SNAPTAIN A15H – affordable drone with HD camera
The Snaptain A15H is an affordable drone with 720p HD camera and FPV live image transmission. The compact and lightweight camera drone comes already assembled (RTF) and can be flown both indoors and outdoors. It is suitable for beginners as well as a drone for children over 14 years.
Design and weight of the Snaptain A15H
The foldable design of the gray and black Snaptain A15H is strongly reminiscent of the DJI Mavic 2 or the DJI Mavic Air 2, even though these two drones play in a completely different price range.
When unfolded, the Snaptain A15H measures approximately 29 x 20 x 7.9 cm. For transport, both the booms and the propellers can be folded, so that the foldable drone can be transported in a space-saving way. By the way, to protect the drone, it comes with a small transport bag.
Below the four brushed motors are small LEDs that can be turned off if desired to save power and thus slightly extend the flight time.
The weight of the Snaptain A15H is 163 g. For the protection of the drone as well as bystanders, rotor protectors can be attached to the four propellers. Thanks to this protective device, the Snaptain A15H survives minor collisions unscathed and the risk of injury to people in the vicinity is reduced.
Launch preparation
Before launching the Snaptain A15H, you must first pair (bind) the remote control and the drone, and then calibrate the internal gyroscope. To do this, first turn on both devices and then connect the smartphone to the drone’s Wi-Fi.
Now move the left control stick up and down once. A beep should confirm the successful pairing of controller and drone.
To calibrate the gyroscope, push both control sticks down and in. A brief flashing of the LEDs will signal success.
Make sure the surface is level before launching. Since the drone does not have GPS, but only uses the internal gyroscope, the ground must be as flat as possible during takeoff to ensure a stable flight attitude.
You can take off either manually or via One-Key launch button. Landing can also be performed using the control sticks or also via One-Key-Land button.
Flight time and range of the Snaptain A15H
The flight time of the Snaptain A15H is approx. 5 to 8 minutes per battery charge. Since two 3.7 V, 800 mAh batteries are included in the scope of delivery, you can therefore enjoy a total of approx. 10 to 16 minutes of flight time before both batteries have to be supplied with power again.
The lithium-ion batteries are recharged in about 60 to 90 minutes (per battery) using the included USB charger.
The range of the Snaptain A15H is about 98 yards (90 meters) if you only use the remote control for steering. When additionally using the smartphone, which is required for the FPV live image transmission, the maximum range is about 33 yards (30 meters).
At altitude, the Snaptain A15H reaches about 100 feet (30 meters). Please note that due to its light weight, the drone is very susceptible to wind and also does not automatically return to the starting point should the signal to the remote control break off. Therefore, we recommend that you always be careful not to lose the drone.
Depending on your skills, you can choose from a total of three different speed modes in flight, which can be switched between on the left shoulder button of the remote control.
Adjustable HD camera
The HD camera of the Snaptain A15H records videos in 720p and photos in 1280 x 720 pixels. The camera’s field of view is 120°, which makes it extremely wide-angled. Unfortunately, the Snaptain A15H does not have a gimbal and there is no electronic image stabilization, which is not to be expected in this price range.
The angle of the camera can be adjusted vertically before the flight. Unfortunately, this is not possible during the flight. The camera can be tilted upwards by about 10° and downwards by about 45°.
The Snaptain A15H takes photos in JPG format, videos are saved as MP4 files. Since the Snaptain A15H does not have a microSD card slot, all recordings are stored in the memory of your smartphone. The quality of the camera recordings is sufficient for first experiences, but it definitely cannot keep up with the results of current top drones.
If you attach your smartphone to the remote control and install the “Snaptain Air” app, you can view the drone’s live FPV image on the display. This works up to a distance of about 33 yards (30 meters). By the way, if you own VR goggles, you can use them with the Snaptain A15H without any problems.
Flight modes and functions
Even though the Snaptain A15H doesn’t have GPS, it still masters some interesting flight modes and features that should please both beginners and pros.
Thanks to Altitude-Hold, the Snaptain A15H independently maintains its current flight altitude when you release the control sticks. With many inexpensive drones, you always have to provide enough thrust to keep the drone from sinking to the ground, but this is not necessary with the Snaptain A15H.
When you want to land the drone, you can do so either manually or by pressing the Return-to-Home button. The drone will then return to you independently and land safely on the ground or any drone landing pad that may be present. However, since the drone does not have GPS, the accuracy of the landing will leave something to be desired.
Once you have connected your smartphone to the drone, you can select the Trajectory Flight mode in the app. In this mode, you can mark a target by pointing your finger on the display, to which the Snaptain A15H will then fly independently.
The Gravity Sensor Mode allows you to control the Snaptain A15H exclusively via smartphone. The mode accesses the internal gyroscope of the mobile device and allows the drone to be controlled by intuitively tilting the smartphone in different directions.
If you want to perform little tricks with the Snaptain A15H, you can have the drone perform 360° flips and rolls at the touch of a button. To do this, simply press the Flip button and then any directional button.
Especially beginners will probably be happy about the so-called Headless mode. In this mode, simplified control is available to you as a pilot. No matter how the Snaptain A15H is currently oriented in the sky, it will always fly in that direction when you move the controls to the left. Of course, it is the same for the other directions.
While in normal mode you always need to know where the front and where the rear of the drone is, this is not necessary in Headles mode. Nevertheless, we recommend that you only practice in Headless mode for a short time if possible and then learn the proper controls.
Owners of VR goggles will certainly be happy about the VR mode, which allows you to use virtual reality goggles together with the Snaptain A15H.
Remote control & app
The remote control of the Snaptain A15H is ergonomically designed and, in addition to the control sticks and various buttons, also has a fold-out holder for your smartphone. The holder offers a good grip for mobile devices of different sizes thanks to foam rubber and snap-in points.
Using the easy-to-reach buttons on the front of the controller, you can automatically launch and land the Snaptain A15H, turn the LEDs on or off, let the drone return to you on its own, or switch to Headles mode. On the left shoulder side, you can switch between the different speeds and the button on the right shoulder side activates the 3D flips and rolls.
Three AAA batteries or rechargeable batteries are still needed to operate the remote.
The “Snaptain Air” app is available for Android and iOS devices for free download in the respective app store. The app is clearly designed and offers a media gallery as well as various tutorial videos and even a flight simulator for practice.
A special highlight of the Snaptain A15H is certainly the integrated voice control. The following commands are available to control the Snaptain A15H exclusively by voice: “take off”, “landing”, “left”, “right”, “forward”, “backward”.
Even though the voice control is a nice gimmick, it unfortunately does not yet work well enough to control the drone permanently via voice command. There is still room for improvement here.
Scope of delivery
1 x Snaptain A15H drone
1 x remote control
2 x battery
1 x USB charger
8 x propellers
1 x screwdriver
4 x rotor guards
1 x transport bag
1 x instruction manual
Conclusion
The Snaptain A15H is an inexpensive drone with a camera and is ideally suited for gaining first experiences with multicopters. The built-in 720p camera allows the creation of HD videos, although the quality of the photos and videos is nowhere near the recordings of current top drones. Those who want to create high-quality aerial photos should therefore rather buy another drone.
Thanks to FPV live image transmission, you can view the drone’s camera image in real time on your smartphone. The range of the image transmission is a bit low at 33 yards (30 meters), but the value is perfectly fine for this price range. Without a smartphone, the Snaptain A15H can be controlled up to distances of about 98 yards (90 meters).
The second battery included in the scope of delivery is definitely a positive feature – an addition that you won’t find in almost any other drone. In total, flight times of about 10 to 16 minutes are thus possible.
Thanks to various flight modes such as Return-to-Home or Headless mode, even beginners can safely control the Snaptain A15H. The other modes, such as voice control or Gravity Sensor Mode, are also first-class features and make the Snaptain A15H an interesting camera drone at a small price. We wish you a lot of fun with the Snaptain A15H!