Hi and welcome to this review of the Contixo F35 GPS drone with an HD camera and several advanced features such as autonomous flight modes and automatic return to home.
Now, I have reviewed a few Contixo drones and on the whole, they are decent and fun to fly.
However, many of these smaller brand drones may exaggerate some of their features, like for example, the quality of their cameras.
With the Contixo F35, it claims the camera records in 4k, which is true, but the quality suggests that it’s interpolated from either 1080p or 720p. This issue doesn’t really matter because no one is purchasing this drone for professional photography reasons, however, it’s something you should be aware of if you decide to purchase this drone.
So, how does the drone perform? Read on and find out in this review.
Contixo F35 Drone Review
So, first, let’s talk about the design of this drone, it is a foldable drone but because of its large battery, looks kind of bulky. Personally, it’s not very aesthetically pleasing to the eyes as something like the Holy Stone HS720E, which looks much sleeker with its streamlined design.
That’s just a personal preference and should not really determine whether you want to buy this drone or not.
One thing I have to mention about its design is regarding the weight of the drone weighs just under 600g which means if you live in the UK or USA, you will need to register the drone with CAA/FAA. If you love anywhere else, please make yourself familiar with the drone laws of your locality and adhere to them.
It has an all-black colour scheme with LED lights on each rotor, if you are familiar with these types of drones then you will know that the LED lights are not there just to look nice if you fly during twilight hours. They help indicate when a drone is synced with the controller as well as indicating when the compass is fully calibrated.
It does come with brushless motors, which is a good thing as they are more efficient and powerful than the cheaper brushed motors. They help keep the drone stable during flight and also allow it to fly faster.
There is no optical flow sensor, which is a shame as it means that you cannot fly this drone in areas that have a weak GPS signal. Its GNSS module connects with both GPS and GLONASS satellite system, so the chances of not finding satellite signal are minimal.
A GPS-enabled drone comes with a few benefits such as tracking the drone on s smartphone via the drone app, so you don’t lose it and autonomous flight modes such as tracking/following you, circling an object, and waypoint.
As for the battery, the drone is powered by a 2500 mAh 11.1v lithium polymer battery that provides a flight time of around 25 minutes, which is good for a drone of this quality. The officially stated time is around 30 minutes, however, tests have shown it to be a little less. It actually does state the correct flight time in the manual but for some reason (marketing most probably) on its product page, it’s stated at 30 minutes.
The battery takes over four hours to fully recharge and it a few LED lights on top to indicate its overall power level. If you would like to extend the flight time, it’s a good idea to purchase at least one more battery, there is an option to purchase the drone with an extra battery, which may be the cheaper option rather than purchasing one later.
The drones remote controller is similar to the Contixo F24, it’s a small controller that is powered by an internal battery and has a nice LED screen in the middle that displays drone data such as GPS signal strength, battery level, what mode the drone is in, and its distance/height.
There is a smartphone holder on top and a pair of hands on the bottom and buttons to switch speeds, emergency stop, take photos/videos and a dial on top to control the camera gimbal.
To use the drones FPV features you will need to download the F35 app, which is available for both iOS and Android devices. However, it should be noted that you will need a 5G smartphone to use the drones FPV features, anything else and you will not be able to view the live video feed from the camera.
The app gives you access to most of the drone’s main features such as intelligent flight modes, camera zoom, gesture control, and a simple video editing tool. You can also set the flight parameters within the app, like setting its maximum height and distance as well as its altitude for when it returns home.