Eachine E58 Review – A Mavic Lookalike That Costs Less Than $100

Welcome to my review of the Eachine E58 drone, if you are a DJI fan, then this drone will look very familiar. It looks very much like a clone of the DJI Mavic but without the powerful features or the huge price tag.

One of my favorite drones is the DJI mavic, it looks great with its foldable design, platinum Grey colour scheme and powerful features like the 4K camera and obstacle avoidance system. However, as popular as it is, it’s still priced beyond what a lot of people would pay for a drone, especially if they do not need all the advanced features it comes with. This is the reason why there are many cheaper alternatives to the DJI Mavic and the one that most closely resembles the Mavic is the Eachine E58.

However, the way they look is where the similarities end as the Eachine E58 drone does not come with all the features that you will find in the DJI Mavic. This does not mean that it is not a good drone, in fact, at its price point it is probably one of the best budget friendly drones and is especially a good choice for beginners and casual fliers.

Eachine E58 Review

While DJI dominates the consumer drone market, especially in the field of drones for aerial photography, there have been a plethora of smaller drone manufacturers trying to establish themselves in the budget friendly drone niche, one of these companies are Eachine and they have an impressive list of drones that are cheap and perfect for beginners.

The most popular is probably the Eachine E58, which as I have mentioned looks like a smaller version of the DJI Mavic.

Its so small that it actually fits in the palm of your hands, it’s made from durable plastic and doesn’t feel cheap, some cheap electronic products feel like they will fall apart but the Eachine E58 doesn’t give you that feeling.

There is a 720p camera on it’s nose and it can be manually adjusted 90°, it will not win you any aerial photography awards but it does produce good images and video footage.

The drone also comes with some propeller guards to minimise any damages that may occur should you crash it, if you are a beginner than it’s most likely that you will and so these guards will come in handy.

Eachine E58 Camera

One of the main reasons for the popularity of drones is because nearly all of them come with cameras and the Eachine E58 is no different.

The camera is actually one of it’s best features, obviously for a drone that costs less than $100 it’s not going to be on the same quality level as the camera that comes with the DJI Mavic, however, it’s still good enough to take videos and images that will impress family and friends.

It’s a 720p camera with a 120° FOV that will give you a wide angle to record videos, you can also adjust the camera angle between 0-90° to get the aerial view you want. However, unlike more advanced drones, where you can change the angle with your remote controller, with the Eachine E58 you would have to do it manually before you start flying.

The camera also comes with a 2MP sensor that will allow you to take some decent images and although it doesn’t come with a 3 axis gimbal for video and image stabilisation, it does with a 6 axis gyroscope and altitude hold that should minimise any distortion.

The camera also comes with FPV capability, this means that you can stream live video footage to your mobile device, this in my opinion is one of the best features of this drone. You can have so much fun with a drone that comes with FPV, see the world from above, use the drone as your own personal photographer at weddings and special occasions, use it to show off to your friends, drones with FPV

Eachine E58 Remote Controller

The remote controller is well-designed and looks very modern, it comes as no surprise but it looks very similar to the DJI Mavic controller. Its lightweight and feels very comfortable in your hands, it has two antennas just for aesthetic reasons, but they are not necessary.

The controller is powered by 3 AA batteries which you will have to purchase separately and there are a lot of buttons that control certain features of the drone.

There is a smartphone attachment on the bottom, this will give you access to the drones FPV features, it is a small attachment so you cannot attach a large smartphone.

The controller has a transmission range of around 80 meters but if you want to use the FPV features you will have to keep the drone within a range of 30 meters.

Eachine E58 Features

The Eachne E58 comes with a lot of cool features, these include the following;

One button return – Easily return the drone to it’s flight of origin with the one button return feature.

3D Flips – Make to drone do some cool 3D flips at the push of a button, this feature will definitely impress family and friends.

3 Speed Modes – Test your skill level by increasing the speed of the drone, although there isn’t an actual speed given for any of the three speed modes, the drone is pretty fast on the highest speed level.

Headless Mode – Headless mode is for beginners and it lets you fly the drone without needing to know where it’s head and tail is. You can switch of headless mode once you become a more experienced drone pilot.

Flight Time And Performance

The drone has a short flight time of around 9 minutes, this is one par with similar drones in its price range. One thing I hope drone companies improve in the future is the length of flight time from one battery charge, 9 minutes is not long enough to enjoy flying a drone.

The drone comes with one 500 mAh lipo battery which takes just over an hour to fully charge. I always advise people to purchase extra batteries for drones that have short flight times.

In the case of the Eachine E58 drone, you actually have the option to purchase a package that comes with 3 extra batteries which I highly recommend.

As the drone is small and lightweight, it doesn’t hold up well in slightly windy conditions and the range when not using the FPV feature is just 80-100 meters.

With it’s 6 axis gyroscope and altitude hold feature it fly’s pretty well in good weather conditions, these features also allows your videos and pictures to be more clear with minimal distortion.

The drone has two LED lights at the front and one at the back, these make the drone look cool and makes it suitable to fly during twilight hours.

Final Thoughts

I really like the Eachine E58 drone, it’s small, lightweight comes with a lot of features and is perfect for beginners. Its range and flight time are limited but this drone is really for beginners and casual fliers so those limitations shouldn’t really matter and you can always purchase extra batteries to extend the flight time.If you are looking for a beginner-friendly drone, you can’t go wrong with the Eachine E58, especially since it costs less than $100. 

However, if you would like more options for drones that are suitable for beginners, click on the button below.