TEST: JJRC H62 Spendid

[Drone News]

INTRODUCTION

The JJRC H62 is the new revision of the H6x’s selfiedrone serie from JJRC. From the previous revision, the altitude hold positionning and 720p WiFi with a large FOV were already here. With the H62, for the first time, a visual based target tracking/follow me is added… incredible for a cheap toyquadcopter… Clearly the VPU is strong enough to compute basic computer vision primitives. The H62 is still a brushed machine with foldable arms super easy to transport. The FPV link is done in 720p resolution via WiFi and it’s always a good news when now we can see (at least) a wide angle lens installed on the 2mpx sensor. The H62 is actually controlled only via the iOS/Android Appz. Let’s have a look to this new toyselfiedrone.

BOX CONTENT

+ 1 x JJRC H62 Splendor
+ 1 x 1S 850mAh proprieatary LiPo with JST connector
+ 1 x USB charging cable
+ 4 x Spare props (2 CW, 2 CCW)
+ 1 x Screwdriver
+ 1 x Transportation bag
+ 1 x Instruction manual (English)

OVERVIEW

Like the H60, H61, it’s a rectangular selfiedrone with one unique power button installed on top. The plasic quality is in the average…. relatively flexible but far to be the best material I saw. Folded it’s larger than any 6″ smartphone, more similar more in size to an iPhone X.

-FRONT VIEW

On front, 2 green lights can be found… ideal for LOS condition flights. In fact, don’t dream to perform FPV with… the associated latency is too important for this application.

-SIDE VIEW

No presence of a microSD slot …. so no possibility to save inboard the native 720p resolution with a constant framerate.

-REAR VIEW

-UPPER VIEW

-BOTTOM VIEW

All lights are installed bottom

The good news as predecessor, the battery is removable. You just need to slide bottom the plastic tab on the battery and extract the battery.

The battery connector uses a classic JST so… it will be not hard to transplant another LiPo into this plastic casing

The super tiny camera used the VPU in altitulde hold

-WEIGHT
Almost 93g… since there is a gear system, it’s not a big deal to raise 93g

Motors and props

8.5mm coreless motors are installed horizontally. A 90 degrees gear system is here to drive the large prop installed

LiPo

A proprietary 1S 850mAh LiPo ending with a JST connector. In practice, if you need to replace the LiPo, you can install a new fresh model inside the batery plastic casing.

Camera module

A large FOV lens with approximatively 120 degrees. Good news, the lens can be downtilted a bit to -15degrees approximatively

As you will see, the color rendition of the 2mpx sensor is pretty, the image sharp and precize.

UNBOXING, ANALYSIS AND DEMO FLIGHT

Both the control and the FPV feedback is done via a simple 2.4G WiFi appz. The layout is classic but the major novelty can be found in the bottom left side part. Two button for the follow-me. The lower one allows the target selection via rectangule. This one must defined inside a central yellow one. The secong button runs the tracking. The H62 will first of all centers the tracked target then i f the target moves in x-y axis, the H62 will follow gently. To optimize tracking performances, it’s recommended to downtilt a bit the camera.

As you can see also, there is also a selfie mode rotating the machine of 180 in yaw axis and inverting associated command. There is also the possibiliy to shoot photos one by one or in a burst sequence. Classic takeoff/landing are here as soon as there is an altitulde hold stabilization system.

The 720p rendition is good and thanks to the wide angle the dynamic range adaptation is smooth. Good color rendition and the FPV video is pretty sharp. My only concern is about the sporadic freezing of the FPV link time to time. It can be solve main probably at least in close range conditions by optimizing the 2.4G antenna location for a more vertical position.

In windfree condition the machine keeps pretty well its position… the new VPU sensor helps a lot the baromter. Unfortunaly, it’s another story in presence of wind. In this case, the H62 will slide a lot in the x-y axis…. No miracle without GPS. A good news, the H62 is relatively silent…. The machine is easy to control via the virtual sticks…. Of course rates are adapted to offer the best non-shacky videos we can obtain with a machine without EIS. Definitively it’s not a sporty flyer and the max speed seems bounded to 3-4m/s maximum. One more time don’t expect miracle in wind conditions.

The good surprize come from the result of the visual tracking system. As soon as the target is select via the green rectangular and the tracking started….. the detection box is surprizingly pretty accurate for a 50USD machine. IMHO it’s as accurate as the Zerotech dobby for example of 3-4 times more expensive model!!!! . This model at least follow at minimum the target via yaw mouvement. If the machine is 3-4m higher the target and the camera downtilt a bit, the H62 will follow the target as soon as the target is moving relatively slowy: walk or very slow jog. Sometimes if the altitude is not correct, the H62 don’t move…. Only the target centering is done in the yaw axis.

The flight time is about 6-7min…. I found the battery warning comes relatively soon (about 4-5min)… you can expect to flly a good extra minute from this alert.

CONCLUSIONS

For 50USD and in windfree conditions, the JJRC H62’s results are impressive in term of visual tracking….. really it’s as good as 3-4 times more expensive machine. The machine is stable, silent and the 720p FPV link good thanks also to the presence of the 120 degrees FOV.
Clearly we want to see next a version with a builtin DVR to record natively the 720p video…. or even better a deluxe version with a 1080p sensor.

PROS

+ Efficient visual target tracking
+ Visual assisted altitude hold
+ 720p WiFi Link
+ 120 degrees FOV
+ Foldable
+ Silent
+ Good Appz
+ Cheap
+ No builtin battery

CONS

– No builtin DVR to record 720p videos directly
– Not wind resistant (must be used in very calm wind conditions)
– Only ~6min of flight time
– Sporadic FPV freezes

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 50USD at https://www.banggood.com/JJRC-H62-SPLENDOR-Foldable-Selfie-Drone-WIFI-FPV-With-720P-HD-Camera-Altitude-Hold-RC-Quadcopter-BNF-p-1284127.html

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