Syma X5C-1 Quadcopter Review and Flight Test with Video Quality Test

This is our review and flight test of the Syma X5C-1 4 Channel 2.4GHZ RC explorers quadcopter with camera.
An inexpensive alternative to the Syma X5c-1:
Dromida Ominus:
Spare Batteries for the Syma X5C-1:
Other Alternatives to the Syma X5C-1:
Blade 180qx BNF:
Blade 200qx BNF:
Spektrum DX6i Radio (required for both):
Today we’re looking at the Syma X5C-1 quadcopter. This review unit was sent to us by Gearbest.com. While we’re not endorsing their site, we’d like to thank them for having sent us this quadcopter.
Now we usually don’t like talking about the price of items, as they tend to vary a lot based on where you’re buying it or when you buy it. But in this case, the price is directly linked to how the product performs. The Syma X5C-1 currently retails for between 50 and 60 US dollars, depending on where you buy it. And what you get for that is the X5C-1 itself, with a built-in camera, the 2.4ghz transmitter , a micro sd card for the camera, a 500maH battery and USB charger, a set of extra propellers and a screwdriver to change out the props and install the landing gear and prop guards. Its a completely ready-to-fly package. There’s absolutely nothing else you need to start flying.
So lets take a closer look at the Syma X5C-1 itself. The quad measures about 14 inches or 350mm from wingtip to wingtip and has 5 ½” long propellers. The X5C-1 is extremely light and weighs just 106g with the prop guards installed. You can shave a bit more weight by removing the prop guards, but we recommend keeping them on. The body and landing gear are made from extremely thin molded white plastic and the SYma X5C-1 is powered by 4 brushed dc motors- something typical of quads in this price range. The camera is mounted to the battery door of the Syma X5C and is positioned at an angle to get a clear field of view. The micro sd card inserts into the back the camera. Installing the battery is easy. The battery door slides forward and hinges out. Slide the battery in, plug in the connector and close the battery door. Now we do recommend buying a set of extra batteries, your batteries won’t last very long if you cycle the same battery very frequently.
The transmitter is a relatively small 2.4GHZ unit with surprisingly smooth stick movements and an extremely helpful LCD screen. The transmitter can be set up in both mode 1 and mode 2 flight control layouts. The transmitter’s throttle trim also allows you to remotely take stills and start video recording- A neat little feature.
Now while this is is a toy grade quad, you still want to exercise some caution and common sense when flying this indoors or around people. While it is a light quadcopter, it can still do some damage if it bumps into someone.
Getting the Syma X5C-1 into the air is a pretty simple process. Turn on your transmitter, which should start blinking green. The turn on the X5C-1 and the LED indicator lights will begin to flash. Move the throttle stick to the maximum position and then back down to arm the quad. The LED indicators now stop flashing. Now the LED indicators really help with orientation which is very important when flying a quadcopter. The green LED indicators are for the back and the orange ones are up front. There’s also an LED indicator on the camera, which indicates the recording status of the camera.
Push the throttle up and the Syma X5C-1 will float into a nice, stable hover. The quad has plenty of power and flies relatively smoothly in the low rate mode. This mode is more suited to shooting footage. Pressing the button on the top left of the transmitter switches it into the high rate mode where the quad is much more responsive and flies more aggressively as you can see here. The X5C isn’t as responsive or precise as more expensive hobby-grade quadcopters and does have a tendency to make twitch movements at times. But again, considering its price, the quad flies pretty well indoors.
The quad has plenty of power and does fly pretty well outdoors but, we certainly wouldn’t recommend it. To get the Syma X5C-1 to this price point, Syma seem to have cut some corners. The antenna on the transmitter is shorter than its supposed to be and this reduces the range substantially. If you’re any more than 300 feet away from the craft, it completely loses signal and drifts away. Now there are modifications you can make to fix this and there are several videos to help you with this, if you’re more technically inclined. However, for the out of the box SYMA X5C-1, we certainly would not recommend flying it any more than 50 feet away from you, when flying outdoors. Its a pity that Syma hobbled a decent-flying quad with a terrible rc antenna.