At first we would like to thank ACME for sending out a sample of their Zoopa Q420 Cruiser Quadrocopter drone for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About ACME – The Game Company:

 

“ACME the game company GmbH, headquartered in Westenholz in the heart of North Rhine-Westphalia, was founded in 1997 and is known for high quality and first-class products in toys, RC and camera area.

 

The AirAce- and zoopa- product lines are well known far beyond the borders of Germany and sold hundreds of thousands. CamOne products, launched for the first time in 2006 with the FlyCamOne, can be found around the globe again

 

Behind the success of our company are a very special corporate philosophy and shared values, the daily actions, ideas and the creativity of all employees. - whether in Germany, where ACME has its origin, or in the global partners.

 

Immerse yourself in our world of RC models...!”

 

Product Highlights:

Tech Specs:

 

Last year, also in December we have taken a look at the wonderful BB-8 Star Wars droid from Sphero and now it is time to take a look at another remote-controlled device, a flying drone this time from ACME. To be more exact, we have in today’s focus the Zoopa Cruiser Q420 Quadrocopter, which is able to perform 360 degree flips, but also take photos or record movies at a 720P resolution. The product is shipped in a rather large, but very light cardboard enclosure, which also permits us to take a look at the drone chassis without the need to unseal the box:

 

 

 

Some warning messages can be read on the side of the packaging, in multiple languages:

 

 

 

 

The box is also provided with a plastic handle, for easy manipulation outside of the store:

 

 

 

If we do take a look at the back side, we will get to see some in-depth technical specifications, but also the fact that this model is designed for indoor use (we have found a small contradiction here because on the website it is written that the Q420 was designed for both outdoor and indoor usage):

 

 

 

After removing the top packaging layer, we will get to see the main product, along with its remote and additional bundle secured inside a custom white plastic mold:

 

 

 

Both documentation and accessories are wrapped inside transparent plastic bags:

 

 

 

We are receiving the two landing gear components, one USB microSDHC card reader, spare rotor blades, extra screws, the battery charging cable but also one screwdriver:

 

 

 

The tiny USB microSDHC card reader does help us download the data stored to our PC/laptop:

 

 

 

 

The landing gear components are very light and can be installed in a few seconds; same goes with the uninstall process if we would like to store the drone or transport it in a different location:

 

 

 

 

The supplied rotor blades are color coded differently, even if they have the same layout but help with orientation during flight; the pre-installed orange blades are in the front of the drone, while the black ones are in the back:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Extra screws are provided if we lose the pre-installed ones:

 

 

 

The charging cable does also work as a voltage converter, from 5V which is supplied on the USB port, to 3.7V which the rechargeable battery requires:

 

 

 

A screw driver is also supplied with as bundle:

 

 

 

As documentation, we are offered one product catalog leaflet, the User Manual, but also a warning document containing some extra notes:

 

 

 

Inside the manual, we will find the initial installation steps but also some guides on how to maneuver the drone in-flight:

 

 

 

The supplied remote is considerably large for the size of the drone, but very light at the same time; it is covered in a rubberized black finish which offers a good grip and on the frontal area we’ve got the usual trim buttons in order to fine-tune the drone behavior, the left accelerator lever which can be also turned left or right in order to rotate the drone in-flight, one central On/Off button with a red Power LED, the right lever for moving the drone left or right but also forwards or backwards, one button to reset the trim settings, one for turning off the LED lights on the drone in order to save battery, a button for taking photos but also a separate button for shooting videos:

 

 

 

 

The top left corner of the remote does have an additional button, which allows us to switch between different power modes:

 

-Beginner – 60% motor power

-Beginner+ - 70% motor power

-Advanced – 80% motor power

-Professional – 100% motor power

 

 

 

This model is also advertised as being able to perform 360 flips in-air and these can be done by activating the Flip Mode from the top right corner button of the remote:

 

 

 

On the back side of the remote we will get to see the battery compartment which is also secured by a screw:

 

 

 

Here we will have to install no less than six!!! AA batteries:

 

 

 

Without any accessories installed, the Q420 drone looks very compact and does come with a similar rubberized matte finishing as we have seen with the remote; the central area does hold the product logo while the painted grills on each arm do have a modern look:

 

 

 

 

Each blade is rotated by a high-power electric motor, which makes a specific noise when operated:

 

 

 

The blades do also have some small plastic covers on top, which do protect the internal screw:

 

 

 

Here is also a detailed look on the bottom area of the drone:

 

 

 

The internal motor wheels and mechanism are enclosed inside the drone chassis, but we would have preferred so see here an additional foot which would avoid getting dents on the chassis or dust inside the motor:

 

 

 

On each arm we have a set of LEDs, which do reflect the pairing procedure, but also help identify the drone when used late at night:

 

 

 

In the central area we can see the HD camera module, which is linked to the chassis with one 3-pin connector but also two small screws; if not needed, it can be removed completely:

 

 

 

 

The frontal lens can be manually adjusted as needed:

 

 

 

In the back we can also locate the On/Off button of the drone:

 

 

 

The camera module is equipped with a microSDHC card slot, a blue LED for signaling that it receives power, but also a red LED which lights up when taking photos/recording video. If no microSDHC card is inserted, the red LED will blink continuously:

 

 

 

Here is how the drone LEDs light up during initialization:

 

 

 

Our camera module was also shipped with a 4GB memory card pre-installed:

 

 

 

The first step could be the installation of the landing gear, which can be performed with no extra tools:

 

 

 

 

Secondly, we must remove the blade shields from the packaging and install them on our drone:

 

 

 

This is a 3-step process: first remove the small screw from the tip of each arm, install the shield and afterwards place the screw in place again so the shield will be held securely:

 

 

 

In order to access the battery for charging purposes, we will have to slide and lift the cover; we cannot fully open the compartment though, because the camera lens will fit the casing:

 

 

 

The battery will easily slide out after we also remove the two-pin connector:

 

 

 

The drone is shipped with a LiPo 600mAh 3.7V battery, which should provide about 8 to 9 minutes of flight from a full charge; with our USB 1A charger, the battery has reached 100% in about 13-14 hours, so quite a bit and not 60-80 minutes as mentioned in the manual:

 

 

 

 

 

The USB connector is also provided with a red LED which turns off when the charge process has been completed:

 

 

 

During the first test day, the drone behaved quite well given the fact that there was no wind present, but we needed however to perform continuous adjustments in order to keep it on the correct path, even after calibration.

 

The second test day was a bit complicated, since a bit of wind was involved; in the first stage we tried to stabilize the drone, but it was driven by the wind to the left side of the road. When we tried to rotate it into the air, the drone climbed a bit so we have hit some tree branches. In the second stage we have succeeded to get the drone even higher in the air, but the wind was still doing its thing so we ended up with the drones in the leaves.

The third stage was more successful, so we have also attempted the 360 flip, which has completed successfully, two times in a row! We, however got with the drone again on the ground, after it did hit a tree….

In the fourth stage, the drone was fighting the wind like no tomorrow, and we barely got it near us, but we hit the bench in the end and lost one of the small blade covers:

 

 

 

In the fifth stage, the drone seemed to lose balance again, so we had to recalibrate it with the trim buttons. After a successful flight, we have “succeeded” to get it stuck in some tree branches; our luck was that the branches were not very high so we were able to recover it.

 

The sixth stage is showing the drone eating the last battery resources, but it had a successful run of over 9 minutes, which is over the rated 8 minutes from the manufacturer.

 

After the test-drive bumps, the Q420 Cruiser drone got some scratches under the motor assembly; if the drone would have had here some extra protective feet as the Syma X5C, this small cosmetic issue would not have happened.

 

 

 

 

 

The quality of the 720P camera module is pretty average, similar to a low-end camera phone. The noise during flight is however a bit annoying and most people will prefer replacing the soundtrack with something else when posting online.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, same goes with the photos created with the module, which are similar in quality with selfie cameras on low-end smartphones.

 

 

 

The Zoopa Q420 Cruiser drone from ACME is a decent quadrocopter featuring 360 flip function, a big responsive remote, one 600mAh LiPo rechargeable battery, a 720P camera module for taking photos or recording videos on microSDHC, blade protections but also a removable landing gear. The manufacturer also includes an additional set of blades for replacement in case the stock ones do break, while the drone orientation can be easily spotted via the different colored blades, but also thanks to the LED assemblies under each arm.

 

Despite the fact that this drone is marketed for beginners regarding the difficulty level, some grade of experience is needed to pilot the Q420 Cruiser in order not to damage it or to avoid getting it stuck into a tree; before each flight, it is better to reset it and calibrate with the trim buttons from the remote and only afterwards have fun with it. Even very slow winds can make it move in the wrong direction and we needed to adjust its direction in many situations; what we were not exactly happy with is the fact that if we would like to rotate the drone on the spot, it also climbs in altitude, so there are high chances we would hit some tree branches or other obstacles in the way, so we would recommend doing this operation when flying in an obstacle-free area. While we have tested the drone in a relative short range of the remote, make sure not to go too far, because the drone will simply drop when it loses signal; same thing happens when you fly at a high altitude and the battery gets empty, a situation when the drone will fall like a rock.

 

Considering the fact that we always have to pay extra attention to the directional and throttle levers of the remote in-flight, we have found working with the Photo/LED/Video buttons a bit difficult, because they are located in the lower area of the remote.

 

The Zoopa Q420 Cruiser drone is available online for just about 66 Euros, which is a good price for what we are getting so we could safely say that the mainstream segment and people which are a bit low on the budget can now experience it.

 

ACME Zoopa Q420 Cruiser Quadrocopter is Recommended for:

 

We would like to thank again to ACME for making this review possible!