Review: Parrot Jumping Night Drone And Jumping Race Drone
Last year I reviewed several drones from Parrot. Recently I got the chance to see a sneak peek of their new and updated drones. Starting today and for the next few days I will reviewing these new drones, staring with these:
On the right is a Jumping Race drone. On the left is a Jumping Night drone. The differences? Other than cosmetics, here’s what’s different between the two of them:
- The Jumping Night drones are equipped with two powerful LED lights with adjustable intensity. That allows you to pilot them in low light conditions.
- The Jumping Race drone is capable of quick acceleration with 8 mph bursts of speed.
In either case, here’s the key specs:
- Wi-Fi 2.4 or 5 Ghz connectivity via the free FreeFlight 3 application for iOS or Android.
- Embedded camera: they are equipped with a wide angle camera that streams live, immersive views on the screen of the piloting smartphone or tablet. They take pictures and videos which are directly stored on the internal 4GB flash memory.
- Embedded speaker and microphone:
- They talk: Depending on their mood, they ‘bip’, ‘ziiip’, ‘groutch’.
- Walkie talkie: You can talk and listen through them.
- A patented spring-mounted system: They can jump up to 2.5 ft. in height and length.
- Automatic movements: the Jumping perform acrobatics, without the need for training: spin around, jump, roll upside down, push or hit an object.
- Retractable wheels: large or compact mode to adapt to all driving styles.
- A programmable road plan: a ‘road plan’ enables you to program a course and actions. The itinerary appears on the app among the predefined movements. You just have to click on it to see the Jumping Drones maneuver autonomously.
I tested them on my iPhone 6 and after downloading FreeFlight 3 and updating the firmware, I was able to connect to them over WiFi and pilot them. It doesn’t take long to figure out how to control them well given the fact that you get a first person that allows you to pilot them effectively. You can take photos and videos via FreeFlight 3. Here’s an example of the quality that you can get:
It’s pretty good and I feel that you won’t have any complaints in this area. These drones are powered by small lithium polymer batteries that last about 20 minutes. That doesn’t sound great, but they charge in 25 minutes if you get the 2.6A charger. You can also get extra batteries cheaply.
I found them to be very fun to use and they would do well with kids and those who are kids at heart. I’d consider them for a really good gift this holiday season. Expect to pay $239 CDN for one.
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