Syma S102G 3.5 Channel RC Helicopter with Gyro

I've always been a huge R/C lover with a small budget. I loved nothing more than getting an R/C car or helicopter when I was a little kid, and would play with it for weeks on end. After rediscovering my interest in all things R/C again, I decided to take the plunge and start with Syma. This may just be the greatest $20 I've ever spent in my life, there's nothing bad about this product, at all. I couldn't think of one even if I was paid to do so. First of all, the packaging was top-notch. Upon receiving it, you're really not sure if you've just purchased a budget R/C toy or some hobby enthusiast's prized possession. Everything's strapped in tight, yet easy to remove when it comes down to it. It even comes with a smaller propeller as a replacement (As I remember I had quite a few issues in the past with the smaller rotors being damaged). Talking about replacements, on the manual you can find an extremely handy replacement parts list for everything on the helicopter and controller. Say goodbye to searching Google for hours on end, it couldn't be handier for that one bump too many! THe helicopter itself is the prize here. There's two rotors and a gyroscope that helps make this helicopter feel like a premium product. The main rotor controls the central blades to provide lift, and the smaller one at the back provides the forward/backward movement. The gyroscopes helps the helicopter to turn left and right extremely smoothly. It's hard to tell the difference between this model and a real helicopter with how smoothly it flies. There's no awkward finger movements to try and counter rugged and sudden movement, it can hover very happily, turn very smoothly or fly forwards in a very straight line. The controller feels comfortable in your hands, the controls are fine tuned and there's no dead zones, and best of all, with the USB cable provided, you don't need the controller to charge up the helicopter, just plug it into any kind of USB socket! It's a lifesaver for those AA batteries in the controller. It's very durable, it flies great, it has a pretty great flying time (I've gotten around 10 minutes flying time on 45-60 minute charges), looks superb and at this price, it's a steal.

Bought this for a 15 year old boy. After just a few minutes of playing with it...he was flying it around like an expert. It's a really easy to learn helicopter. It's pretty sturdy and can handle a few crashes well, but you have to be careful with it. There are some pretty funny warnings on the blades that were not translated correctly: "If blade damage, don't be fly. otherwise it will create the human body or blame damage." I am not making this up. It was funny to us too! Beside the aweful "warning" translation and terrible grammar and vocabulary use (it was worth the laugh)....this is a great buy for hours of fun. Oh...the battery life to the helicopter is very short...about 15 minutes. Charging takes 40 mins. Still...it's worth the money.

I have always wanted an RC helicopter since I first saw these being flown in malls. So my girlfriend decided to let me try her RC helicopter by another maker and loved playing with it. So I decided to search for one online and Syma kept popping up with pretty good reviews so decided to buy the S102G model. Looked great out of the box. After charging, it flew amazingly. It was very easy to control; it was stable. I've had it for a couple of days now and still love it. The battery life on it is pretty decent for it's size; it lasts about 5-7mins and charging may take 30-45mins. One issue I have had with it is I have crashed it a few times and lost a wheel, and can't seem to find it so I can glue it back because without it the helicopter doesn't take off straight vertical. It drifts to the side without the wheel. But once airborne there is no problem. The company may want to improve on the sturdiness of the wheel. Otherwise, the helicopter can take a beating when it crashes but it's rare since it's very easy to fly.

The $18 was worth the lousy translation on the blades, reproduced here accurately: "WARNING: If blade damage,don't be fly, otherwise it will create the human body or blame damage." Also, "ARMY FORCE" on the side. Clearly an American made product. The instruction/setup manual is also pretty funny. Engrish aside, this is a great product. They obviously cut the translation budget to focus on engineering and design which is surprisingly high quality. It's smaller than I thought, the controller is bigger than the helicopter. It's easy to get started flying, the USB and controller charging options are nice (although the USB cable inserts 'upside down' and is a little suspect). The controller is of good quality. My only complaint this far is battery life (can't help that much due to size) and the battery cover for the controller requires a Phillips screw driver (as opposed to snap in place). Flying is easy. Just increase throttle (left stick) until it takes off. Use the right stick to turn and move longitudinally. You can turn and move forward at the same time, in addition to the throttle (hence, 3.5 channel). If the chopper rotates, just adjust the trim. Mine required only a small amount of trim. Keep an eye on the altitude, even the slightest drafts or pressure variances move the chopper. It requires active throttle management. The Gyro keeps it relatively stable, I can't imagine trying to hover without it. Range is very good, but due to the IR, requires line-of-sight. Office mates were very impressed. Next one will be the Chinook, the mini or medium sized one. Hoping to lift empty aluminum cans with it, but I have my doubts...

The RC Helicopter itself is 5 stars. For the price the unit is great. If you are used to the S107G this unit will be less "touchy", the body makes this unit a little more stable and a little easier to fly. Yes all Symas are made in China but of the options available they are one of the best for the beginner especially at a low budget. They also have an abundance of spare parts. These are also very sturdy for their size and easy for children to learn on and use. ONE STAR The reason for the one star is the controller. The unit appears to be a 3.5 channel RC (this means that at least three of them can fly at once) however the controller is an old two channel controller (A & B). Useless for flying more than two of these. Apparently we will need to buy the three channel controllers directly from Syma. syma-rc.com/Syma-Spare-Parts/Syma-S107G-Spare-Parts/Syma-S107G-Remote-Control

While it worked, I loved this thing. My kids would be entertained for minutes on end (the battery would last for about 10 min at a time) just watching me fly it. At one point, the bottom rotor stopped turning, so I looked it up online and found out the gear had slipped out of place. It took about 30 minutes to disassemble everything, put the gear in place, and put it all back together. Not a big deal. But then about a month later, it just stopped being able to ascend. Normally about 40% throttle is where it needs to be to maintain flight, but I would put it up to 100% and it would barely skip off of the floor. Everything seemed to be working, the blades (visually at least) seemed to be spinning at the same rate, but without the lift. So after trying several ways of charging it, thinking that maybe the battery wasn't getting a full charge, I just had to give up. While it worked, it was a lot of fun for me and my kids, but after about a month or so of use, it just wasn't usable anymore. Too bad. I'd like to get another, but I don't want something that only works for a month.

This helicopter is twice as fun as I would have expected. It's like instant hobby in a box. I thought it was going to be a toy, and it turned out to be a very functioning miniature helicopter. Duh, right? Well, until you've messed around with one of these you might not know what I mean. After flying it around for a little while, having survived numerous crashes, it becomes an obsession to try and land it on a certain coffee table, speaker top, chair, etc. It's just a lot of fun, and I could see it being a run away hit for Christmas gift giving. It would make KILLER stocking stuffers for everyone, not just the kids. By aware, the spinning rotors could be dangerous to eyes, fingertips/paws, ears, and noses. This is by far the best value I've had for under twenty bucks in a very long time. I own six of these now and the first one I bought is flying as well as the last one I bought. If you have more than several of these, buy yourself a double USB wall charger so you can always keep at least one unit charging while playing with the others.

My husband loves this helicopter. It comes packaged well in a box that is about 16 inches by 7 inches. The helicopter itself is about 7.5 inches. This a great size for my family and I feel like it is not so big that someone might get hurt. It is an indoor helicopter only. The wind really takes it. What is great is it durable and can take a crash well. I have two girls 3 and 1 years old. They want to have fun with daddy. They can grab the helicopter and bring back to the landing pad for daddy and the helicopter is fine. I was worried that they would not be able to even touch it. The helipad is great for them to know where the helicopter goes and great for my husband to remember that is a good place to land the helicopter instead of somewhere that might knock over something. To get started we used YouTube and the instruction manual. Those were great tools. You start by just trying to hover the helicopter. It takes some throttle to get it in the air so do not be too nervous to really push on the left button. Once you get it in the air play around with just going up and down. And our number one rule with small children is when things look dangerous like you might hit something or someone just let it drop. The helicopter can take it. We then started to try and go forward and back. We really struggled with this at first and remembered from a YouTube video that you have to adjust the middle knob. If you are spinning in circles you need to adjust the middle knob. My husband just turns it left and right and then lines it up in the middle. The helicopter should go forward and back very easily if the middle knob is adjusted. It usually needs adjusting after a big crash or a little girl really playing with it for a bit. This is a great father's day gift or birthday gift for someone that wants something different. I love using with my students in science class. The helipad was great for my students to know where to land the helicopter and I gave them bonus points for how close they could get to landing it. It avoided making bad choices with landing it on a friend. We did receive this product for free for an honest review. Here is a link to the helipad we have: Remote Control Helicopter Landing Pad - Complete Edition - LED Lights Installed - Suitable for RC Helicopters, Quadcopters, Drones, Syma Helicopters