Sometimes, you will find an affordable drone that has features such as brushless motors, two cameras, 3D VR mode and many more. The SMRC ICAT1 Pro is such a drone. You can opt to order this quadcopter with one, two or three batteries. It also comes with a nice carry-case. Of course, there are more features, which we will discuss in the upcoming sections.
When you get this quad, make sure that the package contains the drone itself, one remote controller, the number of batteries that you ordered, a user manual, two propellers, a screwdriver, the storage bag and a charging cable.
SMRC ICAT1 Pro Features & Technical Details
From the build quality to the flight features and functions, how does this drone fare? Let us find out together in this section.
Design and build quality
This is a foldable quadcopter. When it is folded, it measures 6 by 2.6 by 2 inches. When you unfold it ready for flight, it measures 6.5 by 6.1 by 2 inches. You can see that it is a small quad. The weight is 235g only. You do not need to register it with the FAA before you can fly it. In addition, it is also easy to carry with you, even on your person.
The brushless motors give a powerful performance. They are quieter and they do not consume the battery too much.
Camera Quality
The photo resolution is 3840 * 2160P. It takes true 4K photos. However, the SMRC ICAT1 Pro comes with two cameras. The main one is on the nose and it has a wide field of view. The vertical angle is also adjustable by up to 90°. The belly camera is also quite good and you can switch between the two of them at will, from the remote controller.
You will also have a nice FPV experience with 5G HD image transmission. There is minimal to zero latency, so it will be truly real-time transmission. Just find the right app in the app stores and download it.
You may also use 3D VR goggles for a more explosive first person view experience. This drone is compatible with a couple or more of VR goggles.
Battery and flight time
A good drone deserves a good battery. This one can come with one, two, or three 7.4V 1500mAh batteries. It depends on how much money you are willing to spend.
One battery is going to give you about 20 minutes of flight time. Therefore, with three batteries, you will get almost an hour of flying.
The charging time for the battery is 140 minutes.
Remote control
This is a small, folding remote control. It has a built-in rechargeable battery. The control frequency is 2.4GHz and the control distance is 500 meters. Unfold the controller to attach your smartphone so that you can fly the quad using the app. The transmitter also has all the controls on board so you can fly the drone easily.
Flight Features and Functions
Here, this little drone has excelled, especially when it comes to the flight functions. Here are the most common of them:
Optical Flow Positioning
This is one of the most important functions to have on a quadcopter. It ensures that you always know where your drone is. You can see its spot on the app and therefore it becomes hard to lose it. This function also helps in positioning the drone precisely where you want it so that you can capture good aerial footage of something.
Trajectory Flight
To set up trajectory flight, you just need to open the app’s map and draw the route where you would like the drone to fly over. Choose a route that has interesting things to see.
Gesture Photos and Videos
Show the drone your victory sign and it will stop at 2 meters and start taking footage. If you show it your palm, it will stop and start taking videos. When you want to take photos and videos of everyone in the family, use the gesture shooting mode.
Surround Shooting
Panoramic shooting is very welcome for travelers or for anyone that likes to take footage of a certain feature or place from all angles.
One key return
This is a safety feature. When the battery starts running low, you just need to press the one key return and the quadcopter turns and comes home.
MV Production
With this mode, you can filter your photos to add the desired effects. At the same time, this mode enables you to share the photos and videos on different social media networks using the app.
SMRC ICAT1 Pro Pros
- Good battery flight time of 20 minutes
- The 1406 brushless motors give a powerful performance
- Two cameras for shooting from the best angles
- Sold with a nice traveling and storage case
- Folds really compactly and small
- This drone is easy to fly for beginners
- You get to share photos and videos in real-time on social media
SMRC ICAT1 Pro Cons
- The antennas on the remote controller are not real. They are just there for decoration
Who Should Buy The SMRC ICAT1 PRO?
This is a simple to use quadcopter. Therefore, it is good for beginners and kids that are at least 14 years old. If you are looking for a good gift for your teen or for a person that you care about, get this drone.
This quadcopter takes decent photos and it is quite light in weight. Therefore, it can make a good traveling drone. Besides, you can also use it to capture footage in panoramic mode, use gesture mode and trajectory flight.
The addition of the MV production function was well thought out. Therefore, you can shoot footage and share it almost immediately with family and friends on social media.
Conclusion and Recommendation
When you buy the SMRC ICAT1 Pro drone, check the user manual carefully before you get to fly it. This will have instructions for how to calibrate the drone, and how to use different functions. While it has a 7-level wind resistance, it is important that you do not fly it in the wind because it can fly away. Therefore, choose a calm day and open space to fly it. At the same time, practice flying the quadcopter in open spaces where it can do the entire range of 500 meters.
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