Customer Ratings & Reviews

Got this small drone to learn flying a drone before getting a big one that can do damage when I crash it. I am new to flying them and found that with all of them I tried there is a learning curve making all the constant small adjustments to keep them on course. With this one I can learn that without the fear of breaking something because it is tiny and weighs nothing.

My kids have hits and hours of fun playing with this little flying machine.

The battery compartment screw is mini and hard to open. But easy to fly, durable and great for indoor flying.

My husband has fun with it. Like all of them, the battery never last long.

Good starter drone but somewhat fragile. Short battery life.

This drone was hard to control. It did not respond well to the remote

It's a good Drone but I think it's for younger kids who are just starting to learn how to make it work.

Very entertaining and nice for kids to learn motor skills for the future when the fly bigger drones.

Very surprised at how high and how fast the drone performs. Will be more fun when the weather warms up.

It's a fun drone to learn on, but is not something you will use long term for your droning needs.

Great toy to fly around the house or outside.Lots of fun for all.

size is good and easy to control, only bad thing about this drone is small flying time duration..

Nice little drone, a little bit fragile but is easy to use.

Works like a charm. I would recommend this for some one looking to start out flying drones

It is a good product to learn to fly drones. I will probably be purchasing a bigger one next.

Veey small and easy to fly in the house. Daughter loves.

The size is great but it is very difficult to control,

I purchased the Protocol Neo-Drone Mini RC Drone back in November of 2015. I bought it on a whim without actually looking at a review and after using it for a couple of days, I decided to read the reviews to see if some other purchasers were having the same experiences I was having. My experience with the Neo-Drone is as follows: * I found it to be more challenging than I originally imagined. Trying to get it to hover in one spot for an extended time is difficult. It tends to drift more to one side than the other most of the time. I have followed the directions to trim the movement and it worked to some degree but not as precise as I would like it to be. * What I have noticed is that when you take off from a flat surface, the air/turbulence created under the drone from the propellers makes it unstable, causes it to drift and that make it difficult to keep it stable because when it starts going in one direction, you automatically tend to overcompensate with the remote control to correct it and keep it on course. * This drone is small. The remote that controls it is actually bigger than the drone itself. I knew that going in because I saw it on the shelf in the store before purchasing it. After doing some extensive reading and research on drones, I found out a few things related to this one. 1.) Smaller propellers rotate faster. Faster moving propellers allow for quicker acceleration and movement. The faster movement creates less stability therefore causing recovery to be less precise. This is mostly why piloting this drone although its quick, turns sharply and accelerates quickly, makes more minute movements like landing it in an exact spot, flying it in a straight line and maneuvering it through obstacles challenging. 2.) More propellers on an aircraft means more operator input. 3.) I noticed when taking off from a flat surface, sometimes one of the propellers would start rotating after the other three. This does not happen all the time. In my opinion the controller may need some fine tuning. The joystick on the left is the one that controls the speed of the propellers by pushing up on the joystick. This same joystick control the left and right rotation of the drone. From my observation, the drone pulls toward the side with the delayed propeller. I believe this is the cause of most people's inability to control the drone. On a positive note, I feel that the drone is slick looking and well built considering its size and price. There is a lot of technology, functions and detail packed into something that can fit in the palm of your hand. It has guards for the propellers to protect them from damage and to also protect objects from getting damaged. Those little motors that spin the propellers are pretty powerful. I caught myself in the lip when the drone flew near my face. Stung like a bee... The drone also has small rubber feet/landing gear that helps to cushion the landing. They act as mini shock absorbers. I also feel that the price ($39.99) is fair for what it is (although I got mines for a a bit less). I wanted to address a few of previous reviewers' comments: You probably picked this up in the gaming/toy section of your local Best Buy. I believe that I saw one review that said it was purchased for an 8 year old and another for an 11 year old. On the box it states that it is recommended for ages 14+. Before giving this to someone as a gift, I would make sure that they fit the recommended age profile to reduce frustration. Although this is viewed as a toy, I see it as more of gift for a hobbyist, rc enthusiast, nerd/techie type. Plus, Protocol, the company that manufactures these doesn't refer to it as a toy anywhere on the packaging. Where it's placed in the store is more of a merchandising thing. I found it near video games and computer gaming stuff so keep that type of individual in mind as well when you think about purchasing one of these for yourself or someone else. I fit into that category hence why I purchased it. In this day an age we live in, I feel like most of us want instant gratification and more for less. Although I've had some difficulty flying this miniature drone, it has mostly been a fun, interesting and curious experience. Spend a little time with it and play around with the controls for awhile. I have been able to get it to do more and handle better over time. Many reviewers want it to practically fly itself. Where's the fun and challenge in that? Some have said that it breaks easily and that they have had the propellers come off. In my experience, the propeller guards have come loose from a crash or bump into an object. They are designed to come apart and they are easily reassembled in a few seconds. I have never had a propeller come off or break but there are extras included so I think that it gives the owner/purchaser some insight as to what may need to be replaced or that it may be a commonly replaced part. They also include a coupon in the box that gives you 20% off of additional parts. I think that the company knows the potential of what could happen to the drone in an inexperienced/beginner's hands and have made an attempt to provide some options to compensate for that with the extra parts and discounts. Some said that they broke the charging port. I didn't have this issue. It is possible that they may have tried to insert the charging cord the incorrect way causing it to break, they may be very heavy handed or they may just have a faulty unit. I have heard some complaints about the amount of time it takes to charge it vs the amount of time it flies. Like I stated previously, this thing fits in the palm of my hand. The rechargeable battery in it is micro in size so that it can fit into the unit plus for weight purposes for flight. It takes about 35-45 minutes to fully charge from the battery being totally depleted and you get about 8-10 minutes of flight. You can't expect this thing to fly for hours on end. In closing, here's a few tips that may be useful to you for your neo-drone experience: * Read the instruction throughly. Make sure you understand them. * Make sure it is fully charged before the first flight. * When looking at the drone and using the remote to control the direction, the black propellers and the white led lights are the front of the drone. The green propellers and green led lights are the rear. If the front is facing you (black propellers and white led lights), the way you control the drone in reversed. This means that if you use the joystick on the right side of the controller, pushing the stick up will make the drone come toward you and pulling it down will make it move away from you. Likewise, if the front is facing you, pushing the same joystick to the left will make the drone go to the right and pushing it to the right will make the drone go to the left. You may want to start out by having the rear of the drone facing you so that you can get the hang of the directions in their proper orientation. * You need to take it off the charger immediately when it is fully charged to avoid damaging the battery. * This thing is small so I wouldn't recommend flying it outside. If you do, you may crash hard and it can only take but so many hits crashing into a concrete wall or floor if you fly it really fast or if you take it up high and let it crash to the ground. Besides, flying it indoors will make you a better pilot because of the limited space and working within that space. Also, carpet is more forgiving in crash scenarios. I fly it in my bedroom over the bed and use it as a launch pad of sorts. Then I try to land it on the floor and return to the bed. I also try to keep it within the area of a queen-sized bed. This has helped me to get better control. * If you live in a house with a wife and daughter that have long hair or you have long hair, sometimes when the unit crashes to the ground, you may get a random hair or two wrapped around your propellers or a spare thread. This will restrict movement so if it falls behind a desk or under a bed, take a look at it before restarting flight. * This drone has small parts so keep it away from toddlers and small kids. You may want to keep it away from big dogs that may try to use it as chew toy or aggressive cats that may think its a bird and swat it out of the air. If you find that this drone is still causing you grief and frustration, you may want to try out the Protocol Tigerjet 3.5 Ch RC Helicopter. I own one of those as well and it is a lot easier to fly. The price is the same as this drone. Take care and have a great flight!

Great gift at a reasonable price for older children

Bought the mini drone a couple weeks ago, took a while to learn how to fly it.