The SpeedyBee Bee25 is a sub-250g cinewhoop designed with the DJI O3 Air Unit in thoughts, making it a wonderful possibility for FPV drone pilots searching for a compact, versatile, and feature-rich drone. With its smooth modular design, considerate engineering, and stable flight efficiency, the Bee25 affords lots in a small package deal. On this overview, I’ll share my expertise with the Bee25, discussing its construct high quality, flight efficiency, and general worth.
New to FPV? Try my purchaser’s information for cinewhoops: https://oscarliang.com/cinewhoop/
The place to Purchase
You should purchase the SpeedyBee Bee25 from the next retailers:
Battery just isn’t included, try my suggestions right here: https://oscarliang.com/whoop-toothpick-lipo-battery/#4S-LiPOLiHV. Get the 4S 650mAh if you wish to keep below 250g restrict, or get the 4S 850mAh if you need longer flight time.
Don’t neglect to get some spare propellers too: https://oscarliang.com/product-rw6u
The Bee25 package deal features a person information, a set of stickers, spare {hardware}, antenna holders, and two screw drivers— a pleasant contact, contemplating many BNF drones don’t normally include any.
I’m reviewing the ExpressLRS model.
Specs
- Body: SpeedyBee Bee25 Commonplace Model
- Wheelbase: 120mm
- Flight Controller: STM32F405 with ICM42688-P Gyro, 8MB Blackbox, Bluetooth Assist
- ESC: 35A 8-bit ESC (BlueJay firmware)
- Motors: 1404 4600KV
- Propeller: HQprop DT63mm-3 blades
- VTX: Not included (Suitable with DJI O3 Air Unit)
- Digicam: Not included (Suitable with DJI O3 Air Unit)
- Receiver Choices: ELRS 2.4G / TBS Crossfire Nano / With out Receiver
- Battery Connector: XT30
- Battery dimension: Helps 4S 650-1100mAh batteries, Most 64*31*40mm (Vertical), 75*31*40mm (Horizontal)
- LED System: Meteor LED with 88 LED beads (absolutely customizable through SpeedyBee app)
- Receiver: ELRS 2.4G / TBS / None (select based mostly on model)
- Weight:
- With out DJI O3 and Battery: 123g
- With DJI O3: 172g
- With DJI O3 and 4S 650mAh: 248g
- With DJI O3 and 4S 850mAh: 266g
Construct High quality and Design
The Bee25 drone boasts a smooth design with a clear tinted plastic body that homes its parts. This offers the Bee25 a novel and fashionable aesthetic, whereas additionally permitting you to see the internals, particularly these stunning LEDs across the body.
The built-in Meteor LEDs not solely add visible enchantment however are additionally useful. They show the drone’s standing, comparable to whether or not it’s armed or in fail-safe mode, and assist with finding the drone in low-light circumstances. This characteristic, together with the flexibility to manage the LEDs by Betaflight or the SpeedyBee app, provides one other layer of practicality and usefulness.
Regardless of the light-weight supplies, the Bee25 feels sturdy. SpeedyBee has carried out good design decisions to guard delicate parts, such because the hard-mounted XT30 connector and protecting housing for the GPS. Nonetheless, my overview unit didn’t include a GPS module, so I couldn’t check the Rescue mode. Moreover, the easy-access USB-C port on the flight controller makes altering the drone’s settings rather more handy.
Weighing round 165g with out the battery, the Bee25 is designed to remain below the 250g restrict with a appropriate 4S battery. That is necessary for complying with drone rules in some areas. When you’re including the DJI O3 Air Unit, be conscious of the battery weight to remain inside this restrict. The most important battery you should use to stay below 250g is a 4S 650mAh, which brings the entire weight to round 248g.
The elastic battery band, although unconventional, works surprisingly effectively to safe batteries of assorted sizes. A minor concern arises with longer batteries (over 60mm), which can have bother becoming correctly because of the fastened XT30 connector placement. You possibly can work round this by rotating the mounting brackets to suit the battery sideways. Whereas a small inconvenience, it’s price noting should you plan to make use of bigger batteries.
Made For DJI O3
The Bee25 is particularly designed to deal with the DJI O3 Air Unit, although my overview unit didn’t include one, so I needed to set up my very own. Thankfully, the set up course of is easy. The modular digicam mount for the O3 may appear a bit advanced initially in comparison with minimalist designs just like the BetaFPV Pavo20 Professional, however it’s effectively thought-out. It supplies glorious safety for the O3 Air Unit, which is essential for sturdiness and reliability.
Whereas the modular system requires a bit extra effort to put in, detailed directions can be found on SpeedyBee’s web site, making the method simpler. It’s a one-time job, and as soon as put in, the modular design makes accessing the microSD card and USB-C port very handy. Moreover, the drone features a cooling duct built-in into the antenna mount, which helps to forestall the O3 Air Unit from overheating throughout longer flights—a sensible and welcome characteristic.
I did ask SpeedyBee about compatibility with the Walksnail VTX system, however sadly, this mannequin doesn’t assist it. For the very best person expertise, persist with the DJI O3 Air Unit.
Flight Efficiency
The Bee25 flew rather well, higher than I anticipated to be trustworthy, probably the very best 2.5inch cinewhoop I’ve flown this 12 months. It’s tuned straight out of the field for cinematic flying, making it straightforward to seize fluid, stabilized photographs.
The Bee25’s 1404 4600KV motors are highly effective and responsive, providing loads of thrust with out compromising flight stability. Paired with HQ 63mm props, this mix supplies glorious efficiency for easy, cinematic flying. Even with a big 4S 850mAh LiPo, it nonetheless managed to hover round 25% throttle providing you with loads of headroom for extra aggressive maneuvers if wanted which is fairly spectacular.
Battery life on the Bee25 is stable. Utilizing a 650mAh 4S battery, I used to be capable of get about 5.5 minutes of easy, cinematic flying. Once I upgraded to an 850mAh battery, flight time prolonged to about 7.5 minutes.
Whether or not I used to be flying gradual and regular for cinematic photographs or pushing the drone with extra freestyle maneuvers, it dealt with all the things with ease. I did discover some minor prop wash right here and there, however nothing important sufficient to affect the general expertise.
However as a 2.5″ drone, it’s simply as noisy as different cinewhoops of comparable dimension – you’ll draw some consideration should you’re flying in public areas. It’s a lot louder than even my 3″ open prop drone just like the Sub250 Oasisfly25 I not too long ago reviewed, however that’s to be anticipated for a cinewhoop, one thing you have to be conscious of.
Areas for Enchancment
First off, the Bee25 doesn’t include spare propellers, which may very well be inconvenient. You’ll wish to choose some up right here: https://oscarliang.com/product-rw6u.
From a efficiency perspective, I might recommend eradicating the LED strip to save lots of weight, and probably make the DJI O3 “bare” as effectively utilizing this package: https://oscarliang.com/flywoo-naked-o3-lite-ultra-kit/. This may can help you use a bigger 4S 850mAh battery whereas nonetheless staying below the 250g weight restrict, providing you with longer flight occasions and improved efficiency.
GPS isn’t obligatory for indoor or close-proximity flying, however should you’re flying outside or need an added layer of safety, I’d suggest including GPS and organising Rescue Mode. Right here’s a information: https://oscarliang.com/setup-gps-rescue-mode-betaflight/.
The prop guards are light-weight, which makes them much less sturdy. When you anticipate frequent crashes, it’s clever to select up some spare body elements to keep away from downtime.
SpeedyBee all the time delivers distinctive designs with cautious consideration to element. Nonetheless, the tendency to design frames that require varied sorts and sizes of screws could make repairs and upkeep a bit extra sophisticated. They do present two additional screws for every kind, however this complexity may not enchantment to everybody. When you admire distinctive, aesthetically pleasing frames, SpeedyBee is a superb possibility, however should you want simplicity, it might not be your best option. On a constructive observe, I do love that they embrace screwdrivers within the package deal, which is nice for newbies.
One other limitation is the Bee25’s lack of compatibility with FPV techniques exterior of DJI. If you wish to use one thing just like the Walksnail system, it will require modifications and tinkering, which may very well be a trouble for some customers.
The way to Setup
Organising the Bee25 for its first flight was simple:
Authentic CLI Diff may be discovered right here.
Remaining Ideas: Is the SpeedyBee Bee25 Value It?
The SpeedyBee Bee25 is well considered one of my favourite 2.5-inch cinewhoops for 2024. It flies exceptionally effectively proper out of the field, affords nice worth with its considerate design, and pairs completely with the DJI O3 Air Unit. Whereas there are just a few areas for enchancment as talked about within the overview, the general efficiency and construct high quality of the Bee25 make it a standout possibility within the sub-250g class.
When you’re searching for a light-weight cinewhoop that provides nice flight efficiency, the Bee25 is a implausible alternative. Whether or not you’re flying indoors, filming cinematic photographs outside, or just desire a dependable sub-250g drone, the SpeedyBee Bee25 delivers on all fronts.
