The Eachine Tyro 129 is a low-cost 7″ GPS drone. One hundred and twenty-nine dollars buys you a build it yourself drone kit. Before you stop reading let me tell you this was my very first start to finish drone build and it really wasn’t hard at all. It was a great way to learn more about drone components and see how they are put together. I was skeptical about the low price and the components but so far this drone has been solid for me. I even swapped out the original camera for the new RunCam Split 3 so I could capture HD footage.
Eachine Tyro 129
I have tinkered with hundreds of drones but until now I had never built one from scratch. The Tyro 129 intrigued me and I wanted to start with an easy to build kit. There is very little soldering and most of the components are plug and play. You do have to solder the motor wires to the ESC as well as the XT60 connector but after that if you can operate a screwdriver you can build this drone.
Eachine Tyro 129 components
I can’t believe that Eachine can even produce a 7″ quad for $129, let alone one with GPS. I was a bit skeptical about the components but they all spec out pretty well.
The flight controller is an F4. The ESCs are BL Heli S 40 Amp. The motors are 2507 1800 KV brushless, capable of 3-6S batteries. The GPS module is a BN-220. The VTX is switchable from 25/200/600 mW. The camera is a 1200 TVL Caddx Turbo F2. All of these are solid on the surface but likely inexpensively sourced. I used them all with the exception of the Caddx. There isn’t anything wrong with it but I had a new RunCam Split 3 laying around and I was itching to put it on a drone.
RunCam Split 3
The RunCam Split 3 is an impressive little camera. It is much better than the RunCam Split 2 and leaps and bounds better than the Caddx Turtle. It has good color and clarity coming from the FPV feed. The HD recording is also very good. Changing settings is a bit difficult but that is par for the course with these little HD camera setups. It will record in 1080p at 60 fps and records .MOV files. It isn’t as good as a GoPro or even my Foxeer Box 2 but it is still pretty solid. Keep in mind that this little HD camera is $69, or a little more than half of the cost of the Tyro 129. You can see both the FPV and HD video in our Tyro video above.
| Buy a RunCam Split 3 |
Flying the Tyro 129
Building the Eachine Tyro 129 was pretty easy as was setting it up in Betaflight. I recommend taking a look at Albert Kim’s Tyro series if you need a bit of assistance. The Tyro 129 was very smooth and easy to fly. It isn’t your 5″ freestyle quad but it was more than capable of doing some flips and rolls. It is very stable and the larger frame and props make it a good long-range quad. The GPS unit is a nice feature that you can use to help bring the quad back home if you lose orientation or signal. I tested it out and it worked surprisingly well. It isn’t exactly a return to home feature but it will bring the drone back to your general location if you activate it.
Should you buy the Tyro 129?
If you are looking for something to build without breaking the bank then the Eachine Tyro 129 is a good place to start. Keep in mind it is a rather large drone and for that reason, I wouldn’t recommend it for a true beginner. This drone is suited for someone that wants to learn how to build and wants a low-cost investment to start with.
| Buy an Eachine Tyro 129 |
Thanks for visiting Half Chrome
Make sure you check out our YouTube channel so you can stay up to date with all things drone. Whether it is an aerial photography machine from DJI or a lightning fast FPV racer we have you covered. We also use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to keep our readers and viewers up to date.
If you want to buy a drone we highly encourage you to use the links in the article above. By using them we’ll make a small commission but won’t cost you anything extra. It is how we are able to keep producing content for you. Check out our shop tab at the top for deals from Amazon, DJI, Banggood and more.
Make sure you check out some of our more popular pages like Best Drones Now, Aerial Photo Tips, Top Accessories and All Things FPV. Happy Flying.
Disclosure:
This website contains affiliate links, which means we receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links. For full details visit the disclosures and disclaimers page.