Michigan Aerial Photography Professional Compares Typhoon H with Phantom 4
Chuck:
I saved $580 on the Typhoon H because it was marked as irregular backpack. The only thing that I found wrong with the backpack is this tear right here, so that saved me $580.
Ron:
You know DJI owns over 70% of the drone market. However, there are other products and there are other options for drone fliers who might not want a DJI product.
Today we’re going to take a look at the Typhoon with my good friend Chuck. It’ll be interesting to see what this drone looks like out of the camera compared to this drone. So we’re going to do some tests. We’re going to do the Pepsi Challenge. I’m excited about this.
Chuck:
I am, too.
Ron:
What do you think’s going to happen?
Chuck:
Well first off, it’s the first time I’m going to be flying it, so I’m going to take it slow. I’ve been watching some first flight videos and calibration videos and things like that but I’m excited for this.
Ron:
So we’re going to take a look at the Typhoon H Pro, and we’re going to match it against the footage we get from the Phantom 4 Pro v2.0.
Chuck:
So first, let’s take it out. So it’s a little bit bigger. You can see we’ve got the 4K cameral gimbal.
But right here in front we have the sonic sensors, but then down here we have the Intel RealSense. So, Intel RealSense is the AI capability. From what I’ve been reading, this drone can scan up to 300 meters of the environment, so it almost like 3D mapping. So I could just take it up and hover, and it will map all the environment, and I can say I want it to go from point A to point B. And it will actually map out its own course in real time. Whereas with the sonic sensors, basically when it encounters something, it will avoid it.
So one big difference with the Typhoon H is that this is an octocopter. We have six props compared to the kind of industry normal of four, or quadcopter.
One thing that’s nice about the Typhoon H is it’s actually designed to fly on five props. So if I have a failure on one prop I could still safely land.
Ron:
You’ve got the Typhoon H which obviously has quite a larger footprint than the Phantom 4 Pro v2.0 or the Phantom Pro.
Chuck:
One thing that I was seeing on many vlogs is that this is rated for a little bit better stability, and higher winds compared to the DJIs. And that’s basically just because we have the two props and a little bit bigger footprint.
Ron:
The video quality to me is a big one, so that’ll carry a lot of weight with me. But we’re going to judge these two drones side by side. Which is better? The DJI or the Typhoon?
(At Ford Field)
Ron:
Show that to everyone. This is kinda cool. The Typhoon comes with a sunscreen. You get a really good view of the screen where, I’m still struggling at times to look at mine.
So we’re out here at Ford Field, not that Ford Field, this Ford Field in Shelby Township just off of a 23 mile road. Why is it called Ford Field, Chuck?
Chuck:
The Ford plant used to be over here.
Ron:
Anyway, the reason I like it here is because it’s very close to the old Packard Proving Grounds and then we’re also very close to the new Amazon plant that’s going under construction at 23 and Mound.
So there’s lots of stuff to film up here. So, we’re going to take my Phantom 4 Pro against the Typhoon here. You paid like 33% of what I paid so we’re going to see how this compares to the Phantom 4 Pro.
Are you ready?
Chuck:
I’m excited to see the retractable landing gear on this.
Ron:
That’s going to be fun. Let’s check it out.
(drone footage from Typhoon H Pro and Phantom 4 Pro v2.0)
Ron:
So we have taken the Phantom 4 Pro out, and you have the Typhoon H Pro. Obviously you got a deal on it, but most of the time, the Typhoon is about $1200.00?
Chuck:
Yep, just under, $1180.00
Ron:
The Phantom 4 Pro is just under $1500.00, so it’s essentially $300.00 more for this than that.
The sensor in the Typhoon is a one inch sensor and 20 megapixels.
There’s really not much difference in the quality of the video, and for me, that’s what it comes down to. What about the intelligent modes? I like to use tap fly, where I can tap on my screen where I want the drone to fly and it does a pattern. There’s several intelligent modes that the Phantom 4 has. As you know, active track is a very popular one.
Follow me mode (which is very similar to the active track), It has tap flight, it even has a draw where you can draw your pattern. But the Typhoon H is not short on intelligent modes either.
Chuck:
Yes – it has the follow me mode. One neat thing is the controller, the S.T. 16, has G.P.S. built into it so you can virtually just walk with that and put it on smart mode. So it’s just a click of a switch and not really going into the interface and doing any programming.
The follow me mode has an option where the drone will orbit over a point of interest and keep focus as the subject moves. So you could be riding a bike and it will just hover around you in a circular pattern while you’re riding a bike.
You can draw out a map from point A to point B, basically on top of google maps. And then it will intelligently plot a course through that map.
Ron:
Yeah. It’s kind of like waypoints on the Phantom 4.
Chuck:
Well waypoints you fly from point A to point B. With this one-
Ron:
You can actually do it before hand, you don’t have to fly the pattern, you can just to it by GPS.
Chuck:
Right, but what it will also do is it will map the area. So it will modify that path, for example, if there are any trees or anything in the way.
But then the other thing you can do is put in different camera points. So you can have the camera focus one camera point for 500 feet, change to it to another one, do an orbit mode on a camera point, etc. So this feature is a little bit more in depth.
Ron:
You can be rest assured that for every DJI product there’s a competitor making something similar.
There’s a lot of technology packed into this quad just as there is with the Typhoon. So do your due diligence and ask a lot of questions to find out what’s best for you. Do you need 4K? Do you need 1080? What do you need? Do you need obstacle avoidance?
Because to me, another big problem with obstacle avoidance is that it makes you a bad pilot, because you’re not exercising your pilot skills.
Chuck:
That’s true, and with the Typhoon, I know the obstacle avoidance slows you down a little bit too. You fly at about 50% speed when it’s in obstacle avoidance.
Ron:
So although I am a fan of this Phantom 4 Pro v2.0 that I just recently bought, the Typhoon is something to look at, if you are about to enter the drone market, It’s just under $1200.00. And it can do almost everything the Phantom 4 can do. It’s a little different format but that’s because it’s a different company.
And I like the underdog. Even though the DJI is the big boy on the block, I like when the smaller company comes up and says, hey we have good stuff too. And we were talking about the Evo coming out very soon. There’s the Typhoon, the Parrot. There’s lots of different options for it but what do you think about the difference between these two drones?
Chuck:
Well, I love the DJI. Obviously, it’s industry standard. I probably did most my research on that but I’m loving this Typhoon for what I paid for and for the features.
Like I said, we tried it out for about an hour. So I have a lot more to play around with. Another feature this drone has is interchangeable cameras. So I know they’re kind of gearing this, not only for the hobby sector, but more for industrial. I know they have a video camera that you can purchase for about $500.00 to put in this.
Ron:
Wow, so it’s interchangeable? That’s huge. And that’s actually where drones are going. I know I’ve heard rumors that the Phantom 5 coming out is supposed to have interchangeable lenses. So that’s where the future of drones I think are going. And do your homework, find out what drone is best for you.
Just do your homework, do diligence, that’s the best advice I can give you.
I hope you liked this video, if you did please share, like it, and check out my YouTube channel. Hit that bell like and make sure you’re notified, if you haven’t done so already. You’ll be notified when I make future videos. And of course you can see more of my videos at ronrobinsonstudios.com and I want to thank you for joining me. And thank you for joining me, Chuck.
Get out there and enjoy this great hobby, this is awesome.
Chuck:
Have fun, fly, be safe.
Ron:
That’s right.
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