The Parrot Mini Drone Jumping Sumo: The Amazing Ground-Rolling Mini-Drone

When one mentions of a drone, the popular mentality is a spying robot that flies. However, the Parrot Company’s Jumping Sumo has it differently. It is not a “fly and fly only” business anymore, but rather a “roll, roll, jump and roll again” trend. This tiny two-wheeled Parrot Mini Drone Jumping Sumo incorporates both awesome designs and unmatched ground arts.

In addition to its features, Parrot Mini Drone Jumping Sumo has an incredibly small size that makes it even more fanciful. The advancement from airborne drones to the ground rolling drones may seem like a step in the reverse. However, upon examination, I am convinced that this advancement could be what our age discerns.

Product specifications:

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Notes to keep in mind

Cheap may turn expensive: since its onset, this Jumping Sumo has kept a gradual increase in its purchases. This success has, on the other hand, captivated a higher production of fake but almost similar drones. Whereas the original drones are priced at a range of just $70 – $120, you can as well acquire a cheaper buying option. Even then the cheap cost has a greatly small durability.

Never leave the battery sagging: physical assembling of the Parrot Mini Drone Jumping Sumo is a relatively easy exercise as you can confirm from this video:

Nonetheless, one should be ultra-careful when placing the battery. In order to avoid chances of easy breakage, one should ensure the battery is inserted completely.

Build specifications

Packaging

From the store, the Jumping Sumo comes in an almost ready-to-use state. When unleashed from the kit, it comes in a fully welded condition. Alongside the drone itself, you should also confirm the presence of:

• A battery
• A micro-USB support
• 2 spare rubber feet,
• 3 stickers
• A quick start guide that includes instructions to troubleshoot in the drone.

As stated before, this drone is perhaps the easiest drone to set up. All that one needs to do is to insert the battery in the battery slot that is located close to the top part of the drone from the rear. When done correctly, the two eye-like lights from the front of the drone will light as an indication of it working.

Drone design & durability

This drone is a wonderful work of art. It has two sturdy wheels for rolling and a stabilization rear foot. From the front, two uniquely placed lights are adjacent to the drone camera. These lights are one opposite the other forming something that looks like a parrot’s eyes.

A slightly slanted front crowns the look and enhances its speed. When you need to achieve a higher speed of up to 2 m/s, you will need to push the wheels inward.

The plastic pads that cover the feet of the drone are essential to absorb shock when the drone makes a jump or when performing acrobatics like dancing.  The drone is capable of jumping to heights of 2.5 inches/80cm with the aid of an internal string.

NOTE: almost the entire outlook and composition of the drone is mainly composed of plastic. As such, it is able to withstand moist regions as its looks won’t rust. Even so, this aspect makes it a little vulnerable to internal or external breakage if used without extensive care. The popular among these breakages is the damaging of the internal plastic wheel that enables jumping. Thus, the drone certainly requires adequate precautions.

Camera

Jumping Sumo comes with an inbuilt welded camera with a resolution of 640 x 480px and relays images at a speed of 15 frames per second. When in action, the pictures relayed by drone are transmitted via the Wi-Fi and can be viewed on the screen of the smartphone or tablet in a live-stream.

With the help of the rear feet and the two wheels, the drone is capable of both 90⁰ and 180⁰ turns at a blink of an eye.

With the Jumping Sumo app, you will be able to take immersed snapshots, videos and even live-streams for sharing in the Parrot Cloud with other pilots or on social media sites.

Battery & drive time

The drone is packed with one Lithium Ion battery. You can charge the drone at the comfort of a laptop with the aid of the micro-USB support. It takes approximately 90 minutes to charge it fully and will discharge after 20 minutes of continuous use.

To preserve the lifespan of the battery, you should wait for it to be completely drained and then recharge it completely. Don’t cut corners on this if you want the battery to resist at optimal parameters for longer.

Controller

The Parrot Company’s FreeFlight 3 app is the most recommended application for controlling the Parrot Mini Drone Jumping Sumo. As indicated before, the application is compatible with Android, iOS, and Windows 8.1 smart devices. The application is also free to download for Linux OS with the aid of Intel’s XDK software.

The drone initiates its own Wi-Fi to which you will connect your controlling device to. Upon connection, the drone’s camera will be immediately activated to send images to the controller by the application.

Then again, immediate connection and response may not always be the case. Some of the buyers have experienced delays between the time of connection and the time the drone responds. In case you too encounter the same, it is advised that you close and reconnect the Wi-Fi connection then restart the FreeFlight 3 app. Another tweak would be to adjust the Wi-Fi settings to meet a maximum transmission band (e.g. 5GHz for iPhones). Once connected, the app is very easy to use! If controlling your drone with a smartphone sounds interesting, we suggest that you also read our article about Android controlled drones, or for those who use the iOS platform, an article about best iPhone controlled drones.

Flight performance

You surely won’t need any prior experience in flying UAVs with this tiny drone as it is more like playing a computer game. When everything is well set, a clear ground-level view of the world will emerge on your screen. To control the drone, you’ll simply play a game on your device. The controls are as follows:

• You will see a scroll-bar-like control towards the left end of the screen. Use the button in the middle to control the speed. Moving the button upwards will increase the speed while the reverse will decrease it.
• Try adjusting the altitude of the mobile phone in order to turn the drone left or right like in a game. Alternatively, tap the arrows at the right end in order to turn.
• Tap the screen and Mini Drone Jumping Sumo will immediately jump into the air.

You can actually have Sumo perform some acrobatics like doing a 360⁰ ground turn and a 90⁰ air turn. More advanced capabilities like dancing, flipping and such like acrobatics can be reached through systematic programming as one keeps learning the “road plan”.

In a nutshell, the distinguishing performance features based on various customer reviews are:

• The highest speed of 2m/s.
• The highest jumping height of 80 cm/ 2.5 ft.

Value of money and guarantee

The complete package of the original Parrot Mini Drone Jumping Sumo currently costs anything between $70 and $120. Considering the fact that it comes completely assembled and has an accompanying free-to-download control application, this drone could be among the cheapest drones on the market.

Even then, there still exist a few cheaper alternatives in the online market. Sadly, most of the cheaper options have a relatively lower durability as many of them are either used or fake alternatives.

Both the drone producers and the sellers in Amazon lacked an assurance of a warranty. Then again, you can discuss with your seller and return it in case it arrives when it is incomplete or if it arrives malfunctioning.

Unique features of the drone

A customizable camouflage: the Jumping Sumo package comes with 3 different front stickers. This will allow you to have some fun by changing the looks as often as you will desire to suit hiding or just for fun.

The drone liveliness: whereas most drones are dummy silent photographers, Parrot Mini Drone Jumping Sumo is some lively pet-like bot. It navigates and evades obstacles while producing some lively sounds which make it even more enjoyable to have.

3 viewing modes: the drone comes with three main modes to control ease in navigation and photographing. The Jumping Mode allows the drone to jump with the camera facing forward. The Kicking Mode which swings the camera upward before jumping and the Balancing Mode makes the camera face the ground. This enables great photographing.

Similar models and main competitors

Parrot Jumping Race Mini-Drone

The Jumping Race Mini-Drone is actually a newer version of Mini-Drone Jumping Sumo. It has almost the same looks as Jumping Sumo though the Race Mini-Drone has been designed with some added pomp.

The two wheels have an elastic covering that enables it to meet a higher speed and durability than that of the Jumping Sumo. Parrot Jumping Race mini-drone is capable of accelerating up to 8 mph and make half and complete turns in a blink of an eye.

Unlike the Jumping Sumo mini-drone that takes a staggering 90 minutes to recharge, this drone takes only 25 minutes to recharge and lasts for 20 minutes. Besides, it allows a user the chance of welding and assembling it as it comes in pieces. In addition, the new drone has been designed to meet a better connectivity than Jumping Sumo.

The Jumping Race Mini-Drone is thus best suited for fun. It is also perfect for commercial ground photographing. You can have a watch of the drone in action here.

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Hawkeye-I Quadcopter

A better alternative to Jumping Sumo when seeking just fun could be the Hawkeye-I Quadcopter. You could acquire one for about $50 to $100. Unlike Jumping Sumo, the Hawkeye-I is only limited to ground rolling and instead of jumping, this drone takes it complete airborne by flying.

This drone is best suited for either fun or training of a novice in flying quadcopters. It allows for modifications in order to roll the ground, to crawl on walls and to fly. It has a 2 MP camera and is able to stream HD images when in flight. In addition, it has some propeller guards to further enhance its durability.

However, it is limited to a control distance of 30 meters and a usage time of approximately 6 – 9 minutes. Thus, the Hawkeye-I should best be used locally for fun or training. Its camera resolution, flight-time, connectivity, and control distance are indeed poor for commercial use. You can have a glimpse of the Hawkeye-I in action here.

Like this product? Then you can buy it on Amazon.

Parrot Mini-Drone Rolling Spider

For Parrot product lovers, another great alternative to Jumping Sumo is the Parrot Mini-Drone Rolling Spider. This product is very similar to the Hawkeye-I. However, unlike the Hawkeye-I, that is controlled by a joystick-like controller, the Rolling Spider is controlled by an app.

The Rolling Spider has a very powerful camera with a 300,000px resolution and a connectivity range of up to 20 meters. Besides, it has two huge protective wheels that you can employ when rolling the ground. The wheels also act as a protective mechanism when landing/crash-landing.

The main drawback to this drone is that it charges for 90 minutes and discharges within an average of 6 minutes when in use. It is also restricted to a small area of coverage within 20 meters. Thus, the Parrot Rolling Spider could serve a great deal when looking for fun. However, owing to the powerful camera, you can entrust with taking snapshots. For a better insight into what this drone offers, we suggest checking out our Parrot Rolling Spider in-depth review.

The drone costs between $70 and $100 only. Here is an illustration of its performance:

Overview

While there is a newer version of Jumping Sumo on the market (The Jumping Race MiniDrone), the older version still stands as the highest rated drone among the ground rolling drones. This could be owing to its simplicity and ease when controlling it.

Pros

• The drone is perfect in immersive video shooting or live recording.
• Unmatched Stability: Jumping sumo can roll, rotate, dance, and jump; yet still land on its wheels perfectly. This does not only make it adorable but also durable.
• Awesome appearances/looks: as noted before, Jumping Sumo is not just lively, but also a work of art in its design. Besides, it is also packed with 3 different stickers which give it up to 4 different looks.
• Battery time: most drones that cost below $120 have a shorter battery time of between 6 -9 minutes. Jumping Sumo’s battery can last up to 20 minutes
• It is very easy to control.
• It is cheaper to buy.

Cons

• It’s prone to easy damage: about four in every ten reviewers encountered a problem in the drone’s jumping. This often happened to the rear foot after continuous use in a rough terrain.
• Connectivity: with regard to the type of mobile phone/tablet used, there could be some connectivity problems. This is mainly because the drone sends bulk bandwidth in its live stream. In some instances, the drone may completely refuse to connect as a result.

On a scale of ten, the Jumping Sumo mini-drone deserves a score of 8. Generally, it’s a great ground rolling mini-drone. Packed with a powerful camera and an accompanying easy to learn app, it is the perfect drone for learning. In addition, the fact that it is cheap to acquire makes it even commendable to try out.

If you wish to have a different view from the normal aerial drone view, the immersive view of the world by the Parrot Mini Drone Jumping Sumo could surely be your solution.