It sounds like the PID settings are not dailed in well at all. Also it might be worth double checking that your ESC’s are all calibrated correctly too.
However your quad behavior makes me think your P gain is set way to low, so you should try to increase that to see fi that helps. However did you use the default PID gains as they are usually good enough for most quadcopters.
This video is useful as it shows the various effects of poor PID gains
- 0:00 To low P-Gain: hard to control, easy to overcorrect
- 0:45 Correct P-Gain: easy to control and fly
- 1:19 Too high P-Gain: Oscillates rapidly. Gains height easily. Hard to control height. Oscillating sound from motors.
- 1: 47 Too high I-Gain: Same as with too high P-Gain, but oscillates with a lower frequency.
- 2:06 Single axis tuning on a string; Setup: Set yaw PI-gain to zero and Roll/Pitch I-gain to zero
- 2:19 P-gain too low: Slow and imprecise stick response. Easy to turn by hand.
- 3:08 Increased P-gain: Sharper stick response. Harder to turn by hand
- 4:05 Good P-gain: Sharp stick response. Slight oscillations when releasing the stick. Hard to turn by hand
- 5:02 Too high P-gain: Oscillates rapidly. Oscillating sound from motors
- 5:36 Good P-gain, too low I-gain: Moves back to center when stick is released due to gravity. Easy to move by hand over long time
- 6:12 Good P-gain, good I-gain: Stays in position when stick is released. Very hard to move by hand over long time
- 6:55 Good P-gain, too high I-gain: Oscillates, but with a lower frequency than with too high P-gain