Ruko F11 MINI Drone review – small size, but not for beginners

REVIEW – Have you ever watched a YouTube channel where they do this cool zooming out video with a drone? You know, the one where they start close up, then fly the drone up and out until there’s this huge panorama shot of where they are. I want to do that. Not because I’m a YouTuber—I’m not—but because my wife and I go hiking a lot, and I think it would be cool to have some videos of the places we’ve visited. I’ve been looking for a good drone to help me out, one that is easy to control (since I’m not very experienced) and is lightweight (since I’ll have to haul it wherever we go hiking). I’m hoping that the Ruko F11 MINI will be the drone that I am looking for!

What is it?

The Ruko F11 MINI is the smallest drone in Ruko’s line of F11 drones. It has 60 minutes of flight time (spread over two batteries), is controlled via a remote controller and an app on the phone, and has built-in 5 GHz WiFi. It can take 4k photos and shoot 2.7k video at 25 fps. The F11 MINI is targeted at beginners. Ruko is a Chinese company whose motto is “every day with you.”

What’s in the box?

Ruko F11 Mini Drone

Remote controller
2 batteries
2 USB cables
Shoulder bag
8 spare propellers (a full set)
10 spare screws
4 spare screw covers for the propellers
Documentation (quick start guide, user manual, disclaimer & safety guidelines)
Guide card

Note: The user manual says that it includes a small screwdriver that can be used to replace the blades, but this was missing. Any very small Phillips screwdriver should work.

Hardware specs

Photo resolution: 4K (4096 x 3072) as JPG
Video resolution: 2.7K (2688 x 1512) at 25 FPS as MP4
Card: Micro SD, max size is 128 GB, formatted as FAT32
Battery type: 2100 mAh lithium
Battery life: 30 minutes each
Battery charge time: 3.5 hours each
Dimensions: 12 x 10 x 2 inches (when fully extended)
Weight: 8.6 oz
Max Control Range: 1640 feet
Transmitter: 2.4 GHz
Motor: 1503 brushless motor
Speed: Low is 11.5 feet/second; high is 23 feet/second
Wind resistance: Class 4

Note that a micro SD card is not included.

Design and features

The body of the Ruko F11 MINI looks like a small, squat, rectangular, grey box with a camera peeking out one end and a battery inserted into the other.

ruko-f11mini-drone

It has four arms that jut out at obtuse angles from the body, each with a pair of propellers on top and a small light on the bottom.

ruko-drone-f11mini

The Ruko logo is on top, small rubber pads are on the bottom for landing, and a slot is marked on one side for the microSD card. It’s not a beautiful design, but it is both practical and typical for entry-level drones.

Installation and setup

f11mini-drone

MINI is an apt name for this little drone. I didn’t appreciate how small it would be until I pulled it from the case. I removed the packaging and found that the Ruko F11 MINI drone comes already assembled; no need to add arms or propellers. There were, however, three things that I needed to do.