Beta Fpv is where I started this hobby.

Alt and pos hold is actually insane in a rtf kit! Betafpv did a great job at designing this, thanks for your opinion JB!

proprietary batteries = bad imo

Got this kit for my son outgrew it within a month. Vtx failed and had issues with it so we just got him a meteor 75. Loves the meteor way more.

This might have the same flaw as the Cetus Pro. It works great for the first week, then breaks. We'll see, would like you to come back to it after flying it for a couple of weeks. I had the BetaFPV Cetus pro, it worked amazing for the few first flights, then just stopped working. BetaFPV has good ideas, but very bad quality control, and customer support is basically non-existent. They pay a lot of money to other KZfaqrs to review and say good things about their products before testing them for some time. Never buying from them again, and would suggest doing the same.

Your warning was my experience with betafpv, got the meteor 75pro cause the mobula was out of stock. I really liked the build quality, motors were super smooth and the air frame was just amazing. After 30 packs I had my first crash, which I would normally consider a minor one, but my FC got damaged. I heard many similar stories on reddit, while some said their meteors are tanks and just keep going. It's really sad, I wanted to like their stuff so much. The meteor included the same small charger you got and even 2 batteries.

As someone who is about to start buying equipment to get into the hobby, I don't think I'm going to go with a kit like this. Instead of $250 to $300 for something that isn't especially good and that I'll likely outgrow quickly, I can spend $150 on a good transmitter, get some good hours in a sim and then invest in a much better drone like the Meteor 75 and goggles I'll actually keep like the Fat Shark Dominator HD or Recon. You're right, some people really just wanna get it all at once and jump right in, but I don't have a large amount of money to throw at my hobbies and I'd rather not drop $300 on something I'm just not going to want to use a few months later. It'll just end up taking up space in my office or much worse, a landfill. Better to save up for good goggles and a drone while I get sim time on a transmitter I'm going to keep for future use, like the Radiomaster Boxer or Jumper T14.

All in 1 , ready to fly 🕊️

This was my first drone, seemed easy enough, more batteries, better charger are needed, wish it was lighter or more powerful.

Excellent review. Thanks for doing it.

The experience you described at the beginning is my first experience with a RTF kit, the GEPRC tinygo which was the one to fly a few years ago. Buy the time I got around to fixing it 3 years later I realized I was just going to have to learn to build my own. This is several orders of magnitude better.

Excellent review, Thank you..... Greetings from Colombia.

Fantastic flying and review, Joshua!!! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

JB the alt hold is good - the quad is flying at a constant altitude - it's the ground underneath the drone that is changing elevation.

Had an aquila 16 BNF for a while now, just done indoor flying with it but it's an awesome little thing.

This was my first one. Got hooked up on FPV with it and we spent a lot of good time together. When I reached the wall with the freestyle performance I switched to Quadmula DJIN25. Now I am looking at Pavo25 V2 since I lack this kind of a whoop in my backpack and most certainly need a spare at hand :P

As a FPV beginner myself I bought this thing and i have to say that it's not bad, but also not amazing. The drone itself is really what's holding this back. I started out in the SIM and already did train for like 8 hours and the controller is perfect for that! It's really good to hold without loosing grip and you don't have to have a strap around your neck, which i do have to do with my regular drones and i hate it. The Goggles are okay'ish, you can record your flights, the channelfunction is actually pretty simple if you get used to it and the headstrap is also doing a "okay" job. The drone itself is, as you said Josh, kinda good in the "easyentrymodes", but it absolutely falls apart in acro. The poweroutput is very limited and it starts vibrating heavily when you push it. The camera is awful and can't even perform well on overcast days. However i will try out the 650mah batteries since they can output more amps. Maybe this will help in terms of vibration (if it's restricted by the output of the battery). I have to admit that the copter is actually really sturdy. I crashed it alot on the first day and it looked more like a lawnmower than a copter. It also already dropped from a height of 4 meters straight onto concrete and only suffered a few scratches. Overall this kid is okay if you lack ANY experience with drones and never touched a controller before, but if you already got some hours in the SIM and already flew some regular drones you will quickly switch to another copter. Something like a BabyApe Pro or BabyApe II to what I will switch next month.

Hi Josh, if you got a 3d printer, you could aways design a battery case to fit

The Man thank you brother 🙏

Betafpv is killin it recently

😮wow, nice. I like this fpv

I am new to the hobby. It is insane. EVERY PROBLEM I ENCOUNTER, YOU HAVE A VIDEO ON IT. I just had an issue with the vtx on a babyape (not fixed by this video, but for the algorithm, I am commenting here). thank you thank you thank you thank you

I just saw an ad on KZfaq for a drone made by an Australian company called the Aeroo Pro, it actually looks like a decent drone and has a 1 kilo carrying capacity with a quick release system for under $1k. The definite con is that it uses your phone on the provided controller for a screen. Id still love for you to actually test that drone if you ever get a chance. I love your videos so keep up the great work!

My favorite AIO controllers are all betaFPV controllers. First ones to ditch the OSD and add a 3a vreg for 1s digital vtxs. And still one of the few doing it.

On the alt hold. It may be using ASL (above Sea Level) not AGL (Above Ground Level). Most likely due to lack of processing speed of the FC and or not implemented in FW. DJI has the processing power for this if im not mistaken.

I'm just a Joe average pilot. The FPV is like a little out of body experience and brings me joy. I like the drone, the camera quality is understood. What's a solid controller for the drone? What's a solid set of goggles to pair with bird? (Stock controller had issues. Stock visor was a flash bach to 70's tech waiting for tubes to warm up.)

The best thing about this for beginners is that you can crash this over and over again and you will most of the time only bang up your props a bit or get grass/hair stuck in the rotor. I crashed this at full speed from the top of a large tree unto pavement and it was fine, the frame bounced on almost everything. I even crashed it in a puddle, blew it dry, spinned it up to dry it some more and it was fine. However after enough crashes the vfx is the first to go. It's also a great tool to learn LOS without goggles in your house. First I made flips outside with lots of space, then in my garage and now I can make finy flips right in front of me. The rate in acro on high are more then fast enough. Just a little bit of up movement and you can flip without losing to much altitude. Pretty cool skill to show to your fpv racing budies that all have 5 inch that are way to dangerous to flip in front of your face.

I might buy this just as a programming drone honestly. Would love more info about drones used for autonomous stuff

Yep, this Kit is nearly identical to the Cetus X, also by BetaFPV except its white with all rounded corners, uses standard BT2.0. If you're on the fence, just buy it you will not regret either of these kits. Hands down best way to start (with Simulator!) Yes, you will upgrade everything but here's the thing - the controller is ideal for Sim, where it can just stay on your desk, ready for use. The cheap goggles are perfect as 'backup' or when my kid wants to ride shotgun and be a spectator. I got HDZero's within a month of getting into the hobby.. but the cheap goggles come in super handy all the time, still use them weekly. DOO ITTT!!

Awesome

Just one thing, you did all the Acro flight with the speed switch in the "fast" position according to your OSD. Probably that's why your rates are so fast - IIUC that switch determines the rates when in acro mode (just like it determines the max horizontal speed in normal mode and the max angle in sport mode).

There is 2 cells in the battery when you unscrew it and there is a circuit in the angle between the plug and the battery itself

Hi, I really appreciate the time that you take to do this video. Because right now on US digital took all FPV market. And no many people remenber that in other parts of the world still trying to learn and get whatever drone that we can get.. Very good video as always..!! I have a questiion if you could help me. I still have analog VTX on all my drones and I have several problems not with all people that use DJI O3. I have four friends, whit two of them I have no problems to fly and do some races. But with the another two it is impossible, they block all my videosignal... there are not on the same channel, have low power vtx and have the same equipment that the other two and we dont know waht to do.. And if you know something that may colud help me or help to resolve this I will appreciate it whit my soul. PS. Your channel is the first that i recommend with someone start this FPV life....

I have years of flying experience but bought the bnf version of this mainly because it looks like a mini Avata. A few observations: there is a 650 battery that is lighter and higher c rating. The 1100 is best for cruising and longer flight time. 650 is a bit better performer. It’s a bit underpowered if you fly it very hard. It’s best purpose in my opinion is sport mode. Overall, I’m not unhappy with it. For sure, the camera sucks, you need to know your flying area, or be in good light or you’re going to hit stuff. It sets up very easily with the pocket radio or any other radio that’s compatible. One thing, it does not work with betaflight, instead it uses betafpv configuration, which is much more limited. Channel assignments have to be done in the radio. You can program rates and pids inside the configurator though. I knocked the pids down about 10% and it seems more stable to me.

Thinking on starting FPV and cant decide if i go for a starter set or full gear 😅. Kinda fancy building my own drone

I just started with the Pavo 20

Joshua, at first I hated the cam outside, I could not see shit! but then .... I tried it on my fatshark hdo and what a world of difference! It's not so much the camera, the camera is actually pretty descent in low light. It's the box goggles. Go and try it with some good analog goggles and be supprised how good the camera actually is.

I really want to know if the Altitude Hold is the exact same in the Pavo 20 Pocket. That would be a beautiful combo despite the lack of betaflight.

can i change the battery lead and put it on a li-ion battery for more flight time

Is it possible to start off with this and as things progress get better motors? bigger battery? upgrade other modules/ components? Goggles/ drone compatible with others? What about sim ability for the goggles?

Does the speed setting change the rates when you're in acro mode? That's the behavior I would expect if that switch does anything at all in acro.

That's a nice beginner kit but I would still get the goggles controller and everything else cause after flying it you will be addicted and buy all the stuff anyway like you said it's better to know how to build and stuff cause you will crash alot and have to know how to fix it right love seeing your videos man 👍👍👍👍

Betafpv is like a first girl..... Your gonna have memories some good some bad but it's always ya first💯🎉😂

Started with Cetus X, tried this little drone also, but i'm not pleased with build quality. It's have problems with video transmitter (it died after first flight). However BetaFPV techsupport team are always there to help, they could send you spares if something like this happens. Cetus X one year in use and still no problems.

Nice video! Would it be possible to connect Aquila 16 to my ELRS Radiomaster Pocket? I am looking for a drone with altitude control for my kid.

I bought the eMax RTF with the original tinycawk, I don't regret it. I think the position hold would've been a nice-to-have feature but not necessarily a deal breaker. But, I replaced/upgraded every component in the kit within a month either way so was it worth it? 🤷‍♂🤷‍♂ I put a nano ELRS module on the TH so I can technically still fly it, but I run digital video exclusively now and it just sits in a box.

Okay JB, okay I appreciate the review on this rig. It is a wee bit late for the US market. I've been seeing a few reviews on this for a while and was really wishing I could have found your content on a review as I prefer watching your style of teaching. However, better late than never and fashionably late may I add?😂

After starting FPV with a Cinelog v2 O3, which got stuck on a tree, I got my Nazgul O3 today. The last hours I tried to configure everything and no, it didn't "bind and fly" like said. If it's even today this hard to get things working I don't want to know how many first children you had to sacrifice for getting to fly a few years ago.

Yay maybe my uncle will like this drones after all

So cool, we ordered this drone two weeks ago and it was delivered today and you post this review. Thanks, we learned a lot today! Do you think that it is possible to connect this drone to betaflight and improve acro mode?

Can you do a more in depth video, (if possible) of how they get the position hold to function?

Hey guys, I have a Runcam Phoenix SE that comes with 6 cables. Starting from left I have red wire which I'm going to solder to the 5v on my speedybee v4, a black wire that I will solder to ground, yellow wire I'm soldering to cam. The 3 additional wires are blue, black then blue. I want to be able to access the camera osd through the flight controller. Does soldering any of the blue wire to cc on the flight controller enable camera control? Point of information this is my first time building a drone.

Can you comment on rotor riot militarization?

Meteor75 Pro - I love and haven't had an issue yet. Cetus X - I have about 10 minutes of flight on it total and I'm waiting on my third Camera/VTX module to show up. (and no, I wasn't frying them or even running them on 400mw). Your mileage may vary with BetaFPV in my opinion but the worst part about them is how long shipping to the US takes. It took 16 days for first Camera/VTX module. It took 23 for second. I'm still waiting for third. I guess as a positive, they honor their warranty period.

it was out for almost a year , I did get one ... very mixed feeling . To be fare it is first one I managed to fly. Biggest problem with camera cant see anything inside

can I use rm boxer with it?

Honestly if you want a whole fpv kit then just buy the Cetus PRO 👍🏻

2akkus mitbestellen und 1set reserve rotorblätter. in jeder einstellung ne stunde lang üben damit man die unterschiede kennt. normal slow-mid-fast sport- slow-mid-fast manual mir gefällt der normal/fast oder sport/slow modus am besten . da funktioniert das ding auch noch mit den mitgelieferten batterien.

I bought this and i absolutely hate it. I would not recommend it to anyone. The camera wasn't even plugged in when i got mine. Im nobody but my experience was extremely poor.

what camera can i upgrade it with?

Can anyone recommend an fpv kit for a beginner that has Googles with diopter adjustments? I only have a dji and want to learn FPV on something that I can rebuild when I inevitably crash. If kits are a bad idea, what diopter adjustable googles, remote, and drone are a solid to start with and also have room to grow with?

Joshua I have had this one (And I bought a second one for redundancy) for about 2 months now. But now outside I am bored that I can't really do acro without it starting to spin or lose to much altitude. I am practising acro on my avata 2 and on a 5inch nagzul iflight. But I would really like something tiny like the aquill16. Something so light that I don't have to worry about doing any damange or hurting anybody. The motors on the aquilla16 can't even cut a single piece of grass! So is there anything cheap and analog I could buy or build stays under a 100 grams with battery an can actually do a split s without the risk of damanging anybody when it goes wrong or breaking when you hit the ground? I really want something just a little bit above the aquilla 16 so I can practise all the free styling while still feeling relaxed. I can't relax with the avata 2 because it's to expensive and it's not repairable. And I can't relax with my 5 inch because it's fucking scary and I feel like it wants to murder me.

Do you know why, as you said, building your own drone won't get you one with position hold?

One more thing, if you put it on 350 mw of vfx power and just hover a bit in front of you (without going forward) the vtx overheats within a couple of minutes and the quad will fall out of the sky. For inside the house 25 mw is usually enough, just don't sit with your goggles to close to a wifi router and if somebody turns on the microwave you will lose video signal even at a 100 mw. Outside I usually use 100 mw or 200 mw. Like I said with 350 mw you have be very carefull for the vtx overheating. I live in a warm country and it overheats easily at 350 mw.

Why not bind dji O3 air unit Dji remote controller 3 ?

Can you make an Review of Cetus X HD?

The camera on the Aquila is pretty bad, if you have the choice I’d get the Cetus x kit over it!

なるほど〜

I got the pocket it’s not bad excited can’t change the switches and their proprietary software is annoying

I think that beginners would like to see stick cam on the flight footage. To see how you move the sticks. Didn't watch to the end of the video yet, but the first flight footage doesn't have it)

This kit came out almost a year ago, nobody bothers with it outside of the RTF kit, lots of negative reviews in forums and KZfaq videos... But it was just added to Liftoff Micro Drones and now has the official JB review. I wonder how much BetaFPVs marketing team spends to sell these suckers 🤔

Hard to tell by the video, but it seems like the altitude hold is just barometer-based. Meaning it holds the altitude based on some hight above sea level, it looked like it was holding the same altitude, but you were going downhill, so it appeared highter, and almost hit the ground when you went uphill

Is it possible to upgrade it?

Go do a eye surgey its rediculessly cheap thise days ;)

I like my betafpv a02 vtx with his 800mw. But i still want a 03 airunit. I actually have an v2 googles that i repaired so i think i first wend and get the cheap analog adapter or the bdi adapter for it because this 03 unirs are over 250€ 😂😂

Yeah i thought about this product as a beginner start. My only gripe? Being locked into the batteries which i think are slick as goose shit. I instead opted for the TinyHawk 2 analog bundle from amazon and i even bought the whoopster 1S charger and extra batteries and spent around 310.and change. Is the TH2 beginner friendly? That depends on if you can even pilot indoors. I flew the little pieces of shit for weeks and a sim b4 i got into my TH2,and boy did i beat that thing to DEATH,but it takes a helluva beating IM DEAD SERIOUS I have slammed it into a concrete pole nosedived into the ground MULTIPLE TIMES,crash after crash after crash and i couldnt kill it,until i dropped out the sky from a signal loss(went too far)and that killed the board because even with replacing the camera the video signal would blink in and out. So i bought a new TH2(not the bundle)bound it to my nirvana(yeah the controller that came with the bundle just collects dust)put in the camera i replaced in my old TH2 and im back in the air flying again,and with this TH2 I am a much better pilot and from being on a sim (velocidrone). I HIGHLY RECOMMEND A SIM FOR CONSTANT stick time and velocidrone is IMO the best sim for realistic flying,this AQUILA 16,a beginner will outgrow in a matter of a month. GET A SIM LIKE VELOCIDRONE,a little 1s indoor pos to get used to working the sticks and in a month most if serious will be ready for a TH2 experience and that my friends is a toothpick freestyle that is a fun little quad to fly and once you have that thing mastered then the 5inch will be no problem. Take it from me I just got into the hobby literally a few months ago,and tbh im building a mario5 but i love my TH2 cause its a breeze to fly,and for a beginner its truly all you really need IMO.

I have successfully started the hobby with BETAFPV, my emotion is good for BETAFPV, but I have to say that I don't like their BT2.0 connectors, which are hard to solder DIY and I find the pin spacing too small, and I have concerns about safety from short circuits and fires... That's why I changed everything that has 1S to GNB27. But it's time-consuming and I don't know whether GNB27 still has a future because some people say that it is no longer produced... The pins of GNB27 are also relatively close, but not as bad as with BT2.0. I would prefer a downsized XT30 because the pins are not too close... I also find the pins of the BT3.0 connector, like on the Aquila, to be extremely close together. So I don't think the connector is good either.

Does anyone know if the Goggles rely on a standard protocol so that I don't need to buy yet another pair of Goggles? I own a pair of DJI Goggles 3.

Mr Bardwell, I own this drone, and I am on my second one, because my first one freaked out over a lake... But they sent me a new one and it seems to be better. My question is, do you think the aquila16 could be upgraded? I am going to upgrade my drone but I like to tinker, I like taking less desirable products and making them better... Is this possible with the aquila16? I'm a newby so don't judge to harshly lol

sensei, where is my FPV lesson ? I need more of does

Is it unable on bf?

Does the speed switch change the rate speed when in manual mode?

Mobula 7HD where is started ❤

The C rating of that battery is really low. Enough for cruising, I guess. Presumably the altitude hold is barometer based, hence why it hit the ground as you came up the slope.

2024 and they still putting out garbage cameras 😅

I've never seen an altitude hold that tracks the ground instead of just holding an altitude. Both barometer based and GPS based hold systems are absolute altitude hold systems. You have to go to sonar or flow control for the drone to know what the ground is doing under it. Right? Or am I ignorant of something?

"Although it's made of plastic" name a pair of goggles that arent made from plastic 😂

do a how to vid to bind it to the boxer or the pocket (:

If i bought this as my beginner drone i would be so disappointed that it doesn't acro, i went with the tiny hawk 2 freestyle. spent 10 hours in lift off then went for my first flight in an open park with zero crashes, Beginners don't need more crutches to learn just a durable capable drone and some practice routines. I used JBs learn to fly series, didnt follow it exactly just used it to inspire some practice drills. skip angle go straight to acro

Camera reminds me of those old UFO videos on utube... Cant see shit!

I felt the first 28 seconds, custom made stuff is a long process.

DJI only honestly 😅

Yeah, no focus or IPD adjust is a dealbreaker for me.

Batteries pop off when you crash

Ah-kee-lah.

First!

Im first

Third I guess lol

My first real drone, which I just got last week, is the Avata 2. Besides flying a $26 drone I got on Temu for sh*ts and giggles I had never flone a drone before. I can't recommend the Avata 2 enough for a real beginner, it's really easy to control, flies very well and most importantly is just pure fun in a box! I regret nothing in starting with the Avata 2.