The ARFUN Pro 90mm is an incredible micro FPV quadcopter, boasting an all up weight amongst the lightest around. The DYS motors and Gemfan props can put out a combined thrust output of 472g giving this micro quad an impressive power to weight ratio, and that just on 2S. When you are flying this quad you quickly forget just how small it is as you rip through the sky. But with countless other micro quads available on the market what makes this one stand out? The short answer is that the ARfun Pro 95 is fast using decent tech onboard, it runs powerful motors coupled with a lightweight (and to some extent more aerodynamic) frame, which makes it a bit more fragile than other micro quads.
The Good
- Lightweight full carbon fibre frame that is 3mm thick, which is thick for a micro quad (total weight under 80g with battery).
- DYS BE1104 7500Kv motors make this quad rip through the air.
- Electronics are compatible with 3S Lipos for even more power.
- Omnibus F3 based FC with integrated betaflight OSD.
- MPU6000 Gyro running at 8Khz default.
- 20A 4in1 ESC running Dshot600 out of the box.
- RGB LED and loud buzzer unit at the rear.
- 120-degree FOV on FPV camera makes it great to fly indoors.
- Supports 3S Lipo for crazy performance.
The Bad
- Frame arms are very narrow (but have very little drag).
- Stock battery is not the best (so you should look to replace it soon).
- FC stack uses plastic standoffs which the top plate is mounted onto, so not the strongest flight stack in a crash.
- FPV camera angle is not easily adjustable.
- No antenna or propeller protection in a crash
- Ultra bright RGB LED makes it hard to fly line of sight indoors as it almost blinds you. But it’s an FPV quad so who cares right? And I suppose you can turn it off.
- Propellers are a little awkward to install (but common on any motors of this size).
Why you should get it
If you are looking for the fastest micro FPV quadcopter, the ARfun Pro 95 is going to be hard to beat. However, this does come as a pinch of salt because the frame itself makes some parts more exposed in a crash, not ideal for a beginner. Another great thing about this quad is that it is not excessively expensive when considering that you are getting decent gear, with DYS motors, Gemfan props, Blheli_S ESC, and a betaflight F3 flight controller with built in OSD.
Where to Buy
How does it fly?
On my first flight, I was smart enough to fly outdoors as the ARfun Pro 90mm is more powerful than you might expect. With the initial throttle up I was already about 5 meters in the air. With the stock settings, the quad was agile allowing me to rip through the air (at least for someone of my limited piloting skills). With full throttle punch outs, I constantly needed to remind myself that this is just a 95mm quadcopter. I would go as far to say this quad flies like some of the best full 250mm size quadcopters from last year (in terms of speed), and that is saying a lot for a 90mm quad. The quadcopter itself when flying definitely does feel like a lightweight quad. Crank the throttle stick to full and this thing will simply disappear into the sky, so don’t try this in small spaces or indoors.
However as with all tiny quads, before you know it the battery is flat, but the loud buzzer makes it hard to ignore. This is maybe where the name comes from.. arr the fun over.. Fortunately, small batteries are cheap so I suggest you get a bunch of 500mAh 30C lipo when you go out to fly.
Upgrade to 3S to get even more crazy performance
All the gear on this quad is compatible with 3S lipo, so if the already great performance on 2S is not enough for you, strap on a 3S lipo and be prepared to be blown away.
Light frame, but not the strongest
The frame base uses full 3K carbon fibre that is 3mm thick so it is relatively tough. Given that this quadcopter is built for speed you can forgive the designers for making the arms so thin as it serves two benefits. The first is that it saves a bit of weight, but the second more noticeable reason is that it makes the frame more aerodynamic. The air pushed down by the props are not met with a massive flat piece of carbon fibre like on other frame designs.
One can also forgive the fact that the FPV transmitter antenna is exposed at the top of the frame as adding protection to this would add significant weight to the lightweight frame.
But the one thing that is not ideal is that the flight stack uses M2 nylon spacers to mount to the base frame, but weirdly uses aluminium spacers to mount to the top plate. The top place extends over the front to protect the camera and at the back of the LED unit which is a nice idea. But in a head on crash all this force will be projected through the weak nylon spacers which are not exactly strong, possibly ripping out your FC, ESC and also the top plate. Why did they not use aluminium spacers for everything, or save the 1g in weight (and cost) and use nylon for the entire stack? Excuse my mini rant, but it is just stupid to have an aluminium spacer at the top alone.
Edit: I have had some high-speed crashes (into the grass and sand) and so far the frame is holding up well so maybe the nylon spacers are stronger than I lead on to suggest.
Ticks all the boxes for features
In terms of the technology onboard, the Arfun quad ticks all the boxes in what to look for as listed below:
BLheli-S 20A ESC running Dshot600
To start the 4in1 ESC runs Blheli_S firmware, and is configured to run Dshot 600 as standard. This ensures excellent motor performance.
Mini F3 flight controller
The mini flight controller runs an F3 MCU (not the latest but still plenty fast enough), and the best part is that the flight controller has been setup properly. At the heart of the FC is the MPU6000 IMU that has been configured to send gyro updates at 8Khz. The stock PID’s fly great and the PID loop set to 2Khz out of the box.
Integrated betaflight OSD
The flight controller has a built in betaflight OSD chip which is great for a quadcopter of this size. Betaflight OSD is almost becoming standard nowadays for FPV quads so I will not go into many details as to why I like it so much. Anyone who used to use MWosd/minim OSD boards will appreciate how nice betaflight OSD is to use!
DYS BE1104 7500Kv Motors
For a quad at this price point, it is great to see that it uses some brand name motors. Although the BE1104 motors have been around a while now, they are still great, reliable motors that provide decent thrust even at 2S. Although they might not be the most powerful motors around, the fact that the frame is so light makes this quadcopter a great performer.
600TVL FPV camera with integrated VTX
Somewhat standard on micro quads, the only two things that stand out about the FPV camera is the nice wide 120-degree field of view and the angled mount. The wide field of view makes it nice to fly in tight spaces, giving you better situational awareness, and it angled at about 20 degrees which is ok for most people. It would have been nice for this angle to be adjustable to suit any pilots flying requirements. However, since the camera is secured by a zip tie you can cut it off and mount it to another angle, this is what you have to live with to keep the weight of the frame to a minimum.
What about the ARfun 90?
Earlier in the year, Aurora RC released the Arfun 90mm. The 90mm version essentially uses all the same parts, but just on a frame that is 5mm smaller. The only different gear is the 90mm version has 5 blade props, and the 95mm uses 4 blade props. So I am not sure why it loses the pro term in the name? Does the 5 blade props add anything to the flight..? Based on my previous experience, there is no noticeable difference between 4 to 5 blade props, other than shorter flight times. I would argue that with the BE1104 7500Kv motors used on both the 95 and 90mm versions you combine them with the DYS XT20303 Props . This will give you the best balance between performance and flight times.
But at the end of the day, either one of these will be great quads so I would get whichever is in stock or is cheaper.
Connecting your receiver
I received the PNP version of the ARFun Pro 95 so I had to manually install my own receiver. There are no details included with the kit so I figured it would be useful to include here should anyone go for the PNF version. Due to the small size, the choice of a receiver is fairly limited but I used the Flysky A8S since that is what I had lying around.
It’s best to use SBUS so I just hooked that up to the PPM/SBUS port according to the flight controller pinout (shown below)
Due to the small size, you need to be careful when soldering so if you have no experience in soldering, definitely get the PNP version. Also, the wires need to be cut back a lot to avoid anything getting caught up in the props.
I was pleasantly surprised when connecting to betaflight to see it was running the latest version at the time of this article (v3.1.7) and that the default settings were already configured for an SBUS receiver.
Bottom Line
If you are looking for a fast tiny drone then I am happy to recommend the ARfun Pro 95 (and it is probably the fastest micro quad if you run it on 3s). Just bear in mind that although it’s not exactly fragile, the Arfun Pro 95 is built more for speed rather than like a tank. If you are a still a new pilot, something like the lizard 95 from Eachine will be a better option as it also flies great, but has more protection.
Where to Buy
Thanks for reading this review and hope it helps, if you have any questions or suggestions please add them to the comments below!
