3DR - Geek Squad Certified Refurbished Solo Drone - Black

I think the refurbished drone was new out of the box. Set up went fine and it is the best drone to purchase for your money right now. Be careful with your iPhone software upgrades. 3DR is not as fast as they were in upgrading their Solo App to match the latest smart phone upgrades. Learn the rules of drone flying and have fun!

Drone is amazing. Was musing antennas fir remote and a set of props. Local store made it right. 3dr builds epic $hit!

This is NOT a toy drone, this a full pro unit that has open source support. yes the company is no longer selling this model nor does it support it. the support is community based. lots of aftermarket accessories and parts are available. If you like to mod this is for you. if you want to call up tech support and have them hold your hand this is NOT for you. Just a heads up the GoPro models that are fully functional are the Hero 3+ Black edition and both Hero 4 models the older models are manual control only but will work. the 5 will not fit nor will the session version. Run the simulator app for a while, do not get out and try to fly without simulating it first this will be a big help.

Your experience may differ, but judging by the item I received... It is okay if you have low expectations. You get what you pay for. Mine was definitely not like new. One of the propellers had an inch long coating of dirt as if it had been crashed. But there is no visible damage to the Solo body. The controller is paired to the Solo. It takes off and lands correctly. The Solo battery has damage like it was crashed, but both batteries (the Solo and the controller) charge correctly. Nothing visibly wrong with the controller except somehow one of the thumb knobs had been unscrewed and was loose in the box. It is a tiny part, but somehow it was still in the box. I was planning on ordering another Solo anyway, for a spare, so the fact it looks used is no big deal.

The 3DR Solo is a serious drone with solid features. At Waimea bay, I flew far offshore in 15-25 mph winds to video the surfers riding a big swell. Meanwhile, on the beach there was a Phantom 3 pilot flying over the sand presumably due to the high winds. On the same day, I flew it a couple hundred yards over the ocean at the Banzai Pipeline again with very windy conditions. There was a Phantom pilot there as well but he came over and said it was too windy for his drone. Don't get me wrong. I bought my daughter a DJI P3S which works great. The good thing about a Phantom is as my review title states it's a "Mac PC" where you can pretty much pull it out of the box and start using it. The Solo does have that "Windows PC" aspect where it's not as user-friendly. The upside is there is quite a fanatical following on 3drpilots.com where you can get info on upgrading the GPS, the WiFi, replacing the motors, switching to Solex software, etc. A downside is 3DR got out of the consumer drone business so the Solo is likely the last model of it's kind from this company. If you can get a Solo with gimbal and either a backpack or an extra battery for ~$300 to $350 that beats buying one of those entry-level drones with a camera and FPV for $200 to $250. The additional cost you have to factor in is the purchase of a GoPro Hero 3+ black or Hero 4 Black/Silver.

This drone was $1000 when it was initially released. Picking it up for under $200 was a no brainer. Getting off of the ground does take a while as GPS acquisition is slow and the controller boot time is somewhat sluggish. A lot of people end up upgrading the GPS chip which I may do since the drone was purchased at such a discount. The unit I received seemed like a new item. It still had sheets of protective plastic on all of the items and there were no scuffs or blemishes (others have reported differently). I may mess around and grab another one while supplies last. It handled windy conditions like a champ and the footage from my Hero4 Black was smooth. The one thing that I'll have to troubleshoot is a loss of live view once I hit record through the app. Everything looks good until I hit record then the whole image on the screen begins to flicker or freeze. Things return to normal once I stop recording some in some respects I've been flying blind. I've seen others report similar issues and there may be a specific order of operations as it relates to getting a steady live feed: 1) I turned everything off. 2) Turned on Solo. 3) Turned on the controller. 4) Turned on iPad and connected to Solo WiFi. 5) Opened the app (I have an iPad 2 mini - no cellular, just wifi) and left it at the screen that says "Fly" and "Flight School". 6) Plugged in the GoPro4. 7) Turned on the GoPro4 (make sure it's in Video Mode). 8) Hit Fly and the live feed was there. 9) Hit record on the GoPro if you want to record your flight. I haven't yet tried the methodology above but it's gotten a lot of positive feedback. All things considered, I'd recommend this drone to anyone out there looking to get into the drone game with a quality unit for less than $500 (You'll want the gimbal, an extra battery or two, and the 3dr backpack).

I got this because it was cheep and Surprise, it's Great. I own a Phantom 3. I wanted an extra battery for it. I found that this whole drone cost about the same.($180 referb, $200 new before taxes) WTH, I got a new drone instead. The controller is great. It's sturdy, has useful buttons, control sticks and dials and its comfortable to hold. It also has a useful LCD screen. (But a phone or tablet is better) The Drone is Great. It is fast and stable. It does not come with a camera or gimble however. I found the gimbles cheep online and at F##s (Best buy sold out of them quickly). Get them while they hot!! It is only suppose to work with a Gopro hero 3 or 4. With the added gimble, this is true. But the Drone comes with a standard action camera type mount as well. You can use some cheep action cameras for video only. (No gimble action) I used An "Eken 4k action cam" I got from M.C. for $60. I plugged in the HDMI cable and was able to see video from the tablet I had connected to the drone. I just got a used Gopro Hero 4 black today to hook up to it. In all, I spent $200 for the drone after taxes from Best Buy, $180 for the camera on E##y (Get one new from Best Buy tho) and $40 for the gimble. $420 complete for the whole package! Two years ago this would have cost about $1800 easy. If they are still available, pick one up.

Great deal I was very happy with the quality of the quadcopter. Looked like it had never been flown and when I did fly it, it flew perfectly. Too bad the refurb drones are gone. I tried to buy another one yesterday Aug. 3rd and they are out of stock. That should show you how pleased I was with the purchase, I wanted to buy another one! Only one complaint is that the Solo had the revision "A" GPS unit in it, but it picked up 7 satellites within 1 minute. That's my only complaint. There are some new drones for sale at Best Buy at a higher price, if they are anything like the one I received, I highly recommend that you get one before they run out. THERE WILL BE NO MORE!