Eachine E33W review: Basic drone for newbies

Last month, Eachine announced two new entry-level drones, this E33W and another one with foldable arms. When it comes to beginners I always recommend starting with small and inexpensive multi-rotors.

Eachine E33 is offered in two variants, one without a camera and one with a WiFi FPV camera. Indeed, for an extra $12, the fact that you can record the journey of your flights and display the Eachine E33W’s live video feed on your smartphone is a nice feature.

One of the most significant risks of purchasing RC toys from unknown brands is if something breaks and you must repair it. Over time Eachine proved to offer great after-sale support through spare parts availability.

Eachine E33W quadcopter review

Although my readers are used to very detailed reviews, this time, I need to be more expeditious because another two products from Banggood are waiting to be tested.

The Eachine E33W comes in a compact box. Inside you’ll find the drone itself, a remote controller, a phone holder, four landing gears, 1 set of spare propellers, a USB charger, a screwdriver, a bag of screws, and user manual. In order to fly the drone in FPV you’ll need to bring your own smartphone or tablet.

First impressions

The aircraft measures about 26 by 26 by 11 centimeters and weighs 104 grams (fully equipped), so you will probably not need to register with the FAA before taking it up into the air :)

It comes with attached propellers and is ready to fly. The camera, landing gears, and propellers are optional. Even with a camera mounted, it has enough ground clearance without landing gears.

The cockpit design is very similar to the one of the JJRC X2. The 450mAh Li-Po battery is loaded from the bottom of the aircraft.

In order to allow better visibility on the orientation of the aircraft, the Eachine E33W has blue LEDs in the front and red ones in the back. The props also have different colors: white in front and black in the rear.

Eachine E33W drone highlights

• Suitable for both indoor and outdoor flights;
• 6-axis gyro stabilization;
• Multiple flight speed rates;
• Multiple control modes (physical RC, virtual sticks, and Gyro);
• Headless flight mode;
• One key return to home (not GPS!);
• Motor anti-stuck protection;
• WiFi FPV (real-time image transmission);
• About 8-10 minutes of playtime.

Transmitter / Remote controller

The gamepad-style remote controller is completely black without any status LCD.

In addition to the usual control sticks and power switch you can find other 8 buttons on the front panel. While the left shoulder button allows toggling between speed rates, the right one enables the 3D eversion mode (360-degree flips).

The RC has a “mode 2″ layout – the left stick (throttle) controls altitude and how the aircraft points, while the right stick controls speed and direction.

To attach your smartphone on top of the transmitter, you need to install the included phone holder.

While in the specifications of the E33W drone, there is nothing mentioned about the APP control, after I installed the suitable application (WiFi UFO) I found out that actually, I can control it in 3 ways:

1. PPsychical remote controller;
2. Virtual sticks (APP);
3. Gyro mode (by tilting my smartphone).

Anyway, in my opinion, the most accurate way to control the movements of the aircraft is through the transmitter.

Camera and Wi-Fi FPV

The 0.3 camera comes with a 3-pin connector, and it is easily removable. The angle of the lens is slightly adjustable. The Wi-Fi camera weighs about 8 g, and no micro SD card is required. The captured photos and videos are stored in the smartphone’s internal memory (under the “drone” folder).

The image quality from the E33W camera is decent enough for a $40 toy-grade drone. However, this Eachine model is not an aerial photography platform you’d use for a professional video production (or even a hobbyist one).

Two minutes of recorded video (640×480@15fps) occupies about 5MB. Yes, the resolution is even worse than 720P.

Checking the box, I discovered that a third version of this model comes with a 2MP camera, and it is called “Eachine E33C”.

Test flight – Control range and flight autonomy

At a low-speed rate, the E33W is slow and can be easily taken by the slightest breeze.  Switching to “high” speed, the aircraft becomes more agile and wind-resistant.

The Wi-Fi FPV has serious latency so it can’t be used for full FPV flights (with VR headset). FPV range is also shorter than actual control rage.

Under optimal conditions, BG says the Eachine E33W can stay airborne for up to 10 minutes but of course, real-world conditions aren’t always optimal. I got an average of 5-6 minutes of playtime. You can probably earn an extra 1-2 minutes by removing the camera and propeller protectors.

Pricing and availability

Those who are interested in this learn-to-fly drone should know that it can be found here ($37.99, including free shipping). If you are not interested in FPV flights, the basic edition (E30) costs only $25.99.