When opening the box, our first impression was that the drone is very neatly packaged. It includes a full set of extra blades, as well as the remote, a USB charging cable and a screwdriver (for the battery compartment on the remote). 

The battery comes preinstalled, however it can be easily slipped out and replaced by another battery if needed. As with most drones, it came mostly charged but needed a quick 15 minute top-off to bring it up to maximum capacity. The remote requires three ‘AAA’ sized batteries, which were not included.

The instructions for binding and calibrating the drone with the remote are well-written and relatively straightforward, as were the instructions for charging and pretty much everything else. The manual had clear diagrams for all of the components, and while the labeling wasn’t perfect, it is definitely better than we would expect for the price. The only downfall was the advertised “Return to Home” feature — we’re not exactly sure how to activate that. 

Upon takeoff, we were amazed at how well it flew even without trim, with great stability and quick responses to controller input. It does drift, which can be corrected with trim, but even after our best efforts, it still doesn’t achieve a perfect hover for more than a few seconds at a time. It also has quite a bit of thrust for its size, able to recover from freefall within just a few meters. 

The advertised ten minute flight time held up remarkably well, though it is worth noting that when we ran it around at a higher speed the flight time was reduced to around eight minutes. Recharging only takes about 50 minutes or so, and then we were able to get right back to flying. 

The stock 150-mAh battery could easily be replaced by a 180-mAh battery of the same size, which are available online. From our experience this can add another couple of minutes to the flight time. 

Another modding option is to add a camera. A quick inspection of the drone’s internal circuits reveals an open slot on the mainboard for a 3-pin connector, which can be used with a standard mini FPV camera.

As-is, the F36 is relatively easy to fly. It’s also decent for learning with since it seems to be relatively durable, having not taken any damage the few times we accidentally crashed it. The frame is made of a slightly flexible plastic, which is able to absorb the shock of a crash without snapping. The fully-enclosed blade guards are fantastic at protecting the rotors (and our fingers), not to mention the dual function of being a ducted fan. 

One thing we noticed was how amazingly quiet the drone was. Most drones of the same size tend to sound like mini electric leafblowers, but this was more akin to the sound of a noisy cooling fan, almost like an oversized mosquito. Flying indoors, it was easy to talk over the noise even without raising our voices, and outdoors we hardly noticed it at all.

Although a maximum range isn’t specified, we figure it’s probably around 200 to 300 meters, as is standard for drones with a control frequency of 2.4 gHz. From our experience, we prefer to keep the F36 closer, as the tiny size makes it hard to see when farther away, and therefore easier to crash and/or lose. 

When we tried the advertised features, we found that the 360­­° flip works very well, and “Headless Mode”, where the drone always responds in the same direction no matter which way it is rotated, seems to function fine. Due to the lack of clear instruction, we had a bit of trouble finding out how to activate “Return to Home”. While it does work, it’s very limited and has no obstacle avoidance, meaning you still have to pilot the craft while it is returning.

All in all, the F36 holds up fairly well to our testing.

To recap:

• Does it fly? Yes.
• Is it stable in-flight? Yes.
• Is it easy to fly? Yes.
• Can it be upgraded and/or modified? Yes.
• Is it durable? Yes.
• Does it have acceptable range? Yes.
• Do the advertised features work? Yes.

So, is the FuriBee F36 Mini RC Drone really worth all of $10.59?

From what we’ve seen, and our experiences with it, we have to say yes. Not only does it work, it works well, and without modification. That’s good by any book. 

So if you want a reliable, cheap, and easy-to-fly drone, go ahead and try one of these for yourself!

F36 Mini RC Drone

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