Acrobee by NewBeeDrone Review 2020: A Tiny Drone For Beginners

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The Acrobee is a compact, lightweight brushed quadcopter with a feature set and flying abilities that can match larger FPV drones.

The very first thing you’ll notice about this drone is how small it is. It’s of a “tiny-whoop“design, with a durable frame, and a great set of components.

Just by looking at it, you can tell that flying it will be quite fun. However, the frame and the flight system ship out in separate packages, and some pre-flight assembly is required. This is done quickly, and it doesn’t require any technical expertise.

So, if you were a fan of the NewBeeDrone product line, you’ll be amazed by significant upgrades the manufacturer implemented in the Acrobee.

Design and build quality

The NewBeeDrone Acrobee comes with an outstanding set of components, credited for its overall excellent performance. The design of the cockroach frame has been given a lot of thought, resulting in a durable frame that can withstand a respectable amount of crashes.

You’ll be surprised just how durable the frame is for such a small and simple product. The manufacturer made sure to round off the edges and stress points for better distribution of force. This redistribution of force is particularly crucial during crashes as it lowers the chances of breaking.

Acrobee comes with a set of four brushed motors, coming in different versions. There’s silver set, which counts 14800KV, black with 17400KV, gold offers 19700KV, and unicorn edition features 25500KV.

Choosing between these motors depends on what you want to do with your drone. The best recommendation for indoor/outdoor flying is the black motor set, as it allows for stable indoor flight and simple acrobatics when you’re outside.

If you’re looking for something stronger, for more acrobatics and less indoor control, you can opt for a gold set of motors. Keep in mind that stronger motors deplete the battery faster.

Some users might argue that the manufacturer should’ve used brushless motors instead of brushed ones. While brushless motors do offer more power and longevity, the motors on Acrobee are small and fast, yet pretty lightweight and well made.

The assembly process

As the drone requires some pre-flight assembly, installing the motors isn’t tricky. You just press them into a slot on the frame and connect them to the BeeBrain flight controller.

The propellers fit onto the shafts pretty snuggly. They are enclosed in the frame, which acts as a prop guard, so you can expect them to last for a long time.

The BeeBrain offers integration of flight controller, radio receiver, VTX, OSD, and FET’s on a single board. This board features regenerative braking, which slows down motor RPM faster, making your device more responsive.

As this can cause your board to burn out if you’re using Gold and Unicorn motors, the board has a considerable capacitor soldered on top. This capacitor acts as storage for the power from regenerative braking, and it also reduces video interference.

Since brushed motors do not require a complex ESC, this board uses a 30A MOSFET switch, which acts as a speed controller. The PIDs and rates are entirely customizable through Betaflight. This FC is rated as one of the most user-friendly and feature-packed setups on the market.

This product comes with four Nitro Nectar batteries included. Each battery offers 250mAh and combined with BeeBrain FC; you can expect about 3 to 4 minutes of flight time.

Receiver and FPV camera

The radio receiver is built into the board so that you can choose from either FrSky or Spektrum. FrSky version uses older FrSky protocols, which means you must use Betaflight Configurator to configure your VTX, PIDs, and rates. FlySky users are out of luck with this one since the board won’t take an external receiver.

Acrobee’s camera is of good quality and adapts reasonably quickly to changing conditions. Still, it has a hard time competing with newer CMOS cameras, due to a lower dynamic range.

It’s great for indoor flight and suitable for outdoors as long as you avoid drastic light changes. The camera is mounted with a 20° up-tilt, which is just enough for indoor cruising, and sharp outdoor angle turns.

The VTX has a switchable power between 1mW and 25mW. The 1mW may not sound like much, but it’s pretty usable for indoor flight as long as you fly within the line of sight.

Its 25mW setting is pretty typical, and it can get you farther, or around a wall or two. The signal can vary depending on the environment and the conditions.

Flight performance

This product requires some assembly before the actual flight. You can find a full, detailed, and comprehensive setup manual on the manufacturer’s website.

• It includes everything, from the assembly to setting up Betaflght, board flashing, suggested PID settings, and much more. They also offer a few setup guides videos, which you might find helpful.
• The fun part of flying this drone comes after everything’s assembled, and this model has some serious flight performance to offer.
• Power, on the other hand, depends on what type of motors you chose. Most pilots opt for black motors, as they provide the best balance between power and battery life. Still, selecting a motor set is a matter of preference. The controls on Acrobee are pretty responsive, even without adjusting the PID values.

Keep in mind that Acrobee can only fly for up to four minutes before the batteries discharge. Luckily, they’re quite inexpensive, so you can buy several of them to keep the Acrobee flying.

Pros and Cons

The Acroobee is undoubtedly one of the most impressive 1S micro drones on the market.

Despite its size, it offers excellent durability, and a feature set found in larger drones. The motor selection offers a different choice of power to fit different tastes and flight needs.

There’s nothing much to complain about with this drone.

One of its downsides may be low power, and battery capacity, but those are easily fixable, by purchasing additional batteries. Other than that, flying this drone is a lot of fun as it offers enough stability and performance suitable for anyone.