The TEC.Bean Mini Pocket Drone is a fun little drone that’s easier to fly you might expect. If you received a mini drone as a stocking filler for Christmas you might have found it tricky to get the hang of, they tend to just shoot off all over the place, so you might expect a similar result with this little flyer.
The drone is smartly stored in the remote control. There is a panel on the top that opens up and allows you to pop the drone in. On the back is a second storage area for the blade guards, spare propellers and the optional landing struts. This compartment also has a charging cable allowing you to charge the drone from the remote batteries.
There is a USB cable included that allows this to be charged from a PC/laptop or portable power bank, and this saves draining the remote batteries.
Setup was similar to other drones: power on the drone, power on the remote, move the left stick up and then down and you should be ready to fly.
As you’ll see in the review video it takes a bit of practice, but even early on it was clear this would be easier to fly than the stocking filler mini drone. One thing to note is that the blade protector is rather annoying, it kept moving and blocking the blades, preventing the drone from flying, which is why in the video you’ll see it’s not used, do this at your own risk.
After a bit of practice it the drone was under control and hovering about, and it’s great when you don’t immediately crash after take off! There are a number of modes and functions on the remote, I’ve not explored them all yet as I’m still getting the hang of flying this, but there is an included manual to help explain the features.
Note that due to the size and weight of this drone it can easily be blown about outdoors. It flys well outside, but a bit of a breeze sends it off course. Given the small size it’s a lot of fun to fly indoors, even just in the hallway.
When the drone power runs low (after around 30 min) it automatically lowers itself down and won’t take off again, this stops it from being high up and having no power to operate the blades which would could result in a nasty crash.
Takes a bit of practice, but it’s a good fun little drone which can be carried in your pocket.
Available from Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/1oJtQZE and Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/22ipZjw
