With no input, the Rolling Spider will hover. This means that if you find yourself in a tricky situation, just let go of all the controls and the drone will attempt to steady itself. It also takes off on its own - all you need to do it hit the 'take off' button on your smartphone.
There is no video mode - the camera can only capture still images. The resolution of the pictures is only 640x480 and the quality isn't the best. The camera faces straight down, and it can get about 30 feet (10 meters) away from your phone.
The only way to turn on the drone is by plugging it in, then unplugging it. That means that if you want to take it out of the house, you'll need to bring a laptop or portable charger to plug it into for a few seconds just to activate it.
The wheels mostly are the to protect the propeller blades, but you can also use them to climb walls, or crawl along the ceiling. Replacement wheels are available for $10.
Not only does the battery take a long time to charge (90 minutes), it can only achieve a flight time of 5-8 minutes (8 minutes in ideal flying conditions).
At 9% battery life, you will get an alert that the battery is getting low. At 4%, the drone will automatically land itself wherever it is. At the 9% mark, you should start moving towards a safe landing area (away from trees and water).
To launch it, you can just toss it up in the air and the motors will jump into action. It can also perform full front-flips and back-flips while flying simply by pressing a button.
The guard that protects the blades when indoors can be removed to provide more maneuverability. Removing the guard also removes some weight, adding some extra time to the battery life. The guard is suggested for indoor use, as it protects the blades from damage when you inevitably run it into a wall.
You can control the drone by choosing one of the 3 modes: joypad, normal, and ace. Joypad uses two on-screen sticks - left is for altitude and right is for direction. Normal and ace modes use the accelerometer of your phone - tilting your phone will move the drone. Ace mode allows for more complex aerobatics such as steep turns.
The camera is mounted on the bottom, and aims straight down. It doesn't take video, and stills are only captured at 640x480 resolution. Because the LEDs are on the font, they don't help illuminate objects that are seen by the camera. Taking selfies can be uncomfortable and unflattering - you will be looking straight up.
This drone can fly for 9 minutes under ideal situations before it needs recharging. In real-world use, expect 7 minutes outdoors with the guard removed and very little wind.