If you’re in the market for buying a cost-effective drone, then times couldn’t be better. Features that you could only find on a top-level drone just a few years ago are trickling down to more budget units. Basically, meaning you’re getting more for your money these days. One such example is the JJRC X5 FPV drone.
This doesn’t just mean flight features, but across the board and even the quality of the on-board cameras. As the JJRC X5 FPV seems to pack a lot into the tin for the money, let’s begin and see what drone provides for the money.
Design
Anybody who has a passing acquaintance with the latest crop of drones will see that the JJRC X5 FPV has taken a lot of influences from top-end units. There’s a clear design influence here from the DJI Mavic. Not a bad thing in reality, for if you’re going to emulate somebody, it might as well be the best.
The whole body is constructed from very durable ABS plastic, with a leg at each corner to better protect the under hanging camera. The camera itself, which is a wifi 5G 2K unit can have its angle adjusted remotely by 90 degrees and can be detached for slightly longer flight times. One of the standout features at this price point is the GPS mode, which provides accurate positioning and is a feature that you usually only find on higher-priced drones.
The drone also utilizes higher-end brushless motors. These are built to a higher quality than cheaper variations, don’t usually burn out and can handle a wider range of weather conditions. This allows the drone to fly at a maximum speed of 30 km/h.
Two batteries are included in the package, each providing up to 18 minutes of flight, which in total tots up to 36 minutes. Quite a reasonable amount of time for this price of drone, but as usual it’s advisable to have one or two spare batteries as a backup.
No modern drone would be complete without a full set of automatic flight features and the JJRC X5 FPV is no exception. These built-in flight modes aren’t just for making general piloting far easier for the beginner, but are super useful for shooting footage in a very controllable manner.
On this drone, the features include GPS auto return home, which kicks in when the RC signal is weak or the battery runs low. This feature can also be triggered with a one key return button all done via GPS. There’s also a Smart follow me mode and auto circling mode which can hover round the pilot in a 4-20 meter radius, all with an ample transmission distance of 300m.
The included transmitter initially feels like a bulky unit, especially with the smartphone holder, but it’s logically laid out with simple controls. There’s a basic LCD screen for general information like battery levels, with the majority of the functionality coming into play when you use the smartphone app.
Lastly, the whole package comes with everything you need, with a bunch of spares and tools. These include the transmitter, two batteries, a charger, charging adapter, USB cable, camera, four propellers, cellphone holder, screwdriver, and a bunch of clips.
The JJRC X5 FPV in Use
It doesn’t take long to get the drone initially up and flying. Gyro calibration is needed and a quick link up to the transmitter to make sure everything is communicating as it should do. Although the transmitter is fully featured and can handle most flying tasks, using a smartphone with the accompanying app opens up all the functionality including the full scope for shooting footage.
The Built-in GPS features definitely make a difference to the speed of communication and stability of the drone. This is evident from the flight range, which we found to be roughly around 300m, in which case using a smartphone comes into its own. The automatic flight features are very responsive and do exactly what they say on the box. In other words, no complaints here.
As for the included camera which is mountable, the quality is set to 2K HD. Given a reasonable amount of light, footage is very well stabilized and although it’s good quality for the price, it’s not up to the 4K standard of more expensive drones. FPV mode can be used up to 100m away and video can be streamed directly to your smartphone. All footage is stored on an SD card if needed.
In general, the drone is quite happy to fly in mildly windy conditions, but you wouldn’t venture any further. However, this is a minor point when summing up the total functionality. The drone is very responsive and although it’s not the speediest unit out there, it’s still a very capable flyer for the money, with all the functionality you could expect at this price point.
How Does It Compare?
Luckily for us consumers, the drone market is fiercely competitive around this price point. All the makers are scrapping it out to offer the best features for the money and it only needs a slight jump in price to gain some more tasty features.
This includes the Eachine E520s, which just like the JJRC X5 FPV follows a DJI Mavic-like design, but for not much more money it includes some nice additional features. These include a 4K camera, a rather nice, padded carry case, and a few more flight features such as Waypoint Mode, Headless Mode, 3D VR Mode and the ability to fold down like the original Mavic.
The other features can be seen as comparable to the JJRC X5 FPV, such as flight distance. But this drone shows that for just a slight increase in price, you can get more functionality packed into the box.
| JJRC X5 FPV | Eachine E520s | |
| Camera | 2K | 4K |
| Distance | 300m | 300m |
| Flight Time | 18mins | 16mins |
| Wifi | Yes | Yes |
Conclusion
Overall, the JJRC X5 FPV is a very capable flyer for the money and is an ideal option for the beginner. There are lots of included flight features, a reasonable quality camera, and a robust design to take the initial knocks when you’re learning to fly.
The addition of GPS can’t be underestimated as it definitely makes a difference to the flying experience. This along with a reasonable flight time and the addition of two batteries makes it a very rounded package. It may not have the fully rounded specifications of more expensive drones, but the basics are there with definitely a lot of functionality included for the money. In total, a drone that is worth shortlisting.
