Fat Shark HDO Review | FATSHARK'S NEW TOP OF THE LINE GOGGLE 

Here are my 2 cents: 1. It was never a secret that they had been working on these, Fatshark THEMSELVES had "leaked" on RCGroups that the HDOs are coming up, back in early February 2018. 2. When there is no INNOVATION there should definitely be a lot of EVOLUTION. I cannot stand seeing this afterthought-of-a-faceplate-and-fan-combo, especially on flagship models. Having to power the fan separately is unacceptable after so many Fatshark goggle versions with this setup. Others do it right. Fan mods, power button mods, partial disassembly for LaForge cable routing etc should not be required in a USD 500 product after so much feedback from the community. There was a very nice poll in the Fatshark FB community page, as well as a (mostly productive) discussion on RCGroups, with many nice suggestions for improvements - most of which very easy to implement. Users know and speak up - Fatshark listens - but where is the evolution to justify the price? I have been begging for competition and I hope that Flysight with the FG01 Falcon and Aomway with the Commander V2 will get a bigger piece of the pie this year - rightfully so. I cannot think of anything else that can push Fatshark, aside from a significant change in their market share. In the last section of the video, are you just hiding your frustration or are you preparing for the Oscars? Speak up. It does not just boil down to price vs FOV. It is an old design that needs to be changed. OLED and a few minor fixes is simply not enough.

Shout out to Josh Bardwell for not selling his soul to sponsors/vendors and providing us with an honest review. You the real MVP JOSH!

Keep up the good work I appreciate the honesty in your reviews! I believe that we continue to watch your reviews and subscribe to your channel because of your honesty.

Absolutely loved the outro! Thanks for making me feel better about sticking with my HD3s

I'll stick with my HD3 I rather have the larger screen and like you said the source isn't exactly hd quality. Thanks for the honest review I like how you don't ride the hype train keep up the nice work and again thanks.

Outstanding review! I loved the rant lol Thank you. Definitely sticking with my hd3s 👓

THANK YOU!! Your honesty is beyond gold to me! Thank you again...

Thanks for your honest opinion. I have been waiting 4 months to buy new goggles and wanted to see the main players offerings. Just bought the HD3s from one of your affiliate links. Thanks for ALL you do to improve the hobby!

*Waits for Bardwell review on HDO’s* ... *Realizes that they’re not worth it and goes back to sleep.*

wish an “open goggle” project would happen like OpenTx did to give us a truely great product for all of us instead of a $500 goggle system

I love your honesty buddy keep up the great work awesome review I'm still using my HD2 s

the best description I have seen on the tube of these goggles well done JB.

I feel your frustration, if fat shark actually wanted people to upgrade they need to produce something worth upgrading to. At this rate I will probably die with my hd2's on.

I just posted my complaint on the FatShark website too. I want a replacement for my HD2s. I feel your frustrations.

Great video! I still use the Fat Shark Dominator 2 goggles and have been looking for a Fat Shark upgrade. Bummer about no DVR improvement, but it seems like the HDOs are worth checking out. I'm hoping one of my friends gets a pair first so I can try them out! Thanks.

I really admire your honesty in all of your video’s ,great channel :)

Great video Josh! Make sure you'll get your hand on those new Aomway Commanders the V2! Greetings from Holland

Love the ending, brilliant! I guess I'll stick with my trusty HD2s… with the IPD that is just barrrreeely big enough and the DVR that seems like it's from 1983, and the smeary edges - because I love the FOV. Will someone please come in with some modern product development and technology, using quality components, please blow FatShark out of the water with an actually sharp picture, wide angle of view, full IPD adjustment, good DVR, cushy strap and faceplate standard, etc. You will make so much money!

Thanks for a great review, your honesty is what I love, I’ll stick with my HD3’s!

Love the curb your enthusiasm song and how u tied that in

Still loving my HD2, and I even accepted the blurry edges.

I own the dominator v2, and i am pretty happy with them...

Thanks for the review, I have both HD2 and HD3. My go to goggles is the HD3 but after I saw your review I’m keeping my HD3 for now.

wow just bought a HD3 two weeks ago, luv in it , glad for the review im sticking with the HD3'

It's interesting, I know multiple pilots who love the slightly smaller screens, myself included. Dominator V3 is my go to, and many people like the commanders which are somewhat similar in fov and screen. As a racer I want the small screen for the at a glance view. This goggle seems like it has a specific audience, and will be great for a few people. Great review though, as always JB.

Great video Josh

Thanks so much giving such an honest review! For now I’ll hold onto the HD3s until something better comes along.

Thank you. Honest reviews are by FAR the best. This is why I subscribe and use the affiliate links (as I do not have the spare budget to patreon - I still crash too hard, too often and wreck too much stuff).

Damn it Joshua! You should’ve stopped me from getting goggles! Edit: Nevermind, I still like my SE’s lol.

I can't wait for their new HD Prime goggles with true 1080p OLED and 20 degree field of view, and 61-64'mm IPD!

Merecere la pena el cambio d las hd3? A estas nuevas q oponais gracias

Thank you Jason! You help me in my decision making process. I’ve been eying the HD3’s for some time, especially the “core package”. I’m on focal v2’s right now and just can’t help thinking I want more... Not sure if it’s a lateral move or a step up but probably going to see if there is any price change this year and then pull the trigger on those.

I would upgrade my HD3’s if the DVR was upgraded.

that ending was hilarious, I'll stick with my domv3s

All I really can say from this is thank you, you gave out the fine points and 37* FOV is a deal breaker, I love the hd2s and I'll just keep using them!

Great review, your review style is getting better and better. Thanks.

14:32 , the entire review in 3 seconds... thats why i love JB , the best of the bests reviewers always the truth

HD Oh.... well nevermind, that's somewhat disappointing, 37 degrees when my HD2's have 50, and no upgrade to the DVR which has a sucky image quality if you want to get footage to drop on RU-vid. Fat Shark said on rcgroups that they've been working on a better DVR, but apparently not enough because they've reverted back to their tried and trusted module, which does its job at helping you locate your crashed craft (really glad about that last Friday) but I want a better DVR.

Great review. Straight and without any hype. Respect!

Learned a lot and was definitely entertained. Awesome review!

Why no 720p60 DVR :(

GREAT and honest review, Joshua! We REALLY need a FatShark killer. And fast. :/

That ending tho....on point! Well played sir, well played!

god, when I saw this video, I was screaming! I waited two months to buy the HD3s and I received them last week! But after seeing your review, I prever the larger field of view.

UGH!!! Why why why!!! ??? I too will NOT be giving up my HD2's..for a stupid OLED 37 screen :(

So they went with OLED which degrades over time, a smaller FoV & I will still have to buy dioptres so I can see the lower FoV & degradation. They really don't expect people to be wearing these in 10 years time. Meanwhile I just taped my Pro58 Achilles to my EV100's

Nice honest review and I loved the way you ended the video. Very cool

Great review Josh made me chuckle :)

OLED screens... Nice colorful picture (assuming that distortions around screen edges are sorted out by optics), which slowly degrade towards yellowish tint in next 3-4 years because blue OLED's degrade faster. Plus burn-in white letters from OSD. But a definitely nice try. Wish that science would make better OLEDs without burn-in and blue LED degrading in next decade. What else. No separate focus adjustment for each eye yet? And max IPD is still 69? C'mon! That is 500 bucks and they doesn't have separate focus adjustment which dirt cheap EV100 googles have.

Wow, much innovate, many good. Fatshark really can't be arsed can they?

I just bought a HD3 last week, happy to hear that you would prefer the HD3.

Oh man. That review took a hilarious turn at the end. Encapsulates my thoughts perfectly too!

HD2 lyfe

Ouch. Why did I expect anything better.

Excellent review Joshua. I have been flying with the HDO for a couple weeks now, and they are suited well to me. I have the IPD on the maximum and I doubt I could see anything wider. But I am actually coming from Dominator V1 (oh I also use HeadplayHD, 72 degrees FOV, which is impossble to freestyle with!), so even the 37 degrees is a huge improvement. And yes, it is richer, brighter display. Love the Curb YE tunes at the end lol

Nice reviews thanks. I have commandos and like them it could use a lot of tweaking but thanks for the honest review. Do you have any info if aomway is working on something else?

Just buy commanders. The fov isn't a big deal. It has 4:3 and 16:9 support.

I own the HD2's as well, and won't switch until something compelling gets released. These goggles aren't it.

Wow, a lesson in how to do an honest review - one of my all time favourite!

Thanks Joshua, good to know the specs before purchase. Now, after this review, will Fatshark make a digital video system to make the OLED screen viable?

So that's a hundred bucks more than the HD3's and you still have to plug the balance lead from your battery into the fan to power it!! HD Oh...

Can you switch between 16:9 and 4:3?

Is the screen of the Fat Shark type glasses is this small? I flying with the EV800 and love the big screen of it, but I was thinking to upgrade to something like Aomways or Fatsharks. But if the screen is so small, I'm starting to have doubts...

So glad I got a set of HD2s before they went the way of the dodo. Got some edge blurring? Try adjusting the thickness of foam on the face plate.

I don't understand why FatShark don't go over the IPD: 59 - 69mm. there are many peolpe, like me, with wider eyes.. i'm 73! Please Joshua ask the FS guy to make something for us! :)

Ive looked through them, the new screen is worth every penny. Love you Joshua

Much respect to you after this one. Wish I could hang out this weekend at kwad camp! Responsibilities always come first.

Love the improved rubber round the eye piece

Drib has a lot of influence on how you speak these days :P lol ..

No on/off switch? OMGGGG :(((((((((

Appreciate the honest review. I was wondering the same thing about the FOV myself as I have yet to find a goggle better for me than the HD2's. I do like the dominator v3's though as a close second for the money even though they are a little smaller on the FOV side.

Looking for a replacement for broken EV800D and I LOL'd at this and learned something! Get the 2 is the word from you. I'll be looking!

ROTFL $500 they have lost their mind

Sticking with my Attitude v4. I don’t think any of the top tier googles are worth their price due to one simple reason. Analog signal. In HD. Who are we kidding? 💩🤣🤣

Love how you honestly break it down in all truth and honestly

Loved the end, keep the good work!

FatShark strikes me as a Typical Amateur Radio Product Maker. Old guys sitting around banking off the same “innovations” of ten years ago. At this rate I will never own a pair of FS goggles.

Geezus....500 quid....yeah ok

Does it have a better foam pad?? Or is that a mewbee drone pad?

That face plate soft part thingie looks to be step up above the foam. Is the quality any good or does it feel like its gonna fall to pieces withing a year of usage?

I'm using the Eachine EV800D that costs $100 that I paid with my hard earned paycheck. No way I could justify $500 on some goggles. The EV800D are nice, but they are bulky and the DVR seems temperamental. If I were to buy some better goggles my pick would be the Aomways, as they seem to have good specs with a more decent price.

In one word, disappointing

I was gonna ask you if I made the right choice buying usec fat shark and I settled with the hd2 used and thanks for saying you think there great lol. im going up from my focal v2 spectrum

Your reviews are the best.

Hahah, totally love the "curb" ending! :P

Joshua Bardwell Hiya josh can you purchase the fatshark hd2 screens by anychance iv searched every where I was hoping to find them to see if it would be possible to put them in the EV100 lol

Loved the edit!

Was having a look at the review at work in my break. Confused my colleague when the reviewers voice change so much at the end. Lol. Keep up the good work.

I recently switched the the Aomway Commanders after flying the HD2s for ages, I immediately noticed an improvement in my flying, not even a little one but a huge step, I think it was the washed out image that the fatsharks produce and it seemed to me like the commanders had a much better quality image. For me, if I can try the HDOs out I think I'd see an improvement over my HD2s and that would make them worth the buy, but until I can try them out, I'll stick with the Commanders.

Great, honest, and hilarious review, that's why you're the best in the box, thanks JB!

The breakdown at the end just made this my fav bardwell vid ever lol

Ahhh the outro is the best ever JB :)

Cheers for the candid review. No on off switch still?

Appreciate the honest review. I tend to feel like that with all FatShark products too. That's why I saved some money and just went with Aomway!

Legend, love the fade out nothing left to say. x

all i care about is that awesome cushion. i want that for my hd3's. was that so much to ask for paying 500 dollars? does that cushion have a perfect fit for the hd'3s?

Joshua, great review and in depth tech info. Love the "personal" emotions of this video. You are a cool Cat budd.

Can you add a side by side pic comparison of the screen sizes?, like after the one by one

I recently treated myself to a pair of HD3's. It was a massive upgrade for me from Eachine EV100's. I have only managed to get out flying using them once and I was blown away with the size of the screen compared to the EV100's I have been flying on. Today I see this review and I was like nooooooooooooooooooo why didn't I wait? After watching it however, I now feel much, much better about my purchase lol. It was also massively amusing thanks Joshua :)

Awesome review.... Love the wrap up.