Horizon Hobby Blade Chroma with ST10 and 3-Axis Gimbal for GoPro Hero - Review 2022

The Horizon Hobby Blade Chroma with ST10 and 3-Axis Gimbal for GoPro Hero ($899.99) is a drone targeted squarely at videographers who already own a GoPro Hero3 or Hero4. It's a solid aerial video platform, stabilizing your action cam with a 3-axis gimbal and streaming video dorsum to the drone's remote control. Simply exist aware that, when compared with competing models with integrated cameras, the video manual range is somewhat express. If that'south not a business concern, the Chroma is definitely worth consideration. But our favorite consumer drone is still the Editors' Pick DJI Phantom 3 Professional person, which has an integrated 4K camera and an outstanding operating range.

Blueprint and Features
The Blade Blush aircraft is identical in design and features to the Blade Chroma With CGO3 4K Camera, so you tin can expect the aforementioned operating time on a fully charged battery, about 24 minutes. You tin refer to that review to read more about the drone's features, performance, and other details. The Chroma does weigh well-nigh 3 pounds, which means that you lot'll need to register it with the FAA prior to outdoor flight.

The Chroma is just a little bit bigger than a DJI Phantom—it measures 9.5 past 15.7 by 15.7 inches (HWD). I transported it in its shipping box during the review period, but you'll likely want to invest in a more than elegant transportation solution if you buy one. If a compact design is a true priority, the Xiro Xplorer G ($499.99) is worth a expect. We oasis't all the same reviewed it, only we did evaluate the Xplorer V, which has the same 15.vii-by-fifteen.vii-inch footprint, but uses collapsible landing gear that makes information technology easier to toss into a backpack. It's also a bit lighter, at 2.ii pounds.

Instead of shipping with an integrated camera, the Chroma includes a 3-centrality gimbal that fits GoPro Hero3 and Hero4 activeness cams. A video transmission arrangement is included to stream video from your camera to the included ST10+ remote control. You'll need to instill the transmitter yourself—it clips onto one of the landing struts and is a pretty easy install chore as long as you're comfortable using a screwdriver.

The gimbal tin be installed and removed adequately easily. And because the aircraft is identical to the Chroma model that's bundled with a camera, yous tin opt to purchase a CGO3 separately and use information technology every bit well. Y'all'll only demand to demark the remote control to the CGO3, which is a elementary procedure.

The transmitter requires you to plug a small antenna into its side. There'due south also a cable that plugs into the transmitter and splits out into 2 connections—one goes into the gimbal, and the other goes into the GoPro's mini USB port. The latter cablevision needs to be threaded through the gimbal and deeply plugged into the GoPro before the camera is locked into the gimbal. It sounds a lilliputian tricky, but it'south not that difficult once you become the hang of it.

In my field tests, I establish that the video manual range of the Chroma with the GoPro attached is a chip express when compared with using the shipping with the CGO3 camera and its integrated transmitter. With the GoPro version I was able to wing about 1,000 feet from the remote control in a suburban environment, and nearly 1,600 feet in a rural surface area free of potential interference and visual obstructions while maintaining a smooth, steady video feed. Compare that with the CGO3 Chroma, which matched the suburban range and extended the rural range to almost 2,000 feet. DJI Phantom 3 models that use Lightbridge to transmit video, which include the Phantom 3 Professional and the Phantom iii Advanced, offer even meliorate operating range—they fly 2,500 feet from the operator with ease.

Out of the box, this operating range isn't a business organisation. The Chroma is pre-configured so that it won't wing further than 650 feet away from the remote control. If you feel comfortable flying longer distances you tin can use the Chroma GUI to extend the limit. The GUI also allows you to set the maximum altitude—by default information technology's fix to 400 feet, the FAA limit for flight in the The states.

Video quality is completely dependent on which GoPro you use with the Blush. I used the Hero4 Black, which records footage at 4K quality. With a GoPro yous volition get audio, which isn't the case with drones with congenital-in cameras. But the soundtrack is dominated by the buzzing of the Chroma's 4 rotors.

The gimbal does a fine task stabilizing video footage. Aerial video is smooth and steady, even when turning, changing altitude, and making sudden maneuvers. The ultra-broad field of view captured by a GoPro does mean that propellers are ofttimes in frame, just you can choose to capture video with a narrower field of view, or crop 4K footage down to 2.7K or 1080p when editing.

The gimbal can tilt upwardly and down. As with the CGO3 camera, at that place is a fleck of lag when adjusting camera tilt via the ST10+. This delay takes a scrap of getting used to, and can exist disconcerting when trying to make a photographic camera move during flight. This is an issue that extends to all models we've reviewed that use the ST10+, which includes the Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K and the Draft Thousand. But DJI Phantom models that include on-remote gimbal control are much more responsive.

Conclusions
If yous already own a GoPro action photographic camera, y'all tin can save some money when buying a drone by opting for a model includes a GoPro gimbal mountain. Even at its full retail price (information technology's currently selling for less), the Horizon Hobby Blade Chroma with ST10 and 3-Axis Gimbal for GoPro Hero is a solid choice. It's a bit smaller than the similar Yuneec Typhoon G, then it's less cumbersome to transport, but it's not quite as svelte as the Xiro Xplorer Chiliad.

The limited operating range is a plough off for pilots who want to cover a good amount of ground when capturing aerial footage, merely it's non as much of an issue if you prefer to leave the geofence in identify and go on the Chroma within a 650-foot range of its launch betoken. Our Editors' Choice consumer drone is still the DJI Phantom iii Professional, which is a pricier model, and 1 that uses an integrated 4K camera rather than a GoPro. But it lives up to its request cost with extremely stable flight, some automatic flight features that are missing in the Chroma serial, and first-class control range.