Aerix Turbo-x Nano Drone Review and Hacking

Earlier this week I came across a site advertising a nano drone that could go 30mph and I couldn't help it. I ordered one that ended up being about $45 with shipping, a little steep but I bet the cost of these comes down.  The website is AerixDrones.com if you want to check it out.  

I just finished my first test flight and I would say this thing is a perfect indoor copter to train and practice on. I hate to say it, but this thing is cute. Also feels solid and well built. It came with an extra set of propellers but due to its size I bet this thing crashes really well. This version has 3 flight modes that just make it more responsive, I preferred the turbo-x one because it was so nimble.

There are a few things I did not like. I don't think you can swap batteries. I fly my little drones a lot and low quality lipos wear out fast - time will tell if this one lasts.
The controller is almost too small for my hands and I do not have large hands. If you have big hands, you will not like this controller. Another problem is the sticks, they are way too firm. The first thing I'm going to attempt to modify on this will be a spring removal for the controller. This guy is way too twitchy to have stiff gimbals.

Overall, this little nano Quadcopter is cool. It seems solid and it flies really well. Perfect indoor drone for learning to fly or running lego supply missions with your kids. Your cat would probably freak out on this one too. Did I miss anything? Please add it in a comment below.

Let's try and hack this thing..

While waiting for the battery to charge up, I decided to open up the controller and see if I could remove the springs on the gimbal. Getting at the gimbals was easy - just remove 4 screws. What I found was interesting - two types of gimbals. The 502F+ gimbals are the ones with springs while the 502J- do not have springs (this one is for the throttle stick). I will be contacting the manufacturer / retailer and see if they make a version of the controller without springs. I will also be checking to see what other controllers might work with this nano quad (I already checked my Hubsan x4 remote and it didn't work).

The last ditch option will be soldering in new gimbals and that would be a bit of work but it would really make it easier to fly.