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For most consumers Yuneec's line of consumer drones lives in the shadow of DJI, which continues to dominate the market with its Phantom line. Yuneec's latest offering, the Typhoon H, may well change that. Yuneec finally has something that's not just significantly different than the latest DJI release, the Phantom 4, but is, in many ways, far more powerful than anything else in its price range.
The first thing that sets the Typhoon H apart from most other consumer drones on the market is that it's a hexacopter (six rotors) rather than the more popular quadcopter design. What's more the Typhoon H only needs five of those rotors to stay in the air, making it even more robust. It also features retractable rotor arms, which cuts down on the size of the case and makes it roughly the same size as a typical quadcopter when stowed.
Most drones on the market with more than four rotors, like DJI's Matrice 600 and others, are aimed at professional filmmakers, which typically means no integrated camera/flight system, and are built to fly with two operators -- one to fly and one to film.
The Typhoon H is much more consumer-friendly. It bundles a very nice 4K video camera (shooting 30fps or 60fps in 1080p and featuring 12MP stills) and flies just fine with only one person at the controls. It can also be paired with a second controller though, which opens up the possibility of separate pilot and camera, something not easily done with any other similarly-priced drone on the market.
This alone puts the Typhoon H well above and beyond what you'll find in DJI's Phantom line. The Typhoon H's impressive feature set doesn't stop there though. There's also the 3-axis gimbal the camera is mounted on, which allows for 360 degree pans, retractable landing gear, sonar based object avoidance and, like the recent Phantom 4, plenty of autonomous flight modes.
The result is a very impressive, rock solid aerial photography platform.
The Typhoon H is the first hexacopter I've flown, so I can't compare to the professional models out there, but I can say its significantly more stable and much, much faster than the older [Typhoon Q500 4K](http://www.wired.com/2015/10/review-yuneec-typhoon-q500-4k/). It felt every bit as snappy as the Phantom 4 and was capable of holding steady in similarly windy test conditions.
The camera is likewise an entirely different beast than you're accustomed to if you've primarily flown fixed landing gear quadcopters like the Typhoon or Phantom lines. The Typhoon H can tract its landing gear with the touch of a button and rotate its camera in a complete circle. The good news is that you can use the camera just as you would with a quadcopter, that is, you can turn the drone to pan. Or you can raise the landing gear and start panning the camera as you're flying in a completely different direction.
It's a lot to control at once, and I suggest getting comfortable with flying the Typhoon H before you try it. Fortunately there are some automated modes for both the camera and the drone that help you get the shots you want even if you aren't the best pilot around. You can, for example, set the camera to pan around while you continue flying forward, or you can put the Typhoon H in one of its autonomous modes and focus on panning the camera.
The Typhoon H has five auto flight modes, including Journey mode, which automatically takes off and then fires off a selfie, Orbit Me, which tracks the controller steadily orbiting you while it does, Point of Interest mode which orbits a subject you select, the confusingly named Curve Cable Cam, which flies along pre-set coordinates, and, by far the most exciting, Team mode.
Team mode allows the Typhoon H to "bind" to an additional (included, for a limited time) Wizard remote so that one person can fly with the Wizard while the other operates the camera.
The ST16 transmitter which is also included is a step or two up from the controller that comes with older Typhoons. There's still the same Android-based display, but it's now up to 720p and is much brighter and easier to use in direct sunlight. There's also a helpful sun shade included right out of the box.
There are two downsides to the Typhoon H. The first is the construction, which while sturdy enough to withstand a rough landing, is still a bit flimsy. I managed to pop off the gimbal just trying to get it out of the box (to be fair, the gimbals on older DJI models were also prone to popping off. A small twist tie can solve this issue).
The other drawback is the battery recharge time, which clocks in at well over two hours. The flight time itself is on par with quadcopters, Yuneec claims 24 minutes, I averaged 22 in my testing, but of course much of that will depend on what you do and what the conditions are on any given day. Still, with a two hour recharge time you're definitely going to want an extra a battery or two.
The Typhoon H can be a lot of drone to control at first, but once you get the hang of it, it manages to be something far more sophisticated than anything else on the market at this price. Spend the time to master its full capabilities and you'll never want to go back to quadcopters again.
Rating: 7
Wired: Hexacopter design offers added stability in flight, 360 degree camera with optional Team mode makes possible shots you won't be able to get with quadcopters, automated flight modes and integrated control mean a single pilot can still do everything themselves.
Tired: Battery recharge time is significantly slower than the competition, contruction feels less sturdy than the Phantom line.
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