Revell Quad Cam camera drone review

I have to start this review off my apologising to my contact at Revell. I have had the Quad Cam copter for ages but due to the weather not being kind when I first received it, and then having moving home, I had all but forgotten about it. Now it’s time to put this oversight right. I have a little garden, some half decent weather, and absolutely no previous quadcopter experience.

I have flown really tiny quadcopters before with varied outcomes. But, as these were all small, the crashes (of which there have been many) always seemed undramatic. My first attempts with the Quad Cam copter were borderline nasty.

That being said, I am sure most people looking at purchasing this nifty-looking camera drone will probably have more idea about what they’re doing than me.

Revell Quad Cam review – getting started

Taking the Quad Cam out of the box was very easy and there was a handy instruction booklet which, this is one of the very rare occasions where I decided to consult the booklet before just heading straight out, I found extremely useful and easy to follow.

To start things off you’ll need to get the Quad Cam charged, which takes around 90 minutes for which you get 7 minutes of flying time. Simply plug the cable which runs from the battery in to the red charger lead which terminates in a USB connecter which points to the fact that you can charge the Quad Cam from your computer.

In the box you get everything you need – a little screwdriver, spare rotor blades, a USB cable to access the camera and download any captured pictures and video, and the red charging lead. Oh, and the Quad Cam copter itself, of course.

Yup, the Cam in Quad Cam signifies that this copter is packing a little camera. It comes loaded with a 2GB microSD card and will take still as well as moving pictures. The results of which are not bad at all.

Revell Quad Cam review – learn to fly

For first take off, you need to thrust the controller which is on the left, this has to point down before you switch the controller on.

Flicking the controller switch to the on position starts the red LED off blinking. So, that with the LED lights on the copter’s rotor struts, it all gets a bit disco for a moment. Please excuse the fact that I hadn’t put the body back on correctly over one of the struts. It just clicks on but, I missed the front left one when I took this vid:

[youtube id=”YmdCqedsZr0″]

Flicking the left joystick up and then back down sets the controller LED to stop flashing and we’re all good to go.

Controlling the Revell Control Quad Cam, speaking as a complete novice, is somewhere between easy and exasperating – as whenever I thought I had got it all worked out there would be a moment of aaaaaaaaargh!

The controls are all pretty straight forward though. The left joystick controls the thrust and rotation of the copter where the right hand stick is for forwards and reverse. It’s just the doing them all together can get some getting used to – also remembering to mirror what the copter is doing when it is flying towards you.

Things get even more interesting when you press the little button nearest the right stick. Holding it down until is beeps gives the copter turbo power – well, it goes a bit faster. Too fast for me in my little garden, that’s for sure. Thankfully, pressing the button again puts it back in to normal mode.

The first half of this next vid has the camera pointing straight forward and then the second half has it pointed all the way down – of course you can tweak the angle anywhere between these two settings:

[youtube id=”mUC2k3EPO5I”]

Apparently more skilled pilots can get the Quad Cam to roll – I’m not quite ready for that sort of behaviour yet.

What I did like is that the Quad Cam’s built-in camera which will record or take photos while the quadcopter is flying and saves these directly to that micro SD card. Looking back at the recordings is quite satisfying on those moments I seemed to know what I was doing. This only makes me want to keep on going and try to master this thing.

Revell Quad Cam review conclusion – smash or crash?

Overall I really enjoyed Revell’s flying gadget. It is fun to fly and the built-in camera is a great addition.

The Quad Cam is extremely light and so can be at the mercy of slight breezes so I would recommend flying it where you have room for correction – preferably not a small back garden with high walls.

The battery is only good for 7 minutes and that’s my only problem with the Quad Cam. Just when I think I am making some (little) progress I have to stop again and recharge it. It’s not a deal breaker and I am sure I could get spare batteries if I wanted.

The controller is decent and does the job and is sturdy enough.

All in all, the Revell Quad Cam is fun and, if you have the patience, has the potential to be flown spectacularly thanks to its stunt skills.

Add in the mix its video and picture capturing abilities at this price point, I have no hesitating in recommending the Quad Cam quadcopter to anyone looking in to getting a camera-packing copter.

You can buy the Revell Quad Cam for just over £55 from Amazon.co.uk.