Estes dart (Hubsan) vs. Helimax 1SQ (walkera)
04-09-2013, 03:32 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Estes dart (Hubsan) vs. Helimax 1SQ (walkera)
Lots of these things popping up, many re-brands, lots of reviews, yet none really compairing to the two major micros, the Hubsan quad and the walkera/9eagles quad.... so here I go.
The 1SQ is the first one I tried, it comes with a 250Mah one cell, the included charger is a compact USB charger, it comes with a mini lcd screen remote, AA batteries and an extra set of blades
The Radio- A miniturized hobby style radio with a small LCD screen, digital trims, adjustible dual rates, switchible channels and a few other functions, takes 4AA's and has good range. it feels solid but too small and a little toy like, but going from that to a Devo 7 isn't too much of an adjustment.
-The charger- about the size of a thumb drive and has a blinking light indicator. I have had no complaints with this charger, thousands of cycles and still charges within 40minutes.
-The quad- Very small, about the diameter of a CD, the booms are constructed of thick square carbon, motors are attached by a plastic "cage" all the booms are attached to a plastic frame and plugged into the board, the board sits on top of the frame with thick silicone bushings, 4 screws hold it and all the booms down, making boom replacement as simple as unscrewing one screw, and unplugging it from the board. there is no calibration, set it down plug it in and take off, you NEVER need to trim this little guy out.
-Flight- flies with great stability with settings of 20-48% anything above that and it becomes nervous (which makes me wonder why the program usable settings at a low %) it handles wind, it responds with just minor drifting, as far as flight characteristics, it is like a flybarless collective pitch with coaxial qualities, meaning you push it foward it will continue going foward untill it is pushed back, however you can stick bang without it going end over end. fast foward speed is incredible, easy 30 maybe 35mph, it banks very well and well controlled, from a wide sweeping one to a sharp hairpin. Flight can last from 8mins down to 5 depending of how hard you fly it, but be warned, there is no warning for voltage cutoff, it will give you about 5 seconds to land as it decreases power.
-Duarbility- great! you CAN break it, but it usually takes smacking a tree or the cement, but booms are only $10 and take a minute to swap out, canopy is tough but it does tend to break where it attaches to the booms
Notes- this quad can flip but doing so takes confusing the gyro by setting it up to 80% which is almost un-flyable
Pros-
- simple construction, easy to repair
- durable
- great tool for teaching single rotor heli's
- handles lots of wind
- heaps of power
Cons-
- blades are prone to warping
- Unable to do a controled flip
- No prior warning to voltage cutoff
Estes Dart- This one comes with a 240Mah battery, a mini PS3 looking remote, USB charger with extention wire and extra blades.
The radio- goofy PS3 looking remote, odd to hold cheap feeling and takes AAA batteries (mmm kay) this one has digital trims also but has quiet beep tones, it also has 3 unadjustible dual rates, on green its very unsensitive, like a Coaxial heli, on blinking its perfect for indoors and for those who are beginning to figure out how to fly it, on blinking orange it has good throw, perfect for experianced pilots, (could use a tad more throw)
The charger- JUNK I may have a defective one, but materials are nasty and it would never fully charge my battery, I'm using a Walkera one now.
-The quad- one word TINY, makes the 1SQ look big yet blades are larger, its a two piece frame and has a little flex in it to abzorb impact, the motors are pushed into it which looks sort of unsecure but no mishaps yet, the motor wires are SOLDERED TO THE BOARD, so if you burn out or break a motor, you have to wire up these little things after you dissasemble the quad (not fun) it has two blue "eyes" but are too dim to be a good orentation indicator.
-Flight- First off, I thought mine was DOA, mixing was all wrong it was drifting all over the place, but after doing a gyro recalibration for the hubsan (which it is) it flies great.... well after you trim it, yes, you must trim it every flight, for a noob this would be hard as they would most likely crash before it even gets trimmed out. It flies a little like the 1sq, but has a more active gyro, as soon as you let off the stick it will bounce back up to level, but it still retains SOME single rotor heli charactoristics, it will still move when you let go of sticks. VERY easy to fly even more so than the 1sq, piro's, banked turns, flips and FFF is effortless allowing you to use most of the stick most of the time. Fast foward flight is a hoot, it will shoot off faster than you can blink to 30mph or so, it handles wind but not as much as the 1SQ, it will do a little shimmy if a gust of wind hits it since the gyro is a little too sensitive, flight lasts about 9minutes if flown slowly, or 6 if thrown around. Another nice feature is the voltage cutoff warning, eyes will blink for about a minute before it cuts power.
Durability- I crashed a few times flying beyond the machine's limits, the little booms will split in a bad crash and click back together, I question how hard a impact it will withstand before the chassis breaks and if you can even get a replacement if it does.
Note- estes says NOTHING about recalibration, I honestly thought mine was DOA, shame on them.
Pros
- Lots of power
- TINY
- Easy to fly
- gives warning before voltage cutoff
- Software allows flips
Cons
- Difficult to repair
- Needs to be trimmed every flight
- Sometimes needs recalibration if in even a minor crash
- Crap instructions
So in conclusion they are both good quads, the 1SQ has more power on tap, tolerates more wind and you are more "connected to it" as there is less gyro control and the Dart is easier to fly, is able to flip and is a bit "cooler looking" both have good battery life, both are fairly durable, but on servicability, the 1sq with its removible booms is much better.
here is a counterdiction- although the 1SQ is harder to fly, I suggest it over the Dart to a new hobbiest, why? although the Dart is easy to fly, having to trim it out EVERY FLIGHT would be very tricky for a noob and knowing when to recalibrate is also a hassle.
overall I think the 1sq is a better quad, but for the price the Dart is worthwhile too especially if you have some RC experiance.
The 1SQ is the first one I tried, it comes with a 250Mah one cell, the included charger is a compact USB charger, it comes with a mini lcd screen remote, AA batteries and an extra set of blades
The Radio- A miniturized hobby style radio with a small LCD screen, digital trims, adjustible dual rates, switchible channels and a few other functions, takes 4AA's and has good range. it feels solid but too small and a little toy like, but going from that to a Devo 7 isn't too much of an adjustment.
-The charger- about the size of a thumb drive and has a blinking light indicator. I have had no complaints with this charger, thousands of cycles and still charges within 40minutes.
-The quad- Very small, about the diameter of a CD, the booms are constructed of thick square carbon, motors are attached by a plastic "cage" all the booms are attached to a plastic frame and plugged into the board, the board sits on top of the frame with thick silicone bushings, 4 screws hold it and all the booms down, making boom replacement as simple as unscrewing one screw, and unplugging it from the board. there is no calibration, set it down plug it in and take off, you NEVER need to trim this little guy out.
-Flight- flies with great stability with settings of 20-48% anything above that and it becomes nervous (which makes me wonder why the program usable settings at a low %) it handles wind, it responds with just minor drifting, as far as flight characteristics, it is like a flybarless collective pitch with coaxial qualities, meaning you push it foward it will continue going foward untill it is pushed back, however you can stick bang without it going end over end. fast foward speed is incredible, easy 30 maybe 35mph, it banks very well and well controlled, from a wide sweeping one to a sharp hairpin. Flight can last from 8mins down to 5 depending of how hard you fly it, but be warned, there is no warning for voltage cutoff, it will give you about 5 seconds to land as it decreases power.
-Duarbility- great! you CAN break it, but it usually takes smacking a tree or the cement, but booms are only $10 and take a minute to swap out, canopy is tough but it does tend to break where it attaches to the booms
Notes- this quad can flip but doing so takes confusing the gyro by setting it up to 80% which is almost un-flyable
Pros-
- simple construction, easy to repair
- durable
- great tool for teaching single rotor heli's
- handles lots of wind
- heaps of power
Cons-
- blades are prone to warping
- Unable to do a controled flip
- No prior warning to voltage cutoff
Estes Dart- This one comes with a 240Mah battery, a mini PS3 looking remote, USB charger with extention wire and extra blades.
The radio- goofy PS3 looking remote, odd to hold cheap feeling and takes AAA batteries (mmm kay) this one has digital trims also but has quiet beep tones, it also has 3 unadjustible dual rates, on green its very unsensitive, like a Coaxial heli, on blinking its perfect for indoors and for those who are beginning to figure out how to fly it, on blinking orange it has good throw, perfect for experianced pilots, (could use a tad more throw)
The charger- JUNK I may have a defective one, but materials are nasty and it would never fully charge my battery, I'm using a Walkera one now.
-The quad- one word TINY, makes the 1SQ look big yet blades are larger, its a two piece frame and has a little flex in it to abzorb impact, the motors are pushed into it which looks sort of unsecure but no mishaps yet, the motor wires are SOLDERED TO THE BOARD, so if you burn out or break a motor, you have to wire up these little things after you dissasemble the quad (not fun) it has two blue "eyes" but are too dim to be a good orentation indicator.
-Flight- First off, I thought mine was DOA, mixing was all wrong it was drifting all over the place, but after doing a gyro recalibration for the hubsan (which it is) it flies great.... well after you trim it, yes, you must trim it every flight, for a noob this would be hard as they would most likely crash before it even gets trimmed out. It flies a little like the 1sq, but has a more active gyro, as soon as you let off the stick it will bounce back up to level, but it still retains SOME single rotor heli charactoristics, it will still move when you let go of sticks. VERY easy to fly even more so than the 1sq, piro's, banked turns, flips and FFF is effortless allowing you to use most of the stick most of the time. Fast foward flight is a hoot, it will shoot off faster than you can blink to 30mph or so, it handles wind but not as much as the 1SQ, it will do a little shimmy if a gust of wind hits it since the gyro is a little too sensitive, flight lasts about 9minutes if flown slowly, or 6 if thrown around. Another nice feature is the voltage cutoff warning, eyes will blink for about a minute before it cuts power.
Durability- I crashed a few times flying beyond the machine's limits, the little booms will split in a bad crash and click back together, I question how hard a impact it will withstand before the chassis breaks and if you can even get a replacement if it does.
Note- estes says NOTHING about recalibration, I honestly thought mine was DOA, shame on them.
Pros
- Lots of power
- TINY
- Easy to fly
- gives warning before voltage cutoff
- Software allows flips
Cons
- Difficult to repair
- Needs to be trimmed every flight
- Sometimes needs recalibration if in even a minor crash
- Crap instructions
So in conclusion they are both good quads, the 1SQ has more power on tap, tolerates more wind and you are more "connected to it" as there is less gyro control and the Dart is easier to fly, is able to flip and is a bit "cooler looking" both have good battery life, both are fairly durable, but on servicability, the 1sq with its removible booms is much better.
here is a counterdiction- although the 1SQ is harder to fly, I suggest it over the Dart to a new hobbiest, why? although the Dart is easy to fly, having to trim it out EVERY FLIGHT would be very tricky for a noob and knowing when to recalibrate is also a hassle.
overall I think the 1sq is a better quad, but for the price the Dart is worthwhile too especially if you have some RC experiance.
04-09-2013, 05:04 PM
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RE: Estes dart (Hubsan) vs. Helimax 1SQ (walkera)
nice review, id like to add though, i have the hubsan x4, and i have never had to trim it, every time i take off it takes off and goes right to a stable hover. it could be that the calibration is off on your from the factory or something. but i have never had to trim it, and only had to recalibrate it using the sticks in the "flick flick" motion a couple of times. pretty accurate on the rest of your descriptions though. i love the x4, i mainly got it over the 1sq simply for the fact that the x4 is alot better looking micro quad.
04-10-2013, 02:12 PM
#3
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RE: Estes dart (Hubsan) vs. Helimax 1SQ (walkera)
Another plus for the 1SQ is excellent support from Hobbico. One of the gyros died on mine after a week or so. It did instant left flips as soon as you throttled up! They sent me a new board right away. Had another issue that somehow I screwed up calibration in the transmitter. Hobbico talked me through the fix and off I went!
04-11-2013, 07:27 PM
#4
Senior Member
Thread Starter
RE: Estes dart (Hubsan) vs. Helimax 1SQ (walkera)
ORIGINAL: diabolic-mind
nice review, id like to add though, i have the hubsan x4, and i have never had to trim it, every time i take off it takes off and goes right to a stable hover. it could be that the calibration is off on your from the factory or something. but i have never had to trim it, and only had to recalibrate it using the sticks in the ''flick flick'' motion a couple of times. pretty accurate on the rest of your descriptions though. i love the x4, i mainly got it over the 1sq simply for the fact that the x4 is alot better looking micro quad.
nice review, id like to add though, i have the hubsan x4, and i have never had to trim it, every time i take off it takes off and goes right to a stable hover. it could be that the calibration is off on your from the factory or something. but i have never had to trim it, and only had to recalibrate it using the sticks in the ''flick flick'' motion a couple of times. pretty accurate on the rest of your descriptions though. i love the x4, i mainly got it over the 1sq simply for the fact that the x4 is alot better looking micro quad.
04-12-2013, 08:14 AM
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RE: Estes dart (Hubsan) vs. Helimax 1SQ (walkera)
yeah electronics in the 1sq are probably much better quality, but for the fact that the x4 is so cheap for what you get, i really cant complain about anything with it, its a daily flier for me, lately i have been noticing a very gradual drift in rudder control, but i suspect that wit hall the times ive crashed it is probably just a motor slowly starting to fail. i have spare motors, just waiting for it to completely go before switching it out. my buddy has two 1sq's, and they do fly nice, i like that the 1sq will hold its angle of flight when the sticks are released, where the x4 will go back to a level state. x4 would probably be a better beginner quad in my opinion for that reason, but it can also be a bit tricky too. i started out with quads with the blade mqx, which would probably be the best beginner quad in my opinion. very tough and very easy to fly, more so that the x4.
