Do I Actually Use These Products l’ve Recommended to You? A Long Term Review

Hi everybody, welcome back to the channel. If this is your first time here, my name is Russ, and this is 51 Drones. In this video, I’m going to show you some of the many products that I’ve reviewed and actually used over the past eight years. I’ll let you know if they’re still something I would recommend today. I don’t think enough product reviewers do that. They Review something when a company sends it to them, then never talk about it again, so you really don’t know if it’s something that will last or if you’ll use it enough to get your money’s worth. Most of these products are related to drones, but some tie into what I do here on the channel and in my everyday life. Finally, you might want to watch all the way to the end without skipping, because in celebration of my birthday this month, I have a little surprise Giveaway for all of you.

Triple Tech Drone Tablets

The first product I want to show you is one of the most expensive and somewhat controversial drone accessories over the past five or six years, but it’s also one I’ve used extensively: the Triple Tech line of drone tablets. This company sells tablets and a phone targeted toward drone pilots. They achieve this with a super bright screen, like the Triple Tech 9 Pro, which is almost 18 months old now. It has a 1300 sustained nits screen, more than bright enough to see even on the sunniest days. A bright screen is crucial when flying drones, especially one that doesn’t dim as it heats up. I’ve actually lost a drone because I was using my iPhone on a super hot day; the phone dimmed so badly I couldn’t see where I was, and I crashed my drone into the water.

Triple Tech products are also very tough—they can handle being dropped, stepped on, even driven over, or submerged in water. They’re designed for heavy use, and a lot of motocross people and ATV enthusiasts use them. They’re great for traveling across the country when you need GPS mapping ability. They also make mounts for handlebars and such, so it’s a very useful product that can double as a phone, which is an added bonus. The downside, at least for the tablets, is their heavier weight and high price. The 9 Pro, even at a year and a half old, still costs over $1,100. The 8 Pro is quite a bit cheaper and still very capable, but that’s a lot of cash for most people. Unless you’re a hardcore daily user, it’s hard to justify the price. They do offer the Triple Tech Mini, the size of a normal smartphone, but even that is a bit pricey.

Do I still use any of my Triple Tech products? I have all of them, but the answer is no, not really. Although they’re superior to the built-in monitors on the latest DJI drone controllers like the RC and RC2, I’ve decided I don’t want more gear to carry around. I’ve had to make choices about what I carry, and this was one product I removed from my bag to save space and weight. Turn on the controller, turn on the drone, and go. Are Triple Tech products great? Yes. Good customer service? Yes. Expensive? Yes, but if your use case demands ruggedness, long battery life, and a super bright screen, the price becomes irrelevant. You buy the tool that works for you. My long-term review score for all Triple Tech products is a 7.5 out of 10. Oh, and stay away from the Triple Tech 7—that thing was a disaster.

PGY Tech One Mo Backpack

Next, this product is something I reviewed almost six years ago, and it has stood the test of time. I have so many bags, cases, and backpacks I don’t know what to do with them. I’ll probably give some away or sell some on Gear Focus, but this one rises above them all: the original One Mo backpack from PGY Tech. You can’t get this exact one anymore; they now have the One Mo 2, which is pretty much the same with a few enhancements. All PGY Tech bags are some of the best in the industry, but this one has the perfect combination of weight, pockets, durability, and comfort. I’ve raved about this bag from day one, and I’m still very happy with it now. They offer a tremendous variety of storage solutions for all kinds of content creation, so I’ll link my favorites in the video description. If you’re looking for a great bag, backpack, or case that will stand the test of time, my overall score for the PGY Tech One Mo backpack is a 9 out of 10. It’s such a good bag.

Firehouse Ark 5 Drone Beacon

Next, when it comes to flying a drone at night, at least in the United States, you must have an anti-collision beacon attached to it. Over the years, I’ve tried countless brands and models of drone beacons, and nothing comes close to the Firehouse Ark 5. Compact, simple, durable, and brilliant, its 1,000-lumen output allows this beacon to reach well beyond the FAA-required three statute miles. The battery life is great, and the price is appropriate at around $31. If you fly at night, there’s no reason to buy any other strobe. This will be the last one you ever buy unless you lose it, of course. For the Firehouse Ark 5, I give it a 10 out of 10—a perfect score. It’s such an amazing product, and every drone pilot who flies at night should have one.

Smartphone Gimbal

Next, let’s talk about something I really liked at first but now hardly use at all: a smartphone gimbal. The purpose of one is to help you get smooth, steady footage with your phone so your videos look more professional. They also have fun software features like motion hyperlapse and focus tracking, but I just don’t find myself using these anymore. However, they must still be popular somewhere because companies keep making them, and people keep buying them. I feel like it’s just another extra piece of gear I don’t want to carry around. It’s nice to have if you really need it, but most of the time, you probably won’t use it. One use case where they still have value is for Realtors who want to make their own walkthrough videos of properties—it provides enough stabilization to improve those over just carrying your phone around the house. For the average Joe, though, I think your money would be better spent on an action camera like the DJI Action 5 Pro or one of the DJI Pocket cameras, like the Pocket 3. I’m not including those in this video since it’s about products I’ve used for a while, but either would be a better investment than a smartphone gimbal. They’re inexpensive, but I’d rather see you put that money toward something you’ll use in more situations. For smartphone gimbals, I’d give them a 6 out of 10 right now because there are so many better options out there.

Freewell ND Filters

Now let’s get back to drones. What about ND Filters? Picking an ND filter for your drone is like deciding what shampoo to use—yes, that joke was intentional—but I’ll make this easy for you. When it comes to drones, you should look at nothing else besides Freewell. They own the market due to their build quality and natural color, which is their primary focus. Unlike many companies that do so many other things, they invest heavily in research and development. I’ve only used Freewell for the past four years on my drones. I’ve tried others, but I always go back to Freewell. A common question is: do you need the all-day packs? Do you have to spend that much on these 16- or 8-packs of filters? It depends on whether you fly in varied situations. Nine times out of ten, an ND8, ND16, and ND32 are all you need. The polarized ones are nice if you’re capturing city aerials or footage around water on sunny days with lots of reflections, but even then, I usually stick to a straight ND filter. I long for the day we get a drone with a built-in ND filter, but I don’t know if that’ll ever happen. For Freewell filters, I give them a 9 out of 10—they’re so good, and the price for what you get is amazing.

Kershaw Live Wire Knife

Now, here’s a quick and random one: part of my EDC—everyday carry—is my pocket knife. Why am I showing you this? Why not? Over the past year, I’ve started collecting knives. It began because I wanted a nice knife for unboxing—something YouTubers who do unboxings seem to enjoy. It’s cool to have a nice knife, and that’s all it took; for some reason, it’s really addicting, and I don’t understand why. My go-to brand has been Benchmade—I started with them and have some of their knives—but last fall, I was looking for an Out The Front knife. I didn’t feel like paying so much for a Benchmade since their Out The Fronts are pricey, like $400 to $600. A salesman at Shields showed me his knife: the Kershaw Live Wire. I think it’s the 9000 model. He showed me a YouTube video of a guy beating the crap out of his, and I was sold. I use this knife every single day, multiple times, at home, at work, unboxing packages. I’ve yet to sharpen it—it’s the best knife I own. Is it a bit spendy for an Out The Front knife? Relatively, yes, but I wanted to show it to you because people occasionally ask if I’m into EDC, and yes, I am. This is it; this is my EDC.

Samsung Evo Select Memory Cards

So what about storage, like memory cards? I’ve used SanDisk since day one, and I’ve only had one card ever fail on me—a SanDisk card. But for the past year, I’ve switched to the Samsung Evo Select for my drones, action cameras, and other devices. Right now, I’m using this aquamarine-colored one—the Evo Select. I switched because they had a huge sale one day—I don’t even remember when—and I decided to try them since the price was much better than SanDisk. The ratings were great, and I thought it’d be nice to save a few bucks. Since then, I’ve stuck with Samsung cards because they’re consistently cheaper than SanDisk, even when neither is on sale. Sometimes they’re a lot cheaper; I’ve noticed more sales on Amazon. As long as I have no issues with them, I’ll keep using them. My score for the Samsung Evo Select cards is 8.7 out of 10, and it could go higher the longer I use them.

Simic Charger and Power Source

Next, I want to show you the product I labeled my product of the year last year: this 100-watt charger and 145-watt power source from Simic. It works with an 18V Ryobi battery—I call them “RY” batteries—and it’s incredibly useful for so many things. It has an OLED screen, two USB-C ports for charging, a flashlight, and a strobe light; it looks really cool. If you own anything Ryobi, this is a great investment for your toolbox. They’ve since released a bigger version, the PSC Pro Max, a 225-watt power source that’s incredible for such a small device. It’s powerful, versatile, and portable. I can still highly recommend this product—I give it a 9 out of 10.

Favorite Drone

Finally, I want to answer one of the most frequent questions I get, and many drone YouTubers get too: what’s my favorite drone? I’ve been fortunate to fly a wide variety of drones, and narrowing it down to one is really tough. I need to mention the drone that started it all for me and so many others: the DJI Mavic Pro. It was instrumental in growing the hobby into what it is today. That said, it’s not my favorite anymore because technology has progressed so much since then. I also want to mention the Matrice 30T—it was such a fun experience. It’s a beast with thermal imaging, amazing tracking, and the ability to fly in rain or nearly any weather condition—just a really cool drone. But my favorite all-around drone is the DJI A2S. I say that because it’s the one I used for both commercial purposes and just flying for fun. Whether for real estate or capturing amazing aerial footage, I took the A2S everywhere. The image quality was awesome—it still is. The size, signal strength, everything about it made it my go-to drone.

I haven’t flown it in a while because we now have the A3S, my most-used drone currently. It’s a step above the A2S, and that medium zoom camera lens is spectacular—so good. I haven’t used the A3S as long as the A2S, so in a few months, I might shift the A2S down and call the A3S my favorite of all time. The A2S is still great, though. The problem now is that while you can find some online, the price hasn’t dropped much. For just a couple hundred more, you can get the A3S. So, if you’re looking for an awesome drone, don’t spend your money on the A2S right now unless you find a good refurbished one for around $700 or $800. Otherwise, just get the A3S. Overall, I give the A2S a 9.9 out of 10—it’s such a great drone.

Birthday Giveaway

Since you stuck around and watched the entire video, you get to hear about the giveaway, and this one’s really cool because you can hardly find it anywhere in the world. As a celebration of my birthday month, I’m giving away this brand-new DJI Neo Fly More Combo. The box is opened, but nothing has been used—I just opened it once to take a video of the drone for B-roll, then put it back. Nothing has been turned on or used. It comes with everything: the controller, three batteries, a charging bank, and all accessories—about a $420 value. One of you has a chance to win it. Here’s what you need to do to be eligible:

1. Subscribe to the channel.
2. Click on my Amazon store link in the video description. No need to buy anything, but if you want to, go ahead—it helps this channel survive.
3. Throughout this video, five numbers flashed on the screen. Send me an email with those five numbers—do not comment them below the video. Email them to the address shown on the screen. If you comment the numbers below, I’ll delete your comment.

Once this video hits 10,000 views or on February 28, 2025—whichever comes first—I’ll place every correct submission on a list and use a random comment picker to choose the winner. I’ll email the winner for their shipping address and announce them on my YouTube community tab and Instagram Stories. So, when the video reaches 10,000 views or passes February 28, 2025, the giveaway is complete. It takes a little effort on your part, but it’s a great item that’s super hard to find, and you have a chance to win. One final thing: if you want to know about any giveaways I do, I always let my channel members know ahead of time. If you’d like to become a channel member, there’s a link in the video description. Click the thumbs-up on your way out today—I appreciate that. Thanks for watching, have a great day, and as always, fly safe and fly smart.