Yuneec Breeze looks set to get lost in the crowd

With its limited range and connection issues, the Yuneec Breeze comes at a major disadvantage to cheaper consumer drones already on the market and that have many of the same features if not better.

Early users have found that the weight of the Yuneec Breeze, at about a pound, and awkward oblong shape make it susceptible to being easily blown off course by wind gusts, diminishing its promise as a stable platform for “selfie” shots. At the same time, even hovering nearby someone using an app on a smartphone underscores the danger of sending the Yuneec drone too far away, especially for the camera’s functionality.

“Basically you can get 4K video out of it, but in reality you want to use the 1080P video that is going to give you a much more stabilized and ready to use video,” Bo Lorentzen, said in a review of the Yuneec Breeze on fpvguy.com

And that little tidbit is a recurring theme in other threads about the Yuneec Breeze —specs that seem to promise the features of higher-end drones, like the solid 4k camera from the DJI Phantom 4 with Lightbridge 2 technology in the controller, but in reality are closer to a spate of copycats that remain underdeveloped. That includes the one battery that comes with the Yuneec Breeze with a 12-minute, at best, air time and that lacks the kind of carrying case to protect the propellers of the Yuneec Breeze during transport for what presumably would be spontaneous use.

“I think the target audience for this is gonna balk at the price of this product,” said Attila Von Stryker1. “This set of features is going to appeal to the $100.00 audience at the local Big Box Store. Too much expensive tech for the utilitarian task of a flying selfie stick. These products will be the inevitable failed precursors to better things to come.”

In fact, Attila Von Stryker1 notes, even some of the advertised features of the Yuneec Breeze that seem to set the Yuneec drone apart from a spate of lower-end models from UAV drone manufacturers may backfire if they prove to provide patchy service, a problem seen with higher-end Yuneec drones.

“People will opt for a less capable, yet still “good enough” option at a more affordable price point,” said Attila Von Stryker1.

“I have expensive GoPros but most of the time I fly a $100.00 RunCam, Mobius or SJ4000 and they do a good job in most cases without the potential loss of a $450.00 GoPro. The first company to streamline the tech to just the bare essentials enough to accomplish this task at a ‘good enough’ price point will have a decent chance at a breakout product.”

As noted, the camera onboard the Yuneec Breeze is one of the questioned tech factors as it appears to be billed as on par with the 4K video camera used on DJI’s Phantom 4K UHD drone, meaning that the Yuneec Breeze should deliver quality image feeds. But as buyers have noted, the camera is not connected to a gimbal and its point-and-shoot type process is better suited to capture video using EIS (electronic image stabilization) at 1080p, not at 4K.

That is really disappointing, SergeantAsh pointed out, and “means that when shooting 4K, the picture will shift whenever there is wind or if you manually control the drone to travel forwards/backwards or tilt it.”

On another point, the folding propellers are probably not enough of a safety feature to avoid damage if the Yuneec Breeze is carried loosely in a backpack, and the app used to control the Yuneec drone from a smartphone does not stand out from those used in cheaper “selfie” drone products hitting the market.

“It will be interesting to see if there is a market for many various brands of the same (basic) machine – and if the camera stabilization is good enough to justify the price tag,” said reviewer Craigiri.

 

 

 

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