In a world where more and more people are finding new hobbies, I have been an avid fan of drones before they even became a hit in today’s market. This means that I know my stuff when it comes to some of the best drones on the market as I have used and reviewed more than my fair share of drones during my lifetime.

Moreover, aside from how I have tried and tested a bunch of the drones that are available on the market today, I can also say that I am a recreational photography enthusiast who has been able to make use of drones to get some of the best aerial shots of some of the best scenery imaginable. 

In that regard, the SkyCamHD Drone looks like a decent cheap option that you may want to try if you are a beginner in the hobby of flying drones. However, in my experience, there are other cheap options that offer more stability and quality than this one. Still, it could be a good enough entry-level drone especially if you are just someone who’s trying out his hand at this hobby.

This review will show you why I wasn’t a really big fan of the SkyCamHD Drone in terms of how it performs overall. But I think I’ve still been quite unbiased at showing you many of the good sides that might still make you consider buying this drone as your first-ever drone.

Without further ado, let’s look at the SkyCamHD Drone in greater detail.

SkyCamHD Drone Overview #

The SkyCamHD is a budget-friendly, entry-level drone that promises the worthwhile benefits of being affordable and good enough for those who aren’t the most exacting in terms of the quality of their drones or of the photos that the drones take.

In addition, the SkyCamHD promises to be a good compact drone that you can carry just about anywhere without making you feel like you are carrying a heavy load. It is absolutely handy and light enough to make it a good choice for those who would want to take aerial selfies wherever they go.

Yet, for all of the things that the SkyCamHD promises its customers, I don’t necessarily feel like it should be a top choice for drone enthusiasts or even for those who are still starting out and are looking for their first-ever drone. The reason is that it fails to live up to any expectation you might have for it, regardless of how low your standards might be. 

Still, if you are looking for a drone that might make you decide whether or not this hobby is for you, the SkyCamHD might be worth considering strictly because of its comparatively affordable price point.

Design #

If there is something that I will admit that I like about the SkyCamHD Drone, it’s that it is very portable and is quite possibly the most portable drone you can find on the market today. And, of course, the reason why it is so portable is that it is very small, light, and compact.

The SkyCamHD Drone promises to be a portable drone that you can carry wherever you go because of its compact size. While plenty of drones in the market today are getting smaller and smaller while still retaining some of the neat features that can be found in the larger drones, the SkyCamHD takes portability to an entirely new level because of just how small it is. 

If you want to know just how compact this drone is, picture this – it is actually smaller than the average American hand size. You can easily fit the whole thing (folded up) on your palm. And because of how small it is, you can easily fit it inside a coat pocket or even your pants pocket without feeling like you are getting weighed down or bunched up. It is basically just as small as your smartphone even though it is actually a drone.

Given that it was made to be a portable drone that you can fit inside your pocket and carry wherever you go, the SkyCamHD is foldable just like some of the most popular mini drones on the market today.

The manufacturers behind the SkyCamHD also say that this product is made of ABS plastic, which is supposed to be quite light yet much more durable than regular plastic. I could not attest to the durability of its material because I am yet to actually crash the drone, but what I do admit is the fact that this drone is quite light and it doesn’t weigh my pocket down whenever I slip it in there. Still, for something as cheap as this drone, questions about its durability might be a reasonable cause for concern.

Remote Controller #

What might turn you off when you are using the SkyCamHD is the fact that it doesn’t come with its own controller. This means that you have to use your smartphone as the controller. I don’t know if the omission of a controller is a deliberate effort to cut down costs or if it is to make sure that the SkyCamHD is as portable as it possibly can be (considering that carrying a controller around will add bulk space), but what I can be sure of is that I do enjoy using a drone with a controller rather than relying on the touchscreen of my smartphone.

Still, because the SkyCamHD makes use of your smartphone as its controller, it does live up to its billing as a portable drone that you can carry around anywhere. Regardless of what your preference may be, I can readily admit that drones that have their own controllers aren’t really the most portable ones.

Flight Capabilities #

In terms of its actual capabilities when flying, it is billed as having features such as trajectory flight, gravity control, and a six-axis gyro that all help make it a capable drone when flying, while making sure that it stays as stable as possible.

However, when I tried getting it off the ground, I quickly got the sense that it doesn’t have the same kind of power that some of the more expensive brands have. Even the ones that are at the same price level seem more powerful during the takeoff. It gives the impression of being sluggish as it rises up in the air during the initial takeoff. Granted, you have to understand that this is a pretty small drone that may not have the parts that will allow it to have the same kind of power when flying that other drones do.

But what I can give the SkyCamHD Drone is that it does feel easy to control when flying it despite the fact that it would take a considerable amount of time for you to reach the desired heights you want it to reach. Don’t expect a ton out of it when it comes to speed because it is still a cheap entry-level drone.

Stability-wise, nothing stands out about it but I haven’t exactly felt anything wrong either in relation to how stable it is in flight. This might be something that you would notice later on when the unit gets older as it begins to wear down through time. But what I did notice was that it doesn’t do well when you get it higher up in the air considering that the winds are stronger and it might struggle to stay stable due to its lightweight design.

One thing I really didn’t like is that it is a bit too difficult to land on the ground especially because the stabilization begins to feel a bit off as it descends towards the ground. It might be difficult for people who have no experience landing a drone to try to get it to land smoothly, but from what I read, there is a “specific technique” you need to learn to land the SkyCamHD. 

Whatever that technique may be, I am not inclined to try to learn it if I am merely testing this drone out. If you want to let it land safely, what you should do is to bring it down low enough to the point that you can catch it with your hands. But even I wouldn’t recommend that.

Camera #

The SkyCamHD Drone only has an HD camera with a resolution of 720p. But you shouldn’t expect anything more than that considering that this drone is pretty cheap and small. Of course, some of the other drones in its price range also only carry 720p cameras. That shouldn’t be too much of an obstacle for most potential buyers.

One of the major marketing points of this drone is that it was made to be a selfie drone that you can fly just high enough to get a clear selfie. That means that something over 20 feet might not be the ideal height you want to fly this drone if you don’t want to look too small for its small camera. If you decide to fly it higher than that, don’t expect it to be too stable because of how small and light it is and how it easily gets blown by the wind. As such, if you want your selfies to be quite stable, plan to stay under 20 feet.

In terms of how it performs when taking photos or videos, you should probably just stick to selfies instead of actually taking aerial photos of landscape or cityscape type scenery. That’s because there will be stabilization issues when it comes to high-altitude flying with this small drone. Also, because it doesn’t have the best camera, you probably wouldn’t get the best photos or videos when you take aerial shots from considerable heights.

This is one of the parts I didn’t like about the SkyCamHD drone considering that drones aren’t just supposed to be glorified selfie sticks and are supposed to be able to perform well enough that you can take them high up in the air to take wide-angle photos of scenery or even of yourself. Still, if you are only after its selfie feature, it might be a good enough drone for you especially when you factor in its affordable price.

Here are the SkyCamHD features in summary:

Pros
Cons

Very small and compact
Too light to be stable

Stable enough at lower heights
Difficult to land

Good for selfies
Slow ascent speed

Foldable design
Not the best wide aerial photos

Our Verdict #

All in all, the SkyCamHD is a good option for those who want a lightweight, compact drone that is quite easy to carry around anywhere. It is so small that you can place it inside your pocket. As such, it works as a glorified selfie stick that should give you banger selfies that you can post on your social media accounts.

But, as a drone itself, there is not much to like about it because it really doesn’t perform up to par even if you just consider it as a low-end drone. It doesn’t do well when flying to higher heights and has some problems in relation to how stable it is when at certain heights. Granted, it would work as a good selfie drone somewhere around 20 feet but don’t expect it to really perform like a full-blown drone or even up to par with other affordable drones of a similar size.