Review: Ghost Drone Aerial

Dron is a remote control technology, allowing users to guard vehicles or equipment from a certain distance. 

Dron's technology was popularized in the military and war industry in the beginning, but every day Dron technology has been applied to various industries, including food delivery, goods delivery, and saving prey. For general user usability, dron for recreational purposes is getting more popular and one of the names that is currently being said to be Ghost from Ehang, the easily controlled dron has made its appearance at the recent CES 2015 event.

Forms

Like other drones, Ghost comes with a type of Quadcopter, using four fans that are connected continuously to the body. It comes in a choice of attractive colors, namely black, blue, white and red. Instead they also have pink variations that have been announced in attracting female users. As good as out of the box, it is ready to be installed with a fan and a fan barrier which also functions as a landing foot.

In the box there are also four turn fans available for users. In addition there is a concise manual, a battery of 5400 mAh and the charger, and also a G-Box, a device that is required to use it. Between the advantages of Ghost is a way to guard it rather easily, using the user's smart phone. Users need to load the Ghost application available for the Android platform. There is also an application for iOS, but it's still rated development for this time.



Ghost that was given to us by Lazada for the purpose of this review was also brought with Aerial features, which is a gimbal to allow users to put action cameras like GoPro. It acts 2D and users can also guard their pros through the Ghost application. There is one more choice, namely Aerial Plus where users also get a camera like a GoPro, but made by Ghost.

Control

The most important case in dron is how to escort it. Ehang emphasizes that the Ghost dron they output is easy to use, even the user hardly needs to make any changes and keep on flying them. Users only need to connect their smart phone with G-Box via Bluetooth. The G-Box will also be connected to the Ghost dron via radio waves and have a control distance of 966 meters.

The escort is easy. 

The user only needs to press the 'Unlock' button to start it and the application will state the status of the dron, the battery power stage, and the voltage. After pressing 'Unlock', users can press 'Takeoff' to launch it into the air. If it goes into the air, the 'Unlock' button will be 'Lock'. For the use of 'Micro Control', the drone needs to reach a height of about 5 meters, and this is used for users who want to guard the dron in detail. Users can also set directions via the Google Maps map shown in the Ghost application, and the dron will follow the directions.

The battery status will always be stated by the application and if the power level is low, the application will give a warning and the user may press the 'Return' button which will bring the dron back to the destination. Arriving at the landing site, users only need to press the 'Land' button and Ghost will land on its own. If there is any anxiety, users will be recommended to press the buttons 'Hover', then 'Land' and also 'Lock', to turn off control.

For escorting other cases, there is altitude control, round-the-clock escort, and escort on 2D gimbal to rotate it vertically (vertical), or tug it on the left and right (tilting). There is no control to spin horizontally (horizontally), because you can confuse your dron.

Dron is most loved being escorted?

This is the first time I touched dron in a lifetime so I didn't know about other dron escorts. But in terms of escort through the device, it is rather easy and uncomplicated. The-Auto-follow ’function also works well, allowing dron to follow users instead it will spin itself and will always face the user. For me, he was happy to be escorted, but there were a number of other problems along the way.

One case that is less fun is this dron also depends on the GPS location of the device. 

If the user uses a telephone that does not have good GPS reception, the 'Auto-follow' function might give the wrong coordinates. I have tested it using ASUS ZenFone 5, ASUS Zenfone 5 LTE and also Oppo N1. When I used the ASUS ZenFone 5, he always impressed on my home as a flight location. When I typed 'Auto-follow', he continued to fly to the high altitude and headed to a house more than 8 kilometers away. There are no similar problems faced by ZenFone 5 LTE

One case that is less fun is this dron also depends on the GPS location of the device. 

If the user uses a telephone that does not have good GPS reception, the 'Auto-follow' function might give the wrong coordinates. I have tested it using ASUS ZenFone 5, ASUS Zenfone 5 LTE and also Oppo N1. When I used the ASUS ZenFone 5, he always impressed on my home as a flight location. When I typed 'Auto-follow', he continued to fly to the high altitude and headed to a house more than 8 kilometers away. There are no similar problems faced by ZenFone 5 LTE and Oppo N1.

Another case that causes a little problem is the lack of output to stop power. 

Because of all the escort through the application, if I want to set GoPro, there is a concern if it is pressed the button 'Unlock' will start the fan. Only when the user pulls out the battery will the power be stopped completely.

For installing Aerial fittings, that is 2D gimbal, the user should remove the fan barrier because it will interfere with the aerodynamic properties of this dron. Unfortunately, in the concise manual that is included, there are no relevant notes. In the application, when connecting this application with a G-Box, the G-Box will ask the type of dron of the user. I have chosen Aerial / Aerial Plus but I still choose 'With Protector' because I think he is more safe. This application gives a sign that there is no constant so far, but because I did not know it, I continued to fly with the barrier and violated the principal and the wall, and sacrificed all the fans and one original gimbal damper.


Also when exchanging the fan, the directions provided in the manual that need to be loaded down in the PDF do not have a clear sign on the fan, apart from the directive to make sure the fan with the writing is facing the motor, causing me to experiment while on the run. This is a risky case because it is possible that the fan will break if spinning hit the surface.

Conclusion

This Dron Ghost from Ehang is actually one dron which is rather easy to be escorted, and the problems faced are more of a problem than I have more complete manuals and also devices that are facing GPS problems. This dron is also specifically for those who want to do images and videos from the air, because the shock absorbers are rather good and you can guard the gimbal on the action camera via the user's phone call.

With a 5400 mAh battery, the user may operate this device for 30 minutes but with the use of 2D gimbal, he can operate for 20 minutes. The operation time is rather short and if you really buy this device to do images and videos from the air, you probably need more than 2 batteries.

For this time, the 'Tilt-control' function that allows users to escort the dron by just tapping and confusing the device is only available to the builder, and I don't test it. Maybe in another review I will try the function and also will do the 'Auto-follow' recording. This Dron Ghost Aerial Plus is sold at Lazada at the price of RM2,199 and Lazada is among the earliest to offer it.

Pro

• Easy control
• Will have a 'Tilt-control' escort
• Low prices compare to competitors in the class.
• Counter
• The guidebook needs to be loaded-down because the guide provided is too concise
• Short operating time.

At the time this article was written, Lazada also offered a RM200 discounted baucer for Ghost Drone Aerial Plus, which had an Ehang action camera. Use the 'DRONE200' code to get it.