You need to think twice about the Rekon 4 FR 

As the designer of the Rekon 4 FR this is super interesting to see! Hoestly, I think having most of the quads survive the abuse of ten total beginners is a VERY good results for a BNF that also flies for 10+ minutes, is sub 250 and fast enough to race. And did I mention that its also cheap? :-D On the other hand I have to admit that it's always really hard to catch all the potential small issues people might have with a quad before releasing it. This is just a hobby / side business for me as well and I have to rely on a few prototypes and production samples I can bash around and troubleshoot. For example I never had any issues with the M2 Screws getting loose . Anyhow, I'll talk to the manufacturing guys to fix that with some loctite and glue the antenna to the TPU. Using M3 is unfortunately not an option since it adds too much weight for a sub 250.

I have this drone for over 3 months and I love it! Thanks for the vid it’s always nice watch you vids!

Fantastic flying, Joshua! 😃 Thanks a bunch for the review and all the info! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

I’ve been flying the Rekon 4 FR for a while now and friggin love it. It’s very versatile for me with the right stuff. Glad you did this dude!!

Hi Josh, Great video and review of the Rekon 4 fr. I have been flying 3.5in and 4in quads for years, and I really like them. Thanks again for the video and information about this quad.

I have this drone on my bag for when I get out of work ....love it

I have been flying my Rekon 4 FR for about 3 months and I love it. I got the digital version and have an aio board. I did bust a part of the main frame by crashing into a metal object at decent speed but out of all my crashes it has honestly been very durable.

I bought the Rekon4 FR as a newbie for freestyle training, around November 2022. I crashed into trees power looped into the ground often with just propeller damage and throwing rocks to get it out of trees. The video transmitter range sucks, so my first soldering job was installing a vista unit. Thanks for the soldering video and all the others videos JB. I could not get the Immortal T or back mount to work properly. I bought a Customfpv package and flying free ever since. Thanks again JB. PS. It does look like an 80’s picture of you from back in the day. lol

Unique review with the amount of info you got for this one, thanks!

That must've been fun teaching 10 new people! (And how cool to be able to say you learned with JB!)

Love those Ethix K2 props. Good smooth props for 6". They give my kwad more of a V8 sound 😍

Great review! I really like 4". They just seem to be snappier, more agile, and more responsive than 5", while being more toss-able for big moves than 3.5"

It is good to see that even this Rekon 4 FR uses technology and design that has been around for the last five years. I started getting interested in fpv 4 years ago and made the mistake of getting a Rekon 5 analog which has the same technology in the Rekon 4 FR, so good to see that my Rekon 5 is still future proof as I have upgraded to ELRS aswell. I learn't alot about building analog quads. But still a beginner and realised that a 5" quad was not a beginner quad. Since then I have a Firefly 1s Nano for practicing, built a Geprc CinePro 2.5" from scratch, and customized two Geprc 3" MX and PX quads. Still a beginner, but 2023 I have started gaining interest again. I have bought the Walksnail HD Pro Kit for upgrading my Geprc CinePro and Geprc PX quads and excited to experience the higher quality HD flying experience. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to this great hobby Joshua. If it were not for your videos, I would not have ventured into the very niche world of fpv.

2:33 I though that was so funny "turn right sometimes bardwell" because I ALWAYS catch myself doing everything to the left!

I've got the LR, and find it pretty capable, have been wondering about the FR because it's so good, thanks for all the flight footage lately, it looks great..LR came with 1603 2800kv

I have One and i love It! I wanna pick another One!

Just went and watched the Shocker video, and it reminded me of the intro that I had completely forgotten.

A version of the rekon4 was almost my first. there was a package with box goggles and a frsky controler got a little over $400.

I feel like I'm going to learn something

i have the chimera 4 (X version vista and 3800kv motors) (the one 4" i love) and is freestyling very well

its a design floor with T mount motors having the post press fit from the bottom of the bell they need to press them in from the top so they can use a flange to stop the bell parting ways

I have the rekon FR since 1.5 year (it was my first quad) I still fly it regularly my tougth on it -the motor bells pops off I glue them all back it they all flew off -the midle arm screws are a bit short and will rip the threads off the standoff in a crash -the Original AIO was very bad alot of electrical noise -the slots in the cam plates are fragile -the frame is very tough for the weight. other than that very fun quad I fly it with 3.5in props way more fun

Just a positive note on rekon's support. I had a faulty motor and replaced it very quickly. I also was missing some screws in my kit. They sent me a cap and the missing screws ;)

i have the worst luck with hglrc stuff. of all companys fc and escs hglrc stuff has failed me the most. my EMAX hawk 5 (got me in the hobby back in the day) still works. i even raced it for two years. still works.

recommended for review: iFlight Chimera4 - x frame version with VISTA. The one I fly uses the XING 1404/4600 kva motors, has a GPS module and holder and a self-powered buzzer. I use 4" triblade props and the dry weight without battery is 184 grams. JB reviewed the LR version in October 2020 - perhaps worth a relook!

I cut a zip tie and shove it in the hole, then shrink wrap it around the antenna cable. This adds some rigidity.

Get 16 minutes of similar style flying on my Crux35 with 4s 850 packs, 13+ on 4s 450. After 2 packs it feels weird taking the goggles off and seeing with my own eyes again.

Hi Joshua Great 👍 video Requesting you to make a video on 10+ students . We all will be interested in the method you discribe the new flyers how to fly the quad for the very first time. The process involved in the learning curve can be explained best by you 🙂. Great Regards

You can make any antenna stronger by fully encasing it in a heatshrink tube, and ziptieing the tube to the frame. My antennas last forever.

Try out a diatone frame. I'm beyond pleased with mine.

I also have a HGLRC 30x30 stack, 1st flight on a brand new 7", kept throttling on it`s own, thought I might have screwed up somewhere so I swopped it to a 5" and it flew great for about 7 packs....8th pack when I armed it full throttled and hit me in the shoulder luckily, I wont be buying their electronics again any time soon

My rekon 4 LR has been really fun to fly. I did get tired of going to new locations and needing to memorize the terrain so last summer I upgraded to WS. I think the only downside to this frame is the arms are relatively thin and can be easy to break. Anyway, I'm keeping this one and it might even keep a place in my stable this Sept. as a sub 250 so I can fly free.

Impressive! You made a security camera from a drone :) 5:05

Could you provide the factory pids and filters? I made some changes to fly in high wind and forgot to backup the original settings... Thank you for the video on this quad!

Loctitle is helping also with motor bels repair ;) in this case.

I have rekon 5 with the same motors. Yesterday the top of the motor flew away during power loop. I had a lot of problems with hglrc products.

You got me by 2 seconds. lol

i think the motors are a bit sub-standard, but not bad. i think i messed up my motors with dumb beginner noodling, but the balance and air gap is very finely balanced and only held with less than solid glue or loctite. i got good support for them, but if you ever manage to bust 2 or more motors, probably switch them out for more durable ones.

hey... thats my quad... i like it...

Do a crux35 review, a get 10+ minutes of flight with a 4s 720mah batt ,the quad it self is just a beast !!

What were your initial fpv recommendation for this class if not the HGLRC Rekon FR

Dude lmao what is this trick shots. Yup impressed.

This analog quad may have a slightly less sharp image than an HDZero quad does, but when flying your property, I actually like the image quality better than when you flew your space with an HDZero quad because the analog had almost no break up, where the HDZero quad rewarded us with a ton of colored sparklies in the same space! Those colored sparklies coupled with the high quality OLED goggles HDZero has makes for some tough break up for YOUR EYEBALLS to handle! I think the HDZero quad even had a stronger output VTX than this 350mw VTX on this Rekon 4 has.

I'm planning to buy the HGlrc Sector X5 analog as my first 5 inch, should I be concerned about the durability?

Great review, I have the older rekon 5” and 4” love them. However I have replace the antenna mounts with my own 3d printed parts. Also I have to say the HGLRC fc are very poor quality and I’ve replaced them.

The problem with the motors is basically the thing that happens to all larger t mount style motors. I flew the apex 4 inch for months with 2004 motors and kept going through them like crazy. I'm surprised these 1804s lasted as long as they did but it's probably because like you said they did't get slammed to hard in a grass field enough

Nice Video! I just Have been wondering if it would work to buy an HDMI to AV VIDEO Adapter and then use it with some cheap goggles like the Eachine EV800DM?

Wow, Joshua, you're making trainings? Do you have online one? I cannot find anything around me (I am from Ukraine staying in Slovakia, maximum I can find is slovak school but unfortunately I do not know slovak language... Other words - online is my only hope) Is it even possible learn fpv online?..

their products look like they are priced very well

JB the Antenna mount is meant to sandwich in between the bottom of the front standoffs and the top of the bottom plate. Much more solid and you'll notice the standoffs cup right into the antenna mount. Plus, tunning this guy is a pain. The Supafly 4" preset for this quad is spot on, solves all the little quirks with this quad's flight characteristics. It flies amazingly on that preset! Oh, one more thing. The ESC is set to 96K from the factory. Take it down to 24K for the preset. Give it a try you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Dave C. designs have been skimpy on the carbon and steel since he moved out of designing racing 5", and arguably before then. He runs it light, and the advantages are there. Nothing is free though, and since he started on long range frames they have looked like they could ONLY survive minor crashes on grass at low speed. I admire the thought that he puts into his designs, but they are consistently uncrashable. If you want to live in the flying realm of "this will be completely devastated by any crash from significant height, or speed. Do not ever crash into steel or concrete", those designs are for you. The payoff is there, if you have the skills, and the preparation. There should be a disclaimer though, ppl shill these things like they can be crashed. You are describing the myriad ways that it's not up to freestyle duty, and i'm glad you have integrity there. He just doesn't design stuff to be bashed, and the idea of it is like drifting a new ferrari. It could only work out if you were INCREDIBLY skilled, coming into it... and even then only with significant maintenance costs from crashes on a regular basis. The hardware just isn't set up for it. Doesn't have the ability to absorb kinetic/ballistic impacts with the frame, saving the electronics. What it DOES have is a good thrust to weight ratio, and agile handling characteristics. Looks like a blast on the sticks.

investigate the bad quad, remove props, enable logs, plug battery, wait for it to happen and you have a new video! This is the 2nd time I hear this behavior in the past 2 weeks or so. I have small 3" quads, i think i'm 'safer' that someome eating a 5" quad

Good morning folks!!

Is "turn right Bardwell" yaw right? yaw left is awkward to me or yaw inwards.

Josh, I'm sure you've posted this somewhere already, but could you post the approx dimensions of you "cube gate" thing in the field? seems like a good size for proximity work on a assortment of drone sizes. Thanks! keep up the excellent videos.

I have this quad just got it a few months ago and just was able to take it out because of the weather however mine came with a stack not just the aio and I'm noticing a wobble at the bottom of my punch outs???? Help

I had a rekon 4 and it was a total piece of cr@p. It took me 2 days to get it in the air (I was new and didn't realize how to tell when one of the motors was reversed). For bnf though, you would think they would have tested the motor directions. When I finally did get it in the air, it flew like a butterfly on meth. It taught me a lot about trouble shooting a poorly made drone. Seriously, it turned me off from hglrc / rekon. It also made me an enemy of race day quads for not allowing me to return it.

Aos 3.5 is magical...

I think Bardwell should have 277k patreon subscribers 🎉

i think for the price of $250, the problems with the antennas and screws should be solved

You’ve become a good pilot Bardwell and you probably don’t realise how much you’ve improved over the last couple of years. (That Sbang stuff may be what’s loosened up your style) 🤷‍♂️

Ive never flown a bnf 4 inch, but i built one. I built a 3.5 a couple months ago, and i liked it much better, but to be fair it may have been the difference in tuning. The 4 in. felt to floaty, it wouldnt drop fast enough, and i tried several things to fix it. The 3.5 flys a lot like a 5 in imo.

Glad you finally tried it, this is one of the best sub250g drones, if you fit 3.5” props to it then it genuinely flies like a 5” and it feels exceptional! I would have no issues replacing my 5”s with it as they feel the same to fly. I’ve had the bolts work loose and lost a few, quite annoying and I’ve already designed a set of Tpu parts for it so I haven’t had any issues with the antenna.

Greatings from Ukraine) I have similar problem. I got 9 quads build on SpeedyBee F405 V3 with all different components, but the same problem with all of them. On default PIDs when you touch any of the sticks quad fly to space, only disarm help. I lower PIDs, play with them and its help more or less. But maybe someone can advise me what it can be and why?

Maybe compare with something from Avant Quads ... like their Avio4 or Nexa4. At least I know that I'm after 2 years, still very happy with my Ciro4LR (despite LR, flown mostly Freestyle).

I just looked and this quad is 300usd in its analog version. I call that an expensive micro :D

Mr B where can I come to get flying lessons from you?!? 😮

Where and how do I sign up for JB classes??? I'm a drummer been saving long time for Rock and Roll fantasy camp would rather learn how to fly better!!!

just rebuilt my Rekon 4 FR with a Flywoo AOI and Walksnail 1s nano vtx/cam. Replaced the motors for Xnova 1806 3500kv because they have propnuts instead of those idiot T-Mount bells. Turns out the Xnova's will dent the bell on a light impact with a pole. damnit. The original motors can take a beating! Seriously! but changing props on them sucks.. fck T-Mount. The stock version is very good, tune is great albeit a bit floaty. I went from an rxsr to ELRS and mounted the antenna to an arm. The Walksnail antenna was replaced with a hglrc hammer LHCP and put a zip tie around the antenna hole. Flew the thing on a racetrack and it held up. All screws are done with Locktite. Also put the Flywoo lr4 cam protector on it (had that before and the mounting is the same, just printed it again).

Lol I've told you before take the go pro off a 4's rig and it flies exactly like a 6's with a go pro

Emax babyhawk II.

That is kind of lighter-frames fun the AOS LR5 is absolute beast. Not sub250 but with 8+minutes flighttime ripping freestyle or 12+minutes of long range cruise on 1300 6s. Brilliant and performance wise 10:1 to Rekon5

Great sample size and observations. Thank you for sharing this. Those 1804s with 2mm shafts are not very good for bashing (amazing feeling motor, and great for cruising) BUT 1507-2104 with 3mm shafts fare significantly better for the more destructive flying styles. 😜 Switching to those motors will obviously be out of the question and add 20+ grams, and just like the reason for the small VTX, it is why they didn’t use them in this sub 250 build. They likely hit the best balance with what they have… a durable motor for sub 250 bashing doesn’t really exist… unless you optimize your frame, and use an AIO with 1507s with 3mm shafts… this is the best I have accomplished in the past. But Recon doesn’t make a light 3mm shaft motor, so they did the best they could.

The dealbreaker for me is not having the 800mw vtx

Looks good, too bad rekonfpv never answers emails

it woulda been cool to see ten beginners, i've only taught a few people, one was a natural and one was a disaster, like he spun around where he was standing instead of using the sticks hehehe.

I have the Rekon5 and its frame is exceptionally bad. The resonance frequency is at only 55hz. This will ruin all your footage.

You don't have to turn right if you don't want to. lol

I'd love your opinion between the Rekon 4 FR and the Flywoo Explorer 4. I own 2 Flywoo Explorer's (both upgraded to DJI 03). One with Betaflight that I bash around with 850mah packs and another with Ardupilot, GPS/Compass on a mast and camera on tilt servo that I use for precision DJI style flying. It does seem that the Rekon has more power with those bigger motors, so I'd be curious on thoughts for a motor upgrade on my freestyle version. Would that make it almost the same or am I missing another thought here?

is it re-caan or wreck-un

👍🏻👍🏻

Hglrc antennas with that tube is horrible, the plastic tube is just too brittle, i wish someone would make a better TPU mount that goes up and around the antenna

6:40 r so.. ya, REMOVE the rubber band and use minimal cellophane tape.. The antenna factory mount seems to be for range..(?).. so there isn't an auto return?.. (with a controller , that is a defiant fault if a GPS is installed ans even still a raw calculation could be estimated if heading and pressure (alt and forward) is installed and they should be limited to 118mph (ha, ha, ha.. watched tor video on trying to free up the weight limit and discard that 1897 French bullet kills at calculation)

I have 2004 motors on a 3.5", lol

Really think 3.5" and 250g is about perfect. 4" as a "long range" makes total sense. think by LR we just mean longer flight time, don't intend to crash them. 3" basher (TT). Ohh we are crashing these.....

you need to turn right a bit more

bro the xtra 2 grams is in the crossfire antenna L

cut off the back end and save 20g after its way better!

I want to know the type of company that is spending this kind of money on this training. I want to work for a company like that

First!

The recon 6 is sweet though.

Hotglue will "HELP" the antenna