Halo Drone Pro review

Halo isn’t exactly an enormous name within the drone space. the corporate got its start selling hoverboards that (much to our disappointment) don’t technically hover. Shortly after finding success within the rideable tech business, the corporate then moved into drones (which thankfully do hover), and now offers a quadcopter called the Halo Drone Pro: a souped-up version of its full-sized, full-priced flying machine. We took one out for an extended test to ascertain how it stacks up against UAVs from big-name drone companies like DJI and Yuneec.

What’s within the Box?

The Halo Drone Pro arrived in its own heavy-duty hardcover backpack and immediately impressed us with its gunmetal gray plastic housing, which immediately reminded us of something one might fly within the actual Halo computer game – only with none guns.

Luckily, the Halo Drone is a minimum of armed with a 4K camera capable of taking stills and video. The remote features a nice, classic RC airplane look and feel with precision, responsive metal analog sticks and a number of mysterious buttons. Within the cavernous backpack lies a number of small devices that accompany the drone.

It seemed like something you would possibly fly within the actual Halo computer game – only with none guns.

There’s the follow module, which acts as a beacon for the drone — provided it's direct line-of-sight with GPS satellites. There’s a vaguely James Bond-ish wrist controller and a Wi-Fi module that you simply got to slot into the rear of the controller so as to stream video to your phone. Halo even includes two extra rotors for those folks who tend to interrupt them.

There are two distinct sides to truly twiddling with the Halo Drone Pro. Flying it's obviously a key element within the enjoyment of any drone and Halo’s is exceptionally fun to zoom about through the sky. the opposite side, however, is all the items you’re required to try to to before you'll actually get the drone within the air. Here, things are decidedly less fun.

Sync City

All that stuff within the handy case must be synced before you'll do anything and, as is so often the case, pairing the Halo Drone’s heap of peripherals to your mobile device are often an enormous pain. Using an Android-based Samsung Note 8, it had been a continuing battle to urge the controller, Wi-Fi broadcaster, follow module, and therefore the drone itself all synced up and playing nicely together during a quick manner. to form matters worse, we were forced to travel through this rigmarole whenever we wanted to fly the drone.

This meant connecting to the drone’s Wi-Fi network (which always took several minutes to find), expecting the app to seek out the Bluetooth signal from the controller and drone, and ensuring the follow module had a transparent line of sight to the skies for a GPS signal. If you would like to use the watch controller, you would like to form bound to sync that rather than the most controller, because it won’t allow them to operate simultaneously.

The actual app (and you’ll got to use the mobile app to use the Halo Drone) is way from intuitive, especially when having syncing issues. It’s easy to argue, however, that since this is often a “Pro” drone, the interface is accordingly more dense and sophisticated . In any case, Halo could do with a UI expert to streamline the syncing and calibration process, among other more advanced control settings.

Learning to fly

When it all works, however, the Halo features a lot going for it. It’s a hardy piece of kit that kept on chugging along despite a few mishaps caused by pilot error. At one point, while getting the hang of the controls, we accidentally caused it to buzz directly into the side of the house, resulting in a painful series of crashes and crunches. We lost a rotor because of that mishap, but the drone itself was still perfectly fine.

Another questionable little bit of flying was a minimum of partially caused by a flaw within the video signal. The video feed isn't very crisp and sharp, despite the very fact that this drone is provided with a 4K camera. The video quality when playing back on a TV or other screen is simply ok, but not exceptional. On bright sunny days (of which there have been almost none during testing), the image quality is best , but the camera has real issues with low light settings that plague the winter months here.

Worse, despite the Wi-Fi broadcasting pack, there's a clear delay within the video feed of a few second and a half approximately . this suggests you actually can’t fly it via the video feed, and are forced to take care of a visible lock on the Halo Drone while you buzz around.

Tough enough to require a tumble

I discovered the Halo Drone’s video playback lag in spectacular fashion, while mischievously trying to follow my kid round the backyard. After a flying flawlessly for a couple of minutes, I suddenly heard a terrible crunching and whining sound because the drone got trapped in some tall dead vegetation on the border of the property — albeit the video on my phone’s screen hadn’t gotten there yet. Oddly, as bad because it sounded from afar, it didn’t even lose a rotor that point , although my kid now makes fun of my bad piloting skills.

Had I been a more intelligent human father type, i might have just strapped the follow module to her arm and had her run amok while the drone kept pace from afar. I’m not personally sure what people are using the subsequent module for, to be honest, but I even have to assume it involves things with the word “extreme” in them. I just ended up walking the drone sort of a floating dog that, unlike my actual dog, doesn’t chase cars/cats/other humans at every opportunity. Although on reflection , a drone that chases humans may need some real entertainment value where I live.

When it’s not crashing, the Halo Drone may be a blast. It’s fast (up to 45 mph), maneuverable, and responsive. you'll get a faster rig if you decide for a racing drone, but the Halo feels just fast enough to be exciting for non-racers without compromising controllability.

Whether zooming high above the treetops which surround my house or strafing the bottom because I’m a horrible one that laughs maniacally while scaring ducks, the Halo drone flies great. It also hovers extremely well. Airtime under normal conditions easily reached around 45 minutes. Even in below-freezing weather, the Halo ran for over half an hour without a hitch. That’s insanely good battery life for a drone of this size.

Cables… Cables Everywhere

Charging may be a little bit of a fuss though, especially if you’re using all the add-ons. The camera is usually charged through the Halo Drone’s battery, which didn’t seem to cause any issues, but we found charging the most drone battery (it only comes with one) takes several hours. Worse, there’s one charger that has multiple charging heads for the remote and therefore the drone battery — and you can’t charge both things directly .

This basically means , once the battery dies, you've got a minimum of a six hour wait before all of your batteries are fully recharged. On the brilliant side, the remote will only need charging after several flights. Odder still is that the alligator-clip-like charger for the follow module and wrist controller. Again, there’s just one included, which suggests you’re forced to charge them successively — although it only took about an hour to juice both up during our tests. The Halo shows off a definite lack of streamlined user friendliness here, to not mention tons of cables.

he controller’s range is listed at 1 kilometer (0.62 miles), but because of its mobile GPS abilities, you'll set routes for the drone to follow — either an easy tap that sends it from point A to point B on the map or more complex routes by laying down waypoints.

Our Take

The $1,000+ drone market is incredibly competitive and rapidly evolving, and unfortunately the Halo Drone Pro just can’t continue . At $1,100, this drone costs even as very much like a number of the simplest UAVs on the earth immediately , but also lacks a number of bells and whistles that became standard in drones that are half the worth — especially object avoidance.

With the power to follow, program routes, and return to its home spot, the Halo offers some nice features and it certainly proved to be durable, but still isn’t as complete a package as a number of the opposite top-tier offerings during this price range.

Are there better alternatives?

Yes. $1,100 can get you a damn fine drone lately , and if you’re willing to spend that sort of cash , you've got tons of options.

First and foremost, we’d recommend looking into DJI’s Mavic Pro and Mavic Air drones. Both are compact, durable, and absolutely full of features. they need obstacle avoidance, folding form factors, excellent flight performance, and more intelligent flight modes than you'll shake a stick at. At $999 and $799 respectively, they’re also a good bit cheaper than the Halo Drone Pro.

DJI’s Phantom 4 is additionally a solid contender here, as is that the Yuneec Typhoon H. Both are comparably priced to the Halo Drone Pro, but boast superior handling and more features. They’re also much less fussy to use, and don’t require numerous finicky peripherals. It’s worth noting, though, that the Halo Drone did outlast both the P4 and Typhoon H in our flight tests – so if you’re after long flight times, Halo could be the thanks to go.

How long will it last?

This is a troublesome call. Since the Halo Drone itself is sort of hardy and replacement parts are readily available on the web , the drone’s hardware and essential components should definitely stand the test of your time .

On the flipside though, Halo won't stay within the drone business forever. The UAV market is insanely competitive immediately , and if Halo can’t hang, there’s an opportunity it could plan to discontinue its drone – which might mean no more firmware patches, bug fixes, or software updates. To be fair, this is often all speculation and that we haven't any way of knowing whether Halo will stay within the drone game or not, but it’s something to stay in mind.

If the corporate does plan to jump ship, this drone will age quickly and become obsolete during a few years.

Should you buy it?

Probably not. you'll get more bang for your buck elsewhere.