Drocon DC-08 Review – A Decent Beginner Friendly Drone

Hi and welcome to my review of the Drocon DC-08 5G drone.

This is a relatively new drone from Drocon and is mainly suited for beginners and people looking to have some fun flying a drone.

I haven’t reviewed many drones from Drocon although they do have a couple of very popular beginner-friendly drones on Amazon.

The Drocon DC-08 isn’t an expensive drone, it costs less than $200, and as you shall from this review, it comes with some decent feature and an HD camera that you can have a lot of fun with.

Drocon DC-08 Review

If you are in the hunt for a good beginner-friendly drone, the Drocon DC-08 may be what you are looking for.

Its not the most advanced beginner-friendly drone and it is not my favourite drone for beginners (that goes to the DJI Tello drone) but it is a nice drone and a decent choice for first-time buyers or even as a gift for someone.

The drone has a nice design and looks like a mini version of the Phantom DJI drones, it’s not a large drone and it weighs nowhere near as much as a Phantom drone. However, you will still need some kind of drone carry case to travel with this drone and since it weighs more than 250g, you will need to register the drone if you live in the UK, Canada or the USA.

Most other countries do not have any kind of weight restriction if you just want to fly a drone for fun, however, I still advise you to check what the rules are wherever you live just to be safe.

Another thing you have to be aware of is the drone does not come ready to fly, you will need to install some of the parts yourself. This isn’t very hard and it does come with an instruction manual should you get stuck.

As it is a cheap drone, the drone comes with brushed motors, it is a bit noisy and you will need to maintain the motors on a regular basis to keep it in optimal condition.

The propellers will need to be installed and you also get some propeller guards that you can attach to the drone that will minimise any damage should you crash it, which you will do if you are an absolute beginner.

Underneath each rotor arm, there are some big LED lights, they are quite bright and make for a cool spectacle if you fly during the night, which you should only do if you are an experienced drone pilot.

These lights also serve a couple of other purposes, they indicate when the drone compass has been fully calibrated and also help you troubleshoot any issues that may arise with the drone.

The drone is powered by a 7.6v 3000 mAh LiPo battery, it’s a decent battery that provides a flight time of around 12 minutes, you may get a couple of minutes more if you don’t attach the propeller guards and fly-in windless conditions.

While the flight time is alright, I was a little disappointed because there are drones in this price range that can fly for longer, For example, the Holy Stone HS120D has a flight time of around 18 minutes and actually costs less than the Drocon DC-08 drone.

Nevertheless, you can extend the flight time by purchasing a couple of extra batteries which always advise people to do, this saves you from having to wait a few hours for the battery to recharge before you can fly again.

One thing I like about this drone is its remote controller, it’s a nice modern looking controller that matches the aesthetics of the drone. There is a separate smartphone attachment that you can clip on top of the drone and you will need 3 AA batteries to power this controller. Unfortunately, these batteries are not included so you will need to purchase some yourself.

It has a transmission range of around 450 meters, this is if you fly in absolutely perfect conditions, so expect something a little bit less. For FPV purposes, the transmission range is even less at around 350 meters. You also have to be aware that this is a 5G phone, so if you want to use the FPV features, your phone will need to be compatible with 5G devices.

The app you will need to download to use the FPV feature is called the Drocon Go app and is available on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

It has a decent rating but there are issues with this app that have not been fully resolved and it has not been updated in a while. This is something I have noticed in a lot of lesser well-known drone apps, sometimes it can take a while before a bug is fixed.

That being said, it is a decent app when it works and is very easy to use, the instructions are clear and you get access to the drones smart flight modes via the app.

I wish it were updated more regularly but maybe these small drone companies don’t have the budget for the extra software developers they would need for this.

Drocon DC-08 Camera

Ok, so one of my favourite features of any drone is the camera, it’s always a nice experience to view the world from above.

While the camera for the Drocon DC-08 is not a professional camera and you will not be using it for any kind of commercial reasons, it is still fun to use and you can take some cool videos and images with it.

It’s a wide-angle 1080p camera and you can adjust it via the remote controller to get better viewing angles. There is also a micro SD card slot on the side that will allow you to record your videos and images locally instead of doing it over WiFi which can be of lower quality.

As I said, this is not a professional camera so you will notice some distortion like shakiness and jello effect, these distortions will be even more noticeable if you fly the drone in windy conditions. However, I do not think it will be that much of an issue because you are just taking these videos and photos for leisure.

You can view live FPV feed from a maximum distance of around 350 meters and it’s transmitted in 720p, although it does look like a lower resolution sometimes.

Overall, it’s a nice camera and fun to play around with, however, if you want something more professional, check out my article on the best camera drones.

Other Features.

The drone comes with a few advanced features that will allow you to fly it hands-free and also minimise the risks of losing the drone in mid-flight.

These features include the following:

GPS – This will allow the drone to fly more smoothly, have a better hovering capability, allow you to track the drone on the app and also fly it autonomously with its two smart flight modes.

Circle me – This is one of the drones smart flight modes, when this mode is activated the drone will lock on to your position and orbit your autonomously.

Follow me – Does exactly as it sounds, the drone will lock on to your smartphone and follow you from behind.

Automatic return home – This is the feature that will minimise the risks of losing your drone, it can be activated manually by pushing the return to home button on the remote controller or app. It will also be activated automatically if you lose connection with the drone or if the battery charge gets too low.

Please be aware that sometimes the smart flight modes do not always work, this is primarily because the app is a little bit buggy, another reason is that the GPS signal may be weak where you want to fly.

Flight Performance

I was expecting a few issues with this drone and there are some but its flight performance is not one of them. It fly’s as advertised and can even hold up well in windy conditions, although if you are a beginner I would advise you not to fly in any type of harsh weather conditions. It is a little noisy, but that is to be expected from a brushed motor drone, it is easy to fly and it’s default mode is headless mode so you will not have to worry about the head or tail of the drone. The FPV feed is decent but sometimes it does break up and the smart flight modes do not always work.

Final thoughts

This is a good drone, it comes with some good features and a decent camera, the drone is suitable for everyone and is fun to fly. However, it costs just under $200 and honestly speaking, I have seen better drones around its price range, if you are a beginner and want a good alternative to this drone, I highly recommend the DJI Tello drone which I believe is the best drone for beginners.

However, if you do like this drone, click on the button below to find out more details about it and check its current price.