Dreaming of capturing stunning aerial footage but without a Hollywood budget? The Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K might be your perfect match.
This budget-friendly quadcopter promises 4K video recording, a stable flight experience, and user-friendly features – all for a fraction of the price of high-end drones.
But is the Mi Drone too good to be true? In this review, we'll dive deep into the drone's capabilities, exploring its strengths and weaknesses to help you decide if it's the key to unlocking your aerial photography dreams.
We'll cover everything from image quality and flight time to ease of use and portability, so you can make an informed decision before you take flight.
The Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K is one of the best drones in its price segment. This budget drone has a sturdy build and is a beautiful/aerodynamic design. It has a long flight time of up to 27 minutes to facilitate big projects, this is possible with the large 5100 mAh battery. Most importantly, this camera drone can shoot full 4K 30 FPS videos. Additionally, it comes with 3- axis gimbal for excellent stabilization, clean and smooth videos.
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Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K Review
Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K - Inside the Box
The Xiaomi Mi Drone comes in an elegant white box like most of Xiaomi’s products. Inside the box, you will find these:
- Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K
- RC controller
- Camera
- Battery
- USB cable
- 2 Manuals
- 8 Propellers
- Wall charger
Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K - Design
Xiaomi seems to always deliver on the build and design of a product. This is true for the Xiaomi Mi Drone 4k too as it looks great and feels strong. The drone is primarily made out of white plastic and features gold accents that go really well with the white.
Two gold and two grey propellers are attached to ends of the drone which house the motors. Under the motor are 4 LED lights, 2 white LEDs at the front, a red and a green LED at the back.
These are navigation lights similar to the ones found on real planes. They are bright and visible from far away which is great when you operate the drone at night. The battery along with the power switch is on the backside of the drone. There are also LED indicators for the battery status here.
The camera is attached to the bottom side of the drone. The camera mount has 2 plastic frames and 4 soft rubber shock absorbers.
There is 3-axis gimbal for stabilization, which is more than what you will find on most drones. The landing gear is foldable and the propellers can be easily detached aiding in the portability of the drone.
The controller is also white with gold accents, and it feels great in the hand. It comes with antennas for connectivity. There is two analog stick to control the drone.
The controller also has two buttons one for power, and the other for takeoff and landing separated by a battery indicator. There is a return to home slider if you want the return back on its own.
The controller comes with a stand for you to attach your phone with the controller. And finally, there are two buttons at the back, one to shoot video and the other to take pictures.
Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K - Specifications
- Manufacturer - Xiaomi
- Model - Mi Drone 4K Edition
- Weight - 1376g
- Lifting speed - Max climbing speed 6 m/sand Lowering speed: 1.5 m/s
- Maximum flight speed - 18 m/s
- Flight time - 27 minutes
- Distance control - 3000 m
- Battery - 5100 mAh
- Camera - 12.4 MP Sony Sensor
- The maximum photo resolution - 4000×3000 4: 3
- Video resolution - 3840×2160p 30 fps, 2560×1440p 30 fps, 1920×1080p 100/60/30 fps
- File format - Image formats: JPEG, Video Format: MP4
Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K - Features
The Xiaomi Mi Drone 4k is loaded with some really cool features. And these features for its price make it a steal.
- Full 4K 30 FPS video recording with 3- axis gimbal for excellent stabilization, clean and smooth videos.
- The drone features 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi frequency allowing it to be controlled over distances of up to 1.86 miles (3000 meters) at max altitudes of up to 0.5 miles (800 meters).
- GPS and GLONASS for precise positioning.
- Long flight time of up to 27 minutes to facilitate big projects, this is possible with the large 5100 mAh battery.
- Detachable propellers and camera module make it easy to transport.
Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K - Intelligent Flight Modes
The Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K comes with a lot of flight modes to take your camera experience to the next level. Some of the functions are:
- One key automatic take-off, return, and landing functions with real-time battery monitoring.
- Orbit Flight mode to set a 360° flight path to circle around objects.
- Drone Flight lets the drone lock on to the pilot and flies backward for a cool cinematic effect.
- Tap to move function, this allows you to use the map and tell the drone to move to any point on the map.
- Route Planning feature allows you to get professional videos by setting a pre-planned route.
These are great modes that you will love when you experience them as they all work great and give you greater control over the drone and camera.
Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K - Set Up and App
To use the Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K, you will have to assemble it first, because the drone comes in parts. The assembling process is pretty straight forward and easy.
All of it is toolless and this makes the whole assembly process simple and quick. You assemble by following these steps:
- Fold the landing gear until the click into position.
- You have to mount the camera now; you can do this by removing the door on the underside by clicking the button that opens it. The camera contacts will now be exposed, you can attach the camera now frontside first and the backside till you hear a click.
- Finally, you have to fix the propellers. Two gold and two grey ones that need to fix into their color-coded mounts on the drone. You just have to place the propellers on the mount and press them slightly to lock them into place.
Now make sure everything is fixed in place and fastened correctly by trying to pull the landing gear, camera and propellers, if nothing pops out, the drone is ready to go.
And make sure your phone, the controller and the drone are all charged up for a smooth experience.
Usage
Now comes the fun part, using the drone, but make sure check everything once again before using the drone, this is to ensure nothing goes wrong, else you can damage your drone or worse, hurt someone else. To use the Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K:
- Turn on the drone.
- Open the Mi Drone App on your smartphone, you will use this as a display for the camera feed.
- Turn on the controller by pressing on the power button twice.
- Attach your phone to the remote controller and connect the both either using Wi-Fi or a USB cable.
- Pair your phone and the controller using the app.
- If everything is paired correctly, you will be able to see the position of the drone on the map or the camera feed.
- Now, wait for the “Could Fly” signal, and that’s it you can fly and shoot videos and photos from your Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K.
Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K - Flight Performance
The flight experience of the Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K is simply outstanding because of the excellent control mechanism. You can use your phone to command the drone to go where you want from the map or the controller for a more precise experience.
The Xiaomi Mi Drone comes with very good range and battery life and in my tested it lasted easily over 22 minutes going over 1.2 miles (2000 meters).
You can get 27 minutes of battery life under certain flight conditions which is great for the price class. You can carry a spare battery if you have a longer shoot day.
The 17.4 Volt 5100 mAh battery takes three and a half hours to fill up so a spare battery is recommended. If you lose the signal of the drone, it will return back to you, but to conserve battery it flies slowly taking 20-45 minutes to return back.
Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K - Camera Performance
The camera of the Xiaomi Mi Drone is truly its forte as the 12.4 MP sensor from Sony shoots some impressive images and videos. With up to 4K 30fps recording capability and the 3-axis gimbal, the videos are sharp, detailed and smooth.
This combined with some excellent flight modes, you can take videos that are of cinema like quality. A 60fps mode would have been much appreciated but you can do it only with 1080p video quality.
It is no slouch in the stills taking category either, as the 12 MP camera takes sharp images with excellent detail and stability.
Pros
- Easy to fly
- Affordable compared to alternatives
- Smooth and stable 4K video
- Intelligent Flight Modes
- Amazing flight time
- Extended transmission range
- Simple assembly and disassembly
- Ideal for wide-angle images
- Ability to zoom without distortion of the image
- Detachable camera module and rotors
Cons
- Long charging times.
- The app is not intuitive.
- Propellers can make a strange whizzing sound
Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K Review - Final Thoughts
Just buy it, if you are someone looking for a drone that is reliable, well built, and feature-loaded, just get the Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K. It is an amazing product, that checks all the right boxes. The flight performance is top-notch with good range and flying time.
The camera is amazing as the pictures and videos that come out of it are great for a drone. And finally, the price, it is very affordable offers excellent value for money. The Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K punches above its weight class, making it easily the best drone in its price class.
FAQs
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