Altair AA300 Review

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There are tons of drones to choose from and they all range in price and quality as well as skill-level and size. Luckily, not all drones are expensive or made just for professionals. More and more mid-range beginner drones have appeared on the market.

If you’re a beginner, you might consider buying a drone with GPS capabilities. GPS helps the drone stay controlled while in the air helping which can help a new pilot perfect their skills. The AA300 GPS drone from Altair Aerial is an affordable option that has some features worthy of your attention. Keep reading to see everything that the AA300 offers. If you are looking for step up from the Altair AA108 then check out the review below.

AA300 Drone Overview

For the price, you’re not going to find many drones more capable than the AA300 GPS drone. The features included make taking flight easy enough for beginners, but still engaging enough for advanced users.

Sometimes when you buy a drone that costs less than $200, you run the risk of some of its claimed features not working so well or being limited. 

I found that the features included mostly all worked as the marketing suggested they would. As far as a manufacturer goes, Altair Aerial earned my respect by simply responding to an email. I was kind of blown away that they have American-based customer service. You can pick up the phone or send them an email if you have any questions or concerns.

For a beginner drone, the AA300 is impressive. While there are a few things I would probably tweak a little bit (the “Follow-Me” function isn’t as good as I hoped), this is a solid choice for all types of pilots.

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Who is the AA300 for?

As briefly mentioned, the AA300 drone with attached camera is a good option for beginners that may be flying for the first time. The GPS features will help any new pilot stay in control while they’re flying, and there are plenty of flight-modes to help too.

This drone is also a nice option for people that are looking to get familiar with GPS drones, but don’t want to break the bank. Anyone looking to pick up drones as a hobby will appreciate the AA300. There is even a built-in 1080p camera for users to experience FPV flying and capture drone photos and videos.

 This small GPS drone has a 15 minute flight time, which provides users with a chance to experience flying for longer between returning home. More flight time will only mean more experience and that will benefit new pilots for sure. Nonetheless, this is one of the best options for a beginner drone.

What’s Included

Here is everything that comes with the AA300:

• - One AA300 Remote Control Transmitter
• - One smartphone mount
• - One Lipo battery
• - One USB Charging Cable
• - Four extra propellers
• - One screwdriver
•  - One user manual

The controller does require 4-AA batteries, which aren’t included with the package. Be sure to pick some up ahead of time before flying your drone if you don’t have some already.

 Also, the AA300 only includes one rechargeable drone battery, which some pilots may find limiting. Luckily, there are extra batteries available to purchase if you’re hoping to fly longer.

AA300 Features

Since the AA300 is labeled as a GPS drone, it’s important to highlight all of the flight modes that this technology unlocks for users. These features include return-to-home, one-touch takeoff and landing, and follow-me mode.

If you’ve never flown a drone before, you’re probably wondering what all those modes do and what they mean. Return-to-home will bring your drone back at the push of a button as well as if the battery is running low, or your drone loses it’s GPS connection.

One-touch takeoff and landing can be helpful to new pilots because they can easily launch and land their drone using a button on their transmitter.

Finally, I was really excited to take a look at the follow-me functions. Unfortunately, I found it kind of clunky. The drone locks on the signal coming from your smartphone and is a somewhat jerky. The feature will take some getting used to.

 These are all great features included with the AA300, and for the most part they work surprisingly well for a drone at this point. However, I’d still caution you from flying this drone in moderately high winds (over 10-15 mph). Because the AA300 is so light, you could lose control of the aircraft.

1080p Camera

When you buy a drone under $200, you can expect it to include some kind of camera. Most drones in this price range aren’t the best quality but are still great for learning the basics of drone photography.

With the AA300, pilots are able to experience a high-quality 1080p HD camera. It’s great if you have an interest in aerial photography and videography and want to try your hand at it. Pilots can also connect their smartphone to the remote control transmitter and use the WiFi capabilities to transmit footage for FPV flying.

Battery Life

You can fly the AA300 for about 15 minutes before needing to recharge the battery. As mentioned, the AA300 only comes with one battery. New pilots will enjoy this somewhat short battery life for a while as they learn all of the drone’s features and flight modes. I’d recommend picking up an additional battery or two just so you can dedicate at least a half hour to each flying session.

Flight Performance

Overall, I was pretty impressed with the flight performance of the AA300 drone. The drone responds like you would expect from the controls and I found that I never really approached the 150 meter range that Altair touts. For a drone this small and light, I felt more comfortable at a little over 100 meters and the drone did excellent at that distance.

 The GPS technology and multiple flight modes help users stay in control of their drone at all times. My favorite feature was the return to home function. With one touch I was able to bring the drone back to its origin point. That comes in handy with a drone of this size. In fact, I used this on my first flight when I was testing the range. Once the drone got far enough away that it was difficult to orient myself, I simply used the return to home function and the drone came right back to where it took off. This feature is in a lot of GPS drones, but I felt like it was a valuable feature for this drone especially.

AA300: Is This GPS Drone For You?

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In conclusion, this is one of the best entry-level GPS drones that you could buy. It’s amazingly affordable, yet still comes with some pretty handy features that will give new pilots everything they need to learn the ins and outs of flying. Its GPS features work extremely well and unlock many different flight modes for users to experience. The camera is a solid one and the pictures look exceptional for a drone at this price point, yet is still easy enough to use. Any beginner is bound to enjoy flying the AA300, improve their flight skills, and explore the multiple flight modes.