Customer Ratings & Reviews

This drone is absolutely perfect for my first one. After doing some research, I realized a 2 axis gimbal is a must have to avoid shaky videos, and this one even has EIS, so the footage is super steady. I also wanted something with good battery life to enjoy longer flights, and this drone totally checks both boxes. It's really beginner friendly and was super easy to connect to my phone. Since it's under 250g, I didn't even have to register it. My first flight went smoothly, it was easy to control, and I didn't run into any issues. The 2 axis gimbal works great, keeping the footage stable, and I can adjust the camera angle with the remote. The GPS return function is awesome too, when the drone's far away and hard to see, I just press the return button, and it comes right back. The remote also shows the distance, height, and speed, which is really cool. If I ever need another drone, I'd definitely get this one again.

This is the third drone I've owned and probably the last one I'll ever need to buy, and this one has everything I need. High quality camera, it's 4K and has a zoom feature for clear details. The previous drone I purchased didn't have a gimbal, so when it shook in the wind, the image would shake along with it. This drone has a two-axis gimbal, so the shaking of the drone will not affect the image at all, which is great. What's more, the GPS on this drone is so good that I haven't had any problems with it losing control, whereas the drones I've bought before would just fly around on their own whims and eventually disappear. This is something I think is very important, we have to be safe while enjoying the fun of drones. The flight time and range are what I like, enough for any of my shooting needs. I would definitely recommend this drone to my friends as it is a high tech product at a good price.

I've used drones before, but this one still surprised me with how smooth it is. I've had drones with gimbals before, and they'd sometimes wobble, or even worse, fly off on their own! This one is totally different—clear, stable footage every time. I've flown it three times, always until the battery is about to die, and the GPS is super accurate. It even lands right back on the launch pad! Controls are precise and do exactly what I want. My only wish is that they offered a bundle with extra batteries because when you find a great view, you'll want more than 20 minutes of flight time.

GPS has to be calibrated every time and after a couple of flights the GPS signal got disconnected during flight and unable to control - crashed

The Contixo F28-Premium GPS 4K Drone is an affordable foldable drone that’s packed with lots of high-end features. I really enjoyed my time with this drone and got a few hours of flight time with it before writing this review. I’ll review the spotlight features of the drone and it’s pros and cons, then my overall opinion of the product at the end. Features: 4K Camera: The drone's camera is rated at 4K, and its output is crystal clear. It also has a 2-axis gimbal and image stabilization. GPS Functionality: Using your phone’s GPS, you can have the drone precisely fly to waypoints and even have it follow you. Dedicated Controller: Being able to maneuver the drone with a dedicated controller is great. The controller also allows you to attach your phone to it for real time video transmission and GPS functionality. Brushless Motors: Brushless motors means that the rotors will run for a good long time due to there being less friction. Foldable Design/Carrying Case: The drone is super portable and folds up really nicely into the included case. Long Flight Time: 23 minute flight time on one battery is impressive. The batteries are also easily replaceable and small. Pros: Portable Design: The drone is portable and small. You can easily stick the case in a backpack without any issue. 4K Camera: The camera is actually quite impressive for a unit this price. I had a strong signal when flying the drone, good image quality and the gimbal and image stabilization worked very well. Ease of use: This drone is very easy to fly due to the dedicated controller. Flight Time: 23 minute flight time is impressive, and the batteries are small, so carrying a few more shouldn’t be an issue. No Certificate/License Needed: Due to the light weight of this drone, you don’t need any FAA certificates or licenses to fly in the United States. Cons: Limited Range: The unit is rated for a 2600ft range. This is actually pretty decent for a drone at this price, but again, if you’re looking to pilot a drone that’s out of your line of sight, this might not be for you. Overall Impression: The Contixo F28 Premium GPS 4K Drone is a great value, especially when on sale. With its stable and clear camera, dedicated controller and small footprint, this drone does a lot of things very well. If you’re looking for a drone to fly beyond your line of sight, though, you may want to look elsewhere as 2600ft range for controlling this drone will be limiting.

I was very impressed with the drone. Getting it to launch was a bit hard for me but I’m getting used to it more. It flies well and I’m still testing it out.

The Contixo F28-Premium is my first budget-level mini gimbal camera drone. At first glance it seems nearly an exact copy of another brand name drone but at a more affordable price point; however, there are several differences, namely the camera and software features, that sets it apart. The drone comes with a 5 GHz remote control with built-in stats LCD, 1 removable battery, replacement parts, landing pad, a USB-C charging cable, and semi-rigid carrying case. The plastic body of this drone is extremely lightweight and feels almost toy-like though is not as delicate as it seems and can survive bumps and mild crashes. The drone arms fold in and nest for compact storage, but the blades aren’t secured in place when folded. The joysticks on the controller can also be unscrewed and stored in its base. Note that you will have to supply your own microSD card up to 128GB (Class 10 or higher) for recording video and taking photos with the 4K camera, as one is not included. If this is your first drone, you may need to register with the FAA for a small fee, however, drones that are under 249g, like this one, are exempt if using solely for recreation and not business (e.g. content creation, marketing, or real estate etc.). Regardless, even unregistered drone users must follow all FAA UAV regulations, and a number of mobile apps can help you determine where there is unregulated airspace in which you may fly the drone safely. The drone’s battery and remote control each take about 3 hours to charge fully when depleted; a wall adapter is not included. On a full charge the remote can run for approximately 90 minutes while the drone’s battery lasts for around 20-25 minutes of flight depending on flight conditions and flying habits. Given such a short flight time, I wish that the drone had come with at least 1 spare battery since there is such a long lead-time between charges. The 4K camera and gimbal have a protective cover over it that needs to be removed before flight. To power on/off the drone, press and hold the button on the battery for about 5 seconds. When powering on the remote control, you need to click the power button once, then press it again while holding it down, otherwise it’ll simply display the remaining battery life. Once both are powered on they will pair with each other automatically. You’ll also need to download and use the Contixo F28 mobile app on a smartphone and connect to the drone’s local WiFi network. The top of the controller contains a spring-loaded phone holster, so you can mount your phone just above it. The spring has just enough extension to accommodate my Samsung Galaxy s24 Ultra with a slim case. Chunkier cases may need to be removed in order to fit. The controller has two swappable joysticks for flight control and one-touch buttons for take-off/landing, auto-return home, and mode selection: GPS, Normal, Sport, or Camera. The LCD shows you the current mode, battery levels, GPS and remote signal strength, and distance, height, and speed of the drone. The two dials on the shoulders control the camera’s zoom and tilt of the 2-axis gimbal. Having a 2-axis gimbal versus 3-axis means that rotational movement (side-to-side) will not be stabilized in your videos. The drone compass needs to be calibrated each time you launch from a new location. The remote will also perform a GPS search to determine its location for functions like auto return home, drone finder, and certain follow features, which are only available if using outdoors. The mobile app streams a live view of the drone’s camera feed and provides you with on-screen controls for take-off, return home/landing, changing flight modes, and changing settings like safety parameters including maximum flight distance, max altitude, and return altitude. There’s also a flight tracking page that gives you stats on your flight habits like time and distance flown. Snapping photos and starting recordings can be triggered from the app’s on-screen controls or via hand gestures performed by a subject within frame of the camera: peace sign for photos and open palm for video in their respective modes, which I find work well. You’re able to view recorded video and snapshots in the app and can download the files wirelessly from the drone to your phone. The max resolution for photos is 3840x2160 while for video is 2560x1440 at 30 fps when recording to the microSD card. Without an SD card, photos and video are saved directly to your mobile device, however, video quality is reduced to 1280x720p at 25 fps. There is no microphone in the camera so no audio is captured in your video footage, however, you can overlay a handful of stock “music” tracks in your recordings from upbeat to dramatic styles. There are also a handful of filter effects as well, and you can even record in “VR” split footage allowing you to experience your flight recordings in 3D. Flying the drone takes a bit of practice and its wind resistance was a bit less robust than I had anticipated, though it is rated to withstand up to 12 mph winds. In mildly breezy conditions (8-12 mph) I found it had difficulty staying stable in one spot, often drifting slowly several feet up or to the side. This, of course, can be compensated for by the pilot, though may make it more difficult for beginners to handle. The other thing to remember is that the drone doesn’t have built-in obstacle avoidance, so the operator has to be vigilant in ensuring the drone doesn’t drift or fly into obstacles like tree branches. In general, the controls for flight were responsive with the drone ascending/descending and moving nearly instantaneously respective to the joysticks’ movements. The drone adhered to the range limitations set in the app accordingly. Remember that the RTH minimum altitude is quite high, so the drone may ascend prior to retuning to the 'home' point. I did find that the RTH didn’t precisely locate the original take-off point but landed in the general vicinity. The landing mat also isn’t tracked at all by the drone and is more of a visual target for the pilot. I haven’t played around with all the different modes, but they are pretty interesting. ‘GPS follow’ tracks your phone coordinates. ‘Image follow’ attempts to follow a slowly moving subject that you mark on your screen. ‘Interest point’ flies a circle around its position in a set radius. ‘Waypoint flight’ allows you to select up to 16 positions on a GPS map for the drone to visit. There are also a handful of cool one-touch cinematic aerial effect the drone can perform while recording footage, like an upward spiral, vertical ascent, and an ascent that moves away from you. Just be sure to verify that there won’t be any obstacles in the predefined flight path prior to executing them, or you may need to manually intervene mid-flight. The photos and video footage from the camera are decently clear, but due to the small CMOS sensor you lose a bit of detail from what you might typically expect from “4K” resolution. The camera does have a nice, wide 110° FOV, though it has a fixed focus so your mileage may vary on whether or not your subject and backgrounds are in sharp focus. Colors appear slightly dark and under-saturated, at times with an overly warm hue and at others a slightly cooler hue depending on your lighting conditions. Fast movement in videos is fairly smooth with only a hint of choppiness and smearing during rotational panning. The gimbal performs well, keeping the footage smooth and level while in flight. Overall, this drone is a pretty nice budget 4K gimbal camera mini drone. It takes decent photos and smooth/stable video, has a wide range of flight modes and GPS based functionality, and enforces safety limits. It doesn’t fly well in moderately windy conditions though, which limits when and where you can fly.

Easy 2 use. Good for beginners. I would buy extra batteries

As a preface, I have flown drones as a hobby before so I’m no beginner, but I still remember my first time flying a drone and did my best to place myself in that mindset to be able to mimic someone who had bought this as their first drone. To say the least, this drone is a good beginner drone but there will be some work required in order to successfully get used to flying one. This is my review of the Contixo F28-Premium Camera Drone. *TLDR at the bottom ========================================================== IN-THE-BOX/SET UP: In the box, you get all the items needed to fly this drone. You even get a nice hard-shell case which many drone manufactures do not include. But one of the key items that were not included is a power brick to charge these devices. You can get away using a typical 5V phone power brick which some may have laying around. But I would’ve liked it if they had included one. On the bright side, a short USB-A to USB-C cable is included but it is only one so you will need to provide another. Another key missing item is a micro-SD card. This drone seems to be for beginners with little to no experience, and with that, I strongly think that a micro-SD card should have been added so a beginner will not have to worry about anything except learning how to fly the drone. Luckily, I had one laying around and used that one. But note that the drone can still be used without an SD card. Setup time can vary depending on skill level and tech savviness. I would say it can typically take about half an hour or so. The video that Contixo has on their website explaining the setup is quick and to the point but does miss a lot of essential information that drone owners should know. For example, this drone is about .55 grams so there is no need to register the drone with the FAA. A drone will need to be registered if the weight is above 250 grams. If you are a complete beginner, I certainly recommend to watch some intro drone videos that explain everything from manual takeoff, landing safely, flying do’s and don’ts etc. Once you get these videos out of the way, you will gain the confidence to be able to fly one without any doubts! ========================================================== FIRST IMPRESSIONS: This drone is at the cheaper end. At first impression, the drone and the controller feel cheap. They both seem to be made with mostly plastic. And unfortunately, it doesn’t feel like the “durable” plastic. I understand due to weight and cost constraints, Contixo may not have wanted to choose something more premium, but the drone seems to feel like it’s one crash away from completely obliterating itself. The controller on the other hand is mostly plastic too but it looks like it will hold up better compared to the drone if there is a drop of some sort. On the other hand, the case has a nice soft texture on the inside and a rough hard shell on the outside which is great for protection. The case is small too, which helps with portability. ========================================================== DRONE FEATURES/CONTROLLER: The F28-Premium drone has many features that mostly focuses on the built-in 4k camera. There is the option to take a selfie, get the drone to follow you, and take time-lapse photography. Another feature that is not camera related is the return to home base. This works well from the minor testing I was doing since I was mostly landing the drone manually. The controller on the other hand feels alright. It is not the most ergonomic, but I do enjoy how far the compartment expands on top where your phone rests for those large phone users. The adjustment dials on the controller feel good, they are used to control the camera. The controller also has a tiny LCD screen where there is a lot of useful information like information on distance, height, D-Speed, V-Speed, devices connected, and more are all shown on this screen. ========================================================== FLYING/VIDEO & CAMERA: Takeoff can be done manually or from the app. There is no difference between both, it’s just a preference. You can takeoff from the bare ground or by using the included fabric helipad. It is on the cheaper end and mine did unfortunately come with a couple of rips, regardless, I found that if there is nothing holding the helipad down, the helipad does get pushed away from the sheer wind that the propellers produce. One of the first things I noticed was that the drone doesn’t seem to be balanced. If the drone is left in the air to hover without any input from the controller, the drone tends to sway and drift slowly. I flew the drone on a day where there was little to no wind which gave me the impression that something with the weight balance of the drone may be off. Despite this minor issue, flying the drone felt easy. Input was flawless, sudden stops were responsive, and this little guy can go fast. There is a camera gimble cover. Make sure to remove that before turning the drone on. Once the cover is off, there is a piece of removable film on the camera, be sure to remove that as well, otherwise, your footage will be grainy. I did learn this the hard way. There will also be permissions in the app that seem rather intrusive but will need to be accepted to get live video footage of the drone to your phone. A neat feature that I found was that the camera gimble does auto adjust to remain level with any position the drone is in. Video and photo quality is decent, it is clear enough to remain acceptable, but I did find that the camera has a hard time keeping most detail whenever you zoom in into a recorded photo or video. But I cannot complain at this price point. ========================================================== CONCLUSION: Overall, this is a decent beginner drone. If you have never flown a drone before, there is a learning curve to learning how to fly one. While, the video that Contixo provides is helpful and straight to the point, I recommend doing research outside on drone flying and video/photo basics. The drone is at the cheaper end, so it is mostly made of seemingly cheap plastic. I did not crash the drone so I cannot speak on durability, but the drone seems to be the most vulnerable compared to the controller which feels more high quality. Luckily, portability and storage are easy as Contixo provides a nice hard-shell case for the drone. Video and photo quality is good enough. If you are in search of a beginner drone, especially for a child or complete beginner, I would certainly consider this one. But keep in mind that if you are at a more intermediate level there are far better quality drones out there at the cost of a higher price which are more bang for your buck.

The F28 Premium has precise control, a gimbal camera, and some advanced features! Design The F28 Premium has a light weight plastic frame (unfortunately/fortunately I've found out that it's far more durable than it seems) and arms that fold in. It comes with a nice, hard, carrying case that can hold it, the manual, and all the parts that come with it. The controller has a pull-out tension holder for your phone that worked very well for mine. The joysticks unscrew from the controller and fit in holders on the bottom of it. There's a TransFlash/MicroSD slot inside the battery compartment. The power button is on the removable battery module, with four power level indicator LEDs and another LED that light bar. The Drone comes with extra propellers/blades and a screwdriver to replace them. There's also a take-off and landing pad. Both the drone and the controller are rechargeable via USB-C. The battery in the drone is removable and there are places in the case to store two batteries besides one being in the drone while it's in the case. The phone app then has some controls for the drone on it as well as a live feed from the camera. You need your phone and the controller to fly the drone. Controller The controller works well and I found it easy to use. Some of the controls are not necessarily intuitive. To do things like calibrating the gyroscope and the compass, for instance, you need to have the Drone on and connected and then move the joysticks into a specific position. It's the same thing to start and stop the motors - that's easy to remember because you use it all the time. It will not work without GPS signal unless you disable GPS search - which is easy enough to do by holding down the return home button on the controller (it took me a while to find that in the manual). There are three speed settings, the slowest one, called "Camera", then a middle speed called "Normal" and a fast speed called "Sport". I never thought it was too slow but did notice the difference in those settings. It can really move in Sport mode. The setting it's in is easy to see on the controller screen. There are a number of extra options you can enable from options on the app. For instance, it has follow me. I tried that a bit just walking in a park while it followed me and kept me in view. It didn't test it or make it hard, it doesn't have object avoidance to fly around trees, but it did follow me well! You can also have it start recording or take a photo by using a hand gesture. The control was also surprisingly precise to me. Whether moving the drone forward, backward, left, right, up, down, or turning left, or right the control was responsive and accurate. The your phone runs the Contixo F28 app and connects to the drone via WiFi. That's one of the first things you do when you're getting ready to fly, connect your phone to the F28 WiFi. I should also mention, the first time I took it for a flight it was windy outside, I don't know how much but I was afraid it may not work. It was incredible, it was like it wasn't windy at all. It moved almost perfectly, seemingly unaffected by the wind even though tree leaves and the grass were blowing in the wind. Photos and Video The camera is 4k. Photos are 4k. Video is 1280x720 if you're recording it on your phone (with no storage card in the F28). With a storage card in, it captures video at 2560x1440 on the SD card. Video is always streamed to the phone when you're flying it and you see it live all the time while in flight. I tried a 64 GB SD card but that didn't work with it. I didn't have a 32 GB card to try but it worked with a 16 GB card. The image quality is better than I thought it might be. I'll post a few pictures from a park I was at. I love the fact that you can move the camera up and down from the controller and there's a digital zoom as well. The camera even has a gimble to stabilize the video - which I thought worked great! The colors are not ultra rich but good and the overall image impressed me of both the photos and the video. Durability With the F28 being made of a light weight plastic I was afraid it may break easily. Well, I'm stunned to report that even after I managed to crash it a number of times, it's still working great! I was really concerned after one crash where it wouldn't seem to hover in place anymore. I looked at the drone more closely and found that a few of the fins were a bit damaged. I bent the rough edges back into place and it's almost good as new! It did come with an extra set of blade but I want to make them last and I was thrilled to see that's it's just about like new without replacing any. Why did I crash? Well, here are some tips. 1. Make sure you get used to the space it needs to slow down. 2. Keep it very slow when you're near walls of any kind. 3. It's probably better not to fly it inside your house until you're very familiar with the controls and how it behaves. I had one very safe journey all around the downstairs, through a doorway, no issues. Later, I started pushing it a bit more and somehow bumped a doorway and it got out of control. If you hit anything at all, it seems unlikely you'll recover. Again, somehow, none of the arms broke, I fixed the bad blades, and the camera still completely works! So I'm impressed! It's far less fragile than I thought! Battery life When it says the battery is low (you'll hear a voice notification from your phone's speaker) and you plug it in to charge, seems to always start at two dots, instead of being down far enough to start charging the first dot/level out of four. So I just need to remember I can probably fly a bit longer, though I'm glad it's on the safe side when it warns you. Even so, I think I was getting the 23 minutes or so that the manual says. I was impressed with how long I could fly it. I mean, they need to keep the battery light to keep the entire drone light. I think they hit a good overall balance of size, weight, and battery life for the F28. Summary I think the Contixo F28-Premium is a great value! I'm very impressed at how many features you get, how excellent the control is, and even how durable it is. The photo and video quality is better than I thought it would be. The case is great. The control you have when flying the drone is excellent! The fact that you can take photos and video and while flying is awesome and much more functional than I expected. The app feels like it needs to be updated. It works but there could be things easily activated from the app instead of using odd joystick positions. It worked, it just feels outdated and it's sort of odd that it allows you to enable some, what I would say are advanced features, like "follow me" and "return home", but it doesn't let you easily activate re-calibrate even though it will walk you through the process. If the update the app, great! If they don't update it, I think it's still a great overall package!

Pretty nice drone for the price is great product from a great store

The Contixo F28 is a great beginner drone for those who want to get into arial photography or are looking for an entry point into the hobby. The kit comes with everything needed to get started: Drone, lithium ion battery pack, controller, instructions, spare screws, spare props, screw driver, charging cable (wall charger not included), launching and landing pad, and a hardish case to carry everything around in. The quality of the unit is great for a drone that weights .55 grams. The controls are responsive. The F28 does a decent job of stabilizing itself as it transitions from motion to hover. Takes good photos. Quality: The Contixo drone and controller is made from lite-weight plastic. The only metal I can find are the joysticks, screws, and electronics. There are rubber pads strategically located around the control box to assist with a strong grip. The camera is suspended by a free floating armature that does a good job of keeping the camera level and vibration free during flight, during acceleration and deceleration, and while rotating the camera head. The motors and props push some serious air. I blew the landing pad away with every takeoff. I could also feel the turbulence as the F28 took off and flew away from me. The F28 includes a black, cloth covered protective shell case. The case includes a molded interior to keep the F28, remote, and up to two battery packs safe and secure during transport. The case has a mesh lining with a zippered pocket allowing the secure transport of documentation, extra parts, and anything else that may be required to operate the F28. There is a bright orange, fold out landing pad for take-off and landing. Unfortunately, the landing pad is not heavy enough to prevent it from blowing away on takeoff or landing. The included USB charging cable does not include a matching power supply. A standard phone charger, like an iPhone power adapter, will not be power enough to charge either the battery or the remote. You need a full 5V 2A power supply. A power supply capable of providing more than 5V 2A will also not work. It needs to be just right or the battery will simply not charge. Finally, the F28 battery is very finicky regarding which cable is used for charging. I could only get the battery to charge with the included cable and with a USB cable that shipped with my Corsair gaming keyboard. This is a real head scratcher because I have some very well made cables. Lesson: do not loose the cable that ships with the F28. Flight: Once properly setup and calibrated, the F28 is easy to control and very responsive. Calibration for the F28 only seems to work with GPS mode on and then only if there is a GPS connection. My first flight was with an uncalibrated F28 due to the heavy cloud cover interfering with GPS. I was eventually able to put the F28 into ATTN mode for manual flight. Unfortunately, weather has been a real issue for me during my time with the F28. As such, I was not able to take advantage of the GPS feature due to the heavy cloud cover and poor GPS signal. Regardless, my first flight, once air born, went pretty smooth. Both manual and auto take off were very smooth. Manual landing, however was rough for me. Thankfully, there is also an auto landing function built into the app. If GPS is active, then the F28 will return to it’s original take off spot when commanded to auto land. My flight started with the speed set to Normal. Vertical lift and drop is fantastic. This drone will pop and drop instantly. The F28 does a good job compensating for momentum when dropping. There were a few times I caught the drone falling some after popping it up to my desired altitude. Any kind of turbulence will also impact the ability to the drone to maintain altitude. There were a few times where the drone would be pushed up or down depending if it caught an updraft or a downdraft. Once this happened the drone would continue in the direction it was pushed until I tapped the controls to course correct. This was also true if the F28 caught a breeze after moving left, right, forward, or backwards. The F28’s natural preference is to come to a complete stop and hover when the commands stop. This proved less of an issue for me when running the drone in Photo speed mode. Photo speed is the slowest flight speed for the F28. If you are new to drones, like I am, than photos speed is the right level of training wheels. The F28 lumbers along providing a steady platform for photography. I was able to zoom around my yard, snap a few photos, and hit a few tree branches, side of the house, a bush. Doh! But no damage! Racing speed is crazy fast; especially for a novice. I tried this in my backyard and ran into a tree before I knew what happened. Thankfully, it was a decorative fir tree which is nice and soft. I did try to zoom the F28 around my backyard on this mode but was unable to get any kind of fine control. I ran the F28 around my local soccer field. Man, does this thing cruise. The controls also felt a bit clunky and stiff for me achieve any level of finesse at this speed. The control sticks have a smooth four way motion but are really stiff on the diagonals. Smooth eight-way control is possible when controlling the F28 using thumb and forefinger on the control sticks. However, the ergonomics of the controller work against me trying to control the F28 in this way. In addition to what I said above, there can be a bit of skating from side to side when the F28 gets caught up in any air movement. However, in still air, the F28 can start and stop on a dime. When the control sticks return to their neutral position the F28 will pull back in the opposite direction to force a hover. And it does a pretty good job. The camera also does a good job of remaining level when the F28 is compensating for momentum and leveling out. Photos: The F28 photos are ok. I was expecting much better than what I got. These are transmitted directly to my phone for storage. However, every time I take a photo, the app asks me for permission to store the photo on my phone. Major pain since this splits my attention between the drone operation and asking an obtrusive question on my cell phone screen. The F28 has an SD slot for local photo and video storage. It is worth investing in an SD Card for 4K video. The drone will not transmit 4K video to the app for storage on the phone. I included a few photos with my review for your inspection. Camera The camera is level with the horizon. The onboard sensor does its best to keep the camera level during flight, transmitting video, and with stills. Sometimes, the camara did tilt along the y-axis. This mostly happened if I landed roughly or <cough> <cough> hit something. There does not appear to be a mechanism that allows the F28 to recenter the camera. So, I was left rotating the camera by hand a few times to tease it back to center. I witnessed a neat feature while holding the drone. When I was handling the drone, I noticed that the camera gimble continued to auto correct to remain level with the horizon. This was easy to see on my iPhone while trying to fly by camera. I was taking this for granted until I saw what the drone was doing in real time while in my hand. For clarity, the drone was powered on but the rotors were powered down. Safety first! Finally, the F28 comes with a camera cover to protect the camera and camera assembly during transport. The camera cover also falls off after removing and replacing it a few times. It does a good job of protecting the camera and camera assembly when in storage. Just be sure to account for the camera cover when removing or storing the F28. It is a simple friction fit. The F28 can also see through the cover. I do not recommend flying with the cover attached since the camera is designed to auto level as the drone flies and hovers. Also, as stated above, it will probably fall off and get lost. Controller: Like the F28, the controller is mostly plastic. Only the controller sticks are metal. The controller fits in my and like a game controller but without the ergonomics. The shape of the controller forces me to fly with my thumbs on top of the sticks instead of allowing me to comfortably control the sticks with my thumb and forefinger. My thumbs are like hammers compared to the fine control I could apply with thumbs and forefinger. The camera dials, in my opinion, are difficult to use. They only activate at the edges of their movement and nothing in between. They would be much easier to use if the rotation of the dials was shortened. Battery life is good. I was able to get several flights before needing to recharge the controller. The top of the controller doubles as a phone holder. In combination with the Contixo app, the phone becomes part of the controller displaying video, maps, drone position, and other important metrics. It will hold up to a normal sized iPhone. The larger iPhone like Pros, Maxes, whatever the supersized screen iPhones are called these days, will not fit. The controllers LCD is bright, clear, and easy to read. The control sticks are very well machined. The tips are covered in sharp ridges that will bit into your thumbs or gloves. The sides of the control sticks are also textured but are less aggressive. The sticks can also be unscrewed and replaced. Final thoughts: Overall, I think the F28 Premium is a solid package for those looking to get into the hobby of flying drones or aerial photography. The kit comes with everything needed less a power supply. The construction may be plastic but has proven to be durable enough to take a hit or two. The F28 is stable enough to take some steady photos. Phone integration is excellent.

So out the box is a premium feel type of drone, of a brand I haven’t heard but will look into more. Its own carrying case is a plus and it comes with instructions and a reference card with a QR code with a quick start tutorial vid. One battery is included, but in the case there’s molding to hold a second battery (which I plan to purchase later a second one), and a charging usbc cable included but you need your own charging source (my anker usb/iphone charger works fine). Now I do own another drone of a beginner’s level and priced lower. From experimenting with this.. it really feels advanced and it tends to go even a bit higher without a limit.. OR maybe I haven’t reached it yet, but with this being a small drone I can lose sight of it but it’s still within earshot. I went out on a dry, cloudy calm day (which yesterday was pouring and highly recommend flying in all dry weather with less wind), and this was the first time setting up, which was easy. The controller has a digital LED display and a smartphone holder with a groove or indent so it won’t push buttons on the side of the phone (and its case friendly since my iPhone was cased), but more importantly you also need to get the contixo compatible app, connect to the drone via WiFi, and start flying along with having the controller on. Now things do get a bit hiccupy; each time you touch the take off button (which so far only works with the app and not the controller), always a prompt shows up to slide to unlock and also a dialogue box that confirms the drone will rise automatically to 1.5 meters and must agree staying away from people and buildings. I’m not sure why but sliding to unlock which changes to color blue, the drone just sits there and not take off and I have done this quite a number of times and I was a bit irritated until finally the drone just started propelling after the 6-7th swipe.. (still stationary on the ground).. from my basic drone experience with a cheaper different drone, I worked the controls and feels the same, push left thumb stick up to take off.. and it flys pretty high as I said earlier so far (and haven’t seen anything on the phone screen of a limit reached). The video feed was intermittent smooth and a bit choppy, getting a good 30fps I think vs way below that on my beginner drone. While using the controls like the return to home, there is even a voice alert saying so, which I find it cool. The included bright orange circlular takeoff mat.. well I’d think it’s helpful maybe to know your spot to return so I’d think it’s crucial to use, but I think it relies on the phone and controller. The controllers led display has quite a number of display elements like speed and such and does help a lot. I don’t have a memory card yet but intend to get one soon. I have take a couple beautiful aerial photos of a park I was at in Lathrop CA. There’s more fun to experience and learn with this drone and for me to read in depth more with the documentation and heading over to the Contixo website for helpful learning content and tips, and order another battery soon. I have read the battery is good for about 23 minutes of flying. If Contixo would consider designing another longer length battery of the same form factor for this drone (like 35 minutes), I’d get it. Of course afterwards done flying, the propellers folded easily, and also with the swivel camera there’s a protective clear plastic you’d snap back on when not in use and snap back off before flying. When the days get sunny soon near the weekend, will take this out flying to another location more suburban and have more fun!

This Contixo F28-Premium GPS 4K Gimble Camera Drone is a definite blast of adrenaline for an absolute newbie to drone flying. Call it a UAV, or flying robot or drone, it’s your personal set of wings. Especially critical for a complete novice is a well thought out setup and start-up process with some early hand holding. I’m sure experienced drone users are already scrolling for a more useful review for them, and that’s perfectly fair. If you’re new like me, wondering if this will frustrate you and get you into trouble, I think you’re OK. I was surprised how quickly I got my drone airborne. SETUP: There a lot to explore here and a bit of experience overcomes initial stumbles. This is an advanced multi-Axis Gimbal drone with exceptional still photo and video capturing ability as well as an extended suite of flight modes to make controlling this compact device easier for a novice. It offers a couple of ways to manage a flight session, and take pictures, or to control in-air maneuvers. With a necessary phone for control, plus the controlling console, plus some hands-on placement of the drone, and, in my case, the instructions, it can be a lot to juggle out in that field you should find for you early flights. You do not want to be dodging branches and overhead wires! Keep that in mind. After fully charging the drone’s removable/replaceable battery I did the same with the control console. Acquire your own USB-C cable to add to the one included. I downloaded the App during the charging process, but it really isn’t usable or explorable until you make the Wi-Fi link to your drone. I found the Wi-Fi network link was immediate and reliable, with the screen taking a few seconds to show what the drone camera was capturing. This was all accomplished using my iPhone 14 Plus, which is a very snug fit in the console phone cradle. Make sure you are familiar with the various console controls or the Contixo App which appears on your phone. As mentioned already, this can be cumbersome without a helper. The phone App screen is loaded with information, and is an inviting way to manage your flight. Contixo has done a wonderful job keeping the end user out of trouble, presenting contextual screens, safeguard confirmation notifications, and quick takeoff and landing buttons with even a preset flight height while you get your bearings. Very well done. PERFORMANCE: My early efforts are not very informative for you, other than pointing to my photos of my drone at its stationary, low height flight which didn’t need my intervention for controlled flying. Pictures taken through the camera are superb. Just be attentive to where the sun is in your scene. This is a sophisticated drone with its own set of controls along with a set o camera management controls. My initial efforts provide a new perspective on “drone flight training” and why it makes far more sense now than it did before I acquired this great Contixo F28 Premium. The extensive, advanced features and control methods are both a positive and a burden. If there was anything I felt was missing it would be a lack of collision avoidance sensors. (which I’m pretty sure it does not have.) What I probably am asking for is AI flight control, but there are a bunch of AI-like features that make using the Contixo Premium easier. It has GPS Control, App visual control, Auto Return, Follow-me, One-Key Fly Far, Selfie (trigger) Mode, Way Point, Orbit Mode, and Time Lapse photography. It’s going to take some time and practice. Contixo adds a complete set of additional propellors and screws! in case your flights are ending violently. I haven’t had crashes, but my opinion is the F28 Premium construction material is very tough. SUMMARY: This is a great drone that a novice can start with while an experienced user will be very satisfied with the lengthy list of features that turn this drone into a tool adding interest to a variety of hobbies and job activities. The entire package is convenient to bring along to the beach, or camping trip or just leave in your vehicle if it’s a tool you use for your job. Be sure to acquire a vehicle charging adapter or a battery charger or maybe an extra battery or two, so your drone photography isn’t cut short by the typical 20-25 minute flight session. The Contixo F28 premium is a great companion for any photographer who wants to expand the excitement level of their hobby or professional activities. I see no reason why you can’t just buy it for play or sport, because it is loads of fun and was so easy to get into the air.

The Contixo F28 Premium Drone is interesting and fun to operate, and is great for taking aerial photographs and videos. Unboxing and getting the drone set up to operate is very straightforward. There is no real assembly required, just follow instructions to get the drone and controller charged and ready to go. The Contixo F28 smartphone app is very useful. The Drone provides a WiFi signal that the smartphone connects to, allowing the app to communicate with the drone during flight. The app displays the drone camera image during flight in real time, and enables photos and videos taken by the drone to be saved directly to the smartphone. Getting the drone ready for flight involves quite a few steps, including powering up the drone and controller, connecting to the drone WiFi, starting the Contixo F28 app and putting the smartphone in the controller's phone holder, compass calibration, GPS satellite signal acquisition, gyroscope calibration and motor startup. I've read that flight control is fairly standard across most drones in this class, but as a drone newbie there was quite a bit to get familiar with. Despite the relative complexity, the drone is remarkably stable and easy to control, and it wasn't difficult to have a successful first flight. I was able to fly around the area behind our home site, capture some photos and a video, and manually pilot the drone back to the takeoff point. The photo and video resolution is amazingly good, and after some more practice I'll be using the drone to perform a roof and chimney inspection. For my initial flight I was not able to use GPS mode, which means I was not able to use the features allowing the drone to take off and return automatically. I got a "geomagnetic interference" warning from the app, which surprised me because I thought I was a good distance from any structure. There was an iron fence about 50 feet from the drone, so I'll try moving further away from the fence and see if that improves GPS acquisition. The drone does not perform obstacle detection and avoidance, so care has to be taken when flying near obstructions. Flight time is limited to about 23 minutes. At 8.8 oz the drone is just light enough to not require FCC registration. The Contixo F28 Premium Drone is an excellent product. I'm looking forward to more practice flights to become comfortable with the drone flight controls and with the many controller and app capabilities. The designers did an excellent job integrating various technologies to create a drone that is stable and easy to control, allowing a novice to have a great experience flying it.

I decided to go with the Contixo F28 premium GPS 4K Gimbal camera drone because it looked like a good choice for a beginner like me. I'm totally new to drones, but I've always been fascinated by aerial photography and videography. After watching tons of travel videos with amazing aerial shots, I knew I had to try it out for myself! As a first-time drone owner, I was a bit overwhelmed by all the tech terms (like gimbals and stuff). I had to watch a few YouTube videos and read through the manual to figure out how to set it up and get it ready to fly. But I was really happy to see that everything was well-packaged and included everything I needed to get started. Plus, it comes with a sturdy bag to carry the drone and all its accessories, which is super handy. I downloaded the app on my phone and pairing it with the drone was painless. My first few flights were pretty rough, as expected from a newbie —I kept crashing it! But the drone is really durable and didn't break despite all the crashes. After a few more tries, I managed to fly it up to about 10 feet or so. I could have gone higher, but since I live in an urban area, I didn't want to risk it crashing onto a nearby highway. I love that there's a Beginner mode that keeps the drone from flying too high or too far away. One of the coolest features is the Follow Me mode. I was super excited to try this out because I've seen it in almost all the travel videos I've watched. It works great on this drone and adds a fun element to capturing videos of me wherever I go without the need to manually control the drone. The video and photo quality are decent, which is more than I expected for the price, but obviously not comparable to those captured by newer phones. Even on cloudy days, the camera still produced good videos. The gimbal feature is a game-changer for me as a complete newbie—it kept my shaky flying nice and steady. I removed 1 star because of the time it took me to learn how to fly it and take my first flight. So this drone might not be for the ultimate beginner after all, maybe more for someone at an intermediate beginner level. Overall, for the price, I think the Contixo F28 camera drone is a solid choice for beginners who want to get into aerial photography and videography. It has everything you need to get started and is pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it.

The Contixo F28-Premium GPS 4K Gimbal Camera Drone is not my first drone. I already have a more expensive one (over $1000) that I use for landscaping and photography, but I thought a smaller and cheaper drone might be good to have on hand. The drone comes packaged really well with a nice carrying case, the drone itself, a remote control, a landing pad, extra propellers, the battery, a charging cable, and a manual. It DOES NOT include a USB charging block—as we all have plenty of those nowadays. Initial setup had some hiccups, but overall, it went well. The initial calibration process might have caused a bit of a problem, as the first flight had the drone veering off quickly to the left and forward. I had to crash it to try again, but after another calibration, it worked much better. Flight controls are pretty snappy, though not as crisp as more expensive drones, but that’s understandable. I tested the height limits and various features, and all worked well. I tried the point of interest function where the drone flies to 49 feet and does a slow turn while videoing the point of interest below. I have uploaded that for you to see—if I can upload something more than 100MB. Ideally, I would like it to spin much slower so the images below could be more easily viewed. I’m sure that’s just a setting I’ll find when I try it again. I noticed a bit of lag with the camera when the drone was further away. Again, not something I experience with more expensive drones, but for the price, the features on this F28-Premium drone worked well. Subsequent flights replicated the same features but were a bit less noticeable. Stability might need some work. When I flew, there was maybe a 3-5 mph breeze—so not much. As you can see from the hover video, the drone slowly drifts around—something you should know in advance. Overall, this is a capable drone at a great price point and would be great for beginners and intermediate flyers to hone their flying skills and have fun doing it!

The Contixo F28 drone is a good choice for anyone wanting to get into the hobby of flying drones. This was my entry into Drones and so it took me some time to figure it out. Setting up the Drone was fairly easy, do this outside because the GPS signal wont connect indoors. Setting up the Contixo companion app was faily easy too. The camera is a 4K resolution which is great for an entry level drone, and takes some amazing photos and videos. Videos will require an SD card for the drone but photos can be saved on you phone. Actually flying the drone is surprisingly not difficult, I wont say its easy because I've almost crashed it in my first few flights and if you're new it could very easily happen to you if you aren't careful and skilled, despite this it was very fun to fly. The main reason I gave it 3 stars is because of a dumb battery/charging issue. The battery and controller have a USB-C charging port and one 6" charging cable comes included with the drone, but I've found that these components will not charge unless you are using the included cable only. I tried using multiple USB-C cables and powerblocks and they would not charge the nattery or controller. I even checked the cables and blocks by charging my phone, bluetooth buds, and smart watch and they charged perfectly fine, but for some reason the battery and controller wouldn't charge unless I specifically used the provided cable. This is ridiculous because if you lose it or damage it then there goes your charging capability. Overall its a fun drone and a good option for entry into the hobby.

The Contixo F28 Premium is not what I would consider a beginner-friendly drone. This is my first experience with owning or operating a drone, but as a tech-savvy individual, I approached it with confidence. However, after spending hours reading the instructions and watching videos, I found myself struggling more than expected. To start, the instructional video provided in the app is incomplete. It fails to cover essential steps, such as how to turn the drone off, land it, or troubleshoot potential setup issues. One glaring omission is the joystick combination required to initiate GPS sync—a critical step that took me far too long to figure out. Even now, I can’t seem to get the joystick combination to start the propellers to actually work, and have to rely on the app for this function. The app itself has its own set of challenges. It often requires several restarts before it will display the drone’s live feed. There have also been instances where the app stops controlling the drone altogether, even though the live view continues to function. When this happens, I have to power everything down and start over to regain full functionality. That said, the drone itself is really quite remarkable. It can auto-follow, circle you, respond to hand gestures (like snapping a photo with a gesture), program flight paths, and some features I don’t fully understand. The battery life is sufficient for my needs, lasting 20–30 minutes per charge. However, it takes 3-hours to charge, and there is only one battery included. Overall, the drone is great, really quite remarkable. However, the app, the instructions, and the learning curve were all significant issues for me, even after hours of reading, and app usage.

This is my first drone, and I’m very happy it is. I am a gamer and the way this drone’s controller is set up by default breaks my brain. Luckily there’s two control methods to choose from so you can see which works better for your brain. The second one is better, but still requires me to really focus on it. I think with more practice I'll be able to get it. The setup process was rough for me, but once I got everything going it was fine. The range is pretty good, and battery to me seems really short, but I don’t know what the average life should be. And lastly, the camera is not the best. It says 4K, but Android phones from back in the day when Android cameras were “bad” are better than this. The app also is not good. Long story short, PERFECT STARTER DRONE, fun to use, and experiment with. But if you wanna do anything semi-good for pictures, or video, I’d recommend getting another drone. That said, I’m happy with this as a starting point and feel comfortable making mistakes on this. Kind of like my first car ;-) I did essentially lose control of the drone and I don't know exactly why that happened and wish I had learned about emergency stops when I started losing control of it. Perhaps the wind, or some interference from something, but it started swaying left and right really fast then eventually B-Lined all the way to my fence and crashed into it. I tried to compensate for some of the erratic movement, but I may have made it worse. I was pretty grumpy about it and can only imagine how I'd feel if it were a drone 10x it's price. That said, it was a good learning lesson! I then learned about emergency stops, and other techniques in this situation like using the screen/camera view to try and compensate rather looking at the drone itself. Night time flying is rough. The camera is not very good in low light. It's basically a black screen of darkness. I really wish I could customize the controls and the camera was a little better. Other than that, I'm really happy with it.