There's typically no GPS associated with these class. SOme come with integrated FPV cameras, others allow for Gopro like camera attachment with 1-D gimbal. They also typically have larger range, 100-150m on the shorter spectrum with 300m on the upper spectrum. They are typically brushed (or was it brushless?) motors.
Falling into these groups I picked up the following medium size "toy drone" class:
UDI Predator :
This was a disaster drone for me. It's a very capable drone with lousy sticks on the transmitter. I had to use rubberbands on the throttle for a more measured input to get anywhere with this fella.
Tarantula X6 :
A legend in it's own right, nimble, fast response to the stick and powerful.
WLToys Falcon:
This is a very capable flyer however is flyaway prone outside of transmitter range (12 sec delay to engine cut-off) upon loss of signal.
JJRC H26D:
Fumbling and very twitchy at high rates, could also be due to lack of finely tuned transmitter.
MJX X101:
This one is very stable with two rates, low or high, however also prone to fly away issue when out of transmitter range.
Another drone which falls on the borderline between this class and the next is the WLToys Q303. This drone has altitude hold and is very stable which makes it a good camera/video drone. It is also quieter than all the drones I have mentioned above perhaps with the excetion of the Falcon.
These are all still manual drones and has no GPS associated with them for a typical Phantom like video. Videos made from this group of drones look more like FPV drone videos though with a much more controlled speed signature. Q303 is different in that regard due to the special altitude hold feature.
WLToys Q303 with the smaller altitude hold Hubsan X107D
Having flown these reresentatives from this class, I would recommend all of them excepth the JJRC H26D. It feels rather loose as if it'll fly away on it's own given half a chance. The Tarantula X6 and he MJX X101 both are pure joy to fly. The Q303 may feel a bit boring to some but very good for videos with the altitude hold feature.
Another exciting one to fly is the Falcon Q323, it's fast and responsive, however the flyaway issue will always be at the back of your mind during flight. I have had several crashes with the Q323 when it flew out of range or suddenly being hijacked by the wind when flying at 40% rate.
Remember that it takes 12secs before the engine dies off, and with the wind it could go quite a distance away from where it started off. Watch this video of Q323 flew off and I lost control, it had me running after it through the entire neighbourhood.
A second crash video with the Falcon Q323 when flying at low rates (40%) in strong winds from an upwind direction.
A video when flying the well behaved Q303.
Another video with the Q303.
A nice bluesky day on the Tarantula X6 at low rates.
A big scare from the JJRC H26D.
From these bigger quads, some important lessons I have learnt:
1. Always fly downwind ... ie. the wind blowing against you from the front with the quad in front of you flying into the wind. If you lose control the wind will bring it back to you.
2. Strong winds and low rates don't mix well. Couple that with flying the drone with the drone down wind of you spells big disaster.
3. Flying in open space gives you more flexibility to maneuver in case of trouble, you want a direct line of sight to your craft.
4. Get your orientation tricks sorted out before flying your quads too high where you can hardly see the craft. If left turn on the sticks, quads go left, your craft is having the same heading as you. If left turn on the sticks, quads go right, your craft's heading is opposite of yours.
5. Never panic if you seemed to have lost control of your craft. Do not turn off your transmitter. With the craft still connected to you via the transmitter you may still have a chance to recover. If you turn it off, you never will.
6. Try all the functions on your quad (RTH, FLIPS, HEADLESS, ALTITUDE HOLD etc) in a big field where you can recover easily, and I highly recommend this be done at low altitudes within a short flight range.
