2016 is already being an amazing year for the drone community for both low-cost and high-cost products. After the K60, Kai Deng delivers here a “giant” brushed quadcopter, a direct competitor of the Syma X8C, MJX X100, Cheerson CX-35 and JJRC H26 (and probably many more) entering in the category of the “350mm and more brushed quadcopter able to carry an action cam”… The KD K70C welcomes a 720p camera mounted on a 1-axis brushed gimbal controllable by the remote. A pure 5.8G version is also announced, probably even more interesting.
Introducing
There is so much good stuff in favour of K70C Sky Warrior. First of all it has a remotely motorized gimbal, very responsive, quickly acquiring new recording angles. Camera mount is compatible with almost any sport cameras including GoPro, Xiaomi, SJCam and Hawkeye. LED arms give it a unique look at night. Control distance and flight time are above average. Landing gear and propellers are resistant to most hits and crashes, don’t be afraid to fly this Warrior! There’s practically nothing wrong with this quadcopter, however it would have been completely amazing and useful if it had incorporated Altitude Holder feature for photography and videography.
Don’t let the “affordable toy grade” expression fool you, K70C Sky Warrior is actually one of the best large (55.7 x 53.8 x 17.5 cm) drones for your sports camera in 2016. Today you will see why everybody has been expecting this Sky Warrior or as I like to call it ‘Sky Monster’ the Syma X8C killer! Kaideng K70C is a great example of how rapidly the Toy Grade drone market is growing. Now with K70C out there in the market other Toy Grade drone companies will have to step up their game, because the price~quality of this camera drone is astonishing. As always we at Drones Globe are always ready to inform you on the best and most recent products, therefore here it is the Kaideng K70C Sky Warrior Review the best value for your money, the best bang for your buck, here we go!
Unboxing
When you will receive the K70C, you will notice the huge size of the box. The K70C comes in a large box, it’s contents held in hard foam. Inside we find the quad, transmitter, 8 large props (4 spares), a camera with single axis gimbal mount, charger, materials to mount the props, landing gear, and some small stuff like various screws.
Some assembly is required, to get it ready for action. You will just need to tight the landing gear and the camera-gimbal combo. The props need to be fitted, which isn’t very clearly explained in the manual. The main metal shaft, the protrudes from each motor pod, is not the rotating axle, but a locked one, around which the prop revolves. The plastic “spinners” that go on top of each shaft, remain stationary, while the props spin right under these. To prevent the props from flying off, is a clear plastic “upper bushing” that gets locked in place by rotating it 90 degrees, after inserting a thin metal pin, that runs right through the metal shaft.
The general design represents a mixture from real brushless model, probably the Walkera scout was one of them. You can find some longer rear arms faking carbon boons. In practice everything is in plastic. Arms are made with a transparent plastic. From the side view, we can see how more longer are the rear arms, around 33% more. Longer arms means also more fragile to crash too. A power-switch is installed on top… A brilliant idea…. to easy to turn on/off.
Camera and Gimbal
Let’s start by talking about the camera and gimbal since this is Toy Grade drone aimed for photography and videography. The combo welcomes a 720p camera with a relative large FOV (at least > to the classic pinhole 70 degrees) and a 1-axis servo controlling the pitch. The pitch is limited between 0 and -90 degrees (to capture ground footage). I regret the non possibility to have at least some positive angles for fast forward movement. In practice, it’s not hard to obtain them: A plastic bar limits the deviation. remove it and voila. You will quickly realize why this will be your next camera drone. First of all the gimbal has a function which most same price quadcopters (or even higher-priced toy drones) do not have: a motorized gimbal. Not manual, but automatic instead. Through buttons on your 2.4 Ghz transmitter the pilot can remotely tilt the camera full down, horizontal, or angles in between, all while flying the K70C at the same time. This is an amazing function for photography and videography, rare among camera drones within this price. Most camera drones can only acquire different recording angles if pilot lands the drone and manually changes it. Not with Kaideng 70C, this large quadcopter will make sure you can set the needed recording angle without any hassle.
Secondly, the camera mount, its anti-vibration feature completely eliminates the ‘jello effect’ drone enthusiasts have come to hate. It does it so efficiently that even heavy sport cameras will fit perfectly. This (included) camera mount is compatible with everybody’s favorite GoPro Hero 4 and other GoPro clones such as Xiaomi Yi and the very affordable SJCam. Kaideng doesn’t stop here, besides being compatible with all this great quality cameras, K70C original package also includes a 2MP Hawkeye camera, relatively good quality, capable of providing nice aerial footage which will surely satisfy you. Kaideng K70C has also taken into consideration one of the most common problems among Toy Grade camera drones, the propellers getting in the camera view. Therefore, the camera has been set up far forward, and quadcopter arms are swept back to avoid propellers and arms coming disrupting field of view. As you can tell, if you are looking for an amazing Toy Grade camera drone for a very and I repeat very affordable price you won’t get better than this at the present. Drones Globe highly recommends this product for photography and videography.
Extra abilities
Kaideng K70C is a high-performance (considering the price) large quadcopter capable of lifting heavy sport cameras and other objects up to 500g! The coreless and direct-drive motors are durable and will ensure a nice steep pitch allowing very fast high rates. Yaw rates can be adjusted according to pilot’s skills, therefore it is a great drone for both beginners and experts. It hovers very well, greatly smooth flight, simply wonderful quadcopter.
The 2.4 GHz transmitter allows a control distance of 150 to 200 meters. A range slightly above the average seen on same price drones. The 6-axis gyro system (common among Toy Grade drones) allows a Strong stable flight, various useful and responsive flight movements and strong wind resistance.
Features
Besides the previously mentioned features of the gimbal and mount, Kaideng K70C Sky Warrior also features the common 360º aerial stunt, although I would not advise you to perform it many times repentantly on the same flight due to large size of this quadcopter. If you do it you might end up demanding too much from the motors which will result in an over-heat and consequently burn out. Do it one or two times per flight and that’s it. Just an advice to ensure the durability of your K70C.
Other features are the Headless Mode (easier orientation control despite where the drone’s front is pointing at) and One-Key Return (don’t be afraid of losing track of your K70C, with this feature it will safely return to you). Another important and uncommon feature that must be mentioned is the LED lights in the arms, besides giving it a very nice ‘cool factor’ it also enables the pilot to perform night flights without being afraid to lose it.
FLIGHT TIME
On top of all this, Kaideng K70C also has a great flight time, again slightly above the average time other quadcopters within this price range have. Powered by a 7.4V 2000mah Li-po removable battery, K70C has a flight time of 9 to 10 minutes. Enough for any pilot to have fun while still record the needed aerial footage. Keep in mind that the bigger the payload the less flight time it will have. As you can see, the K70C can be very fast especially in expert mode. A sporty quadcopter very close to the tarantula X6/ JJRC H26 performances.
Anyway, it’s little bit less punchy for vertical ascend… no miracle with close to 600g and these large props. The K70C design is more adapted to carry easily a GoPro camera. I think it should be possible to carry a very light mini 2-axis gimbal with a Möbius cam something around 100-120g without sacrificing too much flight characteristics and flight times.
CONCLUSION
A pretty good model able to carry easily an action cam and offering pretty good control range. The 1-axis control is IMHO useless for the pure camera version since you can’t control the orientation beyond 10m. It will be more suitable with the 5.8G FPV version. The K70C is strong and pretty fast. It can handle well the Wind and is able to carry also 500g of payload. The general maintenance is super easy and important parts are in common with the Syma X8. Now you are informed about this amazing large Toy Grade camera quadcopter, currently the best of its kind, the best bang for your buck. Love photography and videography but have a low-budget to invest? Well you WILL LOVE Kaideng K70C, highly affordable, highly unique. What is your opinion? Are you considering upgrading your Toy Grade camera drone? Does Kaideng K70C Sky Warrior look like the best fit for your needs? Let us know on the comment section below and don’t forget to share this Kaideng K70C Review with any friend looking for an affordable camera drone. If you are a fan of Syma X8 and X8C this K70C Sky Warrior will amaze you and make you want to put your Syma in the basement for life! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT FOR ANYONE LOOKING FOR AN AFFORDABLE CAMERA DRONE! Happy flying!
https://youtu.be/D7AvgBSDxpU