Indoor Quads

Find out which drones are the best for flying indoors. DJI, Syma and Parrot models are reviewed in this article.
In a building, drone flights are a pleasure because weather conditions are not a hindrance. Flying indoors in Attitude (ATTI) mode is a slightly different experience than outdoors. Air movements are limited and the drone can create depressions in closed spaces. You can pick the ideal drone for indoor flying from a wide variety of options available on the market.

1. Holy Stone HS177 Drone

The Holy Stone HS177 is a great drone for flying indoors due to its altitude hold. It will hover steadily at a default height for ease of control, and this makes it a great option for children or those new to flying drones. Most often people use drones to meet their respective needs. But this one is a bit different than the other ordinary drones. Certainly, you can meet your demands using the drone. You also will get some other features. As a matter of fact, this drone will provide some immense pleasure to the users. It comes with some extraordinary features like the infrared. The use of this invisible ray makes flying fun.

When you will compete with your fellow drone pilots, you will have the chances to win the war. Hitting the other drones through the infrared helps to win you. It becomes a great fun indeed when the family members try defeating each other using the infrared installed in the drone.

It also has a simple headless mode which ensures the front of the drone will face the same direction as the pilot – another great feature for beginners. Majority of the users have the similar complaints against some of the drones that they do not stay at the same altitude. The height of the drones falls when there is a strong wind. Sometimes, the altitude falls unnaturally for no reasons at all. Such untoward disturbances make trouble amid the fun. A steady height helps to make the quadcopter look better while it is on

the fly. Besides, when you will maintain the height, it would also be easier to control the operation. So, if you are looking for a better quadcopter for a steady height, this could be the first choice. With its flight time of 9 minutes, emergency stop feature, 3 speed modes, and a one-key start/ landing feature, the Holy Stone HS177 drone is a great drone to fly indoors with lots of control. 

This 3D flip feature is not available on the most other best drones under 100. So, you will enjoy the flip to a different level. The flipping feature allows the drone move in several directions. The most important thing is its 360-degree rotation. Based on your needs, you can ask the drone to move in the directions. Simultaneously, the quadcopter will keep flying by maintaining the altitude level. So, there is no interruption on your play while using this feature. But most other ordinary drones are unable to perform the act. This is a basic difference between this drone and the other ones available within the same budget.

2. Syma X20 Drone

The Syma X20 mini drone is another great one for flying indoors. It is small, stable, and easy to control, making it another great option for kids and novices. It is one of the smallest models in Syma’s latest generation of toy drones and has a highly affordable price point of less than $30 shipped. With that said, it makes an excellent gift for both adults and kids. It’s also great for those looking for a neat micro quadcopter to play around with indoors.

In terms of refinement and design, Syma has come a long way since the days of the X5C. The latest generation of Symas are so much more well-rounded and refined that they have set standards for other toy manufacturers to follow. The X20 is quite easily one of the best micro quadcopters Syma has produced to date and is so much better than earlier Symas that were released just two years ago.
It features a one-key start and land feature and a handy-dandy hover mode. The headless mode makes it a snap to control. Due to its size and maneuverability, this drone is a great option for flying indoors.
The X20 featured in this review is the base version of the X20 range and comes with no camera. There is also a camera version which is called the X21 and a WiFi FPV version — the X21W. Apart from the camera, everything else is the same for all 3 models.
Unlike micro drones that were released just one or two years ago, the X20 does not feature any detachable battery or parts. The battery is built-in and so are the prop guards. Only the propellers are removable. This approach makes for a very clean and seamless design.
Unlike micro drones that were released just one or two years ago, the X20 does not feature any detachable battery or parts. The battery is built-in and so are the prop guards. Only the propellers are removable. This approach makes for a very clean and seamless design. The only downside I can see is that you can’t bring a few batteries with you when flying. With its 180 mAh battery, the X20 provides a flight time of about 5 minutes — enough for some indoor flying fun. Charging time with the supplied micro USB cable takes approximately 50 minutes.
The body has a nice pancake-like design with some neat finishing touches. The power button sits on top with a nice chrome colored finishing. Prop guards are built-in and cannot be removed without opening up the body. Although I’m not a fan of prop guards since they add extra weight and affect flight performance, the guards on the X20 aren’t that bad since they’re very light and minimalist and hardly affect flight performance. There are orientation lights at both the front and back which do an excellent job in orientation — red lights for the front and green for the rear. Unlike other small toy drones that have really tiny lights, the lights on the X20 are located inside and illuminate a large portion of the body, giving you a good idea where the front and back are.

Unlike bigger Symas, the X20 features a smaller pebble-shaped transmitter (radio controller) with plenty of minimalist touches. One interesting feature on the transmitter are its control sticks or should I say sliders. Syma has chosen not to use conventional transmitter control sticks and might be the first to use sliders for toy drones. The control sliders appear like very short and stubby control sticks at first but once you start using them, you realize they don’t tilt or rock like an ordinary control stick. Instead, they can slide about 10 mm in all directions. After a few flights, I find them to be quite intuitive to use and allow reasonably good precision control over the drone. The only downside I feel is that I can’t use both my thumb and index or middle finger on the throttle slider for more precise throttle control since it’s so short and stubby. Another good feature of the transmitter is its wide design. Many micro toy drones tend to come with very tiny transmitters that can be hard to hold on to, especially for adults. This can be quite annoying. The X20 transmitter is wide enough to be held comfortably by adult hands.

Flight performance is a strong point of the X20. It flies very well and smooth and also features reasonably accurate altitude hold. The X20 feels quite tame and easy to control and is great for beginners. Even 3D flips are executed very well, despite having altitude hold. Earlier toy drones that feature altitude hold do not flip well and tend to plunge but this is not the case with the X20. The X20 also sports other various staple features of toy drones. This includes headless mode and one-key take off/landing. It may not have other “advanced” features that newer toy drones have such as waypoint navigation, accelerometer (gravity) control and return to home but this is not really an issue since many of these features are just gimmicks and may cause crashes or fly aways when used by inexperienced pilots. Two speed modes are available on the X20 — high and low. This should be enough for beginners and indoor flying. Overall, the flight performance of the X20 is generally good and is one reason why you would want to buy one over other micro toy drones.