It's certainly a game-changer for me and allows me to fly my drone without using my smartphone, as shown in the picture below.
The advantages absolutely outweigh the disadvantages of this new controller.
The smart controller's ultra-bright 1080p screen is twice the brightness of standard smartphones, and now there is no need to have a hood to protect the screen from the sun's rays.
Its a much more pleasant experience flying the drone and this controller has a more ergonomic feel than the original. There will be no more fumbling while I remove the protective case from my iPhone before attaching it to the cable and control arms of the original controller. There was also the risk of dropping the phone while attaching it, which of course has happened on more than one occasion.
There are just two buttons to press, and you're ready to fly. So take off is much quicker than with the original controller.
Another advantage is not having to place your phone into airplane mode before takeoff. Calls and messages received whilst flying are distracting and can lead to disaster.
One more important feature is the 2.5 hours of battery life with this controller that allows you to fly four to five flights before a recharge. The original controller's short battery life was a significant problem and so too was the drain on the smartphone's battery.
The ability to use this controller from -20 to plus 40 degrees Celcius is another advantage.
The MicroSD card slot on the top of the controller allows you to expand the storage capacity of the controller and I've inserted a 128 Gb card to help with backups and transfers of videos and photos.
One more important feature is the 2.5 hours of battery life with this controller that allows you to fly four to five flights before a recharge. The original controller's short battery life was a significant problem and so too was the drain on the smartphone's battery.
The ability to use this controller from -20 to plus 40 degrees Celcius is another advantage.
The MicroSD card slot on the top of the controller allows you to expand the storage capacity of the controller and I've inserted a 128 Gb card to help with backups and transfers of videos and photos.
Two other worthy features include Go Share, which allows you to easily share your photos and videos to your mobile device and SkyTalk that will enable you to live-stream your drones camera view live to Facebook and Instagram. However, at this stage, I'm not sure I will ever use SkyTalk.
For me, there is really only one disadvantage, and that's the price. It's $1,099, but in my case, I think it is money well spent.
