NOT your daddy's 350 - Walkera rocks the new 350 - but is it enough?

Its only 2 weeks since I unboxed the P3 and quickly declared "its going to be very hard to find better value in the consumer quad market."

Well dang, next thing I know, a blistering fresh package from Walkera dumps into my door, welcome the limited edition WORKS 350 premium quad.   (seriously can we start using shorter names?)

Holly snot, Without a doubt the most compelling value EVER from Walkera.

Click through to see how Walkera just wrapped $1500 worth of parts into a $999 deal.

    Before I get too excited about this deal, let's me hurry up and make a couple things clear, first of all, not everybody love the Walkera flight controller, Walkera use a version of the APM that is also used by 3DR (3DR make the SOLO), some people love APM some don't, I have flown the TALI with APM since it came out and have not had any real APM problems, so I'm ok with this flight controller.
    The second issue that I'm sure will be brought up in comments, is that the Walkera G-3D gimbal is not quite as good as the DJI gimbal...  Very true, but the question is, is it good enough?

    Having said that, I'm convinced a lot of users will find this quad to be a quite irrestible package. My reason for saying so is simple, I get tons of emails from people who are super happy with their Walkera gimbal, and never have noticed any issues with the APM flight controller, they simply don't know what the fuzz is all about with the gimbal, and THAT is why I'm convinced, the limited edition 350premium have the potential of being a hit for Walkera.

UPDATE LINK... strangely the $999 limited edition package seems to be a iUAS inc product exclusively. some readers mentioned they had a hard time finding the limited edition..  You can find the kit here 

This package is staring the DJI P3 advanced directly in the eyes and am not flinching. Walkera knows the 350limited don't do the same things the P3 do, but they feel they have added enough tricks and options to make it a compelling alternative, and depending on your needs, they are probably right.

Let's quickly figure out what it do and don't. The 350limited have a couple tricks up its sleeve.
* The F12e radio have a build-in screen to see video from the camera (no need to buy a extra iPad)
* Build in flight camera with OSD and a gimbal camera for stable video =FPV ready
* 5.8 downlink with OSD so you can use fatsharks instead of a tablet for flying  (P3 can no be connected to a FatSharks for FPV)
* The G-3D gimabl can take a GoPro, DJI P3 only use DJI's camera

The 350premium quad is the same size, almost, as the original Walkera 350 gps quad, it's compact, but it have more lift power than last years top Walkera quad the SCOUT x4. It have a better flight controller and dual gps system.. Basically this package do everything the scout did, keeping the iLook+ in the G-3D gimbal for video, and adding a hard mounted flight camera with OSD and DVR, all included for only $999, This is less than what dealers paid for the SCOUT X4 last year (and less than dealers paid for the 350premium this year.)
This hobby is moving shockingly fast. Had you asked me last year, I would not have predicted a dual-camera walkera sports video quad for $999.- so soon.


POWER SYSTEM
The 350premium is powered by a monstrous 8S battery, what that really means is that its brutally powerful and will fly FAST and snappy.  you should expect about 20 minutes of flight time.  (the battery is listed at 25 minutes but that probably is a little optimistic, so Im calling it 20 minutes)
The kit have a included 8S charger that takes about 90 minutes to charge the battery from empty.

FLIGHT CAMERA
Finally, after years of my belly-aching and complaining that a gimbal camera with VTX to not justify the FPV label.  Walkera have put a actual flight camera in the body of a quad, with a separate video-link to the controller.  even better, the 350p is the first Walkera product to feature a build in OSD.   the OSD will point the way home when you fly.. tell you remaining battery and all the relevant flight information.
    Importantly, the Walkera video-transmitters are compatible with FatShark goggles, so if you already have FatShark goggles.. you can fly FPV directly with the build in flight-camera.
    The Walkera Flight-Cam is called the "Fisheye camera",  because its got a surprisingly wide FOV.  the unit is removable, and feature a build-in DVR recording to micro-SD, this is kinda cool as you can record a fisheye image of what you are flying over with from the flight-camera in 1080p quality.
   I wish they had made the Flight Camera LESS fisheye, and also with a option to adjust the angle of the camera to look more forward, that would have made the camera much more FPV friendly. however you can easily adjust the camera by cracking the thing open and relocating the camera unit.. 
   Bottom line, Walkera have done a great step forward by finally doing a dedicated flight camera.. 

    The video transmitter for the fisheye camera is the standard 250mw 5.8 video transmitter found in most Walkera products.  notice the OSD video data is only seen on the downlink video,  the build in DVR do not record the OSD data. 
    The camera module is a click-in module for the 350p and can be removed easily.  but considering I have been mounting FatShark VTX and 700tvl cameras on my TALI's,  I can't imagine why anyone would want to remove the Flight Camera.  HUGE APPLAUSE for the build in flight camera, Walkera is listening to actual users and put real world FPV features in this aircraft.

The "BELLY CAM"
    Walkera ship this quad with a G-3D 3-axis gimbal, AND a iLook+ 1080p camera.  the iLook+ is a fairly good "GoPro form factor camera" with a build in video transmitter.   importantly, the stock gimbal will accept a GoPro 3 or 4, so if you already have one of those. you can use the GoPro with the 350premium, you can also very easily install a stock Walkera video transmitter to downlink the video from a GoPro camera, the new Walkera Quads even have a power-plug on the belly to power external extra equipment.

    This setup is exactly how I shoot most of the video I shoot with multi rotors, I fly using a flight-camera and look only at that in my goggles,  I know roughly what my frame is and don't think much about the belly-cam,  the 3axis gimbal keep the image nice and stable.  however since the iLook+ have a build in VTX (video transmitter) , you can easily mount a extra screen on your ground station and see the belly-cam video on the ground station.   
** Strangely DJI have chosen to only offer the P3 with a build-in camera gimbal,  so it is impossible to fly a GoPro on a Phantom 3.
*** You can also chose to set the F12e screen to receive video from the belly-cam instead of the flight-cam.

UPDATE: Turns out the "ELITE" edition,  belly camera works easier if you turn the mounting plate around,  Leo did a explanation on RCgroups.

TRANSFORMER
One of the slick details is that you can easily swap out the legs and the gimbal.  so if you are not needing stabilized video for a project, but just want to go fly FPV.. save some weight, the belly-cam gimbal release with a single finger screw. The long legs release with two finger screws.  quickly swap in the short legs and bingo you are ready to FPV and hot-rod.  ditching the belly-cam and long legs, save you about 350 grams. and you will feel a markedly improvement in how sporty the 350p flies without the extra weight.
  Personally I love the new legs.  they long ones are pretty ugly but a effective system.  more important,  Walkera finally ditched the retracts,  keep in mind the G-3D gimbal is a "Yaw Damper" it don't turn 360 degrees, so there is no benefit having retracts, loosing the retracts for a simple easy to install set of legs is a huge benefit, because there is less moving parts to break.  while retracts are "sexy", they are really bad with new users, because hard landings and bounces tend to destroy the retract mechanism, something Walkera learned the hard way when putting retracts on the Scout X4.  Keeping the 350premium light and less mechanically complex is a good healthy move from Walkera.

The "Venerable" F12e RADIO
Well, its probably fair to say the F12e is "old hat" by now.   After all, the F12e have become Walkeras go-to radio for all of their top multirotor projects sine the TALI h500 came out in 2014.  But being the go-to radio is not a bad thing, because the F12e is tested and true.  I used to fly F7 and Devo6, now all my walkera toys and my Align copter is programmed into my F12e, I trust it and am comfortable with how it works.   


    The F stands for "FPV" and indicate that the radio have a build in VIDEO receiver.  the advantage of this is that you can see video from your aircraft directly on the screen of the F12e, the disadvantage is that the screen is a bit dated in terms of bright-ness and contrast.   Having said that,  screens is one of the things that Im fuzzy about, yet I get tons of PM's and emails from users who are totally happy with the F12e screen.   Ultimately, the build in screen means you can fly the aircraft without having to buy a screen and receiver for video. (or when comparing to the DJI P3, without having to buy a android tablet or iPad)

The standard setup for the the F12e is straight forward, the top left switch on the shoulder is the auto-launch.   on the front top-left is the Gear switch. which is not used for the 350premium,  however the lower left switch is the "intelligent orientation" switch
On the right side. top right shoulder is the "Fly around" switch for making a circle around something.
the top right (center ish)  is the flight mode and have Manual / GPS / RTH
To the right of that is the camera trigger, push it down for about 1 sec to start or stop the iLook+ camera.  I can't figure out why Walkera have not made the camera start-stop simply a push-button long time ago, but its probably a attempt at keeping the F12e a open system that can just as well be used for many other quads.  

MODULARITY...
My favorite "feature" is the combination of modular systems,  I removed the belly-cam and installed a Thermal camera (FLIR) in a matter of minutes, gaining the capability to fly Search & Rescue missions with a fairly simple quad, with a build in APM controller for waypoint missions.

 
The Walkera 35o Premium with a FLIR thermal camera installed, this kind of "low cost" aerial system permit more systems in the field, a traditional helicopter carries a $20.000 thermal camera system, those are powerful, but expensive.  with the multirotor revolution its now possible to deploy thermal imaging from squad cars for less than $5000 including all systems,  they can travel in park ranger trucks for quick search ability or travel in SAR trucks.   If you are interested in using multi rotors for SAR / FireDepartments in ready to deploy systems, talk to me.  I have several sources for ready today systems that can travel with the shift sergeant in his cruiser and be deployed on site.

 

SPECFICATIONS
Price as tested $999.0
350mm quad copter (optional upgrade to X8)
8S 5000mah battery
Flight time roughly 20-25 minutes with one camera.
2x 1080p cameras
2x 5.8ghz 250mw video downlink
Max video range as equipped 500m - Can easily be extended to 1000m
Weight
Battery Weight
Total with battery

Comments

[Douglas Lakin]

My qr x350 premium also vibrates with out props and motor cans are balanced, any ideas, if you pinch lightly any of motor pods this vibration goes away

[Bo Lorentzen]

Hey Daniel,
The 350 should be smooth as you spin up, if it start shaking, there probably is a un-balanced prop.?

[daniel]

Hey Bo how are ya
I just got my QR X350 PREMIUM. I haven't taken it for a fly test, but notice that between 0%-50% throttle without the blades on, the drone wobbles pretty severely. Should I be concerned and send it back? Once the throttle past 50% and up the wobbling goes away and it seems steady. Thank you)

[Bo Lorentzen]

Hey Chuck, sorry for the slow reply, I spend all week at CES,
I would take a look at the new birds, as both of these are quickly getting a bit dated ;-)

Check my YouTube channel for CES videos here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLex0YFewxwC9myXgdxnRtamVRaN0NlOh7

[Chuck M.]

I'm torn between the Walkera Scout x4 and the QR X350 Premium. First, I've notices ads for FVP1 2 and 3. What's the difference? Also, I understand the Scout has been around for a while and the forums reviews are mixed. And there's advise out there on improving sat reception.

Has the October firmware update put the Scout back out front?

I just don't know. I'm in analysis paralysis.

What's really got me confused is the number of potential buyers watching the Scout on ebay in comparison to the X350 Premium (the superior product, I'm guessing).

In addition, the Scouts are priced lower on the Walkera site but higher on ebay.

All that being said, which is the better bird? My head is spinning, please share the wisdom.

[Bjoern]

It's 1399,- now.

Anyways, thanks for the verry interesting video.