It's hard to single-handedly kickstart an industry, only to watch competitors soar past. Back in 2010, Parrot's AR.Drone quad-copters all but owned the skies. Today, smarter, faster fliers from the likes of DJI and 3DRobotics have clipped Parrot's wings.

WIRED: Gorgeous race car design; Nose-cam captures high-def footage; Feels very sturdy compared with previous Parrots; Control app provides an abundance of flight-tweak options; Blade guards clip on and off with ease; Comes with two batteries

Requires a smartphone or tablet; Nose-cam footage has white-balance issues; Flight controls imprecise unless you add pricey joystick controller-and it's not sold separately; Short flight times; No follow-me or flight-plan options

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly The Good It is slightly cheaper than the DJI phantom and is made of better material. It handled crashes while I was learning to fly. If you are an experienced flyer then I see little reason to purchase this instead of a DJI Phantom.

Horrible GPS and company support

The good. The stability of footage is brilliant, return to home works well 99% of the time, and range can be impressive as long as you stay away from interference The bad This is my fourth drone as all the others have had video quality issues, being blurry and grainy in all lights.

I've always wanted a remote control airplane, but was frightened I'd destroy it within seconds before I'd even learnt how to fly it properly. After owning a Rolling Spider, I decided to try something a little larger.

The Bebop Drone is an extraordinary quadcopter. It's video stabilisation and quality are are amazing with its 1080p 14 mega pixel camera. The fish eye lens enables you to view a 180-degree scenery.

nicedrone for beginners

Amazing product, just needs to be on sale to afford it.

Parrot helped make drones popular, building quadcopters such as the AR.Drone, which introduced many people to the joys of flying quadcopters with attached video cameras. The new Bebop brings the fun to an audience that's more used to a touch screen than a joystick.

Phone/tablet control system familiar to non-fliers; Easy to get started; Strong image; video quality; Parts cheap; widely available

Touch-screen controls lack sensitivity; Short battery life; Long recharging time

To fly the Bebop you need an Android or iOS device and Parrot's free FreeFlight 3 app, which talks directly to the drone's own Wi-Fi connection. Connecting it is just a case of turning it on, selecting the Bebop from your phone or tablet's Wi-Fi menu and firing up the app.

Great fun once you've got used to the controls; Attention-grabbing flips and rolls; Capable of capturing some really fun footage

GPS isn't as accurate as it should be; Struggles a bit in windy weather; Camera is only smartphone-quality; Small storage and short battery life

The Parrot Bebop Drone gets points for being a compact, durable, easy-to-use quadcopter for capturing good video and photos. Battery life, performance and overall value make it tough to flat-out recommend, though.

The Parrot Bebop Drone is small and lightweight for its capabilities; It's relatively tough, but also user repairable if it breaks; It can be piloted with a smartphone or tablet as well as the optional Skycontroller

The large Skycontroller adds $400 if purchased with the Bebop or runs $500 when purchased separately; While its size and weight make it nice to travel with, it doesn't handle wind well, and its small batteries tap out in less than 11 minutes