XIaomi Fimi X8 SE - cheap Mavic alternative!
Battery Life
Range
Camera
Motors
Xiaomi finally has released the Fimi x8 SE, a foldable and more compact drone that comes with impressive specs and at a quite affordable price.
I would safely consider it a Mavic Pro/Air low budget alternative.
It’s mainly for people who are looking for a travel drone, having fun shooting videos and even making money with it.
The 3 axis gimbal and capable flight modes can allow you to shoot impressive footage just as with some of the high end DJI drones with no compromise to your bank account.
Drone stability
Usually, when it comes to more advanced camera drones, they come with a way to stabilize the drone on the spot. I’m talking about GPS or optical flow cameras.
Fimi X8: GPS + Optical flow
Battery life
Battery life for more expensive camera drones should be at least 15 minutes per flight.
Take in account spare batteries!
Fimi X8: 30min to 0% or 25min to 10%
Range
Flight range can really change what sorts of images you can capture.
Fimi X8: 5000m
Camera
Camera resolution isn’t everything. Colors, sharpness and bitrate are very important for the overall image.
Fimi X8: 4k 30p, 2.7k in 60p
12mp sony IMX378 1/2.3″ sensor
Image Stabilization
If I had to pinpoint the most important factor in a camera drone, it would be Image Stabilization. A 4k unstable camera has worse results than a gimbal stabilized 720p one.
C-Fly Dream: 3 axis gimbal (very stable)
If you want the ultimate drone, this is not for you, but if you care whatsoever about price, keep reading.
In my opinion the FIMI X8 is the best drone under $500 for most people. It has the specs to compare it with the twice as expensive Mavic series from DJI, high quality build yet the price is quite affordable.
I definitely consider it much more capable than the Hubsan Zino, but that’s even cheaper, so not a really fair comparison.
Coming with stellar GPS+GLONASS and even obstacle positioning sensors, it’s very stable in the air.
The return to home not being perfect, it lands usually at about 1m from where it left.
Otherwise, it’s one of the longest flying drones in its price category and the range and signal strenght is absolutely crazy.
Here’s a daily price history, so you know if now is the right time to buy it.
If you want to wait, please enter your email down bellow and you’ll be automatically notified when the price drops to your desired level.
Xiaomi Fimi X8 Video Review
In this video, Dustin Dunhill reviews the drone while also doing a range test and battery life test.
The image quality of the camera is quite good, and there’s even a LOG profile to shoot a more flat image profile for better post processing camera correction.
As things stand now, people are complaining of a slightly blue tint overall, but Xiaomi said they will probably fix it in a future update. It is also something that you can adjust yourself in post processing with a bit of color tweaking.
The footage is creamy smooth thanks to the 3 axis gimbal, so no worries about that.
The blue tint can be a bit annoying, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed.
The 3 axis gimbal is pretty well made but it does come with the flaw of being to close to the ground.
The ground clearance is so small that if you launch it from grass, it won’t be able to properly calibrate.
That’s why I strongly recommend a landing pad for any drone in general.
Fimi X8 SE
I love the build of this controller so much that I consider it even above what DJI currently has.
It fits really big phones and even small tablets like the iPad mini and such. This allows for a greately improved flight experience as you can better see what’s in the field of view. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS FACT!
Otherwise, the sticks are pretty standard high quality ones, with the ability to remove them and store in a special compartment of the controller.
The button configuration is as follows:
- return to home button
- on/off
- launch/land
- 5D joystick (for custom shortcuts)
- ISO scroll wheel
- gimbal adjustment wheel
- photo/video buttons
This transmitter is better than others also when it comes to battery life. Considering it lasts twice as long as standard DJI ones.
App and flight modes
The app is quite standard and it comes with many settings including manual camera modes, filters and flight modes.
Because the drone is so new on the market, some features like the follow me mode are still developing and might have bugs here and there. Xiaomi promised to finish the updates so that it becomes the really complete drone that it’s supposed to be.
There’s the few basic flight modes:
- waypoints (in flight or on map) these are more complex and useful than what I’ve been used with so far
- point of interest
- follow me
And there’s also the cine shots:
- circle
- rocked
- dronie
- spiral
These can help you get quick pro-looking shots without any hassle.
But heep in mind, that the Xiaomi FImi doesn’t have any obstacle avoidance technology (not even in the front) so make sure the area is clear before starting the automatic flights.
Bellow you can check my top drones in the same price category.
Please use the “Add to compare” button and then press on the icon on the right to compare them.
| Product | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Dji Spark Review – the perfect camera drone under $500? | |||
 | Parrot Anafi Drone review | |||
 | Xiaomi FIMI X8 SE drone review | |||
 | Hubsan Zino Drone Review – cheap 4k GPS drone |
Hi why I don’t find any review on the new Hubsan Zino ? it costs about the same of the Xiaomi Fimi A3 but is more better than it !
Thanks a lot
Antonio
Hello Antonio,
I have the Hubsan Zino. Haven’t yet reviewed it on the site. Will do so tomorrow. I do have it reviewed on the dronesgator youtube channel and compared with the spark.
Btw, could you please tell me how you found this article?
I think your website is the best I have found, I have just bought the Fimi X8 SE even if I have to wait too much to get it, it will be delivered the 13th of May so maybe I will get it at the end of May…
Thanks a lot for your work !!
Antonio
Thank you, Antonio! Let me know how it seemed for you after you test it. You can leave a comment with a short review right here in the webpage comments.
I’m getting ready to bite the bullet on the Fimi X8. Thanks for your review it’s very well done.
Thanks for the feedback, mike! If you get it from banggood or amazon would be helpful if you’d click the links on the site first, gives me a small commision and helps a bit!
Let me know how the drone is after you get it.