The Vfly X150 is the latest 4-inch FPV quadcopter to come out of the Vfly headquarters.  The X150 sits right between the R130 and R220 in terms of size but promises to be the fastest quadcopter they have made (they say worlds fastest sub 250g quad.. but we will see).   The FPV camera is a 600TVL Foxeer Arrow and you get a genuine FRsky XM+ receiver with EU firmware!  The rest of the electronics are entirely custom with a power switchable video transmitter on the top of the stack, followed by an F4 flight controller with betaflight OSD.  At the bottom is a 4in1 20A ESC running Blheli with Dshot 600.  It is powered by some Sunnysky 1406 3300Kv motors running on 4S, capable of putting out a combined thrust of over 1.3Kg, so theoretically this micro quad should be a lot of fun to fly.  Read on to find out what this quadcopter is actually like.

Key Specifications

• 150mm wheelbase carbon fiber frame with 5mm arms
• F4 Flight controller with betaflight OSD and MPU6000, so you shouldn’t need to worry about vibrations too much.
• Sunnysky 1406-3300KV motors with DAL three blade 4045 props
• Foxeer Arrow 600TVL CCD camera
• 40 Ch 25mW to 600mW switchable VTX
• Suggested battery: 11.1V 850mAh 35C 3S Li-PO or 14.8V 550mAh 35C 4S Li-PO

The Good

Lets start with some of the features that, in my opinion, really made the X150 stand out.

• Firstly, you will be happy to know that the build quality on this quad is up there with the very best.  There are no messy wires, and all the connectors have been secured with goop.
• The frame itself is solid and strong.  The arms are 5mm carbon fibre and slice through the air.  The flight stack tower uses metal spacers.  Even the FPV antenna connector is secured by the top carbon fibre plate.
• The frame and component design are well thought out.  Both the VTX channel change and bootloader buttons are easy to access.  The FPV camera is well protected and is on an adjustable mount.  Furthermore, the VTX channel display at the rear is a nice touch, and it also doubles as a battery voltage display.
• The 1406 motors coupled to 4 inch props give the X150 seriously impressive flight performance because most other 150 size quads only use 3 inch props.  While flying FPV you can easily mistake this for a full size racing drone.
• The total weight with battery is less than 250g, so you will not need to register this drone if new registration laws come into effect.
• The X150 also has very impressive flight endurance with an average flight time of 12 minutes.

So overall the quadcopter has some good qualities, but it does have a few negative points.

The Bad

• With the exception of the receiver, camera and antenna, all the electronics are custom designed by Vifly.  This means that you are forced to buy Vifly replacement parts.  That said, replacing the flight controller, or VTX is incredibly easy since they all plug in on top of each other.
• If you are a beginner soldering the Motor to ESC connections can be very tricky since there is literally about half a millimetre of clearance between the solder point and the nearest component on the PCB.
• It would have been nice to see a better FPV antenna included.  The included one is a cloverleaf, but nowadays you get better options like the pagoda 2.  However, this is something that you can easily upgrade yourself.  The latest batch now include a pagoda 2 antenna
• If you want even more speed you will need to upgrade the props to something stiffer.  I found that on 4S, at 90% throttle the props seem to be flattening.  But the included props do bend in a crash so they don’t break easily, so this comes down to your own preference.. speed or durability..

Why should you get one?

So why should you get one?  Vifly has been on a run of producing excellent, high-quality drones and the X150 is no different.  It comes in at under 250g with the battery so you will not need to register this as a drone.  It has explosive flight performance on 4S along with impressive flight times (if you fly gently), while still being strong, and is one of the easiest FPV quadcopters to work with and use.  Although not verified, my opinion is that this definitely is one of the fastest sub 250g quads currently on the market.  Bottom line,  it is an all-around excellent quadcopter at a very reasonable price.

Where to buy

• Unmanned Tech (UK)
• ViFly (China)

Everything you love about Vfly quads

If you have owned any previous vifly quadcopters, the X150 will be very familiar to you with all the pilot-friendly design features making this a very satisfying quad to setup and use.  From the easy to access USB port, to the easy to access receiver bind button, you don’t need to fiddle with anything to get this quadcopter setup.  Furthermore, the VTX channel change button is easy to access and the built-in channel display at the back of the quad makes it super easy to setup when you are at the flying field.  The build quality is also top notch.  There are no loose wires flapping about, and even the solder points and connectors are secured with some goop.

One of the other things Vfly drones are famous for are being crash resistant, but at the cost of being heavy and over-engineered. Coming in at 170g, the X150 is not exactly lightweight, but it is also not the heaviest.  I think that Vfly has found a great balance between strength and weight with the X150, as it is still strong while not carrying anything unnecessarily heavy.  The arms are 5mm thick which is impressive for a frame of this size.  Also equally important they are just 6mm wide, reducing the amount of drag on the arms to give this quad some extra speed.  Should you have a seriously bad crash and break an arm, the frame uses separate arms to make replacements a bit cheaper.

The Flight Stack

The flight stack consists largely of custom design components with a custom ESC, flight controller and VTX.   All the boards on the stack are held together using metal spacers that are strong enough to let the stack itself form part of the protective cage.  All of the boards in the stack, join together with through-hole connectors so you don’t need to do any soldering, making it incredibly easy to replace something should you need to.

4in1 20A ESC

The ESC is a custom design 4in1 design Blheli_S Dshot 600.  It works perfectly and is well built and is what you would expect on an FPV racing quadcopter.  My only complaint here is that you need to be careful if you need to replace a motor since the motor connection pads are literally about half a millimetre from the nearest component.

F4 Flight controller

Sitting above the ESC is a custom-made flight controller based on the extremely popular omnibus F4 design.  It includes a betaflight OSD and uses the trusty and vibration resistant MPU6000 IMU running at 8Khz.  The USB port is conveniently located at the rear, and the bootloader button is easy to press using your finger to flash new firmware.

25mW-600mW switchable VTX

Sitting on the top of the stack is the VTX which is also custom made.  The VTX is a 40 channel power switchable unit.  You can set the power level between 25mW all the way to 600mW which makes it very versatile.  Changing the settings is extremely easy since the push-button is easy to access and the LCD display on the rear lets you see what the current VTX configuration is.  It would have been a bonus if the VTX supported smart audio or some sort of VTX telemetry, but to be honest, I did not miss it since it is so easy to change settings using the button.   The SMA connector means that it is very easy to upgrade the mediocre FPV antenna.  It is also reinforced by a carbon fibre plate on the top of the stack, so it is unlikely you will rip it off in a crash.

Foxeer Micro Arrow and an XM+ receiver

Rather than using an unknown FPV camera, Vifly has decided to use the foxeer micro arrow FPV camera.  This CCD camera is great so no complaints here.  The camera is relatively well protected by two metal plates that also serve as the adjustable camera mount.

The X150 is sold as either a ready to fly unit with the radio link T8 system, but I suspect the most popular version (and the one you should go for) will be the one with a Frsky XM+ receiver.  And yes this is a totally genuine XM+ receiver and for us in the EU, you can get it with European D16 firmware!

The antenna connectors use the zip tie and heatshrink method.  Although this works well it is not entirely immune to getting caught in the props during some crashes.  But since this mounting method is easy to fix, and if you have the XM+ receiver, the antennas are also easily replaceable should the worst happen.

How does it fly?

The 1406 sunnysky motors are excellent coupled to the DAL 4045 props, give this quad explosive acceleration, and I can honestly say that when flying this you do forget that it is a sub 210 size frame.  On 3 cell the performance is great, but if you want to turn it to 11, hook up a 4 cell lipo to give you the best power loops, trifecta180’s or just about anything you are able to do in your repertoire.  This performance is largely down to the  skinny arms that cut through the air and the fact that most 150 size quads use 3 inch props, but Vifly have managed to fit 4 inch props on this quad which gives this quad the edge over other 150 sized drones.

Warning:  If flying on 4s make sure you have a large enough flying area!

One thing that I did notice is that when flying on 4S, at high RPM (about 85% throttle and above), the included props do start to bend, you can hear this and see some vibrations on the FPV feed.  So if you want to get even more performance you will need to swap the propellers for something stiffer.  That said, the included props are the DAL ultra durable series so they do hold up excellently in a crash, so it is up to your own flying preferences if you want to change the props.  Also if flying on 3S, the included props are the ideal ones to use.

Another very nice feature of this is that if you fly relatively gently you can get a good 12-14 minutes of flight out of a single battery.  This gives you the best of both worlds since the quad has the power to scream around a track if you want, or dial it back slightly and you get plenty of air time to unwind after a stressful day at work.

Bottom Line

This is the best quadcopter to come out of the Vifly stables as it is fast, efficient, strong, and reasonably priced, something you do not often find all in the same quad.  Anyone who buys this quad will not be disappointed.

Thanks for reading this review and I hope that it has helped you make an informed decision.  If you have anything you think I missed our, or want to add your own opinion please do so by joining the discussion.  If you are going to buy this quadcopter, you can help us out by buying from one of the links here, as we earn a small commission to help us write more awesome articles for you.