The Year in Photos : 2018

2018 saw us break records for both article readership and commenting, thanks for getting involved! Lets take a quick look back through our extensive archive of images to bring you 2018 : Our year in photos.

January

New year, new drones. DJI dropped the Mavic Air, the younger brother of the Mavic Pro. We had it for all of five minutes before we pulled it apart to find out how they had put it together. It was a busy month for our engineers who were also busy pulling apart the DJI Goggles : Racing edition to find out how DJI had managed to get two large high-resolution displays into such a compact package (spoiler : they used mirrors).

February

Mobile gaming is big business these days and the few casual gamers in the office were eager to get their hands on some proper controllers for their smartphones and tablets. Gamevice provided us with some clamping controllers that fit the bill and could also be used to fly last years DJI Spark drone. We continued our crawler coverage, showing that you can have fun on a budget thanks to the FTX Outback 2 Ranger. Many of our customers are first-time RC car buyers. To them the world of fast charging, balancing and storing batteries can be mystifying. As such we put together a primer for beginners with our remote control car battery guide.

March

We spent much of March dodging the weather, with some serious snowfall despite it nearly being Spring. Thankfully Ryze's palm-sized Tello was released, perfect for flying around the office! This was probably the most technologically advanced 'starter' drone we've ever had the pleasure of flying. Gesture flight controls and a decent WiFi downlink were tech previously reserved for drones three times this price!

April

Quality smartphone cameras are very much in demand, with manufacturers spending millions in R&D every year to meet the markets apparently insatiable desire for 'the best camera'. Following competition from other stabiliser firms, DJI stepped in to offer a revised version of its Osmo mobile. The new unit was lighter with better stamina, but crucially also cheaper than many of the competitors. We loved its standout feature, the hyperlapse, which you have probably seen everywhere on instagram by now.

May

With the summer finally arriving, we hit the pump track with the Traxxas Unlimited Desert Racer. This beast was a 6S 4WD truggy that was by far our favourite RC Car of the year. Since we are lacking deserts in the south east of England, we headed to the beach to tear around on the sand. We loved the detailed tube chassis design and the fantastic suspension setup the truck comes with, right out of the box.

June

Over the summer whilst were out-and-about playing with our toys, the one indispensable product we had was the Omnicharge Omni 20. This intelligent powerpack enabled us to continue flying/filming/working wherever we were. Its ability to charge not only USB devices but provide an AC outlet, allowed us to charge drone batteries or even run a cooling fan. Alongside that we had it powering laptops via the DC outlets and even charged the Omni20 itself from our car whilst driving between locations!

July

Expanding our selection of retro gaming products, we came across the excellent Tiny Arcade cabinets. These minuscule boxes are fully-functional recreations of the classic machines from our childhood. Whilst they lack the longevity of say a mini-NES, they are a fraction of the price, making for a great desk ornament that is always a conversation starter.

August

Branching out from RC for a bit, we got hold of the Mi Electric scooter. This is the retail version of the popular electric scooter used in ride-shares all around the world.   The folding design made it perfect for keeping under the bed, or in the boot of the car. It quickly became our favourite method of transport around town and along the seafront. With a headlight, bell and mechanical brake it was fun but also safe to ride for passengers of all ages. Our article went into depth looking at how to get the best out of your scooter from charging to tyre pressures.  

September

DJI's announcement of the Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom had us on the edge of our seats. Thankfully (And unlike last time) we didn't have to wait long to get our hands on one. Our team of pilots put together a great 'expert review' sharing their experiences with the drone, as apposed to just regurgitating the spec's like many others. The new drones were a fantastic evolution from the original Mavic Pro although. However Following years of requests for a drone that could zoom in, we were surprised that the Hassleblad 'equipped' Mavic 2 Pro appeared the more popular purchase. Our technicians also took a deeper look into the drone to see how easily the camera/gimbal units could be swapped across, alongside general investigation into the viability of repair work. TLDR it can be swapped out in around 20 minutes with only a few tools. You can catch the full Mavic 2 Pro teardown here. Combining the Mavic 2 Zoom with the DJI goggles made for a fantastic experience. Allowing complete novices to operate the camera gimbal intuitively. [video width="1280" height="720" webm="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0263/8469/5395/files/mavic-2-gimbal-extents.webm"][/video] The head tracking allows you to pan and tilt the camera at the same time, something that was complex on previous drones. We reckon this could be the future for aerial inspections and had some fun playing with it.

October

Adding to our gadget line, we reviewed the Roborock 2 Mi Robot Vacuum. Whilst you have heard of Roomba, you may not have experienced Xiaomi's excellent model. We put it through its paces, configuring it for scheduled cleaning and even voice activated cleaning when paired with an Amazon Alexa. Also, following a surge in electric scooter popularity, we took a look at the accessories available to improve the experience.

November

Preparing for Christmas, we took some of Arrma RC cars for a spin to see how they held up against the competitors. We were big fans of the Senton short course truck , especially the heavily 'hopped-up' 6S BLX brushless edition that is capable of over 60mph with the right pinion and batteries! We also had a play with some new retro-gaming controllers from 8BitDo. These wireless pads were very popular in the office, particularly for those who play casual games on their smartphones whilst commuting. Updates were made to our annual buying guides so if you are ever looking for gift ideas check out our drone gift buying guide or our rc car gift buying guide.

December

We closed out the year with two of our favourite articles, first up DJI Goggles – HD First person view for RC Cars. We installed the Ocusync air unit on two of our favourite vehicles back in the autumn and used the Googles Racing edition to assist in piloting them! Finally we got our hands on the latest gimbal from DJI, the Osmo Pocket. This tiny camera is set to change the way people vlog and capture holiday footage for sure.

Happy New Year!

From an expanding range of RC cars, to the Phantom 5; There is plenty on the horizon for us in 2019. If there is anything in particular you would like us to look into, leave us a comment below! Finally, from everyone at RCGeeks, thanks for reading and have a great new year!