When comparing Airborne Night Maclane vs Parrot Rolling Spider, the Slant community recommends Airborne Night Maclane for most people. In the question“What are the best drones for kids?” Airborne Night Maclane is ranked 1st while Parrot Rolling Spider is ranked 2nd. The most important reason people chose Airborne Night Maclane is:
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).
Specs
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Pros
Pro Automatic landing
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).
Pro Easy to learn
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.
Pro On-board lights
The Night model has two LEDs on the front of it which can be adjusted to different intensities. They also have flash and strobe modes.
Pro Removable guard
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.
Pro Different control modes
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.
Pro Easy to fly
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.
Pro Stable flight
The out-of-the-box flight can be a bit rocky, but you can calibrate the Rolling Spider to achieve very steady flight for a drone its size.
Pro Removable wheels
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.
Cons
Con Poor camera quality
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.
Con Short flight time
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.
Con Poor camera quality
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.
Con No power button
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.
Con Short flight times
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).