If you are looking for a good, feature-packed beginner drone, read this Global Drone GD88 Pro review to the end. You will see why more features do not have to cost you more money. The price is good. Tell you what; if you are just looking for a drone that can fly, take good videos and pictures, you may never want to upgrade on this one.
But this drone is not targeted at beginners only. Even advanced users will love it, for it is indeed rich in features. It also captures good video and photo footage all the time with its HD camera. While this is not a DJI, it has is fair share of good features and besides, there are many spare parts for it available on marketplaces such as Amazon and others.
Global Drone GD88 PRO Features & Technical Details
Design and build quality
The first thing that you will notice about this drone is that it is foldable. Now, that is no small feat, especially if you like to capture footage when cycling down a mountain trail or when playing beach volleyball. When folded, the drone retains a compact and small size and it can actually fit in the palm of your hand. It measures 5 by 3 by 2 inches when folded and 10.6 by 7.7 by 2 inches when unfolded.
About the build, the Global Drone GD88 Pro is a pretty well built drone, with a hard casing that can take quite a beating. It sports brushed motors (I know, not the best) but they will serve you for a long time. Besides, it is not a brushless motor drone, so there is no reason why you should feel cheated. The color is white with touches of black; matte finishing ensures it is not a print magnet, if such things matter to you.
As a quadcopter, it has four propellers, and you should get a spare set of four when you buy. The propellers are black in color, a nice complement to the white body of the drone.
The 1080P camera
Truth be told, most of us buy drones so that we can capture selfies and videos as we do silly things outdoors and indoors. The Global Drone GD88 Pro is not going to disappoint you. While it does not come with a 4K or 5K camera, it’s 1080P camera takes photos and videos with stunning quality all the time.
There are certain things that you should know about this camera. First, it is a fixed camera, so you should adjust the angle before you can launch the drone. There is a 45-degree adjustability angle. Secondly, you get a 2MP camera for the still photos and your selfies. This is not bad at all.
Thirdly, the drone lacks a slot for SD card, so all footage that you capture will be stored in your smartphone. This brings us to the next point, about the FPV mode. You will use your smartphone for a first person view experience. That way, you will enjoy real-time video transmission, which you can then share with family and friends on your social network accounts.
Flight and safety features
Today, drone enthusiasts have come to expect certain things and features from all, including the mini drones. The GD88 Pro brings many such features to you, and many more. One of them is altitude hold, which means that the drone holds altitude while you just worry about the forward flight.
You will love headless mode, especially if this is your first drone ever. With this mode on, it means that you do not have to worry about where the nose is facing. Drones look the same all round and believe it or not, some beginners find it hard to tell where the drone faces from a distance. Just punch it and the drone will realign itself to face away from the controller.
One key launch and landing is another good beginner feature. When you press this key, the drone either takes off or starts landing depending on what it was doing.
Speed modes
The Global Drone GD88 Pro has three speed modes. These are low, moderate and high. If you are an advanced drone user, you can hit high speed straight away. However, if you are a beginner, start with the low speed setting.
You will love the ability of the drone to do 3D flips. There is also an emergency brake feature, which in many drones makes up for lack of a means to detect and evade obstacles in the flight path.
Battery and flight time
Good news for you here! This drone comes with three batteries – an excellent bonus of two batteries. These are modular batteries meaning that it is quite easy for you to get them out, to charge two of them while the drone flies on one. You can get triple the flight time. On a full charge, each battery will give you about 9 minutes. The charging time for the batteries is 60 minutes.
Remote controller and carry case
The remote controller is small, ergonomic in design and nicely built to last a long time. It has a retractable smartphone holder and a couple of antennas for signal and connectivity. Much to the credit of Global Drone, they ship this one with a nice, dark gray carry case made of strong plastic. The drone is not only foldable but it also comes with a nice case for traveling. That is quite a bonus right there.
Short Summary of Feedback From Existing Owners
I could not believe that one could get such a feature-rich drone at such an affordable price. I especially enjoy the 3D flips. I find them awesome. Ted G.
I have been looking hard for a reason to hate this drone, but I cannot find any! It pretty does what the manufacturer says it can and the three batteries are quite a nice touch. Landy P.
Three batteries, carry case and the price… these are the main things that won me over. I also think the camera quality is fine by all measures. Rob T.
This was my first ever drone. I learned to fly it quite fast and I do not think I will be upgrading any time sooner. I just want to have fun and this drone does it for me. Ivanna H.
This drone is much smaller than it looks in the pictures. However, it has a nice camera and captures good videos especially when used outdoors. Tim T.
Pros of Global Drone GD88 PRO
- Very easy to learn how to fly for beginners
- Sold with two bonus batteries
- Camera captures good photo and video footage
- Has a nice carry case
- Folds into a small and compact size
- Good price
- Stylishly designed
Cons of Global Drone GD88 PRO
- The remote controller would be much better if the smartphone holder was above rather than beneath it
- No slot for SD card to store your footage
Who Should Buy The Global Drone GD88 PRO?
You can buy this drone for your kids if they are 13 years and older. You may also buy it for yourself if you are a newbie. It has a short learning curve and soon, you will have it in the air. Let’s just say that anyone can buy the Global Drone GD88 Pro and have a great time with it. Even seniors will have a nice time flying this drone.
Conclusion and Recommendation
No matter how easy a drone is to fly, you should always read the user manual to know certain things. These include how to get the modular battery out, how to calibrate the drone and so on. Thus, before you can fly this one, at least read the user manual. Another recommendation for you, just hold on a bit about the speed. Start on the low speed setting, learn how the drone handles and then later, fly your Global Dron GD88 Pro at high speed.
