Surprisingly friendly and stable machine, for experienced users maybe a little too much.

Introductory

Already at the end of last year, I figured out to try a mid-priced drone. I chose the JJRC propeller, in price it is more positioned at the bottom of the mid-range. Before we move on, let’s clarify what I think of the middle class.

The entry level, at least for birds that are already usable, is between $ 80 and $ 200. What’s below that price can already be called a maximum weak game, which is usually much harder to fly normally than with even slightly more expensive $ 100-120 pieces. In these, the motors are still carbon brushes, the controller just doesn’t want to fall apart, the arms are swaying, and even a little breeze is blowing them away.

Usable, mid-range machines start at $ 200. You can already expect a strong, brushless motor, GPS and possibly other sensors, as well as a usable quality camera. Of course, manufacturers do not have the same idea of ​​what would be good for us. Some people skip the sensors but put a super camera on the machine, such as the Hubsan H117S Zino (our test of the Zino can be read here: Hubsan Zino test - DJI killer drone quarter?), while others choose a weaker one from the camera, in return they put more sensors in the machine, such as the subject of our test, the JJRC x12.

The upper category does not need to be presented, these machines are all special in their kind. Over $ 400 we already get great flying capabilities, long range and a great camera. Of course, the upper limit here is already the starry sky, the best amateur or semi-professional machines are well over a thousand dollars, which we admit, at least at home, is affordable for a few.

The subject of our present test, the JJRC machine, is slightly cheaper than the Hubsan Zino, yet, perhaps, one of its competitors, at least in price. However, the target audience is completely different, and I hope this will be clear from the article below. Because of this, I will try to draw some parallels between the abilities of the two drones so that you can decide which one is more suitable for you.

Packaging and exterior

The first chunky red dot can be pulled in next to the JJRC when it is taken out of the cardboard, as the stuff arrives in a fully usable carrying case. The soft packaging, which protects against vibration and breakage, contains the battery and drone, the remote control and the spare blades in a separate compartment. If I wanted to find a negative at all costs, it might be that three batteries can no longer be placed. Two more, because one can go to the belly of the machine and the other to the wall that holds the battery. And why the downside if you can't fit three batteries? Well, about that a little later!

The JJRC x12 has a foldable arm. The thing is a bit origami because not only the arm needs to be folded out, but also the legs at the end of the arms. This is good because it can fit in a slightly larger coat pocket when closed. The structure itself is 17,2 x 9 x 5,5 centimeters, which is really small, with a weight of 415 grams of battery, which can be said to be medium. New U.S. regulations have set a weight limit for unlicensed drones at 250 grams, what we’ll have, we don’t know yet.

What’s definitely good is that the JJRC x12 is so tiny and quiet that it doesn’t attract attention, meaning there’s a good chance we won’t have a problem with it even if domestic regulations set a lower weight than this machine tracks.

The battery can be snapped into the belly of the machine, the release can be solved by pulling the buttons on both sides backwards. Stable, safe solution, if it falls out, the machine is over so you hit it somewhere.

There is no other interesting thing. In front of the camera, below sensors and battery, above is an elegant beetle.

Controller

To me, the remote control, or more professionally, the controller looks surprisingly good. More precisely, it doesn't just seem that way, it does. Of course, everything is just a matter of comparison, with a 350 HUF DJI controller, I wouldn't dare put it on a single table, but it's a really fine piece in its category. The arms move easily but don’t wobble, the controls are buttery, but really, perfect. You can turn off the GPS on the remote control, there is an automatic take-off and callback button, you can take photos and start video, but there is no scroll wheel left to tilt the camera.

The buttons are firm but easy to press. They are slightly recessed, so we accidentally have a hard time pressing them.

You can place your phone in a spring clip that snaps onto the controller. My little Xiaomi Mi Note 10 phone didn’t want to fall out of it.

So the controller deserves, if not an orbitally large red dot, but one that is clearly visible to one eye.

It doesn’t completely belong to the controller, but it’s important to know that the machine can be controlled smoothly from a phone as well. This is more important because, as I wrote above, the structure isn’t too big, so we can take it with us in our jacket pockets, in which case we can even leave the remote at home. Of course, you need to know that control from your phone will never be as accurate as if you were using a controller, but the opportunity is there.

abilities

As I mentioned in the introduction, JJRC x12 can be considered a competitor to Hubsan Zino, yet it targets a completely different audience than Zino. While the Hubsan machine will be a real pleasure for the more experienced, with JJRC the absolute beginners and the little more experienced will be without a hitch, and we emphasize this, FLY WITHOUT PROBLEM.

The Zino is a powerful and fast machine with a great camera and GPS, but without any kind of flight facilitation sensor. JJRC, on the other hand, while strong enough, is not fast, and even when switched to experienced (i.e., non-beginner) mode, the thoughtful expression reminds me of it. If we switch to beginner mode, then it really will be art to crash with it.

The JJRC x12, or JJRC Aurora, didn’t get a crazy good 4K camera, just a medium, FHD resolution. The three-axle gimbal (even the Xiaomi FIMI A3 is only two-axle) isn’t top quality either, but as you’ll see in the test video at the end of the article, it does its job nicely and smooths out speeds or changes of direction during flight.

And what’s best about the plane, and what makes it so much more suitable for novice pilots, is the sensor army that’s mounted on the plane. Unfortunately, there is no optical sensor on the front or side, like on a DJI Mavic that costs five times as much, but I don’t think anyone expects that for that much money. But, for my part, for this price, I really appreciate that in addition to GPS, an optical and ultrasonic sensor also helps with altitude sensing and accurate landing. I don’t really know of another drone that would know this in this price range, even the double-cost Xiaomi FIMI X8 SE only got an optical sensor at the bottom, not even the Zino already mentioned. So, it’s a huge big red dot, so big that it doesn’t even fit into the checker!

The range of the machine is also surprisingly long, and the WIFI connection is quite stable compared to the possibilities, but I'll talk about that later. According to the enclosed data, the maximum flight altitude can be 500 meters and the maximum range is one kilometer.

In recent weeks, I have flown the bird in several places, and what has been proven with all Wi-Fi machines is that the range depends a lot on whether we are in a populated area, i.e. a place densely covered with wifi, or possibly on the edge of the village in the wilderness. In the former case, the signal was lost at an altitude of around 100 meters, and in the latter case, despite the relatively large flight area, I was unable to bring the aircraft out of range.

I note here that with these small planes, I don’t see much point in even a one-kilometer range, because they can be safely flown mostly within sight. Of course, in extreme cases, you can try how much that is, because if the signal is lost, the JJRC x12 will come back to us by itself.

When it comes to WIFI, it’s also very important that it works in the 5 GHz band, so with a phone that only communicates on the old 2,4 GHz, you won’t thrive!

There is plenty of knowledge beyond that. He knows circling, he can follow us. In addition, the latter operations are surprisingly good, you can take quite good pictures of yourself while tracking, neither the machine nor the camera jerks.

In addition to the above, thanks to the help of GPS, it is also possible to fly on a pre-planned route. I don’t know how you are with him, but I haven’t even used this on any of my drones, at most, while testing the machine. Anyway, it doesn’t hurt to have one, too, to see if someone prefers to sit and watch the bird fly than to control it sharply.

At the end of one more interesting thing, in the case of the JJRC x12, the GPS can be turned off. Sounds weird at first, since we damn turn it off when we have it. The explanation is simple, in an enclosed space, there will be no satellite connection with a roof over our heads, so in-flight altitude does not rely on this, only on the ultrasonic and optical sensor on the abdomen.

Finally, here’s the camera, which we need to talk about in more detail. As you may have already read, the photo-video machine came with a three-axis gimbal, which, if not with the accuracy of a hundreds of thousands of instruments, does its job perfectly. Since I didn’t crush the machine, I can’t tell you how much it can withstand physical abuse, but under normal circumstances, the camera floats nicely, as evidenced by the footage.

The biggest weakness of the drone is the camera itself anyway. The structure called 4K is not capable of taking 4K shots in reality. If we read the fine print better, it turns out that the sensor is (supposedly) 4K resolution, and the photos that can be taken are the same, but the videos are “only” 1080p resolution, the image refresh, at least up to 30 frames per second, although this is more I would under it.

We will not be happy to watch the completed recordings on 4K TV, the quality makes it more suitable for sharing on Facebook, for example. The resolution is there, of course, but due to the compression, the detail, at least for very close objects, is below the frog's bottom. It’s a pleasure to get a software zoom for the camera so we can get close to distant things.

Use

JJRC x12 is quite interesting in terms of wifi connection. In similar birds, it usually happens that both the controller and the phone need to be paired with the drone. We control the flight with the controller, we see the camera image and the telemetry on the phone. However, JJRC x12, thankfully, works completely differently.

We need to turn on the drone first. We hear a drop of annoying tune signaling the start. Then we need to turn on the controller, if the lights are no longer flashing on the drone, we are fine. Finally, you need to connect your phone to the controller. That is, not to the drone! Or to the drone only if it is controlled by the phone.

Why is it good that the phone is connected to the controller? Because the antennas on the remote control are stronger than what is in your phone, so the connection between your phone and the drone is through the controller. With this method, the delay between the image on your phone and reality is noticeably smaller. That is, we can rely much more on the camera image while in control. Even more understandable, we can safely look at the camera image on the phone and control the machine accordingly, no need to constantly look up to see if it really is where we think it should be.

From what has been described so far, a very accurate picture of the features of the machine may have formed, and I will not destroy this picture, in fact, I can only reinforce it!

The JJRC x12 is an awfully stable machine that can be used safely even in windy weather. Obviously you don’t have to think about hurricane winds, but today, for example, the flight before the article had a pretty awkward gust of wind, but the x12, or as I wrote above, the JJRC Aurora bore it absolutely well. Thanks to its sensors, even in the event of a larger gust of wind, it did not sway more than half a meter while floating, perfectly compensating for the force of the wind.

This is also true for in-flight behavior. Experienced pilots would certainly feel their speed is low, but this disadvantage is somewhere an advantage of the machine as well. It flies thoughtfully, steadily, quite simply the best of recent times for a group of beginners or newbies.

Of course, I don’t want to make it feel like someone else can’t use it because it’s really enjoyable to fly with it. Beef a lot of adrenaline will not be pumped into our veins by the experience, but there are many who do not even need it, the machine will be perfect for them.

Upstairs, perhaps in the section on packaging, I wrote that we can detect a maximum of one defect, that there is only room for two batteries in the carrying case. I said this because although the manufacturer promises 25 minutes of flight time on a single charge (in reality, it’s more like 20-22 minutes), that 20 minutes glides so you don’t even notice. There are machines that can get so tired during the test that I can already guess when the battery will finally run out, but the JJRC x12 is not like that.

I already had a drone in my hand that I wrote about, of course you probably also want to love to drone. But in fact, with the JJRC bird, 20 minutes seems awfully short. At around 20 degrees today, in sunny weather, I would have preferred to snap up the spare battery and fly for at least another 20 minutes.

Which might be some cure if we only have one battery, that the charger works with a USB connection, so if we’re going to drone by car, we can recharge it from the cigarette lighter, USB adapter while lying on the grass a bit.

Also check out my short video about the machine before closing:

Conclusion

The point is in the article, but if you were lazy to read through it, the point is:

The JJRC x12 is a great drone at a great price. It beats the capabilities of serious, higher-end birds in terms of sensors, maneuverability and stability, but unfortunately the camera doesn’t compete with the more experienced, unusable indoors Hubsan Zino, or even the Xiaomi Fimi A3 at a similar price.

The flying experience is first class, flawless, immersive. Impossible of the machine, it is almost mandatory to buy at least the double akksis package from it right away.

You can purchase the JJRC X12 Aurora drone at the following link. When you buy, you can choose to order with one, two or three batteries. Be sure to select the priority and VAT-free Priority Line mode as the delivery method!

Buy here:

JJRC x12 Aurora drone

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