If you’re looking for the best FPV racing drone on the market, there are none like the Arris X220 Pro. The X220 Pro will give you great value for your money and awesome performance. It is priced at under $300, it is made from reliable, durable, high-quality parts, has a strong frame, but it doesn’t sacrifice any speed or maneuverability. For a beginner or a FPV racing drone enthusiast on a budget, the Arris X220 Pro is a quadcopter you definitely don’t want to miss out on.
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| Product: |   |
|---|---|
| Model: | Arris X220 Pro |
| Frame Material: | Carbon Fiber |
| Frame Size: | 4mm Thick 220 mm X-Frame |
| Stock Propellers: | ARRIS 5042 3-blade |
| Weight: | 356g |
| Camera: | Runcam Swift 2 |
| Motors: | Emax RS2306 2400KV |
| ESC: | Flycolor Raptor S-Tower comes with BLHei-S 4-in-1 40A |
| Flight Controller: | OMNIBUS F4 |
Arris X220 Pro Pros:
- Durable frame and great protection for internal components
- The Arris X220 Pro is built with high quality and trusted name brand components
- Fast and maneuverable with excellent thrust-to-weight ratio
- Integrated battery voltage monitoring and beeper
Arris X220 Pro Cons:
- There isn’t enough space to mount a session camera and battery at the same time on the top of the frame
- There is no press button channel switching on the VTX (video transmitter)
Overall Rating
Bottom Line
The Arris X220 Pro is one of the best FPV racing drones out there for under $300, which is great for those who are thinking about taking up drone racing or even just drone flying as a hobby. It is a durable, lightweight drone and it is highly maneuverable. With high quality brand name components and a great build, you are getting great value. The Arris X220 Pro does have some minor cons, but these are overshadowed by its pros. A common gripe that pilots bring up with the X220 Pro is that there isn’t enough space on the top of the frame for the battery and the session camera. The Arris comes out of the box with top battery mounting configuration, but the battery can be moved to the bottom of the frame with a tiny bit of work. Since this is one of the biggest gripes you’ll encounter with this drone, you’ll likely agree that this is definitely one of the best FPV racing drones to buy under $300.
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Speed and Power
The Arris X220 Pro is stocked with a Flycolor Raptor S-Tower that includes a BLHei-S 4-in-1 40A ESC. The 4-in-1 ESC is located inside the drone and is a 40A version rather than a 30A version that comes with the standard Arris X220 model. A 40A ESC means that this drone is capable of flying with 4S batteries. This combination of 4S batteries, the EMAX RS2306 2400kV motors and the Arris 5042 3-blade propellers combine for a quadcopter with really great speed and power. We rated the Arris X220 Pro 7.5 out of 10 in this category.
Maneuverability
The Arris X220 Pro is sleek and aerodynamic. It has a slightly more traditional box frame design, but this doesn’t noticeably impact maneuverability or performance. The overall aerodynamic build coupled with the great thrust-to-weight ratio makes this a highly maneuverable drone.
In our review of this drone we watched multiple flight test videos of this drone in action. The reviewers put the Arris X220 Pro through freestyle acrobatics and race conditions and this quadcopter was more than able to hold its own. We rated the Arris X220 Pro 7 out of 10 in maneuverability.
Value for Money
Getting value for your money is important when making a purchase like an FPV racing drone. Replacement parts and repairs for drones can get expensive quickly, and any edge you can get when selecting components or purchasing a bind and fly fully assembled quadcopter is worth pursuing. The Arris X220 Pro is an exceptional FPV racing drone when it comes to value for money. It is marketed as a beginner to intermediate racing drone, but it is packed with reliable and high quality components that are almost worth the cost of the assembled drone. These components like the Foxeer antenna, Runcam Swift 2 camera, EMAX motors and Flycolor stack are brand name high quality parts. The Arris X220 Pro is one of the best racing drones to buy under $300. You will be hard pressed to find a FPV racing drone in this price range with a better selection of components and build quality. We rated the Arris X220 Pro 10 out of 10 in this category.
Camera and Video Quality
The X220 Pro is shipped with a Runcam Swift 2, which is a pretty great camera with built in voltage monitoring and OSD. This is an awesome camera for a bind and fly quadcopter under $300 as it is fully featured and high quality. The Runcam Swift 2 only weighs 14 grams, has a 130-degree angle field of view, the horizontal resolution is 600TVL, it has a 2.5mm lens, and it has an integrated mic and OSD (on-screen display), as well as auto gain control and back light compensation. These are great features and functionality for the price point.
It is possible to mount a session camera on the Arris X220 Pro. This session camera is usually mounted over the top of the battery, or the battery needs to be moved to the bottom of the frame and the camera is then mounted on the top. Those who are new to drones, or drone racing, may not want the session camera on the drone when they first fly as you are typically learning how to control the drone and the added weight of the session camera will affect your performance. We rated the Arris X220 Pro 8 out of 10 in camera and video quality.
Durability
The Arris X220 Pro X-frame is made from carbon fiber. This is a fairly common material for frames in the FPV drone racing community and provides a great balance of lightweight and strength. There are a couple competitors on the market that do not use carbon fiber as their main frame material and we would suggest avoiding these if possible unless you’ve spent the time to review crash videos and test flights of the quadcopter.
The X220 Pro has a traditional box frame design with great coverage of its main components. While it is generally not a good idea to purposely crash your drone to test the durability of the blades or the frame, you generally want a drone that can take a crash into the ground from a few stories up and get back into the air with only a few scratches or minor repairs. The Arris X220 Pro is more than capable of taking a decent beating. We rated this quadcopter 8 out of 10 in durability.
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Conclusion
The Arris X220 Pro was rated the Best Value drone by AerialTechReview in 2018. If you’re starting off in the hobby of FPV racing or if you’re looking for a high quality drone to thrash around and get some practice on a racetrack, the X220 Pro is highly recommended by us. Is is a solid choice for any FPV racing drone enthusiast that is looking for a bind and fly quadcopter.
We always recommend that you do as much research as possible before committing to a purchase like an FPV racing drone. Especially if you are new to the hobby or if you are looking for a product with some very specific features. If you’re still undecided about which drone to buy or if you’d like to check out some of the competitors to this product, then check out our article on the Best FPV Racing Drones to buy under $300.
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