The Yuneec Typhoon Wizard ($199.99) represents a great idea that can use a bit more refinement. It's a small remote controller for Yuneec drones, not much larger than a television remote control. It's perfect for those times when you want your drone to follow you around, but we don't recommend it as a full-on replacement for the large ST10+ controller that ships with Q500 models. Its range is a bit too limited, and there's no way to view telemetry data.

Design
In addition to the Q500 drones, the Wizard can also be used with other models controlled via the ST-10+, including the Blade Chroma with CGO3 4K Camera. It fits comfortably in the hand, measuring just 5.5 by 1.5 by 1 inches (HWD) and weighing in at just 2.5 ounces. It has a belt clip built into its design, and ships with a waterproof pouch that will keep it safe when you're on your surfboard, but don't take it snorkeling: If the remote is submerged it will lose connection with the drone, and the pouch is designed to survive splashes and short submersions only.

There are only a few buttons on the remote. Power turns it on and off, Start/Stop controls the drone engines, there are two buttons for gimbal control (one to raise it, one to lower it), and a four-way directional pad to fly the aircraft, with the Magic Button at its center (more on that later). A toggle switch on the side changes between Smart, Angle, and Home flying modes.

Three indicator lights run along the top. The left shows the aircraft mode, the middle shows GPS lock, and the right shows the aircraft mode. The aircraft mode can be set to Watch Me (green), Follow Me (yellow), Angle (purple), Home (red), and Point to Fly (blue). If the Wizard has a GPS lock the middle light shows green—don't use it without a GPS lock.

The right LED shows aircraft status. When it's off it means the Q500 has lost its GPS lock, and when it's red it means the remote isn't communicating with the Q500; you don't want to see either of those. A solid green light shows that the drone is operating properly and has a full battery; the green light blinks once per second when the battery drops to 50 percent and once every two seconds when the battery drops to 25 percent. If the drone battery is critically low, the LED will quickly blink red and the Wizard will vibrate. If you're currently in an FAA No-Fly Zone, the status LED will blink red, green, and then blue in a cycle—so don't take off when that is happening.

The remote's battery can't be removed, but is rechargeable via a standard micro USB connection—a cable is included. Yuneec rates its battery for 3.5 hours of active use.