Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Altair #AA108 Camera Drone Great for Kids & Beginners | RC Quadcopter w/ 720p HD FPV Camera VR, Headless Mode, Altitude Hold, 3 Skill Modes, Easy Indoor Drone, 2 Batteries

Fun and easy to fly - a stable drone for beginners!

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2017

My family just returned from the park after another fun afternoon of flying drones around expansive lawn. I’ve been very impressed with this little Altair drone - both with the model itself and with the great customer service from the US company behind it. I have had several contacts with the support team (*not* quality issues), and they were always patient and accommodating.

The drone is really stable and quite easy to fly, so seems like a great choice for a beginner like me. It also seems to be quite durable. We haven’t had any bad crashes, but plenty of mild bumps. I haven’t accurately timed the flight duration, but the AA108 seems to exceed the listed claims, even in wind and when I’m really pushing it hard.

I’m really satisfied with my choice, and love this little drone that I order another for the kids. I would recommend picking up a couple of extra batteries - you will want the fun to last!

I don’t have any major complaints, but by way of feedback, the port for the micro SD card is a little fiddly - not exactly easy to get the card in and out. The charging cable for the batteries could be a few inches longer too.

If you’re looking for your first drone, I would recommend going with this model over some of the $40-60 USD choices. We have a Holy Stone Predator, and while it is still very fun to fly, this drone is simply more forgiving and also better-performing.

25 people found this helpful

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Chris Freeman

Great Product / Exceeded All Expectations

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2017

Verified Purchase

I've wanted to buy a drone for a while now but was always intimidated and didn't want to fly it into the side of a house. I've conducted a ton of research and decided on this model and have been very happy with my purchase.

I bought this drone a few days ago and so far it's worked out great. I really like how easy it was to start flying.

I actually contacted the sellers before I purchased it because I had a couple questions and received responses quickly answering everything I needed to know and more.

So far I've flown it in my house (carefully), along with my 12 year old daughter. She didn't have any trouble picking it up on the easy flight mode, there's a selector button on the back and you can flip between 1-easy, 2 and 3-advanced, flight modes.

I took it outside this morning, there was a light breeze maybe 5-10 MPH, It handled well even with a bit of wind. Altitude hold and all the other functions worked well.

I kept it low and flew it around my neighborhood. The flight range is great for this price point, I got it out to at least 110 yards, which is longer than most drones of this size. The out of range alarm went off at probably 100 but I flew it a little ways past that and was still able to get it back with no problems.

The battery lasted around 10 minutes even with the wind.

Video is great; FPV range is around 40-50 yards with the 720p video app.

I'm glad I bought this drone over others I was considering. It was a big positive that they responded quickly to my emails and they’re based in the USA. I’m always more inclined to support a US business.

If you've been fearful of getting a drone thinking it will be difficult to fly or you'll crash it right away I definitely recommend this one. Very easy to use and is not intimidating. Very fun for all.

72 people found this helpful

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Greg L

Exactly what I needed for a first drone

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2017

Verified Purchase

Was at Costco a month ago and bought a mini drone on a whim. Had never flown one before and thought this would be a good opportunity to give it a try and see if I liked it. Well, within a couple of days, I was done with the Costco drone and ready for the next step. Searched the Internet high and low looking for a drone that could do more. Within two weeks, I bought four drones. Spent hours online reading reviews on drones under $100 and $200. My wife knows my habits well and all she could do was shake her head.
I decided on two mini drones - a Blade Nano QX and a Holy Stone F180W Mini - and two larger drones - LaTrax Alias and Altair Aerial. I have spent the last two weeks flying all four drones and have concluded that the Altair Aerial is the best of the bunch.
Reasons why? 1) Quality and durability of the drone itself. I have crashed this thing into curbs, tree trunks, walls, chairs and climbed three trees now, and other than a few scratches to the body and some dings on the props (to be expected for sure), this drone goes on and on like the Energizer Bunny. 2) Ease of flight and stability. The moment this drone first lifted off, I knew immediately it would be a stable flyer. Easier to control than the other three drones and better balanced. 3) Batteries, flight time, and range. Like the batteries a lot. Much better than the LaTrax Alias. I get 7-9 minutes of flight depending on conditions. The range is good and the LED lights are excellent for keeping track of during low light/dark conditions. It handles well in the wind too.
There are two issues that stand out for me, one more so than the other. 1) Though the Altair transmitter is easy to understand and operate, I find it to be cumbersome and slippery to hold onto. The unit is exceptionally smooth and rounded on the sides for hand placement, whereas my Holy Stone transmitter is more traditional in design, squared with lots of contour which makes it grip. 2) Both batteries and charging cables are high quality and durable. However, I am unable to plug two charging cables into the two USB ports on the front of my desktop PC because the ports are side by side and the ends of the charging cables that plug into those ports are so wide they can't be plugged at the same time. Not a big deal cause I can use wall chargers as well. For convenience, it would be nice though to plug two batteries in at the same location (my PC).
I have not tried using the FPV camera and smartphone app yet. Want to have a little more experience under my belt before I take that next step, but I expect to do so soon.
Lastly, my customer service experience with Altair Aerial has been exceptional. Communication with them has been top notch and responsive . They are very helpful with questions and suggestions. I like that Altair Aerial is an American company. IMO, American made means quality, durability and dependability.
Overall, I am happy with this drone and expect my piloting abilities to improve significantly.

9 people found this helpful

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Cosmic Voyager!

I still don't really enjoy flying it indoors and have had much more success ...

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2018

Verified Purchase

I initially graded this drone 1, but if it allows me too I'm changing my review quite a bit and know giving it a 4 star rating. I had major concerns with the way it flew indoors for quite awhile and wasn't to thrilled with outdoor use either. I still don't really enjoy flying it indoors and have had much more success flying much cheaper drones in the same area. I used it all night after allowing motors and batteries to cool and recharge. I still don't think it will become my favorite indoor drone and I probably will not use it much indoors. However I bought it for the outdoors. I took it outdoors again. Outdoors I know believe it is an awesome drone. There was a light wind between 5 and 10 mph and even in beginner mode it handled the wind well. The drone was extremely easy to control and very pleasant to fly. I did keep it around 10 feet high and below to compensate for the wind which looked from the way the upper tree branches were waving to be higher up there. I do the same with all my drones. I expect as I get better flying my Altair #AA 108 Camera drone and am able to bring it to my favorite flying area which is much larger my opinion and enjoyment flying this drone will continue to improve. Also it's a sturdy little drone. I crashed often indoors with no damage at all. I did not crash outdoors but believe it will do just fine when I do. The blade guards are excellent. Charging the batteries and installing and removing them is very easy. I'm now proud to being an owner of an American made drone. Update: I know I'm being wishy washy on grading this drone. I dropped my rating to 3 stars because the scan disk got jammed below it's spot and I can not find a way to remove it. Therefore I can't use the camera. I don't believe it was my fault it jammed like it did as it should have been designed better. I'm only posting this because Altair just today asked me for a review again. Apparently they don't read their reviews. Also some of the parts are made in China so while they might assemble it in America they don't build all the parts. Of course Apple doesn't manufacture or make I phones here either. So I guess it shouldn't matter, but somehow it does,lol. However I have flown the drone many times and It's a nice drone and I really enjoy flying it. It pretty easy to fly too. Just wish I could take pictures or video with it. Imo if you want a much better drone just to fly I'd go with the Bugs 3. No bells and whistles and not really for a beginner, but it fly's really well and is about $20.00 cheaper.

5 people found this helpful

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Tech53

Good beginner Drone and great customer service

Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2022

Verified Purchase

I had a problem with the drone, contacted Altari and received a quick reply.
After replying with drone problems details and my contact information.
A replacement was sent. Their customer response was exceptional
This AA108 drone comes with a detailed user manual and quick start guide,
and a controller overlay which is helpful for learning the controls.
The drone seems sturdy and survives beginner landings intact.
For Battery charging , I used a 2 Amp USB charger, the status LED is red for charging
and green when fully charged.

Out of the box it was easy to pair the controller to the drone, and Fly with the controller alone,
For the camera. I used the recommended Flyingsee app for video and photos
The app was easy to install on my Samsung android phone.
To store camera video, insert the SD card until it latches.
To remove the card, take the battery out, push the card to release it and then
use a pair of tweezers to lift it out. This is best done indoors.
(because sometimes these SD cards eject quickly, and you may have to search for it)
The video is better than I was expecting.
Overall I have been very happy with my purchase.

2 people found this helpful

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Zack

It only lasted 5 flights... Disappointing.

Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2018

Verified Purchase

First, this review will not contain “Pros and Cons” because I didn’t get enough flight time to properly assess this drone.

From the moment it took off, I could tell this thing was a very nice drone. After a just a few clicks of trim, it was almost stationary. It was incredibly stable in flight and was very maneuverable. The controller does feel a bit cheap, but it works very well. I was starting to really like this thing until the 5th flight. It was working great for a few minutes but then I noticed it was struggling to gain or lose altitude so I just figured the battery was about shot. I carried on, waiting for the low battery light to start flashing when one end of the drone dropped and it went speeding into a wall. It became stuck on the wall and the controller became completely unresponsive to the drone. I ran over to it to manually shut it down but before I made it, the distinctive “whine” the motors make became very high-pitched sound and the motors basically increased to full throttle (still against the wall). I grabbed it and shut it off and could smell a strong burning smell from the drone. It turns out during that flight, a motor overheated and burnt up. This should not happen after only five flights. The drone was returned and I’m ordering another but my review will remain the same unless the next one is much better or until I get a response from Altair’s customer service which still has not contacted me back yet.

5 people found this helpful

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Dave Shay

Good entry-level piece of hardware

Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2019

Verified Purchase

This is my first drone purchase, and I will be coming back to Altair when I'm ready to upgrade! The drone is very durable considering its light weight. I've had a few crashes while learning how to control it, and it still has a brand-new appearance without any noticeable scratches.

I had to remove the Otterbox case from my phone in order to fit it into the remote controller's phone slot. It would be great if the remote controller could be redesigned to accommodate phones with protective cases, given that some users can be "out in the field" where extra phone protection is warranted.

My only other complaint is the manual might not have been written by a native English speaker. I'm having a hard time understanding how to use the Trim function. The drone drifts a bit in flight (even when inside the house with no wind). Using a phone with WiFi connected to the drone seems to be the only way to activate and deactivate the video recording feature for this unit.

Otherwise, I'm very happy with my purchase and would recommend this AA108 unit to other first-time drone pilots. Bonus: I live about an hour from their office in Lincoln NE. I'd love to visit someday if their office has a showroom!

One other suggestion that I might apply on my own. Due to the Trim/drift issue, the drone got away from me and I had to use the Emergency Landing function when the "out of range" warning signal sounded. The emergency landing worked perfectly, but it took some time to locate the drone in my field. Some orange paint on the unit would help in such a situation. I'll continue practicing indoors for a while on until I can master the controls.

2 people found this helpful

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Doug S.

Perfect starter drone and very good balance of features; excellent customer service from company!

Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2017

Verified Purchase

I bought this drone for my 10-year old son who wanted a small indoor/outdoor drone to learn to fly. It was a great value for a beginner drone, and it took us merely a few hours indoors to learn to control it.

Because no drone has everything, as a buyer I had to decide which features were important and which we could live without. This drone had a decent balance of features, but one thing tipped me over the edge on this one: I read a review that the company's customer service was fantastic. So I reached out to the company before I bought with a few remaining questions, and within an hour they contacted me with great answers!

The batteries and other accessories are affordable (I bought 3, which seems perfect), and the box I ordered came with a few extra parts (props and rubber landing pads), so it was very clear upon opening the package that the company is thoughtful regarding their product.

The 720p video could be improved, and it would be nice to be able to start/stop video without the smartphone, but otherwise we're very happy!

The fact that I can fly it with my smart phone and see FPV through the phone is really nice, though I use it less than I thought.

2 people found this helpful

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Brad

This drone is very easy to master

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

This drone is very easy to master. It is definitely a must for beginning drone pilots. The altitude hold feature allows a beginner to get comfortable with the third dimension (up/down) without having to constantly twiddle with the throttle to maintain altitude.

Headless mode works as expected. Although I'm not a fan of headless mode since I've been flying for many years, it does work and will help beginners get started.

Auto takeoff/landing works well and the emergency stop works too, much to my chagrin when i accidentally double tapped the button when 15 feet in the air.

This little drone is very resilient since there was no damage after the 15 foot fall to grass when I accidentally engaged the emergency stop feature. I've learned that my depth perception is not as it used to be as I flew into a light pole and a tree at near to full speed when I thought I was going around them. The battery popped out on impact and it fell 20 feet to concrete when I hit the light pole. I popped the battery back in, re-calibrated the gyro and was immediately back in the air. I've replaced a couple of the rubber feet (4 extras included) after skimming the ground at speed or attempting a hot landing (I don't suggest doing that :-) )

At the highest response/speed setting (there are 3), it tends to drop in altitude at full forward. I guess the pressure sensor can't keep up with the forward speed/tilt of the drone. Add some throttle into full forward, and you are moving along at a consistent altitude and speed that will get you to max range pretty quick.

I haven't tested range much, but I've noticed that it is further in an open field than one with trees, which is typical of any R/C aircraft. Either way, you can get far enough away that determining the front/back of the drone becomes difficult. Range also decreased significantly when near battery depletion. Both the out of range and battery low indicators (beeping on controller) work well.

The 720p camera is pretty good, but as expected in this price range, you get pixellation and choppiness when moving quickly and low light video is very grainy. Remember to stop the video from your phone before turning the drone off or you will lose a chunk of your video (It's saved on the SD Card in about 2mb chunks).

The only strike against this resilient feature packed drone is that the battery doesn't last the 8-10 minutes as advertised. I get 6-6.5 minutes with moderate flying with the propeller guards on and 7-7.5 with them off. With the prop guards off, it behaves a little squirrely, so I put them back on and added a couple more batteries to my collection.

14 people found this helpful

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Don Peterson

Smooth drone with GREAT customer service

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2019

Verified Purchase

My 12 year old wanted a FPV drone for Christmas. My independent research led to to Altair, and this drone. The other feature o interest was a hover mode, or "altitude hold". After starting up the drone Christmas morning, we couldn't figure out the altitude hold; the drone just kept climbing towards the ceiling. It wasn't uncontrollably fast, but you couldn't take your hand off the controls. Furthermore, the FPV feature, which links your phone to the drone's own wifi, was unusable for flight control. The video feed was quite laggy, although it WAS clear.

We sent an email to Altair support to find out if we were missing something in the setup. We received an email response ON CHRISTMAS DAY stating that the drone wasn't working properly and they could send a replacement if we wanted. I sent them my mailing address and they sent the replacement drone at my convenience, since we were going to be out of town for a bit. The replacement drone is everything we hoped for AND MORE. The piloting is smooth. The video feed from the drone to phone is smooth and lag-free. The altitude hold feature is nearly flawless.

So, although it was a bit of a bummer to have an imperfect drone Christmas morning, the customer service, support, and response was nothing less than phenomenal. Our current drone functions exactly as advertised and expected. My kiddo is just extremely happy with his gift now.

Thank you Matt Cookson from Altair for standing behind your product and fixing things over a busy holiday weekend!

One person found this helpful

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