If you’re into racing drones or freestyle FPV drones you’ve probably already heard of iFlight. For the uninitiated, iFlight is a leading drone company based in China that specialize in the design, development, and production of cutting-edge race and FPV drones.
iFlight’s range includes a diverse collection of drones including cinelifters, cinewoops, tinywoops, freestylers, long-range and racing drones.
With a strong focus on innovation, iFlight has become known for robust, performance-driven drones among the FPV drone community. They’ve also done several collaborations with experts in the field such as the BOB57 which was a collab with Ellis van Jason ( drone photographer).
In this article, I’ll explain each what each of their drone collections are and take a deep dive into two of their most popular drones on the market, the iFlight Nagul5 and the iFlight Defender 25.
Types of iFlight Drones
All of iFlight’s drones are FPV but these are further broken down into 6 series:
Cinelifters: Strong FPV drones designed to carrying professional cameras.
- Protec
- Taurus
- Blitz
Long-range series: As the name suggests, these drones have a longer range than other models and usually have GPS to assist with navigation.
- BOB
- Chimera
- Nazgul
- AOS
Freestyle series: Also generally known as FPV drones, freestyle uavs are designed for agility, stunts and taking impressive cinematic footage. They are suitable for attaching cameras such as a Go-Pro.
- Bob57
- IH3
- Nazgul Evoque
- Nazgul5
- AOS
Cinewoop series: Medium to small drones with ducted propellers (fixed cylindrical prop guards). Props are typically about 3 inches (standard drone propellers are about 5-inch diameter for reference)
- Defender
- Nazgul5
- Rabbitfilms x Defendfer
- Protek
- Protek Commando
Race drone series: Race drones are designed to be light and responsive so these aren’t made to carry cameras, they just have an inbuilt pinhole camera for the pilot. More on Race drones vs FPV and Camera drones in this article.
- Mach R5
Tinywoop series: a smaller version of the Cinewoop drone. Tinywoops also have ducted propellors, many micro drones are tinywoop design.
- Alpha
iFlight Nazgul5
The iFlight Nazgul5 drone is a high-performance quad that is quickly becoming one of iFlight’s most popular models. This drone is designed with both professional FPV racers and freestyle enthusiasts in mind. It’s super durable with a robust carbon fiber frame, ensuring superior strength while remaining lightweight.
Durability
The arms of the iFlight Nazgul5 have guards to protect the motor wires which is great for beginners, making it less likely for these to need replacing from crash damage. This is a nice addition that drone manufacturers don’t always take into account, traditionally FPV pilots will often cable-tie old props to the arms to protect these wires. The body is really solid and robust which is what you want for FPV flying.
Overall the Nagul5 is equipped with high-quality components including powerful brushless motors. Even though it feels meaty, the Nazgul5 can achieve impressive speeds, manage tight gaps and has great rates (input sensitivity and responsivness).
Range
The iFlight Nazgul5 has a good range of about 6 miles when equipped with the 800 mAh battery. This drone doesn’t have GPS but you can add this separately and customise the drone.
Overall Review - My Opinion on the iFlight Nazgul5
Whether speeding through challenging racing courses or executing risky freestyle tricks, the iFlight Nazgul5 is pretty impressive. Additionally, the Nazgul5’s stack configuration provides ample space for additional components, making it highly customizable to suit your preferred specs.
This FPV drone sets a new standard for enthusiasts seeking adrenaline-pumping FPV flight and has earned a reputation for speed, agility, and durability.
I highly recommend the Nagul5 for pilots with some prior experience in FPV. For beginners, I’d actually recommend the Defender 25 for beginners over the Nazgul5 even though this drone is pretty robust. The Flight Defender 25 is nicely packaged up with all the wires and sensitive parts protected so that there less likely to get damaged but this model can achieve epic speeds.
iFlight Defender 25
The iFlight Defender 25 is from iFlight’s cinewoop range. The protected ducted props and impressive max speeds make it great for amateur enthusiasts and professional pilots alike.
The Defender 25 closely resembles the DJI Avatar but is more compact and weighs in under the 250g limitation for drone registration making it a popular choice among the FPV community.
iFlight Defender 25 vs DJI Avatar
Speed
When comparing the Defender 25 and the DJI Avatar, speed is the category that the Flight Defender absolutely smashes DJI!
The iFlight Defender 25 and the DJI Avatar are both speedy, agile drones. The max speed for the Defender is 100kmph (62mph) compared to the 97.2 kmph (60.3mph) of the DJI Avatar (when both are in manual mode).
Battery & Flight time
The Defender 25 has a 4s 550 mAh proprietary battery included but one of the cool benefits of this drone is that you can use your own off-the-shelf batteries. This means if you want longer flight time, you can just strap in a larger battery.
The flight time with the 550mAh battery is 5-6 minutes, if you use a 1300mAh battery the drone will get up to 12 minutes air time.
The DJI Avatar does however have a pretty impressive flight time of 18 minutes but if you want to swap out the battery with a spare they’ll cost you over $100 USD each to purchase separately.
Price Comparison
The iFlight Defender is the cheaper option because the DJI Avatar is usually packaged with the DJI FPV goggles which are pretty pricey. The DJI Avatar kit retails at around $2,000 USD.
Check the most up to date price for the iFlight Defender 25 here.
Weight (& Flight Restrictions)
The weight of the iFlight Defender 25 is only 240g with the 550mAh battery included. This means it doesn’t need to be registered in the US if flown just for fun and has less restrictions for flying in general. The Avatar weighs 410g and can’t be fitted with a smaller, non-proprietary battery to reduce the weight.
Camera Quality
The Defender 25 has the exact same camera and video transmission system as the Avatar; the DJI 03 (1080p). It also has the same image stabilisation technology. The video quality and photography from both of these drones is fantastic, it’s smooth, clear and vibrant.
Obstacle Avoidance
Where the iFlight Defender 25 differs significantly from the DJI Avatar is obstacle avoidance. As an FPV drone, the Defender doesn’t have any obstacle avoidance at all because it can cause drones to fly erratically in tight spaces.
The DJI avatar has a downward vision system, check out the drone obstacle avoidance diagram here.
Which is better? The DJI Avatar or iFlight Defender
Overall, when comparing the DJI Avatar and the iFlight Defender 25, although they look similar and have some identical features they are actually designed for different purposes. The Defender 25 is better for FPV racing, it’s light weight and super fast. The Avatar is a hybrid. It can be switched between normal and sports mode and also has built in GPS.
Being more aligned to the FPV hobby, the iFlight Defender 25 is designed for compatibility with different batteries, controllers and FPV goggles. The Avatar, on the other hand, locks you into DJI accessories which can have a pretty hefty price tag.
Wrap Up on iFlight
iFlight offer some awesome FPV drones. Just by comparing the Defender 25 with the DJI Avatar, you can see how competitive their products are in the market.
They are pushing the boundaries and collaborating with experts in the field to design some super impressive FPV and racing drones.
If you’re a beginner, I highly recommend the iFlight Defender 25. It’s robust but has the capability to go crazy fast once you get the basic flight maneuvers down pat. For those with a bit more experience, check out the iFlight Nazgul5. It has a sturdy build with it’s strong carbon fibre frame and is meaty enough to carry a decent camera.
