in range and can even interfere with the quad's receiver. Thanks for the review.
I wish I had purchased mine from Amazon. I got it from B&H. I've had a myriad of problems with mine and can rarely use it. Glad you can return yours.
+MFMG I'm sorry to hear that. Have you tried reaching out to B&H? That is a really great company as well
I spoke with a customer service rep at B&H and they sent me back to 3DR since they have a 1 year warranty. I tried to repair the drone again as I'm not getting a video feed. The new HDMI cable didn't fix the problem. In a last-ditch effort, I tried to get 3DR to honor their warranty. They would not. So, I guess I'm going to crash it into a wall at full speed and film it since it's completely useless.
bummed
Sounds like my Experience with DJI. Had my quad go full throttle for 1/2 mile until it lost connection, then it RTH just fine. not trusting them any more.
Bryce Fountain that's pretty vague ...did you use a 3rd party software for flight plans ? did you enable rth when you lost control and then it went in a random direction ? did you set the home point on a map at a different location than yours ?
had that happen to 2 off my 450's but thats why i build them, so i can fix them too new gps and ones flying like a dream now think thats what is gone on the other one too, don't matter what you get you will have the odd problem!! one's got a naza fc, the other one is apm. they do me fine and there cheep
BRYCE YOU KNOW THE MISTAKE YOU MADE!!! BUYING ANYTHING DJI THATS THE MISTAKE!!!
I'm pretty sure the Phantom 3 is dead also, didn't DJI stop production of that model does that mean no one should buy or they should all sail their Phantom threes, no. this is the most drone you will ever get for $400 in your lifetime
Yes, the Phantom 3 is dead, and so is the original Phantom 4. No more being made - obsolete after being on the market only 10 months. If the reasoning of the poster of this video was correct, you shouldn't buy any of those either.
The fact is - he is wrong. The DJI Phantoms are perfectly fine, and so is the 3DR Solo. When things go wrong with any of them, it's almost always operator error and ignorance.
GPS technology is not 100% reliable in every situation, and the pilot must be prepared for that and be competent enough to fly it manually.
Unfortunately our society today has enormous numbers of people who refuse to take personal responsibility for anything and always want to blame some one else for their own incompetence.
Even worse, they will *never* admit it...
Amazons return policy has gone down hill in the last four years.
it happened to me with TARGET
3DR is out of the consumer market, but they're still using the Solo platform for their commercial systems, so they're not dropping support any time soon. Parts are still readily available.
Your forgetting to tell everyone how inexpensive this drone was. I only paid 249.99 for mine and bought a back up for 189.99 never had 1 problem with the Solo or the add on gimbal for $40.00 Best Value out their right now! GRAB ONE BEFORE THEY ARE GONE!
Just put green cube retracts external antenna and here gps on one. Never a problem with it. Most issues with them are operator issues.
I have one of the original solo since it was first release. I have not had any issues at all.
I have upgrade parts on my solo, since I first got it a year ago.
+Craig Johnson Thanks for watching, Craig. That's great to hear! Sounds like you got one of the few solid ones. Hold on to it and hopefully it will keep working great for you!
You are very very diplomatic about the whole issue, l admire you for that!
Best buy is selling this same drone for 299.00 dollars gimbal included. Would you say that is a decent drone for that price?
+Joe C. Only if you're versed in tweaking and modding drones. You met get a great unit, you might get one like mine. Either way, you need to be prepared to use third party apps and resources to get the most out of it.
I picked up 4 of them for $299.00 each its a hell of a deal! The software is open source APM and will be supported for a very long time. Plus parts can be found also, others are already making GPS upgrades and CPU upgrades.
Thanks for this insightful video. I just sent my 2nd Solo back to 3DR today due to both the original and the 2nd one crashing as a result of Motor Failures. I bought mine at a Cabella's in June of this year and am now planning on taking the brand new one they send me back to Cabella's to see if they will give me a refund. 3DR told me the same thing that I am outside the 30 day window. I did several months of research before deciding to purchase a 3DR and now have zero confidence that Solo #3 won't fall out of the sky as the other ones did.
Hey Brian, thanks for watching. Sorry to hear of your experience. I know exactly what you're going through. I did all the research too. Unfortunately, I've found 3DR to be much better at marketing and PR than actually making reliable gear.
We shall see how this all works out. Good luck with you as well.
Thanks for the honest review dude !! almost buy Solo but now i go for DJI.
watch it flyaway
GitarStu dji haters!!! face it solo tanked.... my p4 is superior and so is my soon to be mavic😂
I paid $299.00 new for my Solo when Best Buy was closing them out. Mine included the gimbal and I've never had an issue. "Fingers crossed"
I watched this and I could not agree more. This was my 1st drone. I thought I was buying into the Cadillac of drones. I had the green screen appear recently and got my gimbal for $88 from Amazon I paid $1300 for my drone right when it came out.
I defended 3DR Solo and talked it up because I was so excited. From the GPS locking on the satellite problems to limp gimbal out of the box, to needing to purchase leg extenders right away, to the aerial video feed locking up frequently even right in front of me with FPLVR Antennas..I should have known it was "Crapping the bed" but my "delusional Optimism mixed with pride made me overlook so many egregious things. It was always embarrassing me when I was trying to show it off. Its ridiculous now. I really really am disappointed in 3DR.. So much potential, I guess DJI or Autell is maybe going to be next..
I have the phantom 3 standard never had an issue
From personal experience, I bought a refurbished one even after watching this video. I weighed the negative stuff I read against the positive and decided to pull the trigger for Solo. I paid $179 thru Best Buy and manged to pick up a gimbal for $54 (before the prices skyrocketed). I got mine in June and I have flown it 2-3 times every week without any problems. The only issue I had was my own fault. I started with a generic camera and when I got a GoPro I had taken the gimbal off and when I re-installed it, I accidentally left the HDMI cable in contact with the gimbal causing some video vibration, an easy fix. In retrospect, I have continued to buy accessories (2 extra batteries, a DroneKit carrier, lens filters, sun shade, leg extensions, etc) so I have raised my overall investment but I guess you can do that for whatever brand you choose. If you can find a Solo with gimbal out there in the $299 you should give it a shot. You can spend that on a drone with 1/4 of the features you get with a Solo.
Sounds like a great product however it was sold to the wrong person. Stop complaining on TH-cam
Can you provide backstory on this statement? It seems like you know him and believe his statements to not be factual to his situation. From what I've read about the company his statements fall inline with whats happening with the company. They've exited the drone hardware industry. Writers around the world have written about the list of issues known to plague the solo drone. I believe a lot of people come to TH-cam to watch people complain about their product experiences. I personally call them reviews but to each their own. Then again we are both commenting almost 3 year old video about a product that is no longer manufactured partly due to all the issues it had. Also partially due to its hard for any company to compete against some Chinese companies as they are known for stealing others successful intellectual property regardless if its copyrighted and profiting off it. With no R&D costs as they just reverse engineer someone else's hard work.
Thank you for sharing that I' was going buy one . I been looking for one not trying spend too much money so not sure which one I should buy
thanks for this vid, I was just about to go to the local store th buy this drone but now I'm going to get the dji phantom 4.
was looking into buying this product but glad I seen this review and I just started noticing they don't make them anymore correct? also is there any other quadcopter that is similar to this D3R Solo that you know its good and will be able to attach the gopro that is around the same price range because the dji phantom is out of my budget. thanks for your time hope to hear from you soon
I love my 3dr solo and don’t have a single problem with it
You are lucky. Glad it's worked well for you
I was going to get this drone. Someone tell me if i should get this drone?
I just bought mine and the same rouge behavior happened. It was hovering and then headed off to my neighbors house. They are sending me a refurbished unit and the gimbal is coming from another location and charging me to get the gimbal.
at more than half off the drone is an excellent buy for those willing to do the mods to make it work right. This drone was designed for the DiY guys not for the big box guys who just want to mash buttons and go. it's an amazing drone no matter what this guy's experience is you'll never see a feature packed drone like this at 399 at least for a decade, and buying used drones well buyer beware.
I bought two at the special deal Best Buy had for $400. Like you, probably will be a long time seeing such a great drone so inexpensive.
ummmmm "won't see another...blah...for a decade", the mavic was just launched
Rudi Novem how much was mavic again? 599?
this crap and the mavic is not even in the same caliber. btw I paid $760 for my mavic with case.... right now solo is going for $300 BUT you still have to buy a $300 go pro. 1/2 mile range and its its bulky... sorry ill take a mavic any day over this and It's worth the extra money...
carlito aviso 299...now
I've got several of these, with no problems. Oldest one is over a year old and it performs great. Too bad you got a bad one. For the current Best buy deal you can't find a better video drone for the money. I would suggest learning to fly manually with a cheap drone first. Same kind of failure could happen with any of the current drones regardless of brand.
unfortunately, I had 2 bad ones and a faulty gimbal. Not worth the hassle for me to keep dealing with returns and defective products. Although this is my first quad copter of this quality, it is not my first time flying. In fact, the majority of all my shots over the summer were done manually and not using their smart shot features. I'm glad to hear you've had success with your units. I just felt I needed to share my experience so people are aware that not everyone has had the great experience that you have. thanks for watching!
I also have 2 Solos, bought 2 of them at Best Buy with the gimbal, xtra battery and props for $299 each. I also have a Phantom 3 and a CX 20. I called 3DR last week with a question and had no problem getting help. I watched his video before i bought them and im glade i didn't take his advise, sorry about his luck but telling people not to buy something that's a really good drone at a better price is bad advise.
I've been building diy kits from 3dr for the last 5 years and never had any problems... picked up my 1st solo when they 1st came out and got 2 more from Best Buy last month no problems either. The fact that its open source makes it even more valuable , especially for those who write code... which is now what is being thought to elementary and high school kids in robotics class around the country... using one of my solos for a VTOL project...I also have DJI and have built their kits even longer than 3DR , i even got a Phantom 4 . Its a great drone but i've had problems with the gimbal that they've been trying to fix now for the last 6 months... also had problems with their NAZA controllers that couldn't keep a program setting on 3 out of 4 customer builds , might have changed by now but back then i couldn't get any ... nada ... zero tech support , no phone answer ... not even an email answer ... Between the Solo and the Phantom i feel safer flying the Solo and it can handle more higher winds than the Phantom . We lost one at a real estate (1500 acre ) shoot when the winds picked up to 45+ mph . My Solo returned but the Phantom couldn't ... went back 3 months later and found it with my Solo. They are both good platforms ... it just depends on what you want ...
Seems more people like you post than do the ones that have good luck. This is the same as all of the complaints on youtube of samsung tv's, gopro's etc....when you sell a large number of products you're bound to have a large number of issues. I've purchased 4 of these at all different times and zero issues so far even while flying out of sight in high winds. I bet you would slam a certain tv, phone, computer etc. if you had the same luck claiming they weren't worth purchasing all while many others have no issues. I have friends with autels and phantoms that have just as many problems and fly aways as the solo...no brand is without faults and considering DJI sells more they have many more fly aways than any other brand and by far the worst customer service...but you won't make a video on that.
Learning to fly manually with a cheap drone like a Syma X8C is a good way to hone your piloting skills. But, one thing that I've learned is; the likelihood of losing or crashing a manual drone is exponentially higher than with a GPS enabled quad. The difference is huge. Flying a manual quad, all your doing is speeding up or slowing down motors. With a GPS quad, you're actually telling the quad to adjust it's altitude, attitude and lat-long position through a complex series of microprocessors that are constantly monitoring those inputs.
Just a heads up, 3dr is NOT replacing your GoPro camera when it crashes even though its their fault. That sucks.
EscobarTV45 that's not correct, I had crash with my solo and they gave me replacement and new gopro 4
Danijel Akrap I just rmr mine a month ago and they did not replace mine. they no longer replace GoPro cams. you must've got yours replaced a while ago.
Sorry to hear that. Yes I crashed mine several months ago. I still have mine but just don't fly anymore often like before. Just scared that doesn't fall from the sky like first time
Danijel Akrap it'll be hard to sell mine when just last week best buy had a package on sale for $299. I damn near bought another but they replaced my cam with a hero 5. I'll admit that when I was flying it work good for the price. I think I'm going to hang on to mine and find a hero 4 cam.
be happy, I paid mine $1200 plus $400 for gimbal backpack $150. 2 extra batteries $160. I lost a lot of money.
Mine still working like a champ!!
Mine too.
Hello, I noticed your not using stock antenna's! This just may be the problem if their not matched for the quad? Bought mine refurbished 2 months ago and just love it. I am using Alphi ants at it seems ok but am going back to stock. Love your back pack!
Solo is way worth the money especially at $299 for the full kit at best buy. Ridiculous to say its "obsolete". It's a great platform.
nomoslogos it IS obsolete ...if you took time to actually see what the competition offers.
If I remember right, this quad was to compete against the DJI quadcopter but I don't remember what model the DJI was at the
time? The Public had so much trouble with it that people quite buying them. You can get a LEMON in any of them but the reviews
on it killed it and most of the people reviewing it couldn't be wrong with their finding. Amazon's customer service is great even
though some of their prices are higher than their competitors but you get the service with them.
Very useful and insightful, helped me dodge that bullet! So the Mavic is out now.....what you think? My only problem with it is the fact that you can't upgrade much. I am looking for a platform that I can add an infrared/other cameras to later. Range on the MAVIC....mmmmmmm
I have this drone it works great never had any problems have had for 2 years
Great review! I know your experience was maddening. I had the same deal with the Aries x10 Blackbird drone. Thankfully, Adorama took mine back for a full refund, and I got smart and went with DJI. :)
Thanks for your honest feedback...i got the phantom 4..and "knock on wood" it's been great..please do a review when you get your new drone..your videos are direct and to-to-point..keep up the good work
+Mike Marley my new drone is the Mavic Pro and I have a full series on it on my channel. Check it out. Thanks for watching
I'm from Guatemala and I have a lot of problems with my Solo Drone. The drone does not connect with satellites or takes too long to do that.
Cool! what part of Guatemala? I live in San Cristobal, Mixco. I saw them being sold at el Duende. I actually had better luck connecting to sat in guate than in US. inconsistency with 3DR is the theme for me though.
I live in zona 17, Guatemala City too.
When u buy from Amazon make sure it is sealed. i bought one this past august and sent with opened box and I can tell its is lightly used. They overnighted a sealed replacement and flies like a champ. I must say im one of the lucky ones not having a single issue with it.
your going to love the phantom
Hi,
Thanks for the good video , my question is
bestbuy offers the solo with gimble also extra battery also extra props for $399
Its great price and much cheaper from any thing else , do you thing it worth it at that price point and all this extras?!!
Ahmad Youzbachi I'd do it. I just got one for that price and it completely kills! For the price you get a good deal in my opinion.
check my latest comment and read this article by Forbes. The BestBuy deal is to move the last stock. 3DR is no longer making drones...
www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2016/10/05/3d-robotics-solo-crash-chris-anderson/#7ce8f8ae4840
Cool! Did you get the commercial drone license from FAA? Was it difficult?
dude you rock.
Through HOURS of HD video from drones,
Through HOURS of wankers talking NONSENSE about packaging and such,
Through HOURS of shop-talk with non-techie, industry users, who really don't know what's GOOD,
Through HOURS of pre-prosumer tacky Target and BestBuy 1st Generation solutions,
Through angst and agony, I have hunted for ACTUAL USAGE REPORTAGE. (not open box, not masturbation!)
YOU my fellow, have hit the nail on the head!
(and fyi we shall likely NOT be buying a 3DR)
Well done indeed.
HMU if you'd like to make a new friend!
Thanks for the info. I was looking for an affordable option for car videos. I feel lucky that I watched this before I hit the purchase button
I haven't had ANY problems with the Solo. Always works, great 2.7 footage with my Hero 3. It's awesome.
The 3DR solo is a much nicer looking drone than the Phantom. It's a pity they went bust and couldn't sort their products. If I could get one with a gimbal for 300 euro I'd still get it.
Sell you mine
Bought mine 3DR Solo from bestbuy $349 bundle with the gimbal, extra battery, extra props, bag. later purchase a used gopro hero 3+ black on ebay. birthday present for myself. been flying everyday I possible since 12/22/16. has been nearly flawless. I had several drones before, but always fond them to be more work than hobby. this birds make me love the hobby. holds steady in high winds, and outperforms most of the other drones that fly in the park with me. Sorry for your experiences, but I have not shared them. I saw both of your videos and almost didn't purchase, at the price, I took the risk and have not regretted it. I have contacted supported and they have been very helpful, as have been the forums. There is even a parts and repair spot, recommended by 3DR support and again, they has been very helpful. Good luck with you need drone. happy new year.
I had same problem and will not acquire sats in a timely manner. I had to wait over 20 minutes before seven satellites which I wasn't
My solo 3DR has been flying amazing for over a year and a half! Never had a problem with it. Sorry to hear about your problems, but it is a spot on drone. Better that the phantom in my opinion.
Bro you have either a defective quad or operator error. I have a solo and an Iris plus from 3DR and I have the best experience from Africa to Japan.
+Douala Jimmy I had 2 defective quads.
I got one for Xmas and have had no issues NOT tied to user error...
We made it clear over a year ago that this model was defective and deficient. 3DR has been dumping stock for a year - all the while knowing 100% that they would never produce another one and likely will eventually close the doors.
www.droneflyers.com/2016/03/3d-robotics-failure-to-launch-and-unicorn-dreams/
So whats the best drone??
I have heard horror stories with the entire phantom line with the 3's being the worst with the cracking bodies. I have recently had a Phantom 4 to use for a few months. It is a really stable aircraft but the app and camera are big let downs.
Same here I got rid of my solo that's a problem my goPro 4 would not work
I have my solo and it's great. Never had issues. I run open solo 4 and it's got Sport and drift mode it goes about 60mph. My brother gave it to me and he bought it in 2019 I fly it every day. I added a transmitter and foxeer race cam. I 3d printed my gimbal mount to.
what drone with hd camera would you suggest?
i am a quick learner and want to use it for real estate and construction.
please feel free to tell me about some awesome features i might not know about.
Dear Timothy,
After surfing over the internet looking for an affordable but good drone to take shots of fountains and water features I make, I ended up looking at your video/review.
It's clear that you don't like the 3DR drone.
What or which drones are suitable for doing some semi professional filming and work with a GoPro (hero4 black)?
You must know which drones in the market are affordable and do the job (i hope)?
I would like to keep it as cheap as possible, but realise that i will probably be looking at a few hundred dollars.
Hope to hear from you.
KR
Bert Spee (The Netherlands).
No issues with our 3DR Solo. Is the link in the description an affiliate link?
Would be good if you have a FOOTAGE of this thing drifting.This is androids of drone its moddable.Maybe you need an Apple of drones.Most of the time its user error especially for people with ZERO Flying experience. There is a couple if us here that flies this drone and I know couple of guys in FB and we dont have issues with it.
Mine did the same thing and I'm using a iPhone
dude, that was a analogy ..the phone you use is irrelevant. he was giving a comparison
He didn't say if he recalibrated the compass at either of the new locations. You have to do that if you move your launch point by more than a couple of miles, or closer if there's a chance of possible EMF interference. That could have been the cause of the drift. He doesn't sound like he has much drone experience.
Mikel Berry nor did he say how many GPS satellites it had locked during this incident. Not enough technical information.
As it turns out, 3DR was just out produced and out marketed by DJI. But, it's interesting that DJI and 3DR have now teamed up. DJI is producing the drones. 3DR is producing software. 3DR is still a viable company worth billions of dollars. For my money, the Solo is still a perfectly good drone. And, this guy is still a perfectly good asshole.
You said that you have clients, does this mean you sell your footage and if so do you have a license? As i'm not sure if i need one. Thanks
Greg mclachlan yes, I do some realty photography. You have to have the new license in order to use drones for commercial purposes. Although the process is MUCH easier now and no longer requires a pilot's license.
Hey man. I am investigating different drone options because I live in Guatemala and work with a non profit there and want to do some video for that! Pretty crazy hearing you talk about the same exact thing! I would be interested in hearing about where you were and with what organization! Also would love to see your video work with the drone in Guate!
Thinking about pulling the trigger because of the huge discounts. I not too concerned about the software because it is an open platform. Whats concerns me is the hardware issue. Where can I get spare parts WHEN something breaks?????? Someone reply ASAP! Thanks!!
+TheHonarable1 no parts will be available soon. You would need to stock up on them now if they're available.
Thx for the quick reply!!!
+TheHonarable1 yea for sure! Let me know how it goes for you! Hit that subscribe button as I have a full series on the Mavic Pro coming very soon
U got it!
Thanks for the review... teh review and comments below stopped me from buying one today! Cheers
+ajayonline glad to have helped! Thanks for watching and reading. Be sure and subscribe to the channel as I have a full review of the Mavic Pro coming soon
Perfect! Can't wait. Looking at the Mavic and Karma at the moment. Going to decide on one soon :)
quick question where did you buy the first one..
I purchased my first one through amazon and sold by 3Dr. My replacements came directly from 3DR
thanks for the quick reply, many sold on amazon arr from third party places who buy refurbished ones and sale as new sticking the customer with a lemon.
I bought it during the Best Buy sale with the extras and it's been great so far for me. With an extra battery, free gimble and free spare props you really can't beat it so long as you don't have any issues. Fortunately, I haven't. It was a cheaper way to get into drones for me without spending a ton of money on a DJI. Sure, the standard is $500 but that's still $120 more than I spent plus you don't get any extra batteries. Will I buy a DJI? Probably so and I'll probably get most of my money back when I sell the 3DR. Would I have bought it at full price knowing of all the problems I've heard? Not at all.
There are already aftermarket batteries available from 3rd party vendors and that goes the same for parts.
I'm having the green video feed problem
+Joe Stevens aw that sucks. They told me it was the gimbal but they have ways to troubleshoot it. Reach out to 3dr and see what they can do for you
Timothy Sunday thanks. man I just emailed them.. I have until January to return it to best buy.. my fly time was 10-12 minutes.. not impressed
I got the same deal at Best Buy, the drone, the gimbal, extra battery and extra props. Plus, they also had a package deal that included the back pack for $30 more. I got that and bought another battery. Total was about two sixty something. Then, I got these great little folding leg extensions from Amazon that give additional gimbal clearance while unfolded and the quad still fits perfectly into the back pack when they are folded. The most expensive part of my set up was the GoPro Hero 4 Silver. It cost twice as much as my Solo set up. I'd also like to mention that there's another app out there that is an enhanced version of the Solo app, called Solex. That app has the same UI, plus flight planning. It's awesome. I'm extremely happy with my Solo.
If you are experiencing a fly-away, and you use the air-brake/pause button to try and stop it, you are not techy... better solution, replace the GPS with one that picks up non-us contellations as well, and problem solved. Want more range? replace the modem in the controller with I higher power RF modem, and use quality antennas.
the basic hardware in the Solo is open source, and does not need support from the company to function properly, get updated, and improved. The most reliably systems out there are based on the ardu- copter and arduous-plane software, and can even fly autonomous waypoint based missions with ease using more full-featured software like mission planner.
Sorry but my Solo has been great. For $300 w/gimbal how do you go wrong? I already had the gopro. Upgraded the GPS chip to mRo for $80 and I'm hitting 22 satellites all the time with a HDOP of 0.6 I think you should have done some homework and made some mods before heading out the door and flying off to some other continent. It would have served you well.
Well the thing is I bought this early last year before anyone was modding it. So there wasn't the community behind it that there now is. I think the GPS chip was part of my problem and people weren't modding them at that point. I'm glad it's working for you. It definitely takes some DIY. Also remember that I was in at the $1200+ price point at which needing DIY is a joke for the way it was advertisesd
That was great information about this drone, I'm interested in your comments about buying it thru Amazon, i too am going to purchase a DJI Mavic Pro, does it matter who we buy it from on Amazon, and how did it work to get the refund on your solo. I currently own a Xiro Xplorer, Yuneec Q500 4K and a little Hubsan H501S and very very happy with all three. I cant wait to see your review and flights of the DJI Mavic Pro. More great information about the Karma too, i just watched it.
Thanks for watching and for the kind words! For the Amazon refund I just gave them a call and the wonderful customer service rep took care of it for me. They sent me return labels, I repackaged it all and dropped it off at UPS. They subtracted out return shipping costs (since it was way outside the 30day return policy) and refunded me the rest. Super easy and I'm very happy with how it turned out.
Here is a link to order the Mavic Pro from Amazon. The seller doesn't matter too much just be sure they are reputable. I usually prefer the ones that are shipped by Amazon so I can take advantage of my Prime membership.
Drone only; amzn.to/2eHhUWX
Drone w/Fly More Combo; amzn.to/2eNGk0R
When you buy, if you don't mind using those links it really helps me and the channel as I'm an Amazon affiliate so clikcing through my links helps the channel here on TH-cam.
My Mavic Pro is shipping soon so subscribe to the channel and you won't miss the series I'll be making it once it arrives.
Thanks for the info dude! Figured they were on their way out. But my solo has been pretty solid only annoying issue has been it not wanting to connect to the controller sometimes. Which is kind of a big deal haha. But overall she has been a work horse for me. Feel free to check out a Drone Reel shot using the solo on my channel 😉
Purchased mine a year ago with not one problem I have over 100 flights.
Good to know your experience. This was a Drone that I was considering.
Was seriously on the verge of buying this drone, was looking forward to it until I seen this video, thanks a mill man!
Conor Dunne Sooo you were buying this drone, then you saw one video made by a man that didn't like it, and by his opinion you decide not to buy it?? What?? I have a Solo 3DR and all i can say about it is that it's great. Works really well, good camera quality even WITHOUT the camera stabilizer. It doesn't break easily, it's easy to control and the camera even without a stabilizer is great. I say that you made a huge mistake when you decided not to buy it. Solo 3DR is the best.
I lost video feed. After back and forth with them going through checks and balances, they ended up telling me it was the gimble. I asked them if this happens often or if I had a defective gimbal. All they said is that doesnt happen often. Then they told me I was outside my return period. So now Im SOL...
+Zach MC come check out my Solo 3DR video, it flew 40,000 foot. No mods or Gimbal. your not SOL trust me.
It costs only 250 now on amazon.
Should I get one? will there still be customer support ?
Sorry to hear you got screwed by a company that doesn't stand by their products. For those here that have a problem understanding this, simply put are they still around making drones?
Do u know of any other drones that have a 2 or 3 axis Gimbal?
For $400 can get this new with the gimble. Still not a great idea?
+Spoken War in my opinion, definitely not. Unless you are prepared to overhaul it yourself and replace components that will either be bad out of the box or will fail shortly after.
Thank you very much Timothy. I think you saved me from a world of heartache.
Just bought one ..works nicely
I've had 6 RMAs in 12 months, I hate Solo now, and it lost so much value I can't even sell it.
What bunk. I've had a ball with mine and am still getting support....
how you seey the antennas not working if you flying one time?