One of my personal favorite camera drone to fly around is the Ruko U11 GPS drone. It is a budget-friendly camera drone being sold at an affordable price tag. Whether you are a beginner or experienced remote pilot looking to upgrade your drone, the Ruko U11 GPS drone definitely comes into the play.
If you are a big fan of flying a drone that is smart enough to perform autonomous decisions such as maintaining stability and doing some fun intelligent flight routes. Popular drones like the HS720E GPS drone and Ruko U11 GPS drone is what everyone is checking out right now.
Ruko is a relatively new drone manufacturer, but they have been steadily earning reputation for best product quality and superb customer service. The Ruko U11 GPS is the brand’s latest and most smart camera drone designed for beginners and recreational remote pilots. Let’s check out why we recommend this camera drone.
Features and Technical Specifications
In this part of our in-depth Ruko U11 GPS drone review, I am going to talk about features and technical specifications. This camera drone comes with built-in 4K UHD camera, foldable motor arms and a powerful battery for long flight time. But keep it in your mind that these are barely scratching the surface. We will dive deeper to find out what the Ruko U11 GPS drone has to offer that stands it out the most from its competitors.
Build and Design Quality
The Ruko U11 GPS drone is made with durable ABS plastic, which features thick shell for additional layer of protection against rough impacts and crashes. If you are flying the drone for the first time, you will likely crash the drone a few times before you get the basics of flight controls. The durable airframe is resilient and doesn’t break apart that easily, making the Ruko U11 a beginner-friendly drone.
Each motor arms is foldable that can be folded inwards to make it easy enough to store inside your backpack or a travel case. Whenever you want to fly the Ruko U11 GPS drone, simply unfold the motor arms and power the drone on. In folded mode, the drone has a total size dimension of 5.9 x 6.49 x 2.36 inches. When unfolded, the size dimension extends to 9.25 x 7.68 x 2.36 inches.
The Ruko U11 GPS drone features foldable propellers which certainly adds a nice touch to the portable and compact theme. Plus, these propellers use quick-release technology. That means you do not need to use screws or a screwdriver to replace and install the propellers. You will only need to use your fingers and apply pressure to the propellers. Then twist and replace with a new set of propellers if the old one gets damaged.
These propellers are mounted on brushless motors that generates high revolution per minute (RPM). Because these brushless motors revolts on friction-less magnetic field that ensures smoother flight performance and higher maximum flight speed compared to brushed motors generally found in toy-grade drones.
The battery is located in back and provides up to 20 minutes of flight time. In the package comes with two batteries which gives you a total flight time of 40 minutes. In the front, this drone is mounted with a 4K UHD camera on an 1-axis gimbal stabilizer.
One of the main design advantage that the Ruko U11 GPS drone comes with modern, compact and sleek appearance. To power on the drone, you need to push and hold the power button for a few seconds. Afterwards, the LED lights will activate in flashing state. Once you turn on the remote controller and establish connection with drone, the LED lights will turn sold that indicates it is ready to fly.
Flight Time
The Ruko U11 GPS drone comes with two 7.4V 1,200mAh batteries. A single charged battery will provide up to 20 minutes of flight time. With two batteries, the Ruko U11 GPS drone can fly for a total 40 minutes. I recommend purchasing two more batteries to increase your total flight time to just a bit over 1 hour and 20 minutes for this camera drone. It takes around 2 to 3 hours to fully recharge a single Ruko U11 battery.
Flight Range
The Ruko U11 GPS drone maximum transmission range is 500 meters, or 1,640 feet. Although, if you do plan to fly this drone in First Person View (FPV) mode, the maximum transmission range is roughly 250 meters or 820 feet. Going further than the FPV maximum transmission range will result in poor image signal quality, which is completely normal for all drones.
Flight Speed
The Ruko U11 GPS maximum flight speed is 26.8 miles per hour. Thanks to combination of brushless motors, modularized battery that delivers optimized power for efficiency, and array of smart system that keeps the drone balanced throughout the flight mission.
Camera Quality
This drone comes with a camera mounted on an 1-axis gimbal stabilizer. It uses shock absorption technology to minimize amount of vibration for a smoother footage quality. Additionally, the camera drone uses Electronic Imaging Stabilization (EIS) to automatically integrate multiple photos to deliver sharp and precise still quality.
The Ruko U11 GPS drone is capable of capturing stills in 3840 x 2160 resolution pixel quality. Furthermore, it can record videos in 2048 x 1152 resolution pixel quality at 30 frames per second. The level of details and color quality is great.
In order to store videos and stills, I recommend purchasing a 32GB microSD card to go with this camera drone. That memory card has plenty of space for you to capture multiple stills and record videos on the go. If you need additional memory space, getting two 32GB microSD cards isn’t a bad idea either.
Flight Functions
The Ruko U11 is a great drone, but it is also one of the most safe and smart quadcopter. In fact, it comes with ton flight functions ranging from intelligent flight modes to smart return to home to emergency landing. This camera drone has pretty much everything you would find from both low and high-priced drones.
Integrated GPS Module
One of the most important feature that the Ruko U11 drone comes with is integrated GPS module. This module makes up most of the drone’s flight functions. Everything from maintain stability to performing autonomous flight modes is done thanks to built-in GPS module. In addition to that, it gives drone the remote capabilities to adjust camera with the remote controller.
Intelligent Flight Modes
As stated above, these intelligent flight modes give you the option to get creative with the Ruko U11 GPS drone. Select one of these flight modes and the drone will start flying on a preset route. Below is list of intelligent flight modes that the drone can do:
- Orbit Mode
- Follow Me Mode
- Tap Fly Mode
- Gesture Mode
- Customize Waypoint Mode
One-Key Landing / Takeoff
The Ruko U11 GPS drone takes the whole flight experience to the next level thanks to one-key landing / takeoff function. This key feature enables you to launch the drone with a push of button, and when you are done flying, push the button again to land. The drone will perform autonomously and turn the motors off once it landed.
Ultrasonic Positioning
Unlike these premium drones which usually have built-in obstacle avoidance sensors, the Ruko U11 drone uses ultrasonic sensors (which is located underneath) that detects objects below it. Ultrasonic positioning helps the drone perform safe and gentle landing which protecting against rough impact on the ground.
Optical Flow Positioning
Another major flight function is the optical flow positioning. This feature balances out the internal air pressure in the drone. That helps keep the drone stabilization steady in times when there is limited GPS signal reception. The optical flow positioning ensures you still have smooth and fun flight experience with the Ruko U11 GPS drone.
Smart Return to Home
If you ever lose sight of this drone. Don’t fret too much because the drone is equipped with built-in GPS module. Which means you can recall the drone. This smart return to home function will command the drone to fly several meters upward and fly back to the home point in a direct line. Upon reaching the home point, the drone will land.
Out of Range & Low Power Alarm
One of the biggest reasons why Ruko U11 GPS drone owners like this quadcopter a lot is because it comes with built-in safety flight function. If the drone reaches maximum range, the remote controller will both make vibration and beeping noise to notify you. The same thing is true for low drone battery that informs you the drone will need to land soon.
Speed Mode
By default, the Ruko U11 GPS drone will be set at slow speed setting. This gives a learning rope for beginner and new drone pilots to master the basics of flight controls. Once you feel comfortable enough to fly the drone, you can adjust the speed mode to challenge and develop your pilot skill. The speed mode gives this drone maximum flexibility for flying indoor and outdoor.
Feedback from the Customers
The Ruko U11 is my third drone I have purchased from the company, with the first one for my friend and the other two for myself. I am very pleased with the quality and performance that this drone has to offer. This bird seems to have more features than other drones I bought at similar price tag. (Michael K.)
Right out of the box, this drone is very easy to work with. The flight controls is smooth, easy to understand and uses the same functions all across their models. The battery recharges quickly and the drone comes with an updated port to USB C, which is really nice. The Ruko drone app is simple and easy to use. Great drone for a beginner like me! (David C.)
Overall, the Ruko U11 GPS drone is easy to set up and use. It didn’t take that long to download the Ruko app and the instructions were clear, easy to follow. Prior to flying the drone, the calibration process was simple and straightforward. The Ruko U11 GPS drone isn’t loud and flies gracefully. (Phil M.)
I bought this drone because it went easy on my wallet, and I have to say I am impressed with the quality, performance and features it has to offer. My only caveats with the Ruko U11 GPS drone is the battery draining a bit fast and being swayed by winds at roughly 5 miles per hour. Granted, this drone is meant to be a budget-friendly choice. (Nakheel S.)
After I looked at several drones, I decided to go with the Ruko U11, and boy I am happy I made the right choice. This drone has everything I am looking for in a drone. At first flight, I fell in love with this drone. I am having so much fun flying this drone everywhere I go. (Treavor T.)
Pros and Cons
Even though there’s a lot drone owners saying Ruko U11 GPS quadcopter is the perfect entry-level camera drone for beginners and recreational remote pilots. There’s definitely more pros than cons. If you are checking out drones, you will want to see both pros and cons to take into factor before you buy one.
Who should buy Ruko U11 GPS drone?
One of the biggest reason why you should buy the Ruko U11 GPS drone is simply because it is a beginner-friendly quadcopter. Ton of drone owners rave about how easy it is to fly this camera drone. The learning curve is fast and simple.
It also comes with instructions manual that is clear and easy to follow. In matter of minutes you will see yourself flying the Ruko U11 GPS drone. This drone can capture 4K UHD stills and 2K HD videos at 30 FPS, which is the perfect settings for anyone who wants to learn aerial photography.
Plus, it got a good flight time per battery and plenty of range to soar around. Whether you are looking for a starter drone or to upgrade, the Ruko U11 GPS got some serious firepower and plenty of features to keep you entertained for hours.
Conclusion and Recommendations
To wrap this up, the Ruko U11 GPS is a great budget-friendly flycam drone for anyone. It is stable, easy to fly, precise, fast, and comes with a lot of flight functions. Not to forget to mention that it is also smart enough to fly certain flight routes on its own.
So if you are looking for a great quality camera drone to start flying. Then you need to get this mid-size bird. Before you fly the Ruko U11 GPS drone, make sure you read the user manual and watch the video below to familiarize yourself with the remote controller.
Don’t forget to pick up a couple extra batteries and a 32GB microSD card to go with this camera drone. Let us know in the comment section below if you have any questions about the Ruko U11 GPS drone. Happy flying and fly smart!