Syma X11 Review: When Fun Meets Affordability

The Syma Company is located in Guangdong, China and it is a large-scale enterprise that has developed equipment for research, production, and testing. However, to the regular public, the Syma Company is well-known for their low priced quadcopters and for that most of their products are suggested for beginners.

Since their offer is quite wide, today’s we’ll talk about one of the best known quads: the Syma X11. This drone is perfect for beginners as it comes equipped with prop guards, is ready to fly out of the box, and very cheap for what this little guy can do.

Product specifications:

Buy Syma X11 on Amazon

The X11 from Syma is considered perfect for kids as the manufacturer’s recommended age is 14 years and up. If you are not sure if buying a drone that costs hundreds of dollars for the kids is a wise thing to do, this quad comes to the rescue.

Build specifications

Packaging

The Syma X11 is one of the best entry-level quadcopters. The plastic quality is excellent and the prop guard is flexible and rubbery so it will protect the drone from damages due to crashes.

Another impressive thing is that the props are secured to the motors with screws so the blade coming off during the flight, will not be a problem any longer. Most drones on the market have this problem but the people from Syma have thought this through and managed to come up with a simple and elegant solution.

If you decide to buy this quad you will find in the package the following:

• The X11 quad with the prop guard already installed
• A 3.7 V 200 mAh Li-Po battery
• A USB charger
• The transmitter
• Extra set of propellers
• Instruction manual

You will need to buy 4 x AA batteries for the controller because these are not included in the package. The size of the drone is 15.2×15.2×3.7 cm and the weight of the package is 0.6 kg.

Design & durability

This little quad has a stylish look and it resembles the Hubsan X4 a bit but it is equipped with more interesting features. The available colors are: red, black, and white.

The X11 quad can survive some serious damage as most people said they have crushed the quad into trees, walls, and furniture (on purpose or by mistake) at full speed and it didn’t shatter to pieces.

That prop guard is great in saving the body and the propellers from a lot of damage. The quad can be flown in moderate winds but I don’t recommend flying it outside on strong winds because is a small and light vehicle that can be blown away. And, if you are a beginner, is better to fly it indoors at first so you can get used to it.

This drone has geared motors, a thing that is very rare between the quads on the market which will allow you to enjoy a more stable flight. The quad has 4 LED lights that will help you fly it easier at night and is good for orientation during the day because you will know where the back and the front are.

Camera

The Syma X11 doesn’t have a camera but if you are looking for a cheap quad that is able to take photos and videos, there is another model from Syma – the X11C RC quadcopter – which has a built-in camera.

We’ll actually talk about it a bit later in this review.

Battery and flight time

This model comes with a 200 mAh battery that will give you about 6 or 8 minutes of flight. It takes about 35 minutes to get it charged 100% using the USB cable that you will find in the package. It is not recommended to charge the battery with the phone charger or any other charger but the supplied one because it will harm the batteries in time. To find out how to properly charge and discharge the batteries, and even get a minute or two more of air time, we suggest checking out our article about the ways of extending your drone’s flight time.

Compared to other drones of its size, this time is pretty impressive. However, the flight time depends on weather conditions and on the tricks that you will make with the drone.

The other thing that will influence the time of flight is the prop guard. Although it is very useful in protecting the drone from falls and crashes, it affects the flight time because it has a weight of its own. And, as you probably know, if you put extra weight on the drone you get yourself less time to fly the vehicle.

If we talk in numbers, the drone has a weight of 26 grams, the battery weighs 7.1 grams, the prop guard has 2.3 grams and all gathered give us 35.4 grams flying weight.

The advantage is that the battery is removable so you can buy a few extras so you can enjoy a longer flight. But you will have to take mini breaks between flights so you don’t overheat the motors.

Controller

The controller is as stylish as the drone and it is well-built. The problem is the size as it can be a little difficult to hold for those who have big hands (the joystick is made for thumb control). But, if you are a gamer you shouldn’t have any adjustment issues as the controller is similar to an Xbox controller.

Those who have some experience with electric things and wires can make the sticks longer and remove the thumb pads to improve the controller. However, this is not recommended if you don’t know what you’re doing.

The controller’s range is about 40 meters (131 feet). Considering that the average operating range for a regular drone is 100 meters (328 feet), this range is not so good. Still, if you’re taking a look at the price, you might overlook this aspect.

The frequency of the controller is 2.4 GHz but don’t forget that you’ll have to buy batteries as these are not supplied by the seller or by the producer.

Regarding control, some users complain that the X11 tends to lean on one side during flight but this happens because the controller is not centered. So, if this happens, all you have to do is re-adjust the controller and then give it a try. The drone should be stable now.

Flight performance

With a weight of 26 g, the Syma X11 is very easy to fly, but it’s not the most agile of drones on the market. For beginners is better to try and fly it outside at first because in the house there are too many obstacles.

I’m saying that because even if the size is appropriate for indoors flight, the lack of agility will make you hit the walls and the furniture more than you would want.

In this video you can see what the X11 quad can do in flight:

Basically, you have two flight modes on this drone:

• First is the low mode that is suited for indoors: the quad has a low speed and it is easier to control
• The second is the high mode that is suited for outdoors: you can fly faster and the wind will not bother you so much.

If you have experience with drones or if you are just a fast learner, you will want to try the high mode as soon as possible.

This model doesn’t come with a GPS so it might not have the best orientation. However, it’s really good at hovering so it will hold its position quite easily without having to move the sticks very often.

Value for money & guarantee

You can find this drone in online stores like Amazon and it will cost you about $26. You only need to buy the batteries for the controller separately, the rest is all packed up and ready to go. At a price like this, the drone is one of the least expensive that you will find on market.

We didn’t find any information regarding the guarantee but, if there is a problem with the drone, when you receive it or after you have a few flights, it will not be a problem returning it to the seller and get your money back or ask for another one.

For instance, the experience with Amazon is marked as a pleasant one by owners who had issues with the drone from the box. These usually happen with cheap drones, but, if you choose the seller wisely you should be able to solve any problem with minimum frustration.

Unique features

For this price, you can’t expect awesome features. So, what does it have that the X11 is so popular? Let’s find out:

• A 6-axis control system – this means that you will have more stable flights
• 360 degrees flips so you can enjoy doing tricks
• Geared motors – this is a unique feature that other drones in this size category don’t support
• The blade protector is made out of a very elastic and rubbery plastic which allows it to protect the propellers and the body from any damages during crashes
• 4 colorful LED lights (2 blue and 2 red) so you can easily know which is the front and which is the back, and for easier flights in low light
• 4 channel function: 3D flips, flying up, down, left, right, hovering and flying forward or backward

Similar models or main competitors

Now that we know what the Syma X11 can do, let’s check out other models that have similar features.

Syma X11C RC quadcopter

As promised, we’ll discuss this model and its main features. First, the price is a bit higher that with the X11 model ($38) but it does come equipped with a 2.0 MP camera and a 4GB SD card. The camera is integrated with the body and although advertised as an HD camera, the photo and video quality are not that good, especially if you don’t have good light.

The battery is a Lithium-Polymer (Li-Po) model packing 3.7V and 250mAh. The declared flight time is 8 to 10 minutes but only if you don’t use the camera. With the camera on, you will see a decrease in the time this drone is capable of staying in the air. Also, the charging time is a bit longer than with the X11 (50 to 60 minutes).

This model is perfect for beginners as it comes equipped with a propeller guard. Also, if any of the propellers sustain damages beyond repair, you can always buy more as they are pretty cheap. But that it will not happen very often because the propellers are made from durable plastic that will survive most crashes.

The controller on this model is the same as the one on X11. So, in conclusion, the main difference between the 2 models is the camera.

Like this amazing product? Then you can check its price here.

Hubsan X4

The Hubsan X4 is a very good quad that is perfect for those who are new in the world of drones.

With a price of around $30 this drone is ready to fly, has 6-axis gyro, a 4 channels 2.4 GHz controller, and a 1S 240mAh 3.7 V Li-Po battery. Also, it is very stable in flight even if the wind is a bit strong.

The best part of this quad is the possibility to prepare it for the very beginners. This means that you’ll have to purchase the Hubsan X4 crash pack (only $10 extra) or a protection guard (only $7 extra). This will save the propellers and the drone’s body from most of the violent crashes.

This is a small and fun toy that has cheap and easy replacing parts. Only the small ones will be a little tough to replace. It is perfect for outdoors as well for indoors and it can fly really fast. After a few bad crashes things can go pretty bad for the components and that is why I recommend buying the crash pack or the protection ring.

Now is for you to decide which one you think is the best and which one fits better in your budget, and in case you want to find out more about the Hubsan’s model, we suggest checking out our X4 in-depth review.

If you think that this product could be useful for you, then you can buy it on Amazon.

The Bayangtoys X6

This fun little dude is the upgraded version of the Cheerson CX-10 which wasn’t exactly designed for beginners because it didn’t had prop guards right out of the box. Here is where this quad comes in, and besides that, it has a better controller which is easier to hold and also has all the buttons that the CX-10 is missing.

When we compare it with the Syma X11, you’ll notice that both have protection for the propellers and LED lights which help you know exactly which way your drone is pointed to.

While our drone has two flight modes, the X6 has 3 (25%, 50%, and 100%) so you can easily make your way from beginner to expert. Once you get used to the 100% mode, this drone will be a lot of fun, even for adults.

The available colors are: green, blue, red, white and pink.

The Bayangtoys X6 has a flight time of 4 to 5 minutes and it will charge in about 18 minutes. The difference between the charging time and the flight time is pretty good considering other drones of this size on the market have the same flight time but it will take a lot more to charge.

You will have all this for $60 so maybe you should give a chance to this little toy.

Like this amazing product? Then you can check its price on Amazon.

Overview

The interesting part is that gamers will love the fact that the Syma X11 controller is very similar to the Xbox joystick.

Pros:

• Easy to fly
• Amazing low price
• It will survive most of the crashes
• Awesome for beginners as well for the experienced ones who like to play
• Can be used indoors and outdoors
• The geared motors
• It has a good flight time

Cons:

• It takes a lot to charge
• The manual doesn’t explain everything so you have to look on the internet if you have something that you don’t understand
• Sometimes the agility is not so good

If you want a drone that will help you learn the basics of flight and keep you in the loop when you get a bit more experienced, the X11 seems a good fit.

Also you can simply want a small drone to add to your collection or an affordable gift for your friends and family members. In any of these cases, Syma X11 can be a great solution.