Over time, many drones have been made available in different packages to meet different budgets. For instance, the XKJ K911 Max comes with/without obstacle avoidance, with one, two or three batteries.
The extra features cost more, but they can be worth it. Obstacle avoidance is for safety because it prevents your aircraft from crashing into things. More batteries mean a longer flight time.
In the product description, the manufacturer says the K911 Max has an 8K camera, but most people who have used it do not agree. It is more like 4K, or lower! Thus, if you are buying it on account of the camera alone, you might want to think twice.
The user manual seems to be mostly available in Chinese. Also, you need to be aware of flying it in the wind because it is so light and it will be hard to trim. GPS positioning takes too long to start working.
You can see there are a number of downsides to the aircraft. It is still a good entry level drone that will teach you the basics of flying and taking aerial footage.
Keep reading to see its features and other details.
XKJ K911 MAX Features & Technical Details
Here, we are going to look at the version that does not come with the obstacle avoidance system. There have been complaints about it not working, anyway.
Build quality and design
The aircraft is made with ABS plastic material, so it can last a long time with good care. Just fly it in an obstacle-free space so that it does not crash into trees and buildings.
You will notice the strange looking design of this drone, where it has a camera on the top of its head. This is the forward facing camera. It also has a second one at the bottom of the nose, which is the down facing camera. The camera on top makes the drone look unique.
This is foldable aircraft with a folding size of 6.1 by 3.5 by 3.2 inches. When unfolded, the size increases to 12.6 by 12.6 by 3.2 inches. The propeller arms fold onto the body and the blades also fold nicely so you do not have to unscrew anything.
The takeoff weight of the aircraft is 225g. You will not need to register it with the FAA. It also comes with 1503 brushless motors for longer and more powerful flights.
This drone is available in a dark gray color. It also comes with its storage bag and charging cables for the battery.
Cameras
The K911 Max is equipped with two cameras to give you a wider first person view when you are flying it. The main camera (front facing) has a photo resolution of 7680P x 4320P. However, by looking at the pictures that it takes, this is not 8K resolution. The video resolution of the front camera is 3840 by 2160P.
The manufacturer says the down-facing camera has a photo resolution of 1920 by 1280P. It has a video resolution of 1280 by 720P.
You can change from one camera to another on the remote controller, to get the best view possible as the aircraft flies.
When you take your footage, it will be stored in the smartphone storage since the drone does not have an SD card slot.
Again, the front facing camera does not have a mechanical gimbal. It has EIS – electronic image stabilization. If there are vibrations and shaking, the footage won’t be excellent, but it will be awesome.
This drone is also equipped with a 50-times zoom, so you can bring far away objects closer. With a 120-degree field of view and an adjustable vertical angle of 90 degrees, you can get the best view for your aerial shots.
The FPV distance for the K911 Max is 0.6KM.
Battery and flight time
Sold with one, two or three 7.4V 1800mAh batteries, each battery is going to give you 25 minutes of flight time. It is best to order it with two or three batteries for a longer flight time and more fun.
You can charge the batteries outside the drone since they are modular by design. They are also safe to handle and with built-in overcharge protection, these batteries will not explode.
The charging time for the battery is 90 minutes, which is fairly reasonable if you are going to get 20 minutes of flight time. The brushless motors do not consume battery voltage as fast as the brushed ones do.
Only use the provided USB charging cable to charge these batteries. If you are keeping the aircraft in storage for some time, it is best to remove the battery.
Remote controller
The remote controller feels as if it is made of cheap plastic, so it probably is. Also, the sticks feel a bit gummy, but they tend to loosen up after some time.
Now to the good sides of the remote controller, it comes with a rechargeable battery and a USB cable for charging. It is small and it has a foldable smartphone holder that fits many of the modern mobiles. The interface is not cluttered with keys and stuff.
The phone holder is located on the lower side of the controller. This is a bit disconcerting because it means taking your eyes off the phone too much, but it works.
If you want to fly the drone blindly, the remote controller has enough functions. It has keys for one key return, optical flow, photos and videos, keys for horizontal and magnetic calibration and the usual joysticks.
The remote control range is 1.2KM.
Flight Functions
The XKJ K911 MAX is a good beginner drone. For easy flights and fast learning, it has some flight functions.
Here are the most important of them:
Headless Mode
When this mode is on, you can fly the drone without worrying whether it retains the orientation it was in when you launched it. The drone will always remember the direction its nose was facing when you launched it.
Runaway return and Low battery return
If there is a disruption in the signal, the drone will turn and come back home immediately. If the battery runs low, the drone will also turn and come back home, the place from where you launched it. You can also press the return to home key and the K911 Max will come back home.
Gesture shooting
Use the victory sign to get the drone to start taking photos. Use the palm sign to get it to start taking videos. Gesture shooting is perfect for taking selfies with your family doing fun things.
Surround flight
Have you seen a nice monument that you would like to shoot from all angles? Just engage the surround mode on the drone and set the radius and then it will fly around it. It will capture footage from all angles.
Waypoint flight mode
When you open the map interface, you can tap the screen in several places and then draw a line (still using your finger) to create a flight route that you would like the drone to follow. It will fly in hands-free mode leaving you to concentrate on taking footage.
Level 7 wind resistance
Despite the quadcopter coming equipped with wind resistance, it is too light in weight so it is likely to be hard to trim if there is air movement. It is best not to fly it in the wind.
Smart follow
With smart follow mode, this aircraft will not only recognize you but it will also lock onto you and follow you wherever you go.
Optical flow
It helps in the drone positioning and hovering and maintaining the set height. It also makes it possible to fly the quadcopter indoors.
GPS Positioning
This function has so many benefits but the biggest one is that you will always know where the drone is all the time.
MV Production
Don’t just take footage, but you can also enhance it with the filter effects.
Feedback from Existing Owners of the XKJ K911 MAX
I think this drone is worth the price, without the obstacle avoidance. However, the photo footage does not look anything close to 8K. The colors do not pop out as they usually do with high resolution footage. Ezra M.
I would get this quadcopter all over again because I love its flight performance. If you fly it in calm weather, it flies like a pro drone. The obstacle avoidance system works too. I have seen it come to a stop a short distance from a tree when I force-flew it in the direction of one. Marsha W.
I had earned my stripes by flying a cheap mini drone for a few months. I was confident enough to try something bigger and I got the K911 MAX for the low price. I am so glad I did because it flies very well. I wish the manufacturer had incorporated a slot for an SD card. Max K.
The K911 MAX is a good quadcopter for beginners as well as advanced pilots. Experienced users should love the long flight range, the flight modes and the 5G Wi-Fi real-transmission. Michael J.
XKJ K911 Max Pros
- It has a long flight range and decent FPV distance
- It is well built for durability
- Available with different features for different budgets
- Nice looking headlights
- The drone is easy is to control
- Remote controller is rechargeable
- Comes with up to three batteries for long flight time
- You can set a geo-fence
XKJ K911 Max Cons
- The manual is available in Chinese though they say you can get an English one by scanning a code
- Advertised camera quality is not quite correct
Who Should Buy The XKJ K911 Max?
This is a good drone for beginners as well as experienced pilots. If you have been flying drones, this is not going to bore the life out of you any time soon. It has a long flight range of 1200 meters, so you will want to explore how well you can fly it blindly (without the app).
If you are a beginner, just set the geo-fence so that you can contain the K911 Max within the set flight area. After learning how to fly it, you can try a longer flight range.
It has so many flight functions, some for safety of the drone, others for fun. As a beginner, you want to learn how it handles before you can fly it without the app. Download the app to unlock the functions.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Before you can start flying the XKJ K911 Max drone, there are a few things you should know. One of them is that it is a lightweight quadcopter, so even with wind resistance, it can fly away easily.
The second thing is that the English user manual is hard to get, so you might even have to contact the company to send you one. If you are a beginner, flying the drone without a user manual will be hard.
Even though the flight and FPV range of this drone are impressively long, it is best that you do not fly it out of your sight.
Equipped with Electronic Image Stabilization, the footage is fairly decent, but it is not as good as what you would get with a mechanically stabilized gimbal.
Show me the price !
Drone is Not Connecting To My Phone – Troubleshooting Steps
The Most Important Feature In Buying a Camera Drone Besides Camera Quality
