TEST: iFlight iH3 Pro

[Drone News]

INTRODUCTION

The iFlight iH3Pro is a new 3″ FPV racer equiped of a builtin Runcam Split Mini module. Thanks to it, we can both broadcast the FPV signal in the 5.8G band while recording HD videos in 1080p@60fps with low latency. Ideal to shoot beautifull videos with you favorite acro/low riding sessions. The iH3Pro adopts a F4 Flight controller based with 25A 4-in-1 ESC, strong enough for 4S usage. Motors are strong 1408/4100Kv model. The entire frame is fully 3K carbon based. This machine is a direct competitor of the SPCMaker S125. Let’s have a look.

BOX CONTENT

+ 1 x iFlight iH3Pro (with a 1S 120mAh LiPo directly soldered)
+ 4 x Props (2 CW, 2 CCW)
+ 1 x 5.8G RHCP antenna
+ 1 x XT30 to JST adaptor
+ 1 x Allen key
+ 1 X 5V Voltage regulator
+ 1 x Antenna tube
+ 1 x Spare battery strap
+ 1 x 3M Duallock band

First (bad) surprize, no props in the box…. It was expected to be present…..

OVERVIEW

The machine is a 140mm…. so larger than the SPC S125.

3mm for arms …. while the other elelements are at least 2mm large.

The entire structure looks very durable. That’s a good point.

-FRONT VIEW

-SIDE VIEW

Two 2-layers electronic towers are installed. On the front it’s the runcam one where a microUSB port is here to retrieve recorded files. The middle one from bottom to top is the 4-in-1 ESC board and the VTX board respectively. Finally the flight controller is installed on the top carbon plate.

The Runcam split mini can be controlled via the two right latteral button. Notice the autorecording option is turned on by default. Whatever, you will need to press at least once the front button to stop recording. If not done…. your fabulous flight session footage will be gone for ever. An open question is here. Is-it possible to control recording and generally the Runcam options via the OSD ? If yes, the module must be connected to a free UART port of the FC. During the disassembling, we will be able to answer to this question.

Just nearby the Flight controller, the 2.4G receiver, here a FrSky XM+. The bind button is not directly available. You will need to slide a bit the module to access to the bind button.

-REAR VIEW
No specific racing LED bars…. Notice a 3D printed structure jailing two large caps filtering most of the motors’s interferences. It’s a good point since the Split mini module is known to be very sensitive to external noise.

-UPPER VIEW

-WEIGHT

Almost 250g…. with a 4S 550mAh battery. It’s a lot… close to 30g more heavier than the SPCMaler S125 with the same battery configuration.

Motors

1406 motors … with relatively low KV performances for being 4S compatible.

5mm shaft section

Camera module

The lens module is well protected from frontal crash

and it’s possible to apply an orientation up to +40 degrees approximatively

Disassembling

If the VTX is well connected for smart audio capacity…. unfortunatly, no other dedicaced link between the FC and the runcam split mini can be observed. In fact, the reason is simple: there is no more free UART port on the flight controller available.

UNBOXING, ANALYSIS, CONFIGURATION AND DEMO FLIGHT

The machine comes with Betaflight 3.3 installed and out of the box this version don’t support Smart Audio feature :(. You will need at least to uppgrade to the version 3.4 and above minimum. The VTX control is done via the UART3 so you will need to turn on smart audio on it.
As already mentioned, no RSSI feedback with the current XM+ receiver. You will need to flash it via your own …. and since the receiver is directly soldered… the work will be a bit more complex for the upgrade :(. Clearly…. the time passed for polishing the software section by Iflight was not enough. Even more ….. when you will first take of with the machine in any stabilized mode…. the machine will show ownfull yaw jitter behaviour !!!! It’s clearly unflyable and HD recording are also deeply impacted with this problem. After further inspection, the problem comes the flight controller, more particulary from the MPU 6-axis chip. This one whatever the Gyros Freq used, presents high sensitivity to noise .

In order to reduce/kill these artefacts, I had to untight the four nylon bold holding the flight controller on the top carbon plate. Like this most of the problems are gone. Perfect results shall be obtained if some foam can be inserted between the FC and the top carbon plate.

With this workaround, results are billions time better…… But what a shame that Iflight didn’t detect this problem from factory. It’s a typical problem met when the design staff is far away from the production area…. Outsourcing consequence IHMO.

The machine fixed offers super smooth HD videos… like a full 3-axis stabilized could offers…. The machine is powerfull in 4S but due to it’s extra weight it’s less sporty as the S125 can be. Default PID settings already offer great stabilization and a almost propwash free situation can be reported. Thanks to the variable VTX output power, the FPV range is great. On the FPV signal, only a slight noise can be noticed. The latency of Runcam split mini is really low… compatible at 100% with fast acro style flying.

CONCLUSIONS

This machine requires a lot of work out of the box and due to the highly sensitive MPU chip, perfect 100% jitterfree behaviour can’t be promised. The guilty is the flight controller. Twice guilty: 1) for having bad MPU 6-axis chip and 2) to not have any free UART port for the Split mini controls. Being said …. I can’t recommend this machine. At least the SPC Maker S125 is a better machine. More… a new SPC K1 model will come soon with the Runcam Split Mini 2 module. It will be a 95mm 4S light FPV racer….

PROS

+ Jellofree 1080p@60 fpv
+ 4S compatible
+ Durable

CONS

MPU GYRO/ACCELERO HIGHLY SENSITIVE TO VIBRATIONS
– FrSky XM+ not flashed with RSSI compatible firmware
– BF 3.3 pre-installed not compatible with smart audio control
– No free UART port for RunCam Split Mini controls
– Heavy

dump_BF_3_3_0

This quadcopter have been courtesy provided by Banggood 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 251USD at https://www.banggood.com/IFlight-iH3-Pro-3-inch-FPV-Racing-Drone-BNF-F4-25A-4-in-1-ESC-Flytower-48CH-025100200mW-VTX-p-1338220.html

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