Re: Has anyone purchased the Epson Moverio BT-200 Smart Glas
Lucky for me my better half said I could get this for an early Father's Day present!
**Disclaimer** I don't work for Epson or DJI but so far I love their products!
Here's my mini-review:
Bottom Line: Image is sharp and bright. Setup is pretty easy. Great that I can see the real world while also looking at my app. Sure, it was a little expensive but it's exactly what I wanted!
More details:
Nice packaging, case is pretty good and I think it will protect the glasses pretty well. The glasses are a little bit bulkier than I expected, but very lightweight and didn't feel heavy on my face or slide down my nose. Initially they claim the Android device needs up to 5 hours to fully charge.
**VERY IMPORTANT** - you don't need an Android phone or device, the Epson Moverio Smart Glasses come with an Android device already! It's about the size of an iTouch/Iphone but there is no screen, the surface acts as a touch pad and you move the cursor that way. There are a couple of buttons ("home", "back", power). It fits nicely in the Phantom controller "clamp". That same device has a slot for mini-sd card so I'm thinking I can pop the sd-card out of my phantom and watch the movies on my Glasses (haven't tested that yet). This Android device is proprietary to Epson and the glasses won't work without it. I don't think that is good/bad, just wanted to let everyone know about that part.
Pretty easy to set up - I'm an iPHONE guy so I had to figure some of the basics of Android (like how to set the timezone) and a couple of other things like that - Had to find the setting that allowed me to install non-Epson apps. Also had to figure out how to scroll (you just hold your finger down on the touchpad). It's a little cumbersome to enter passwords and such without a keyboard. Joined the wireless at my house and quickly downloaded the app from DJI.
Drove out to a nearby park with my Phantom 2 Vision. Forgot to turn off the wifi on my iPHONE so spent a few minutes figuring out why my Epson Glasses couldn't connect (DUH! -- my iphone autoconnected). Connected the android to the phantom, then started the APP. Got a little scared at first because the app was sideways on the screen but that was only for the tutorial! Once I got past the initial screens it oriented correctly
Took off into a partly cloudy, windless sky!
All I can say is: WOW
The glasses make the screen look like a 42inch flat panel screen from 6 feet away. I think it takes about 75% of the field of view. Since it was a little cloudy I didn't use the sunglass covers, just used the clear glass. The display was very bright (i was worried it would be dim). For the first time I could VERY clearly see the altitude, speed, number of satellites, etc. I could also very clearly see everything around me. I did notice that if I was looking in a direction with a dark background (a bunch of trees) it made the screen even better. If I looked straight up into the sky it was still ok. A little strange when my phantom was looking at the sky while I was looking up at my phantom but very cool! It took a little getting used to when I was looking at my APP, then looking at the actual Phantom - worked best for me to just keep my head still in the general direction of the phantom! Force of habit kept me looking down at my controller but I'm sure that will pass!
Some little/minor things:
1. The case isn't quite big enough to fit the charger and mini-usb cable.
2. I didn't connect the headphones (which came with the unit) so when I got to 25% battery I obviously didn't hear a warning. The screen blinked and stuff turned red and everything so it wasn't a big deal, but I'm not sure I will wear the headphones just for that.
3. Looks like it won't charge just from a USB port (maybe it trickle charges but the light didn't blink)
4. Can't get to google play yet (note inside said "coming soon) - but that's ok, I got these for my phantom FPV not other stuff
5. These do look a little geeky - I would suggest wearing a baseball cap to take a little attention away from the glasses!
Some things I want to learn about:
There's a camera built into the glasses, hoping to one day record my flights from both glasses and phantom!
Would like to figure out how to capture DJI App screen as I fly (so I can have the telemetry data)
Can I take the SD-card out of the phantom and play movies directly on the android?
Should you buy them?
Of course that depends on your situation, but I've got to say that as of right now i'm extremely satisfied and I'm betting if you actually got a chance to see them in action you would dig through your couch, your neighbors couch, your in-laws couch and everyone else until you found enough money. Just think, no more having to shade your display, no more squinting to see everything on your smartphone or balancing a bulky tablet on your controller! TIP: If you go the Epson site and join them they might send you a 10% coupon (that helps a lot and it worked for me)
Also - I don't recommend buying them from EBAY now - Epson has them in stock and you're guaranteed a new product with a full warranty. The ones I saw on EBAY were more expensive than from Epson anyhow.
I'm off to the mountains for the weekend (with my phantom) so won't be on the forums until next week, but feel free to PM or Post questions and I'll try to answer them.