OK, I've seen people talk about all these quadcopter and state something like "micro quad" and "mini quad" or full size quadcopter. But there never seems to be a general consensus on what each "class" covers...
Well, I'm gunna state what I think is a good general rule to cover what each is, at least what makes sense to me... Again, this is very general and there are models that kinda float in-between or have features that usually are in another class.
"NANO-MICRO QUAD"
These are the smallest of the small, mainly lead in the market by the Cheerson CX 10 and the Estes ProtoX.. and a bunch of knock offs from Syma, JJRC and others. These things are tiny, very tiny!! Don't fly around the table at dinner time as these things can fall right inside the average water glass.
If you put 3 of your fingers together they are wider than these things are. FUN!! Pretty much for indoor flight though you can take them outside in low wind. Usually have built in batteries as the extra material to make a battery door, cabling, and plug ends would add too much weight. Most are direct drive propellers that push onto the brushed motor's drive shaft. Most have a very tiny transmitter that are smaller than the Xbox/playstation game pads many people are familiar with.
"MINI QUAD"
These are the little palm size class of quadcopter with the Walker Ladybird being the original market holder but in the last few years seemly dominated by the Hubsan X4 107, lot's of knock off and varieties like the Syma X11, JJRC 1000 and the "Top Selling X6" (yes that is the name of the thing) as well as at least a dozen others. Most are a bit on the "sporty" flight style flying rather quickly. These mostly are a good indoor/outdoor dual use quad as they are small enough to actually fly around in a room but big enough and powerful enough to fight a gentle wind easily. Generally having a game pad style transmitter (pretty much look just like an Xbox or Playstation game pad) all have removable "slip in" single cell batteries that very in size and power and are lipo and of the 3.7volt variety. Most are direct drive like the micro quads and have press on props direct to the brushed motor drive shaft, (only exception I know of is the Syma X11 which is gear driven with screw on props). Many models can come with video cameras built into the bodies, both in SD and HD for a little "home movie" fun. There are a few First Person View quads in the class, but image quality is generally low SD and the equipment is kinda heavy for these small of copters.
"MID-SIZED QUAD"
These are the larger, mostly still in the "toy grade" of quadcopter generally around 12" (30 centimeters or so) square. Market is highly dominated by the Syma X5 with many down right copy cats of the looks. There are an abundance of others also in the last year or so like the JJRC X8 and many of the "department store" models out there. Many have cameras in little external cases. Not as "spunky' as those in the smaller classes do to their larger size and gear drive. This size is the mixing point between the toy grade brushed motors and the much higher quality, brushless motors. Most of the popular "Racing 250/350" First Person View (FPV) are in this size class and are mostly the starting point for custom built units. This is also the size things like GPS and high end electronics start coming really into play.
"FULL SIZED"
These used to be dominated by the $1000 and above Pro-sumer and professional grade DJI and Walker quadcopter, but in the last year there are a bunch of toy grade, around $100, models as well as a decent drop in the Pro-sumer grade models pricing. The new Syma X8 and the new Tarantula X6 are full sized quadcopter that are still in the toy grade for pricing and equipment but are really nice pushing almost into the prosumer grade, though not quite. These still have Brushed motors on the toy grade but the size is pretty much dominated by the brushless motor as you need it for real reliability lifting the weight. Full sized are generally setup to lift fancy, higher end camera equipment and fly longer and often times in the professional arena, are pre-programable to fly a pattern set with GPS software with little or no input from the controller after lift off. This class of quad is what the FAA is most concerned about as they have the power and range to get into the lower air traffic space.
"LARGE QUAD/DRONE"
Usually military grade carrying munitions like big guns, lasers, missiles or all the above. If you see one flying over you? you should probably hide!!
