In this article we’re going to cover a complete SJRC F11 4k Pro review as well as compare it with previous versions and see if the new camera upgrade is actually worth the price.
The new SJRC F11 4K Pro takes the next step as a hobbyist first GPS camera drone, as it comes with both Image stabilization (learn drone terms here) as well as a 2 axis gimbal along with many other functions thanks to its precise GPS.
It also has some downsides and even some fake stuff, but the question is: is it worth your money?
That’s what we’ll find out in the rest of the article, so follow me as I give you more details.
In this section we’re going in more detail about the main specs that interest anyone, from camera to range and battery life and give my take on my experience with it and how good it is compared to other similarly priced drones.
The SJRC F11 4k Pro comes with quite an impressive battery life of 26 minutes, and it can go even beyond that if we talk about just hovering, as firstquadcopter showed us that it can fly for up to 27-28 minutes in hovering position to low battery percentage.
In real life scenarios expect somewhere along the lines of 20+ minutes if you don’t want to drain the entire battery(and lower in really cold weather).
The F11 4k Pro can fly as far as 1.5km in perfect conditions.
It works with enhanced 5g wifi technology so you’ll have to have a phone that works with 5g 802.11 ac wifi, which most modern phones work with.
The real range can greatly vary between 500m and 1km+ as I couldn’t get it over 1km with a solid connection.
Does the SJRC F11 4k Pro come with GPS?
Yes, it does come with GPS and it’s quite precise if I may say so, even more than previous models in my experience.
However, there is a pretty weird gimmick they did with the bottom sensors, as in it doesn’t actually have an optical flow camera underneath or sonar, like many other drones in this price range, have, but instead, it just comes with some fake plastic replacements just for show.
It flies really stable, so you don’t actually need those, and flying indoors wasn’t really an option for a drone of this size.
Yes, the F11 4k Pro does come back home after losing signal as well as when it has low battery life. The return to home seems to be precise with a margin of error of somewhere around a maximum of 3 meters, which is standard for this price of the quadcopter.
Since this is a detailed review of the SJRC F11 4K Pro, we can’t miss comparing it to its predecessor and see if the price difference makes it worth your money instead.
Since the price difference is so great (the Mavic Mini being twice as expensive, if not more) I wouldn’t compare the two, but since I’ve been asked this question a lot of times by my viewers, here’s my take.
If you have the money for the Mavic mini, get it, preferably get the DJI Mini 2 if you can, as it has unparalleled video capabilities and flight specs ( 10km range, 31 min flight time, and a stunning camera).
The F11 4k Pro operates in another league, which is the budget drone category, for beginners mainly.
In this section we’re taking a look at the updated camera, how good the new stabilization features are and some sample photos and videos to see the differences.
The new updated camera of the SJRC F11 4k Pro is real 4k this time, and I’m pointing that out since there’s a lot of similarly priced drones on the market who claim they have 4k cameras but they’re just scaled up in size.
Besides that, one major improvement from previous versions is the Electronic Image Stabilization combined with the 2 axis mechanical gimbal that makes for a nearly ideal video stabilization combo for any quadcopter.
Both the photos and the videos are great, but there’s one important detail when it comes to taking pictures, and that is the fisheye effect it creates.
It probably does that since the drone uses the entire sensor size since images don’t have to use the EIS (which crops from the edges).
This isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing, but I personally prefer my photos not to have any fish eye effect, so it’s a minus in my book.
It’s definitely an improvement from the previous versions in terms of camera, but not an outstanding one. The main change in terms of quality was that it can now shoot in 30fps which makes the final video smoother.
Yes, the SJRC f11 4k comes with a zoom function that’s only digital, not optical, so it decreases the original image quality.
However, this can be very useful for scouting and exploiting without getting to close.
In this section we’re talking about the main GPS flight modes like Follow me and Return to home and I’ll give you some tips on how to fly and calibrate the F11 4k Pro.
The controller is quite unique for the price range of drones under $200 in a good and a bad way.
It doesn’t come with an LCD, just an OSD(On Screen Display) that has a backlit display with printed icons.
The downside of this is that it doesn't come with any real-time telemetry data like flight distance, altitude, and battery life.
One way to compensate for this is obviously to use the app on your phone which you were going to use anyway to see the live feed.
But why has JJRC, as a big company decided to cut on puting an LCD screen and bottom-facing sensors on this drone?
I think they actually did a great job compromising here, as this way a very capable drone under $200 has been achieved, one that focuses on the camera and flight properties the most. Saving money on almost useless sensors and screens allowed the introduction of a better camera and gimbal for the same price as previous versions.
Of course, there are just a few places on the internet that actually sells this drone for under $200 and you can find it if you’re lucky enough.
The maximum range of the F11 4k Pro is 1.5km while the maximum live feed range is 1.2km.
This means you’ll still be able to control the F11 past 1km but you won’t see anything on your phone. This is a great safety feature, as it allows you to press the return to home button and have it return straight to you and regain image signal along the way.
The app logs flights where you can check total distance traveled as well as top speed.
The first time you’ll fly the drone it will come set up in beginner mode, but it’s easy to change this setting from the app. If you have it on it will limit the maximum distance, altitude and return to home altitude.
It comes with the basic GPS flight modes you encounter in other drones, but with a few twists:
In this section we’re looking at where to buy the F11 4k from as well as what accessories would be best for it. If there’s a manual for it online, you’ll certainly find it here too.
Unfortunately I could only find the manual for the older version of the SJRC F11 over here.
It’s on scribd, but it’s something that could be useful anyway. I’ll update it as soon as I get a hold on the pdf version.
Since it’s a recently released drone, there’s not a lot of accessories on the market for it, however, the most you can find are usually on a site called Banggood.
Currently I suggest you get a carrying case for it and some spare props while you’re at it.
The best place to buy from in terms of security and price is banggood (I am not sponsored by them, but I make a small commission, but keep in mind I could have chosen any other site to do that), however the shipping time can get to around 2 weeks.
This means an alternative would be getting it on Amazon for quite a bit more bit more.
The SJRC F11 4k Pro can be tricky to review as to some people it might seem like it lacks some features, but I tend to disagree. I think this is one of the best drones you can get for this price and the compromises are more than worth it if you’re looking for a low budget drone.
