Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product discounted so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
I recently received a NiteCore D4 battery charger for a product review. In addition to the battery charger itself, it came with two power cords ( house and car ) and a small plastic battery box.
The specs on this charger are pretty nice - it can charge many different sizes and types, including NiMh, Li-Ion and LiFePO4 batteries. I also really liked the fact that each of the 4 slots is individually controlled, so you can charge the mix you need. My old charger was just a AA/AAA charger and I had to charge in pairs of the same size/type so this NiteCore was a huge different.
Despite the capable feature set, this unit isn’t complicated at all. Most batteries it can handle are automatically recognized, you only have to take additional steps for small capacity batteries and LiFePO4 batteries.
Types of batteries I tested:
- 18650 2200 mAh Li-Ion battery
- AA Eneloop 1900 mAh NiMh battery
- AA Energizer 2450 mAh NiMh battery
- AAA Duracell 850 mAh NiMh battery
Testing out the charger
I tried a mix of batteries and every single one charged without a problem, and without having to take additional steps to set a certain mode or select the type of battery. Initially I found myself messing around with the unit to look at the voltage etc, but this really is a “set and forget” type of charger. I was worried that the charger would be complicated, and not usable by others in the household that prefer to just drop the batteries in and let it charge like the old charger - I was glad to see that unit worked great without having to be setup each time.
Bottom line: This is an impressive charger that can handle normal household AA/AAA rechargeable batteries with no problem, but can also handle a wide range of batteries that are starting to become more common.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free so that I could provide product feedback to the company and post a product review. I was not required to write a positive review and I do not rate products higher than they should have been. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's requirements.
I recently received a GW008 Mini Skull Quadcopter from Banggood for a product review. In addition to the quadcopter itself, a transmitter, charger and spare set of propellers were included.
All you need is 4AAA batteries, everything else is included
The quadcopter comes with pretty much everything you need, other than 4 AAA batteries for the transmitter. As always, I recommend reading the instructions before using any electronic device.
Charging and setting up the quadcopter is very simple. Once you are ready to fly, the controls are fairly simple to use and are mode 2 setup which is the same as two other quadcopters I have tested.
Here are some of the design aspects I noticed:
- Cool design
- Pads on the landing feet to help make landings softer
- Propeller guards help avoid crashing if you bump into things
Front of quadcopter
Bottom of the quadcopter
Pads for landing feet, helps for rough landings
The quadcopter has a nice design and pretty sturdy from what I can tell - I hit walls, the floor, and the ceiling multiple times and haven't broken anything yet.
As for flight, it is fairly smooth and stable but practice does help. I did notice when you move from a stable hover, you also want to give it a little throttle to keep the quadcopter from dropping a bit. Once you learn how to do fly around pretty smoothly, the controller has an button to adjust the movement speed and has an easy "flip" button to do stunts.
Some video of my testing (and crashing)
I mainly flew indoors, but I would suggest that first timers practice outdoors (with no wind) to have plenty of room to get comfortable with the quadcopter. Also, try to practice over grass instead of the street - chances are, you will crash it a few times until you get the hang of it.
Bottom line: A cool looking and fun quadcopter that is also pretty sturdy. Great for a first time quadcopter owner, or someone who just wants to add another quadcopter to the collection.
Related Links (they redirect to the correct pages)
