TEST: VIFLY X150

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INTRODUCTION

The VIFLY X150 represents the new Brushless FPV racer from VIFLY. This model comes after the two excellent and well tuned R220 M2 & R130. With the X150, we have a completly new frame structure, a more classic 150mm X-carbon structure with strong 4mm arms. The main electronic tower welcomes a F4 Omnibus + OSD, a 4-in-1 20A ESC board BLheli_S/Dshot600 compatible. Motors are 1406/3300 KV 4S ready. For the 5.8G link, a foxeer CCD camera is now present and coupled with a 40CH 5.8G VTX able to deliver up to 600mW. This machine can be found in BNF with three choices of receiver: i) FrSky D16, ii) FlySky AFHDS-2A and iii) Spektrum DSMX. Let’s check this new racer.

BOX CONTENT

+ 1 x VIFLY X150
+ 1 x 5.8G Cloverleaf antenna
+ 4 x Spare props (2 CW, 2 CCW)
+ 1 x Wrench prop installer
+ 1 x Velcro band
+ 1 x Instruction manual (English)

As for the two former models, no battery is included….. Maybe to bypass airshipping restriction…..

OVERVIEW

The detail of caracteristics sound promising…. with the F4 MCU…. but immediatly, as it happened to many machines F4 based, we must check that no crazy freakouts will be reported due to bad gyros behaviour.

The machine comes directly fully assembled…. ready to bind. No screwing session required to lock the props with the M5 nuts. It’s a 150mm machine

The thickness of arms are impressive…. a good 4.5mm !!! The machine looks super solid and durable.

-FRONT VIEW
The look is pretty cool with the X-structure…. 4″ props are installed, a pretty good option for a 150mm machine. The main central welcomes very solid metallic standoff…. I regret the absence of a strong bright frontal light to make LOS flight more easy.

With the battery installed beneath. At least there is a carbon plate to avoid a direction contact of the LiPo with the ground in case of hard landing.

-SIDE VIEW
The main central tower welcomes centrally the F4 boad now including a builtin OSD…. The MPU chip is not soft-mounted… so what about vibrations transmitted y motors will impact the flight performances ? Notice also, the antenna connected is located latterally on the left. The top carbon plate will jail half of the SMA connector…. So in case of massive crash, the antenna will break but probably not the VTX’s SMA connector. That’s a good design.

The right side shows the VTX’s button… where you will cycle between the 40CH supported by short pressing. No Vband subselection first… so statically, you will press 19 times before to reach your favorite Vfreq.

-REAR VIEW
On the rear side, we can find the microUSB port very easy to access whatever the props are installed or not. There is also a buzzer not far. An XT30 is present as main lead cable. I regret also the absence of rear (progammable) lights.

A small display will cycle between the current Vbat and

the current selected Vfreq (Vband, Vindex)… written on the last two digits.

-UPPER VIEW
No real free gap with the 4″ prop solution…..

The SMA 5.8G antenna connector and the FrSky XM+ (D16) receiver. This latter is taped on the top carbon plate.

If you want to increase the camera max orientation, you will probably need to move backward a bit the receiver.

The main 4-in-1 ESC is much larger board present in the main tower. I strongly advise to cover both side with some liquid electrical tape to be a minimum waterproof.

-BOTTOM VIEW
A battery carbon plate protection for the battery is present.

Notice that each arms are attached to the main structure via a bold & nut system. Probably the Achille’s heel of the structure. At least if you break an arm, the maintenance will be easier too.

-WEIGHT

238g with a 500mAh 4S LiPo….. so 12g to go for the 250g Limitation. Unfortunaly, it will be hard to attache an action cam and stay legal in US.

Motors

1406 brushless motors…. @3300KV. So no problem to handle directly 4S batteries.

4045 DAL Triblade props …. They are strong and solid. Good choice.

Camera module

Probably the other novolty versus the former VIFLY generation. Bye bye CMOS sensor and welcomes to a CCD SONY model from Foxeer brand. There is also button below the camera… I guess it’s a boot button to reflash Betaflight in case of prior flashing problem.

The Field Of View is super large, i.e. 150 degrees… maybe too large…. The speed’s feeling will be impacted. The machine will look slow on your goggles… 120 degrees would have been probably a better choice… But the lens thread is in M12 format so no probaly to change the lens. The camera is locked in NTSC mode. I didn’t see a way to plut a camera’s OSD cable.

The camera can be uptilted up to 45 degrees. Be sure to free also the front camera’s wires to increase the max uptilt angle.

UNBOXING, ANALYSIS, CONFIGURATION AND DEMO FLIGHT

It was expectable with VIFLY but the machine comes almost perfectly tuned in Betaflight 3.2.2 pre-installed. The receiver, PIDs, Flight mode, OSD have been correctly done out of the box. Of course, flight mode switch configuration is very dependant of the pilot’s preferences. For the OSD, I found that crosshair and throttle were missing from the original configuration, but it’s a minor detail. The rates also have been adapted…

First take off with this machine and the machine starts to hover from 25%-30% of throttle’s input in 4S… it’s crazy. Paradoxally, the throttle input’s range for low values can be a problem to handle correctly low altitudes flights. Play with expo on your radio to adapt. Punchout are just great !!!! Very powerfull machine A so great acro machine….. It’s super stable machine, no bounce backs at high throttle… Great. The FPV camera’s job is great also … shadowed zones are well handled. A good idea to move for a CCD camera …. In term of flight, of course, when flying agressively acro, the flight is about 4min with a 500mAh 4S battery.

CONCLUSIONS

Another great BNF machine from VIFLY…. I really like it. Highlly recommended model: strong, powerfull, super acro flyer, well configured out of the box. The F4 FC and new CCD camera offer some improvements for sure….. A no-brainer BNF machine for sure. What we would like to see in the next generation ? The same time of machine but with a builtin Runcam micro split … to record in 1080p as well.

PROS

+ Great and powerfull machine
+ F4+OSD
+ Solid frame (4mm arms)
+ Well configured out of the box
+ 1406 motors + 4″
+ FrSky XM+ w/RSSI for the OSD
+ Good CCD camera
+ < 250g machine AUW + Stable and no drift in angle mode

CONS

– Too wide FOV of the camera (150deg)
– Missing rubber anti-sliding pad
– No Lights for LOS flights

This quadcopter have been courtesy provided by VIFLY in order to make a fair and not biased review. I would like to thank them for this attitude.
You can find it actually for 190USD at http://www.viflydrone.com/buyx150.html

Cet article TEST: VIFLY X150 est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!.

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