The Rolling Spider from Parrot Minidrones: A Drone Review

In this latest video review, Lew takes a closer look at the Parrot Minidrones' Rolling Spider drone, a small but feature-packed device that fits perfectly in your hand. As an enthusiast of mini drones, Lew is excited to share his experience with this tiny yet capable flying machine.

The first thing that catches Lew's attention is the application that comes bundled with the Rolling Spider, which allows users to control their drone via smartphone or tablet using a user-friendly interface. The app, called FreeFlight 3, supports iOS, Android, and Windows Phone devices, making it accessible to a wide range of users. With its advanced features and ease of use, Lew is impressed by the quality of this mini drone.

One of the standout features of the Rolling Spider is its camera, which captures fairly low-resolution images that are perfect for casual photography or social media sharing. The drone also comes equipped with an ultrasonic sensor, a 3-axis gyroscope, and an accelerometer, ensuring stable flight and precise control. Furthermore, the device boasts a rechargeable battery with a runtime of approximately eight minutes, although Lew notes that extra batteries can be purchased to extend playtime.

What's truly remarkable about the Rolling Spider is its innovative wheel design, which allows users to protect their drone from damage in case it crashes or collides with obstacles. This feature also enables the drone to "drive" on flat surfaces, making it an entertaining and interactive experience. Lew is delighted by the addition of these wheels and can't wait to test them out.

As Lew prepares to unbox his Rolling Spider, he expresses a mix of excitement and trepidation about how this drone will perform in real-world scenarios. With its advanced sensors and powerful app, he's eager to put this device through its paces and see what it can do. In this section, we'll dive into the unboxing process, where Lew shares his first impressions of the Rolling Spider.

The moment Lew inserts the battery, he notices that the drone comes with a USB cable for charging, as well as an instruction manual – although Lew jokingly remarks that "professional unboxer" is not exactly the right description for himself. As he prepares to fly the drone, Lew clips on the protective wheel cover and discovers the orange headlights and menacing-looking face that make this drone truly stand out.

Before taking off, Lew decides to try out a few basic maneuvers using the FreeFlight 3 app, which surprisingly launches quickly and smoothly. However, things take an unexpected turn when Lew tries to launch the drone without the wheels – the device struggles to lift off, forcing him to try again with a different approach. This minor setback doesn't deter Lew, who persists in his efforts to get this mini drone airborne.

As Lew gains more experience with the Rolling Spider, he begins to appreciate its responsiveness and maneuverability. With the app connected, he sets up various piloting modes and speed settings, demonstrating how easily he can control this compact drone. One of the most impressive aspects is the device's ability to detect altitude changes and adjust accordingly – although Lew notes that even with a maximum set at 2.5 meters, it still manages to "jump" up unexpectedly.

In this final section, we'll explore some of the more advanced features of the Rolling Spider and its user experience. As Lew puts his drone through an impromptu durability test, he discovers that it can withstand a range of obstacles – although he does take precautions to avoid damaging the propellers or mic. With a low battery alert warning him that it's time to land, Lew successfully navigates his mini drone to safety.

Throughout this review, Lew is impressed by the Rolling Spider's compact design, advanced features, and user-friendly app. While there may be some minor drawbacks – such as limited battery life or compatibility issues with certain devices – overall, he's thoroughly enjoying his experience with this tiny yet capable flying machine.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enWhat's up guys, Lew here back withanother video and todaywe're looking at another drone.Another small little drone. You mayrememberthe video I posted recently of this tinylittle... fit in your palm size drone.This one's a little bit bigger than that.It also has an applicationthat comes along with that you install onyour phone iOS, Android or Windows Phone.It has a camera built in to it so it's justa little bit more advanced.So this is the rolling spider from Parrot Minidrones. It can be usedinside and outside, it has a range of 20meters or 66 feet.It can do flips and as I mentioned before ithas smartphonecontrol and it all uses low powerconsumption Bluetooth.Which is good but you're still not gonnaget a ton of battery life on something like this.It's actually only about eight minutesbut the truth is that's still enoughtime to have a fair bit of fun with itand you can get extra batteries and justkeep them on deck.This is very stable as you'd expect. It has anumber different sensors that keep itfloating perfectly.So here it is, not huge by any means.Still sort of fits into my hand, as youcan see. So we've got an ultrasonic sensoras well as a 3-axis gyroscope andaccelerometer. There's also acamera here, a little tiny camera capableof takingfairly low resolution pictures. A USBcable, Micro USB to be exact.A little bit of paperwork, don't need that.The rechargeablebattery.And it takes about 90 minutes torecharge these.Now these are interesting, how do these...This thing actually has wheels. Well, itcan actually do a little driving too.I mean you could just have these thingson sort of to protect it. When I firstsaw these,that's what I imagined. Flying this thingindoors there are a number of differentobstacles, things to run into. Peopleto run into.Hopefully not.Where do they install. I missed a piece.Oh, I need this.Professional unboxer, I think not. I talkedall this big game.Anyway, this clips on and these crazylooking wheelsgo on the side here. So it's going to bepretty hardto mess up your propellers orkill anybody with these installed. So let'sgo ahead andinsert the battery here. We have lights on the eyes now.You can see he's got like these orange headlights and a pretty meanlooking face which I like. Let's livedangerously. Let's try it without thewheels at first.The app is called FreeFlight 3 asmentioned it workson iOS, Android and evenWindows Phone. How about that, some Windows Phone love.Oh yeah! Okay we're gonna lie him flat. Heneeds to be lied flat apparently.Then launch the app, FreeFlight 3.Disconnecting?Look at this, we get all the way to 87percent and thenwe froze. What? Oh my god had to start again.*pfft*Thanks a bunch! I'm sorry to say this butI have a funny feeling that if we wereon iOS right nowthis thing would already be flying. Sending file.Okay so people, hate to break it to you,but once againit looks like, at least at this pointthat iOShas gotten more love on the app side. We are connectedand we're actually sending over thefirmware update. iOS lovefrom manufactures. Not a new thing theylove their iOS.Like that, right there. Connection.You guys need to know that kinda stuff.This is real liferight here on Unbox Therapy.Yes! Green eyes. Wow! It connects on iOSso fast!Hoochie mama, here we go!Why did it?What? Why did it? Well, we have our firstdurability test.Look at this we can set a max altitude.So there's various piloting modeshere. Speed settings.So the way the controls operate... the left hand side is,is controlling your altitude and the sort of spin axis of the drone.And then on the right, you put your thumband then you've engaged the accelerometer in the phone.As you tip down, it'll moveforward. Pull back and it will go backwards.Even though I've set maximum altitude at 2.5 meters,it still sort of... obviously 2.5 meters it still jumps upin the beginning so I can't even reallylaunch itfrom the table. So now I've moved down to the floor and I'm attempting to sort of flyit into frame here.I flew it!I flew it for a bit!Oh yeah!Oh he's on the microphone dude.Right underneath the mic... OH!Still though!I had it in the zone!Man, drones are so much fun.I'm gonna land it... I'm gonna land it right here.Little spin.Does that count?Chopped up the microphone a little bit!That's drone carnage right there.I feel like me sitting there, was messing with it's sensors a little bit.Come on down.Low battery alert!OH! ON THE LOW BATTERY ALERT!YES!\n"