Why I choose 3DR SOLO Drone

I’ve been a fan to RC helis for a while now and when the DJI Phantom became pretty popular a few years back I really wanted to get one at the time.  Though monetary constraints kind of prohibited that and it died out from my mind for awhile.  Now things have turned around and after a year of saving it was time to make my choice. Ultimately it came down to 3DR SOLO or Phantom 3 Pro. And this is what considerations it came down to:

Price: A Phantom Pro is about $1,200, the SOLO is $1,000.  The SOLO is cheaper that’s what the facts show, so why did DJI win pricing?  Well the truth is comparing the DJI to the base SOLO is not fair.  The Phantom Pro includes everything you need to get out and fly, record, and play.  That means that the $1,200 includes the camera, gimbal, and the drone.  So that means that you can make your purchase then get out there and have fun.  Unfortunately the only thing you’re getting for $1,000 with the SOLO is the drone itself.  Of course everything you need to fly is included and you can have fun. Although, a fair comparison would be getting a gimbal, and camera also.  The Gimbal is $400 and GoPro Hero 4 Black is $400 also.  Of course you don’t need to use a Hero4 Black any Hero 3 or 4 works well.  But as an equal comparison to the Phantom Pro 4K camera you will have to consider the Hero4 Black.  All in all the SOLO will be close to $1,800 before you get to the same inclusions as the Phantom Pro.

Reliability: No matter where you look online you will find a multitude of reliability issues plaguing both drones.  So that’s why there is no winner and I seriously doubt there will ever be a winner for any drone the flys further than arms reach.

Customer Service: Like any company that you have to deal with customer service you will likely already be unhappy from the disastrous things that caused you to call customer service.  But, it’s how a company responds to that is what makes winners and losers.  Most of the material I read online was fairly positive towards 3DR.  That, they were respectful and helpful to assisting in resolving problems.  Then on the other hand most of the material read about DJI was mostly negative.  Pretty much the common voice was that you’re on your own resolving anything that develops. 

Specs: General specs on both of the drones are very close by performance.  In my opinion I don’t believe you can compare specs side by side equally.  Because the software and optimizations are different for each company.  What I looked at was control options, reaction speed, flight time, distance.  Control options on both drones are roughly the same, manual control, follow, camera controls.  The Phantom 3 does seem to beat SOLO when you look at reaction speed.  And SOLO wins flight time, of course manufacturer listed time is bogus.  And I really wish it was illegal to make those ridiculous statements.  Their flight time specs means how long it’ll hover inplace before the battery dies, not how long it’ll fly during usage.  The same with distance the spec is determined by a measured radio signal in a strictly controlled environment then scaling it up to where it’s theoretical limit would be.  If you get 1/3rd of what the specs claim you’re probably doing good.  All in all both win and lost some but I’d say their about equal in this aspect.

Controller: I didn’t go into any incredible detail in trying to compare controllers but SOLO wins because of the HDMI output.  Using my existing FPV glasses will be a big plus.

OOB: Like I mentioned when discussing price, I feel that DJI would give a more enjoyable out of box experience than the SOLO. Thats because the Phantom includes everything you need all in the same package.

Future Possibilities: Hands down SOLO has capabilities to expand into the future.  With being able to use a range of GroPro cameras, a dedicated expansion bay, and a devision of the company geared to working with developers to create new add ons. Although it’s at nine months now and nothing new has been mentioned.  3DR’s main idea for this is to be to only buy the drone once and then overtime be able to buy individual upgrades.  Time will tell if that turns out to be realistic.

Warranty: Based on the word around the net 3DR’s warranty statements are legit.  If by under any normal operation there is an error and your drone or approved attached equipment gets lost or damaged 3DR will replace your setup.  Approved equipment is kind of shady, as of now this only includes the 3DR Gimbal and GoPro camera.  Many different places I found that people said it was easy and with very little frustration going through this process.  Hopefully I would never need to utilize this, but it’s nice to know that a company has your back and properly stand by their products.

Even though I needed to save up for a bit more time I still opted to go with the SOLO and get a Hero4 Black which I was already intending to get for other purposes.  Once again I am looking forward to what 3DR introduces as add ons and accessories for the SOLO and I hope it flourishes enough to be able to get a nice selection.