JJRC is one of the best drone makers from China. They have brought us wonderful specimen such as the JJRC H72 drone that you can toss into the air to launch. Their drones come in incredible designs, they are pocket friendly and they make perfect gifts for the people that you love. As you will see in this JJRC H71 Grus review, this drone is sold with two batteries. It also has many features that make flying it such a thrill.
Among some of the things that we will look at include its camera, speed modes and flight features. Simply put, this is a camera drone with good resolution. It is made for beginners, but anyone can own it because it has enough features to keep things interesting even for advanced pilots. If you are looking for your very first drone, one that you can grow with and perhaps not even have to upgrade in the near future, buy this one.
Keep reading to see its specific features and capabilities in the upcoming sections:
JJRC H71 Features & Technical Details
The design & build quality
JJRC H71 is a foldable drone. When you want to pack it for traveling, just fold the propeller arms. They will stay snugly alongside the sides of its body, transforming it into a small size. You will find that it fits nicely into your travel backpack.
If you need a small aerial drone to shoot family videos and photos, just get this one. When it is unfolded, it measures 22 by 23.5 by 3.5 cm and when folded, it measures 16 by 7 by 3.5 cm. As you can see, it is small. The matte black finishing on the strong plastic is nice and stylish. Generally, if you like things that appeal to your eyes, the H71 looks dashing.
Camera resolution and quality
This drone may be small, but it is designed with a fixed 1080P video camera. The camera is manually adjustable, meaning that you can set it to have the best field of view for awesome videos and photos. Of course, other features such as optical flow positioning contribute to making the camera even more effective. We will look at them later, including barometer altitude hold.
We may also mention that you will enjoy a great first person view experience. For this, you will need to use your smartphone, of course after downloading the compatible app. A first person view (FPV) is an experience akin to enjoying the same view that you would if you were riding inside the drone. You get to see whatever video or imagery the drone is capturing in real-time transmission from your smartphone. The FPV transmission range is 100 meters.
Battery and flight time
If there is one thing that all drone enthusiasts wish for, it is longer flight time and shorter battery charging time. Shorter charging time is not always possible with the high capacity batteries. Now, with the JJRC H71 drone, you get two modular batteries. Consider one as a bonus, just a way to appreciate you all the way from Shenzhen, China. These batteries are easy to remove and insert into your drone. From each battery, you will get a flight time of 11 minutes. This gives you 22 minutes of enjoying your aerial videography.
Charging the battery takes about 2 hours. This is not long considering some have charging times of up to 4 hours. But then the H71 batteries have a capacity of 3.7V 1000mAh.
Remote controller
It looks like the kind of controller that you would buy with XBOX. It is so nicely molded, is very comfortable in your hands and even if you hold it for a long time, you will not cramp your hands. It has a retractable smartphone holder for your FPV experience. The buttons and joysticks are quite responsive and they are sturdily built to last a long time.
Optical flow positioning
Any drone that is equipped with this feature should be easy to use. OFP enables the drone to lock on a certain object and then hover steadily around that object, capturing video and photos. Some H71 reviews say this is a beginner feature, but all the same, it is a nice addition for any drone.
Headless mode
As a drone made for beginners, it was necessary to include this feature. When you punch headless mode, the drone will align itself automatically so the nose faces the right direction. For a kid or beginner, it can be a bit hard to distinguish the tail and nose end of the drone because it looks the same from all sides.
Way point mode and follow me mode
With the Way Point Mode, you point the route that you want the drone to follow on the app and when you launch it, it will follow it. Choose a route that has plenty of good scenery so that the drone captures good video footage along the way.
The Follow Me Mode is going to get the drone to follow you. This way, you can capture awesome video footage while not worrying about controlling the drone.
Barometer hold
With this feature, you do not have to worry about controlling the altitude of the drone. It will hold the designated height perfectly. You will just have to mind about the horizontal flight.
Auto takeoff and landing
This is a great beginner feature. When engaged, the drone will take off automatically or start landing. Even the JJRC H72, which we reviewed earlier, has this feature, and you can still toss it into the air to launch it.
One Key Return
Press the One Key Return and the drone will turn back and come home, the place where you launched it. This is a good beginner feature for safety so that you do not lose your drone. Punch it if you get a low battery alert or you realize your drone is losing signal with WiFi or remote controller.
Three speed modes
Again, this is another good beginner feature. You can choose the speed at which you can fly the drone most comfortably. Start on the low speed mode then move onto high-speed mode once you have learned all the ropes of drone flying.
Short Summary of Feedback from Existing Owners
With features such as three speed modes, auto return feature, auto takeoff and landing, there is no doubt the kind of user this drone is intended for. So I bought it for my son on his 13th birthday and he has been having a ball ever since. Trev H.
I was looking for a beginner drone that would not feel like a beginner drone even after I gained some experience flying it. I settled on the JJRC H71 on the recommendation of a friend. I love it, although I hope to upgrade to one with GPS module soon. Sanny G.
Easy to use, takes nice HD videos and images, my son and I have been having us quite the time flying our H71. Hedley L.
I was looking for the perfect gift for a high schooler and I settled on this one. Since she got it, she has been keeping her Instagram and Facebook friends and followers abuzz with nice videos. Tammy W.
This is our official family video drone. We are quite outdoorsy, so when we are hiking or riding our bikes, we take it with us. We intend to buy a couple more batteries so that we can have four times the flight time. Ricky M.
For this price, I have no regrets for buying this drone ever. The flight time is good, the two batteries are a nice touch and the video quality is very good. Twinn N.
Foldable, comes assembled and ready to fly out of the box, two batteries and a high quality build, this is a perfect drone and does exactly as advertised. Carlos Q.
Pros of JJRC H71
- Foldable design is very good
- Comes ready to fly out of the box
- Many helpful beginner features
- High quality video camera
- Comes with one bonus battery
- Very stable when in flight
- Nice remote controller
Cons of JJRC H71
- No GPS/GLONASS Module
- No onboard storage for videos and images
- No brushless motors
Who Should Buy The JJRC H71?
This is a good drone for kids, beginner adults as well as anyone else who wants a nice drone for kicks. It captures pretty awesome video footage with the 1080P HD camera. It may look like just an ordinary drone but when you get it into the air and start capturing that footage, you will see that there is nothing ordinary about it. At the price it is sold at on many online marketplaces, we can say this is quite a steal for you. You will never regret buying the H71.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Although it is a beginner drone with simple enough features, we would recommend a few things first. No drone can withstand repeat abuse, so learn how to take care of your drone, both in flight and in storage. For example, fly it in an open field where there are no obstacles. That way, there will be no signal interruptions. If the JJRC H71 is your first drone, start on the low speed mode as you learn how to fly it. You can try the higher speeds later.
