TEST: Eachine E53

[Drone News]

INTRODUCTION

With the popular success of selfie drones with foldable arms, a lot of toygrade quadcopter entered into the market. Here is the variant, i.e. the Eachine E53, a rebranding of the i-Drone i5 (from Yi-Zhan probably). With this brushed quad we have a basic WiFi link via the 0.3mpx camera module. The machine comes either in pure BNF version and mist be controled via a smartphone/tablet or in RTF with an extra controller. Let’s discover this bundle.

BOX CONTENT

+ 1 x Eachine E53 (with a 1S 120mAh LiPo directly soldered)
+ 1 x USB charging cable
+ 4 x Spare props (2 CW, 2 CCW)
+ 1 x Screwdriver
+ 1 x Instruction manual (English)

OVERVIEW

The quadcopter is build with a hard plastic much more breakable, probably a basic or recycled plastic. Luckely the general weight is light and this risk to crack arms is relatively low. The main originality is the process how to fold the arms, vertically. It’s not a direct drive but a geared one in order to boost powerlift and/or to use smaller motors.

-FRONT VIEW
The central part hosts the camera module on top. As you can already see, the Field of View will be limited by the pinhole lens thread. Don’t expect more than 60-70 degrees ….. Definitively, no brand will understand how important to have a FoV about 120 degrees.

When unfolded

-SIDE VIEW

Each arms must be clipsed with this central white plastic element in order to secure arm deployment.

The WiFi module can be guessed latterally.

-REAR VIEW

-UPPER VIEW

A small powerswitch can be found rear the WiFi module. brief press to turn on the machine. Keep it press more than 2s to turn off.

-BOTTOM VIEW

The battery fits almost all the battery tray. No real possbility to install a larger model

The 2.4G antenna of the RFchip is installed horizontally parallel to the board… Not a good choice for horizontal range. You should install it more vertically. Since the antenna is soldered on the bottom side, the antenna should be more point the down direction.

-WEIGHT

67.6g in total… For a gear brushed machine is not so heavy. Expected flight time should be not so bad.

Motors and props

A gear system with nylon pinion and main Wheel. Unfortunatly no bushing or bearing are installed. A direct friction of the metal shaft with the plastic….. Versus time, fraction will damage/stress motors. Please check/inspect regulary this meshing especially after a crash

Brushed motors are small …. strange size a 6.5mm diameter not very common.

Super long props to boost thrust… but in the other hand will stress a lot motors.

LiPo

A 350mAh LiPo one cell model with a discharge rate announced to be 25C. In practice flight time are about 6-7min before LVC.

Camera module

A super narrow FOV with this tiny M6 lens thread format. The associated camera sensor offers very poor performances. No miracle in term of color rendition and light sensitivity with this 0.3mpx sensor…. Definitively should be upgraded for a 720mpx model….

No possibility to ajust the lens orientation. The lens moves but return in the horizontal direction.

UNBOXING, ANALYSIS AND DEMO FLIGHT

The general Appz is common with a lot of i-Drone models. You will have to slide right to select the “i5” model. The interface is classic for a WiFi drone with camera/video trigger buttons, IMU flight mode, speed mode, headless, one key return, 360 degrees flips and the new trajector planner recently introduced for most WiFi toyquadcopter. The settings button allows you to recalibrate the machine when installed on a flat surface. When pressing on the “OFF” button, the virtual sticks appear. On really annoying behaviour can be noticed especially for the left stick. If you press it above the upp half-circle, no response from the appz….. You will need to touch it in the lower part in order to go above… Really annoying. When you press on the take off, the machine raises fast to 1m high. In indoors or zero-free conditions, the machine is super stable. First remark… so rates of the machine are super super slow… in order to have the most stable hovering as possible. If it’s a good choice to shoot basic videos, if you fly in presence of trees or obstacles… it can be a big drame since there are a lot of inertia in the commands. Even at 100% mode, it’s still especially the yaw control super slow :(…. The FPV link offers a basic VGA format with a max framerate about 15fps even at super close range. Versus distance, the frame rate will drop quick…. With such narrow FOV, it’s almost impossible to fly FPV like this. The WiFi link is more here to check the scene you are currently pointing. In term of flight time… a good 6-7min can be obtained.

CONCLUSIONS

On more basic WiFi toyquadcopter…. and there are already a lot of similar models. Thie Eachine E53 don”t bring something new or more interesting. A basic brushed geared flyer with a basic WiFi link to shoot VGA videos at low frame rate. Ok arms are foldable…. it’s a good point and rates are super super smooth to stabilize the machine the much it can be. But be aware to check regulary each gear system to avoid any extra friction.

PROS

+ Stable machine for shooting very basic videos
+ Altitude hold
+ Foldable arms
+ Good flight time (~6-7min)
+ Good appz
+ Trajectory design feature

CONS

– Left virtual stick not responsive when touched on the upper part
– Super slow yaw rates
– No selfie mode control
– No ballbearings/oil bushing for motor’s shaft
– Limited VGA FPV link with max 15fps
– Narrow Field of View

This quadcopter have been courtesy provided by Banggood in order to make a fair and not biased review. I would like to thank them for this attitude.
You can find it actually for 38USD at https://www.banggood.com/Eachine-E53-WiFi-FPV-Selfie-Drone-with-0_3MP-Camera-Foldable-Arms-Altitude-Hold-RC-Quadcopter-p-1174751.html

Cet article TEST: Eachine E53 est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!.

View the full article