- Joined
- Oct 23, 2015
- Messages
- 472
- Reaction score
- 102
it's been a long time coming. I have had lots of fun flying Solo and got some cool shots..but i feel I give this company way too much credit/benefit of the doubt and keep getting burned...now seriously considering an exit strategy and sell everything, the whole 9 yards (backpack..gopro..5 batteries, solo, external monitor, many of the mods you can think of etc etc)
where to start...for those who are not aware of the story:
- pre-ordered the Solo a year ago before launch at 230% of the current price
was I expecting some early adopter growing pains? sure...but I thought they would at least maintain good communication, it's an American company after all with glowing customer service reviews, which is why I didn't back the competitors.
was disappointed at lack of communication right before/months after launch. They were practically dead silent
- gimbal severely delayed and when it finally shipped it was pretty buggy
- official app supports android 4.3+, big cavet was it was only a slim list and every other device had to use beta version
- "open-source" nature is questionable
- my first Solo crashed because of GPS loss during landing and drifted hard with minimal wind, no biggie I
got a second Solo
- only 'Made for Solo' accessory I'm interested in was the optical flow and parachute. 3DR doesn't want to bother with optical anymore and instead will rely on AR & Geofencing as a major selling point (lol more in a bit). It's gone community-based and still in very early stages. Parachute still unreleased and probably $$$
- customer support dwindling down (no phone line...doesn't affect me much)
- exiting consumer market (red flag...no Solo parts in the future most likely)
- MPCC bug (very annoying given how craptastic Solo flight-time is)
- GPS revised, silent improvement isn't uncommon but would be nice to be formally acknowledged when asked. Still, very frustrating when rev. A GPS gets plenty of sats after 5 min search but doesn't lock and you simply don't wanna risk it = lost opportunity
- lead Android guy no longer there, the Geofence/AR safety point is out the door for this major platform
- i don't mind waiting for the released/upcoming major update but I know it won't be bug-free just like every major update so far
- this last one is minor but basically the final nail on the coffin that put it over the dge: they reshared a photo by a 3DR owner on social media that shows a top-down view of a beach with a floatplane. I commented "encouraging us to fly over seaplane base...?" It was immediately deleted without an explanation. Their account so they have to the right to moderate but I was expecting a message to discuss the issue...but nah that's how you treat loyal customers and it certainly wasn't the first time they reshared work without considering portrayal of safety.
credit where due:
- second Solo has been pretty rock solid
- software team has been great schedule-wise, more features/smart shots have been added since launch (but obviously with the major cavet)
Any other early adopters/Solo fans that's also fed-up and has already or thinking about abandoning the company that practically gave up on us? If anything I'll probably stop wearing the complimentary 3DR shirt now, hahaha.
I'll likely forward this to Vu, I would love to hear his input (I've had pretty good experiences with him)
Thank you for reading.
where to start...for those who are not aware of the story:
- pre-ordered the Solo a year ago before launch at 230% of the current price
was I expecting some early adopter growing pains? sure...but I thought they would at least maintain good communication, it's an American company after all with glowing customer service reviews, which is why I didn't back the competitors.
was disappointed at lack of communication right before/months after launch. They were practically dead silent
- gimbal severely delayed and when it finally shipped it was pretty buggy
- official app supports android 4.3+, big cavet was it was only a slim list and every other device had to use beta version
- "open-source" nature is questionable
- my first Solo crashed because of GPS loss during landing and drifted hard with minimal wind, no biggie I
got a second Solo
- only 'Made for Solo' accessory I'm interested in was the optical flow and parachute. 3DR doesn't want to bother with optical anymore and instead will rely on AR & Geofencing as a major selling point (lol more in a bit). It's gone community-based and still in very early stages. Parachute still unreleased and probably $$$
- customer support dwindling down (no phone line...doesn't affect me much)
- exiting consumer market (red flag...no Solo parts in the future most likely)
- MPCC bug (very annoying given how craptastic Solo flight-time is)
- GPS revised, silent improvement isn't uncommon but would be nice to be formally acknowledged when asked. Still, very frustrating when rev. A GPS gets plenty of sats after 5 min search but doesn't lock and you simply don't wanna risk it = lost opportunity
- lead Android guy no longer there, the Geofence/AR safety point is out the door for this major platform
- i don't mind waiting for the released/upcoming major update but I know it won't be bug-free just like every major update so far
- this last one is minor but basically the final nail on the coffin that put it over the dge: they reshared a photo by a 3DR owner on social media that shows a top-down view of a beach with a floatplane. I commented "encouraging us to fly over seaplane base...?" It was immediately deleted without an explanation. Their account so they have to the right to moderate but I was expecting a message to discuss the issue...but nah that's how you treat loyal customers and it certainly wasn't the first time they reshared work without considering portrayal of safety.
credit where due:
- second Solo has been pretty rock solid
- software team has been great schedule-wise, more features/smart shots have been added since launch (but obviously with the major cavet)
Any other early adopters/Solo fans that's also fed-up and has already or thinking about abandoning the company that practically gave up on us? If anything I'll probably stop wearing the complimentary 3DR shirt now, hahaha.
I'll likely forward this to Vu, I would love to hear his input (I've had pretty good experiences with him)
Thank you for reading.
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