Is the blade 720 any good?
It’s not often we like to completely condemn certain drones. There are a variety of models out there in various shapes, sizes, and quality, and most of the time, the price reflects the overall quality and experience you’re going to have with the drone.
However, we have to talk about the Blade 720. Something’s just not quite right when a drone gets 83% 1-star reviews on Trustpilot.
At the end of the day, we’re not here to say “don’t buy this drone”, we encourage you to purchase whichever drone you see fit. This post is designed as more of a fair warning of other people’s experiences and an encouragement for you to do your research before buying into this drone (or any drone for that matter).
Today I’ve given my say on the Blade 720 and reviewed some great alternatives. Overall, I personally recommend the Ryze Tello or Deerc D20 as reliable options as opposed to the Blade 720 so read on to find out more about why I picked these drones and why I think they’ll result in an overall better experience.
What is the Blade 720?
A quick look on the drone’s official website will have you wholly convinced that you’re about to “take the best selfies and photos of your life” and on the pictures, it does look good. It’s a compact, stylish, foldable quadcopter which is near-identical to the design of the Mavic 2 series. It features a 720p HD camera but beyond that, they don’t really reveal too much about the product.
As you scroll through the website, a warning sign straight off the bat is the instant 50% discount. Have you ever seen competitors such as DJI, Parrot, Autel do this? No! The quality of the copy also sticks out like a sore thumb.
Nevertheless, I wanted to find out more for you readers so proceeded to click the link to buy.
I was diverted. To a whole other site with an odd domain name.
The drone also suddenly changed names but looked exactly the same as the promo pictures for the Blade 720. The drone featured on this new site was the Drone X Pro, which is already known in the community for being less than great.
How much does the blade 720 cost?
The only saving grace of this charade was the advertised price; $99 + free shipping. However, things took a turn for the weird as I scrolled down. Before the end of the page, I was presented with an offer to buy two get one free or buy three get two free which raised a huge red flag over the authenticity of the site.
Has anyone actually received their Blade 720 drone?
Yes, according to reviews on Trust Pilot, some people eventually received something in the mail though shipping times were reported to be months. Users then went on to say that the drone doesn’t fly and they’re unable to contact anyone regarding a refund.
Eachine 58
This is where the Eachine 58 comes in. A little digging online shows that the Blade 720 (or Drone X Pro) could very well be the Eachine. It does have a lot of good reviews on Amazon and is available at a cheaper price with free shipping for those who do want to take a gamble. The good thing about Amazon is that they do have a solid returns policy, so if your heart was set on the Blade 720, at least go for the Eachine58 through Amazon so your purchase is protected.
Alternatives to the Blade 720
After all that, I wanted to find you guys some legit alternatives.
Whenever buying a drone, one of the first questions you need to ask yourself is “what is it for?”. From there, you can estimate how much you’d like to spend and then figure out what kind of spec you’ll be getting for that price point and our extensive range of buying guides will help you do just that.
Based on the claimed spec of the Blade 720, I’ve rounded up some drones with a similar spec, that you may overall find to be a better choice.
Deerc D20 Mini Drone Review
The Deerc D20 Mini drone is a stylish and affordable quadcopter that’s half the price of the Blade 720 but boasts many similar features.
It’s a small design, measuring just 19.6 x 16.2 x 4.3cm and weighing 69g so you don’t need to register it with the FAA/CAA. The arms fold in and it has a 720p HD camera installed in the front
The range isn’t as far as the Blade 720 claims to be. However, many users who received the Blade 720 said they got nowhere near the 2km range that was advertised, so it is worth keeping that in mind.
Flight time is the same, around 10 minutes, though you do get an extra battery too. It takes around 80 minutes to recharge them.
Because of its size, you do need to be careful in the wind. However, overall it has a lot to offer for such a cheap price.
Sanrock U61W Review
The Sanrock U16W does look more like a kid’s toy drone than the Blade 720 does. However, its capabilities are comparable and it’s also half the price.
The bright red drone measures 19.3 x 13.5 x 8.9cm and weighs 201g which also means there’s no need to register it with the FAA.
This drone isn’t foldable like the Blade 720 but is compact enough to take on trips. The 7-minute battery life is less than what’s offered on the Blade 720 but you do get given two batteries when purchasing with the charging time being around 80 minutes.
In terms of the camera, you get a 720p HD camera that has a 90-degree wide-angle lens that’s mounted firmly to the drone. The angle is adjustable but you need to do this before you take off as you can’t control it in the air.
Syma X5C Mini Drone Review
Aesthetically, the Syma X5C looks like a mini version of the Phantom drones from DJI. It’s in the same price range as the Sanrock and Deerc. The drone measures 31 x 31 x 8cm and weighs 900g so it will need to be registered.
The battery lasts 7 minutes but it does have a charging time of 100 minutes which is longer than some of the drones I included in today’s roundup.
The remote control for this drone is interesting because it is quite large and looks like it dropped out of the 90s and is almost as big as the drone
The camera is actually quite good at capturing colors in daylight and gets decent quality still images. Of course, without gimbal or image stabilization, videos are a little shaky but for a toy drone, it hits the mark.
Ryze Tello Drone Review
I love the Ryze Tello because, at surface level, it’s your typical toy drone built with high-quality DJI parts. However, it’s so much more. The drone is primarily educational which is perfect for introducing kids and adults programming for drones. It’s the same price as the Blade 720, and it also comes in an Iron Man version which is pretty awesome.
The camera can capture 5MP images and has 720HD filming capabilities. You can really tell the difference in quality with the images on this compared to other cameras in this review and video footage is also fairly stable when flying. It does typical tricks you can get on toy drones like flips and you can fly it indoors too.
it’s got an impressive battery life of 13 minutes, which is better than what the Blade 720 is offering for the same price. The charging time is around 75 minutes.
It measures 9.9 x 9.1 x 41cm and weighs just 80g meaning there’s no need to register it with the FAA.
DJI Mini 2 Review
Although this is a far more expensive alternative to the Blade 720, if you’re looking for a drone with a great camera that has all the functionality the Blade 720 has and more, you might want to consider the Mini 2 from DJI.
The camera shoots 4k video and has the same camera sensor as the Mavic 2 Zoom which one of DJI’s more expensive models. The Mini 2 also has a three-axis mechanical gimbal providing professional-level image stabilization for all your photos and videos.
The drone is nice and compact and weighs 249g so you don’t have to register it with the FAA. It also has an excellent flight time of 30 minutes per battery and a 10km range.
If you’d want to save a bit more, you can still buy the original Mavic Mini too, it’s around $50 cheaper and features a 2.7k camera. We also have an in-depth roundup of high-quality foldable drones for less than $300 here.
Conclusion: Best Alternative Drone to the Blade 720
Out of all the drones I compared to the Blade 720, I think the best alternative is the Tello Ryze if you’re looking for an alternative for the same price with the same features.
It’s reliable, has DJI tech built into it, and is a great drone to learn with that boasts excellent camera quality for 720p. In my opinion, the quality of the Blade 720 (for those who actually received it) is far more comparable to a toy drone and wouldn’t be as bad if it was in the $50 or less range, but for $99 it hardly seems worth it.
The Tello Ryze is available to buy now on Amazon. Click here for the latest prices. Let me know if you decide to buy it, and feel free to share your story too if you’ve purchased the Blade 720.