Buying a racing drone is always tricky especially if it is your first time to buy one. Firstly, you may not know what features to look for. Secondly, you may not know what the manufacturer has compromised on to build on speed. Thankfully, with this EMAX Hawk Pro FRSKY drone review, you can remove the guesswork out of the picture.
EMAX has been making racing drones of different sizes for some time now. If you read our EMAX Tinyhawk 2.5 review, you can understand just how far they have delved into the racing drone industry. If you are looking for a racing quad, this is the kind of drone to go for. It does what it is supposed to do, and that is fly fast.
Buying this race drone is going to cost you substantially more money than buying a regular drone. Therefore, you want to ensure that you get good value for your money. One of the ways to know whether you will get good value for your money is by looking at the features of the drone. Therefore, in the upcoming section, we are going to look at all the features and the flight functions (if any) of the EMAX Hawk Pro FRSKY drone to see whether it is worth spending your money on.
EMAX Hawk Pro FRSKY Features & Technical Details
For a performance drone, we have come to expect some obvious features such as brushless motors. However, it takes much more than the motors to make a truly excellent racing drone. For example, the drone should also have wind resistance. Is the Hawk Pro an excellent choice for you? Let us see the features first.
Design and Build Quality
This drone looks aggressive and the red color makes it look even more outstanding. Being a racing drone, it comes with just the bare basics, but the frugal design is what makes racing drones so appealing. The hull is finished in a beautiful combination of red and dark gray color.
The frame of this drone is carbon fiber. It is light in weight and quite hardy. About the size, she has a wheelbase of 210mm without the propellers. The weight of the drone without the battery is 265g, which increases to more than 500g when you add the battery. Don’t worry though because even with such weight, this drone will still be able to pull 100km/h.
EMAX Hawk Pro comes in two size versions, but it does not make much of a difference because both of them cost the same price. The one that we are reviewing here is the 2400FRSKY BNF size with 4S Lipo battery. The second one is the 1700 FRSKY BNF with 6S Lipo battery.
You will notice the slim open design of this drone. It has been designed this way to allow the drone user to add his or her customizations if they so wish. The drone has also been designed in such a way that it has a streamlined profile that minimizes air resistance. The minimal weight and the incredible design enhance the speed when in flight.
Another thing that we might mention here is that this drone has a vibration damping system. This further enhances the battery life and gives you a good FPV over the terrain the drone is flying over.
Camera
The drone comes with an FPV-enabled camera to enable you to get a clear view of the topography over which the drone is flying. This drone uses a Caddx Ratel 1200TVL camera. This camera has FPV and you are assured of low latency, which means that you get video in real-time.
Another thing that Caddx Ratel cameras are known for is their night vision effect. You can get good video transmission at night when using this camera. This camera also has an ND8 filter that adjusts the contrast when the drone is flying to bring you vivid views. This camera has a wide field of view at 150 degrees, which allows you to see a lot of terrain.
Inbuilt On Screen Display
This is a high quality and helpful addition. It brings you real-time statistics for the battery charge remaining, signal strength and the flight time.
Receiver
The EMAX Hawk Pro 5 uses a small D8 FrSky 2.4G receiver. This is an 8-channel 300-meter receiver. There is zero to minimal latency in signal transfer so you get data in realtime. Similar to the Mini Magnum III F4 Flight Controller, this receiver is also built-in, comes already preinstalled.
Battery and flight time
A performance drone needs a high quality battery. You can go for the Hawk Pro 5 that comes with a Lithium-polymer 4S battery or the 6S Lipo. From reviews posted on different online marketplaces, most people prefer the 6S. However, the manufacturer says that the Kv2400 drone should be used with the 4S Lipo battery. You must also remember that 4S Lipos are more affordable. You will not spend too much if you need to replace it in future.
The battery is mounted underneath the drone. This leaves the battery a little more exposed during a crash. Crashes are inevitable in racing drones no matter how keen you are.
LED Lights
This drone has beautiful LED lights that light up in green or led, which makes night flights visually appealing. You can also change the color of the LEDs by changing the plastic covers. These LED lights are fixed on the motor.
5-Inch AVAN Propeller Blades
The Hawk Pro 5 uses AVAN propeller blades. These blades are specifically designed for performance. They enhance lift and throttle response. As a racing propeller, the bigger it is the better and they also reduce drag at corners, shaving precious seconds and helping the drone maintain top speed.
Transmitter
From the title of this review article, you can guess that this drone, like many racing drones, uses an FrSky transmitter. Specifically, you will have to get a D8 mode FrSky transmitter. Luckily, there are many options for this and you will be spoilt for choice. The only disadvantage is that you will have to pay extra to get the transmitter. Regular drones come with their own transmitters but a racer like EMAX Hawk Pro 5 is no regular drone.
Try transmitters such as Taranis QX7, Taranis X9 Lite, WT8 FrSky transmitter and others. You can take your pick from Banggood and other online merchants.
Short Summary of Feedback from Existing Owners
This drone flies super fast and is very stable. It is little wonder that EMAX has been leading in the racing consumer drones field. Kalam S.
Please be warned, this is not a drone for beginners seeing as it lacks many automatic flight functions. It is a crazy flier and although I have dropped it a couple of times, there has been no serious damage. Arnold P.
The drone comes ready to fly from the box. However, you have to have the right transmitter for it, which is going to cost you more money, but it will be worth it. Cliff M.
I bought the KV1700 version with the 6S Lipo and it has been flying like a wild mustang. I would not recommend this drone for a beginner, but it sure is a marvel for a person who knows something about manual piloting. Richard W.
Luckily, I had a FrSky transmitter already so I did not need to buy a second one. That has saved me some money. Tom H.
To be honest, I bought this drone for the flight alone – Not FPV or anything else, just to hit the crazy speeds in a wide-open space. Hezeh N.
EMAX Hawk Pro 5 Pros
- Sold ready to fly
- Aerodynamic design makes it achieve top speed easily
- LED pulsar motors make it look stunning when flying in low light
- Has two holes for camera mount if you would like to install one
- Battery and flight stats available on the built-in on board display
- High quality 1200TVL HDR camera from Caddx Ratel, with good night vision
- You get a spare canopy
- Lightweight carbon fiber frame to lower drone weight
- Flight controller and receiver are already installed, just fly it
EMAX Hawk Pro 5 Cons
- You have to buy a compatible transmitter separately
- Not really a con, but this drone cannot capture footage unless you add a camera
Who Should Buy The EMAX Hawk Pro 5?
Only people who have experience flying a racing drone should get this one. First, it is costly. Secondly, it requires a transmitter, which may also be expensive. Thirdly, a crash can be quite damaging at high speed and that is why we do not recommend it for beginners. If you are a drone-racing enthusiast, this will make your dreams come true. Another important thing to note is that this is not a camera drone. Therefore, you cannot use it to capture video or photo footage. It only has a small, low latency camera for FPV, to enable you see the terrain over which the drone flies.
Conclusion and Recommendation
If you love flying a drone in freestyle mode, you should love the EMAX Hawk Pro 5 drone. However, before you can fly it, get a FrSky transmitter. Secondly, read the manual keenly. Honestly, to fly this kind of drone, you really have to dig in and read the user manual. If possible, catch a video online on how to fly it. If this is your first racing drone, fly it in the day, in an open space.
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