Why I think "Solo" as best for Drone Hobby

[Kevin K]

Just wanted to share my thoughts and get some of your thoughts. I understand that I am in the 3DR Forum.

I'm a 61 year old first time buyer who has been doing much research on what drone to purchase....especially on YouTube, eBay, Google, etc.
The three primary drones I've been looking at are the Solo, Yuneec Q500 4k and the Phantom 3 & 4 standards.
I thought about the Mavic, (technology marvel) but don't want to spend that much money initially.

Would like to stay in the $500 to $600 range initially and have no problem buying a used unit.)

Appears to be to higher percentage of Mavic''s that are buggy based on what I'm hearing from social media. Not to mention DJI less than steller service dept and control of their products firmware and customer data collection.

Why am I convinced about purchasing a solo?
It seems to me that it's the easiest to work on and the least expensive to work on. Because of it being discontinued for so long, there is a plethora of parts for sale and YouTube videos on how to repair things yourself and upgrades , etc. Replacement parts for Phantoms are few and far between and there's almost nothing and how to repair them yourself. To replace a camera on the q500 cost you almost almost as much as the Drone itself.
It just seems to me a first time buyer looking at this as a hobby can buy the solo with MAJOR UPGRADE potential and still have the ability to buy replacement parts and DIY. Example, a GoPro is less expensive than replacing a camera on a phantom or q500 by long shot. For some, the thought of opening up and working on a drone may seem intimidating, but for me it seems like the DIY element would be part of the fun of a true hobby.

I guess before I purchase one I just wanted to get some feedback. And again I know I'm asking the solo forum and most of the feedback may be consistent with my thinking, but I like more insight from some of you that have had Solos for a long time as a hobby. Thank you in advance.

Kevin

 

[Darrell Muegge]

Hello Kevin,
I am 64 and researched the Solo as you have. I purchased the refurbished edition. 3Dr advised me that new ones sent to them for warranty work, were replaced with the refurbished, which are repaired models from returns. You will find the refurbs on eBay. I bought mine there for ~ $220.
I have flown it six times. I have had absolutely no problems with how the bird performs in the air. I have added the GPS mod to access satellites faster before flight.

 

[Maddog]

Hi Kevin- welcome to the forum. I bought Solo when it first came out but before I did I did a lot of research too.
Mavic didn't exist and I really had no interest in the Yuneec.
I looked hard at DJI but decided that flyaways and the terrible service weren't something I wanted to deal with. If your Phantom needed repair, you needed to ship it to China. I don't know if that has changed.
DJI also claimed almost all flyaways were due to pilot error and would not honor their warranty.
Like you said, almost no repairs can be done by the user. And, when a new model comes out, you need to buy new batteries- they are not compatible with other models.

So right now I would recommend Solo and I would encourage you to get spares of the harder to find parts like motor pods (you can upgrade to T-motors but you still need the Solo ESC), gimbal, etc. They are not too hard to find right now but the prices are going up. It's probably cheaper to buy a 2nd solo to use for spare parts if you need them.

Hope this helps.

 

[Kevin K]

Thank you for sharing Darrell!

Hello Kevin,
I am 64 and researched the Solo as you have. I purchased the refurbished edition. 3Dr advised me that new ones sent to them for warranty work, were replaced with the refurbished, which are repaired models from returns. You will find the refurbs on eBay. I bought mine there for ~ $220.
I have flown it six times. I have had absolutely no problems with how the bird performs in the air. I have added the GPS mod to access satellites faster before flight.

 

[Kevin K]

Thank you for sharing Darrell!

Hi Kevin- welcome to the forum. I bought Solo when it first came out but before I did I did a lot of research too.
Mavic didn't exist and I really had no interest in the Yuneec.
I looked hard at DJI but decided that flyaways and the terrible service weren't something I wanted to deal with. If your Phantom needed repair, you needed to ship it to China. I don't know if that has changed.
DJI also claimed almost all flyaways were due to pilot error and would not honor their warranty.
Like you said, almost no repairs can be done by the user. And, when a new model comes out, you need to buy new batteries- they are not compatible with other models.

So right now I would recommend Solo and I would encourage you to get spares of the harder to find parts like motor pods (you can upgrade to T-motors but you still need the Solo ESC), gimbal, etc. They are not too hard to find right now but the prices are going up. It's probably cheaper to buy a 2nd solo to use for spare parts if you need them.

Hope this helps.

Thank you Maddog! I appreciate your advice.

Hello Kevin,
I am 64 and researched the Solo as you have. I purchased the refurbished edition. 3Dr advised me that new ones sent to them for warranty work, were replaced with the refurbished, which are repaired models from returns. You will find the refurbs on eBay. I bought mine there for ~ $220.
I have flown it six times. I have had absolutely no problems with how the bird performs in the air. I have added the GPS mod to access satellites faster before flight.

 

[pyrate]

you have tapped into what makes solo stand out. OpenSource and strong community
it will be around for a long time, esp if they ever release the gimbal code.
lots of things still in the works for solo
and its pretty dang good right out of the box

 

[Saijin_Naib]

Like everyone else, I'm a big fan of the solo. I've wanted one ever since I first saw it. It was the first drone I knew about but I simply could not afford one until now. I've had my hobby solo for a month, but I've only just flown it yesterday with the new open solo firmware.

However, I do run two Solos at work for agricultural mapping and I have logged over 2500 acres with them and have not had a single issue that wasn't caused by us (sloppy manual landing flip-overs). I like the hobby aspect of tinkering around with it. The ability to change whatever I want and the awesome mods and upgrades being created by the community.

Is it perfect? No, absolutely not. Nothing is however it gives me the flexibility I want in the areas I want, and more importantly, it was very reasonable to start out with as I spent less than $200 on mine.

(Edit: Speech to text was atrocious. Cleanup so I look semi-literate.)

 

[rcflyingaddict]

Just wanted to share my thoughts and get some of your thoughts. I understand that I am in the 3DR Forum.

I'm a 61 year old first time buyer who has been doing much research on what drone to purchase....especially on YouTube, eBay, Google, etc.
The three primary drones I've been looking at are the Solo, Yuneec Q500 4k and the Phantom 3 & 4 standards.
I thought about the Mavic, (technology marvel) but don't want to spend that much money initially.

Would like to stay in the $500 to $600 range initially and have no problem buying a used unit.)

Appears to be to higher percentage of Mavic''s that are buggy based on what I'm hearing from social media. Not to mention DJI less than steller service dept and control of their products firmware and customer data collection.

Why am I convinced about purchasing a solo?
It seems to me that it's the easiest to work on and the least expensive to work on. Because of it being discontinued for so long, there is a plethora of parts for sale and YouTube videos on how to repair things yourself and upgrades , etc. Replacement parts for Phantoms are few and far between and there's almost nothing and how to repair them yourself. To replace a camera on the q500 cost you almost almost as much as the Drone itself.
It just seems to me a first time buyer looking at this as a hobby can buy the solo with MAJOR UPGRADE potential and still have the ability to buy replacement parts and DIY. Example, a GoPro is less expensive than replacing a camera on a phantom or q500 by long shot. For some, the thought of opening up and working on a drone may seem intimidating, but for me it seems like the DIY element would be part of the fun of a true hobby.

I guess before I purchase one I just wanted to get some feedback. And again I know I'm asking the solo forum and most of the feedback may be consistent with my thinking, but I like more insight from some of you that have had Solos for a long time as a hobby. Thank you in advance.

Kevin

Kevin - Welcome to the world of Solo. For me a recommendation to buy a Solo would come down to what the buyer's use case is. Are you looking for a video/photo (footage) platform? Or are you looking for something fun to fly, easy to learn but has full manual control if wanted? The relatively low prices today are indeed key to why folks are jumping in now but that alone does not make it the right platform or even the most cost effective platform if it does not mate with your use case.

 

[KenMc]

Kevin -

Welcome - I'm a new member too.

My first drone was a Parallax ELEV-8 v3 kit - I liked it's open source aspect - but the community is relatively small. I'm swapping out the flight controller with a PixHawk 2.1.

When the Green cube came out (PixHawk 2.1 for the Solo) - I jumped into the Solo. Got a BestBuy open box Solo for $200 (no GoPro or gimbal) I expected to have to upgrade it to the Green cube - but decided to try it out without it. Very impressive, stable flight. I've added the GPS upgrade and changed out GPS RF shield (even though the stock GPS has a stable reputation). I've added the Solex Ap. I'm still experimenting with the Solo - I keep it tethered and I have a ways to go before I'm comfortable it.

Even without the Green cube the Solo is a really slick drone. (That's my next upgrade after I get the ELEV-8 conversion done.)

But...one piece of advice about drones --- Learn to Fly WITHOUT assistance. Sure - the new drones (including the Solo) almost fly themselves. But inevitably assistance is going to fail and you will have to fly without it -- you will have just seconds to take the right action when it happens. A drone is like a 3D air puck - you have to be on top of it all the time in manual mode.

Fortunately you can start small - I started with a Blade Nano QX - bouncing off walls.

Good luck! And enjoy.

 

[FaxMachine]

I like the Solo for reasons they failed. This is not a bestbuy quad copter. I've been in consumer electronics for a while and this type of technology is not for the "I can't get it to work so I'm returning it" type. I can't imagine the returns and when that happens it becomes a credit in distribution; I shouldn't get started. Anyway, I've flown mine only for a couple days and still having fun just in piloting, haven't even scratched the surface yet...

 

[Z953]

The Solo is a great drone and I'm glad that it was my first; the only drawback is its size. The backpack that I carry my DSLR in along with three extra lenses, flash, my Mavic with three extra batteries, iPad mini 4 and a handheld gimbal for my gopro is SMALLER than the 3dr backpack.

Guess which drone went on my last road trip down the California coastline?

 

[FaxMachine]

You're a damn pack mule... Send some footage of your session when you get it up

 

[Dave Tolsky]

There are so many reasons to like Solo, not the least of them being its versatility. You can do a lot with it, including VR, fly a production quality light source, or fly thermal cameras. Try doing that with a Phantom

 

[Dobie Ardmore]

Just wanted to share my thoughts and get some of your thoughts. I understand that I am in the 3DR Forum.

I'm a 61 year old first time buyer who has been doing much research on what drone to purchase....especially on YouTube, eBay, Google, etc.
The three primary drones I've been looking at are the Solo, Yuneec Q500 4k and the Phantom 3 & 4 standards.
I thought about the Mavic, (technology marvel) but don't want to spend that much money initially.

Would like to stay in the $500 to $600 range initially and have no problem buying a used unit.)

Appears to be to higher percentage of Mavic''s that are buggy based on what I'm hearing from social media. Not to mention DJI less than steller service dept and control of their products firmware and customer data collection.

Why am I convinced about purchasing a solo?
It seems to me that it's the easiest to work on and the least expensive to work on. Because of it being discontinued for so long, there is a plethora of parts for sale and YouTube videos on how to repair things yourself and upgrades , etc. Replacement parts for Phantoms are few and far between and there's almost nothing and how to repair them yourself. To replace a camera on the q500 cost you almost almost as much as the Drone itself.
It just seems to me a first time buyer looking at this as a hobby can buy the solo with MAJOR UPGRADE potential and still have the ability to buy replacement parts and DIY. Example, a GoPro is less expensive than replacing a camera on a phantom or q500 by long shot. For some, the thought of opening up and working on a drone may seem intimidating, but for me it seems like the DIY element would be part of the fun of a true hobby.

I guess before I purchase one I just wanted to get some feedback. And again I know I'm asking the solo forum and most of the feedback may be consistent with my thinking, but I like more insight from some of you that have had Solos for a long time as a hobby. Thank you in advance.

Kevin

Hi Kevin,
I bought a Solo for similar reasons: Open source, GREAT guys here offering help, the opportunity to fix these quads myself, and a trainer that is cheap to replace. Parts are available. One can buy an entire aircraft and have spares for repairs.
The main thing I like about Solo versus Mavic is the size; I just love flying LOS and Solo is large enough for my old eyes to see up in the sky. the smaller quads get reeeaaaal small fast. Since I don't back pack mine small size doesn't matter. (the backpack is really nice for toting around though and IMO is worht the price. Batteries are cheap. Mavick batteries are $$$$.
Downside (and $$ to fix up mod): The range sucks. Buy at minimum the ALFA -7db antennas!! Second range mod for range is to buy bothe the MicoTEK for controller and Solo. It is fairly easy if you are inclined. For me the mods are THE fun. This should get you nearly a mile. And third get a Revaux of FPVLR antenna ($130) With these upgrades guys are reporting nearly 2 miles range. (FYI Mavics range is very good out of the box)
Do the GPS shield mod too.
Here's the rub though. By the time you buy all the add on mods (antennas, microTEK, gimabl, GoPro) you are at close to the same price as a Mavic.
With THAT said there is another choice that is getting lots of raves. I would seriously consider this:
Autel Robotics X-Star Premium Drone with 4K Ultra HD Video Camera, 1.2 - Mile HD Live View
The reviews are outstanding (80% give it a 5 star rating!) AND it is $750 WITH a case, 4k camera, and gimbal, and over (so they say) a mile range. It has some kind of optical height sensor that operates even without a GPS lock (that IMO is a fantastic feature) in addition to the TWO GPS units. The aircraft looks like a Phantom and the controller looks like a Solo. Additionally, it has similar flight modes and auto camera modes.The color (orange)....well you either love it or hate it (You can get it in white also)
The user reviews are impressive and people LOVE the customer support.

 

[banjopad]

Hi Kevin,
I bought a Solo for similar reasons: Open source, GREAT guys here offering help, the opportunity to fix these quads myself, and a trainer that is cheap to replace. Parts are available. One can buy an entire aircraft and have spares for repairs.
The main thing I like about Solo versus Mavic is the size; I just love flying LOS and Solo is large enough for my old eyes to see up in the sky. the smaller quads get reeeaaaal small fast. Since I don't back pack mine small size doesn't matter. (the backpack is really nice for toting around though and IMO is worht the price. Batteries are cheap. Mavick batteries are $$$$.
Downside (and $$ to fix up mod): The range sucks. Buy at minimum the ALFA -7db antennas!! Second range mod for range is to buy bothe the MicoTEK for controller and Solo. It is fairly easy if you are inclined. For me the mods are THE fun. This should get you nearly a mile. And third get a Revaux of FPVLR antenna ($130) With these upgrades guys are reporting nearly 2 miles range. (FYI Mavics range is very good out of the box)
Do the GPS shield mod too.
Here's the rub though. By the time you buy all the add on mods (antennas, microTEK, gimabl, GoPro) you are at close to the same price as a Mavic.
With THAT said there is another choice that is getting lots of raves. I would seriously consider this:
Autel Robotics X-Star Premium Drone with 4K Ultra HD Video Camera, 1.2 - Mile HD Live View
The reviews are outstanding AND it is $750 WITH a case, 4k camera, and gimbal, and over (so they say) a mile range. The color....well you either love it or hate it ( I think you can get a white one too))
The user reviews are impressive and people LOVE the customer support.

Just wanted to share my thoughts and get some of your thoughts. I understand that I am in the 3DR Forum.

I'm a 61 year old first time buyer who has been doing much research on what drone to purchase....especially on YouTube, eBay, Google, etc.
The three primary drones I've been looking at are the Solo, Yuneec Q500 4k and the Phantom 3 & 4 standards.
I thought about the Mavic, (technology marvel) but don't want to spend that much money initially.

Would like to stay in the $500 to $600 range initially and have no problem buying a used unit.)

Appears to be to higher percentage of Mavic''s that are buggy based on what I'm hearing from social media. Not to mention DJI less than steller service dept and control of their products firmware and customer data collection.

Why am I convinced about purchasing a solo?
It seems to me that it's the easiest to work on and the least expensive to work on. Because of it being discontinued for so long, there is a plethora of parts for sale and YouTube videos on how to repair things yourself and upgrades , etc. Replacement parts for Phantoms are few and far between and there's almost nothing and how to repair them yourself. To replace a camera on the q500 cost you almost almost as much as the Drone itself.
It just seems to me a first time buyer looking at this as a hobby can buy the solo with MAJOR UPGRADE potential and still have the ability to buy replacement parts and DIY. Example, a GoPro is less expensive than replacing a camera on a phantom or q500 by long shot. For some, the thought of opening up and working on a drone may seem intimidating, but for me it seems like the DIY element would be part of the fun of a true hobby.

I guess before I purchase one I just wanted to get some feedback. And again I know I'm asking the solo forum and most of the feedback may be consistent with my thinking, but I like more insight from some of you that have had Solos for a long time as a hobby. Thank you in advance.

Kevin

I'm 75 and been droning 3 years. Bought my first Solo when price went low.have 2 now but never flown spare. Love it and the great pics. But it's big. Wanted something to take on trips

Well I saved my bucks and bought Mavic.
Perfect. ..money well spent.
I fly both now. .Solo at home and Mavic on trips. Both do great
Now I have built my first racer. That's a different ball game and great fun
I recommend a racer for a newbie first.
That's my ravings and love my new hobby.
Bill

 

[Z953]

I will say one thing about the Solo: is a tough SOB. I let my dad fly the Solo last weekend; his first time flying a drone like this (I bought him a $50 toy drone dji on Father's Day). He did great for the first three batteries...

...then something happened on the fourth battery and he crashed it onto a fence where it fell about six feet (nothing malfunctioned on the drone). I was surprised because the gimbal was still holding position. My dad had enough and I finally tested it yesterday...

...it flew perfectly!

 

[rcflyingaddict]

I will say one thing about the Solo: is a tough SOB. I let my dad fly the Solo last weekend; his first time flying a drone like this (I bought him a $50 toy drone dji on Father's Day). He did great for the first three batteries...

...then something happened on the fourth battery and he crashed it onto a fence where it fell about six feet (nothing malfunctioned on the drone). I was surprised because the gimbal was still holding position. My dad had enough and I finally tested it yesterday...

...it flew perfectly!

I would let dad fly solo all day long but with the gimbal removed... Worst case you are out sixty bucks VS three hundred

 

[Solo Keith]

The Solo is a great drone and I'm glad that it was my first; the only drawback is its size. The backpack that I carry my DSLR in along with three extra lenses, flash, my Mavic with three extra batteries, iPad mini 4 and a handheld gimbal for my gopro is SMALLER than the 3dr backpack.

Guess which drone went on my last road trip down the California coastline?

The Solo

 

[Solo Keith]

Hi Kevin,
I bought a Solo for similar reasons: Open source, GREAT guys here offering help, the opportunity to fix these quads myself, and a trainer that is cheap to replace. Parts are available. One can buy an entire aircraft and have spares for repairs.
The main thing I like about Solo versus Mavic is the size; I just love flying LOS and Solo is large enough for my old eyes to see up in the sky. the smaller quads get reeeaaaal small fast. Since I don't back pack mine small size doesn't matter. (the backpack is really nice for toting around though and IMO is worht the price. Batteries are cheap. Mavick batteries are $$$$.
Downside (and $$ to fix up mod): The range sucks. Buy at minimum the ALFA -7db antennas!! Second range mod for range is to buy bothe the MicoTEK for controller and Solo. It is fairly easy if you are inclined. For me the mods are THE fun. This should get you nearly a mile. And third get a Revaux of FPVLR antenna ($130) With these upgrades guys are reporting nearly 2 miles range. (FYI Mavics range is very good out of the box)
Do the GPS shield mod too.
Here's the rub though. By the time you buy all the add on mods (antennas, microTEK, gimabl, GoPro) you are at close to the same price as a Mavic.
With THAT said there is another choice that is getting lots of raves. I would seriously consider this:
Autel Robotics X-Star Premium Drone with 4K Ultra HD Video Camera, 1.2 - Mile HD Live View
The reviews are outstanding (80% give it a 5 star rating!) AND it is $750 WITH a case, 4k camera, and gimbal, and over (so they say) a mile range. It has some kind of optical height sensor that operates even without a GPS lock (that IMO is a fantastic feature) in addition to the TWO GPS units. The aircraft looks like a Phantom and the controller looks like a Solo. Additionally, it has similar flight modes and auto camera modes.The color (orange)....well you either love it or hate it (You can get it in white also)
The user reviews are impressive and people LOVE the customer support.

I would have got one but they didn't have purple

 

[Maddog]

Hi Kevin,
I bought a Solo for similar reasons: Open source, GREAT guys here offering help, the opportunity to fix these quads myself, and a trainer that is cheap to replace. Parts are available. One can buy an entire aircraft and have spares for repairs.
The main thing I like about Solo versus Mavic is the size; I just love flying LOS and Solo is large enough for my old eyes to see up in the sky. the smaller quads get reeeaaaal small fast. Since I don't back pack mine small size doesn't matter. (the backpack is really nice for toting around though and IMO is worht the price. Batteries are cheap. Mavick batteries are $$$$.
Downside (and $$ to fix up mod): The range sucks. Buy at minimum the ALFA -7db antennas!! Second range mod for range is to buy bothe the MicoTEK for controller and Solo. It is fairly easy if you are inclined. For me the mods are THE fun. This should get you nearly a mile. And third get a Revaux of FPVLR antenna ($130) With these upgrades guys are reporting nearly 2 miles range. (FYI Mavics range is very good out of the box)
Do the GPS shield mod too.
Here's the rub though. By the time you buy all the add on mods (antennas, microTEK, gimabl, GoPro) you are at close to the same price as a Mavic.
With THAT said there is another choice that is getting lots of raves. I would seriously consider this:
Autel Robotics X-Star Premium Drone with 4K Ultra HD Video Camera, 1.2 - Mile HD Live View
The reviews are outstanding (80% give it a 5 star rating!) AND it is $750 WITH a case, 4k camera, and gimbal, and over (so they say) a mile range. It has some kind of optical height sensor that operates even without a GPS lock (that IMO is a fantastic feature) in addition to the TWO GPS units. The aircraft looks like a Phantom and the controller looks like a Solo. Additionally, it has similar flight modes and auto camera modes.The color (orange)....well you either love it or hate it (You can get it in white also)
The user reviews are impressive and people LOVE the customer support.

This is a great upgrade so you can see a Solo with those tired eyes!
https://3drpilots.com/threads/brite-lite-anti-collision-lighting.11505/

https://3drpilots.com/threads/brite-lite-led-lighting-system.8863/