A number of new FPV methods launched over the previous few months are based mostly on the Artosyn chipset and share very comparable efficiency and picture high quality. One in every of these is the BetaFPV Artlynk system. Very inexpensive and really light-weight which is ideal for FPV drones. On this evaluate, I’ll take a fast have a look at how the Artlynk performs and whether or not it’s for you.
The place to Purchase
There are at present VTX, FPV goggles, and BNF drones accessible.
P1 Air Unit HD VTX:
VR04 HD FPV Goggles:
Meteor75 Professional with P1 Air Unit:
Aquila20 HD FPV Package:
Picture High quality
Artlynk’s picture high quality is noticeably higher than analog. You’ll be able to see objects farther away and branches extra clearly, and the dynamic vary is kind of good. It’s not on the identical stage as DJI O4, in fact, however for a funds system, it’s very spectacular.
I examined the Artlynk system on the Aquila20 HD drone.
Vary
The marketed vary is 400m+ (the Aquila20 drone), however in my testing I used to be capable of fly past 500m whereas nonetheless sustaining respectable sign. The Aquila20 makes use of a PCB antenna that’s mounted in a considerably questionable and less-than-ideal place, and the goggles include two fundamental dipole antennas.
With higher antennas and improved antenna placement, I’m assured you possibly can obtain nice vary. And that is solely at 200mW—think about higher-power VTX choices are launched sooner or later, long-range efficiency is extremely potential.
Similar to DJI and Walksnail, when sign will get weak you get yellow/pink mild on the edges of the display screen as visible warning which is useful.
Latency
Throughout flight, latency is noticeably greater than analog—and even greater than DJI O4. This forces you to decelerate when doing something that requires precision, resembling flying by gaps. I did get used to it after a number of flights, but it surely positively makes flying a bit more difficult.
While you’re simply cruising, nevertheless, the latency is far much less noticeable and is completely flyable.
To be extra thorough, I measured glass-to-glass latency (digital camera to goggles) of some standard FPV methods utilizing an motion digital camera recording at 240fps (outcomes are ± 4ms):
- DJI O4 (100fps): 33ms
- DJI O4 (60fps): 50ms
- Analog: 17ms
- Artlynk: 67ms
As anticipated, Artlynk has the very best latency on this comparability—virtually double that of DJI O4 in 100fps mode. That stated, when you usually fly DJI at 60fps, you in all probability wouldn’t thoughts the small quantity of further latency.
Because it stands, I feel Artlynk is healthier fitted to fixed-wing, or slow-cruising FPV drones. It’s not the only option for racing, bando flying, or something time-critical.
Video Recording
Sadly, the P1 Air Unit doesn’t have onboard video recording. The one option to file footage is by way of the goggles’ DVR. This implies video high quality is instantly affected by sign energy—when the sign degrades, the recording can develop into blurry and even stutter. That is clearly not supreme for anybody searching for the very best potential high quality footage, however for informal pilots it’s acceptable.
Goggles DVR recordings are captured at 1080p 60fps, and you may choose bitrate between 8Mbps and 24Mbps. The next bitrate improves picture element and readability, however solely marginally, as proven in my zoomed-in comparisons.
Betaflight OSD just isn’t burned into the DVR footage.
As a substitute, an SRT subtitle file is saved alongside every DVR video. Notice that it’s not Betaflight OSD knowledge. This file solely incorporates telemetry knowledge resembling video hyperlink sign energy, channel, flight time, VTX enter voltage, goggles battery voltage, bitrate, and estimated distance. You’ll be able to overlay this SRT file onto your video in publish if you want. This works very equally to the unique DJI FPV system (V1). I hope future firmware updates will permit customers to decide on whether or not Betaflight OSD is burned instantly into the DVR footage, or at the least have it saved together with DVR movies.
By the best way, the system estimates distance (how far the drone is from the pilot) utilizing sign propagation delay, somewhat than GPS. Most digital FPV methods with two-way communication use this methodology.
VR04 HD FPV Goggles
At present, just one pair of goggles helps the Artlynk FPV system: the BetaFPV VR04 HD FPV Goggles. They give the impression of being virtually an identical to the analog VR04 goggles, however the HD model options two antennas.
The goggles are powered by an exterior battery mounted on the rear of the headscarf. It’s basically a battery holder that takes two 18650 Li-ion cells, with a USB port for charging and a devoted energy button.
The goggles use a single LCD display screen and have a really spacious faceplate—I used to be capable of put on my glasses comfortably whereas utilizing them.
Betaflight OSD displayed appropriately, and also you get all the standard helpful information on the backside of the display screen: VTX/Goggles enter voltage, bitrate, distance, and accessible SD card storage.
They give the impression of being significantly bulkier than the DJI Goggles 3, however that’s anticipated given the considerably cheaper price.
P1 Air Unit VTX
The P1 Air Unit I examined got here from the Aquila20 HD drone, which makes use of a PCB antenna. The standalone P1 VTX you should purchase individually has the identical digital camera and VTX, however comes with a dipole antenna as a substitute.
The VTX, digital camera and PCB antenna weigh 7.1g all collectively, which is extraordinarily light-weight!
It connects to the flight controller utilizing a 6-pin cable with the identical pinout as DJI Air Models, making it appropriate with most flight controllers which have a DJI Air Unit connector.
Digicam Settings
You’ll be able to’t file the digital camera menu within the DVR, so I needed to take images of the goggles show to point out you the menu choices and settings.
The digital camera settings are pretty normal, much like most digital FPV methods. Out there choices embody:
- Sharpness
- Distinction
- Publicity (EV)
- Facet Ratio
Sharpness
Sharpness settings 5, 6, or 7 work finest for me. Setting it greater introduces extreme oversharpening and artifacts, too low it the picture simply look tender.
16:9 vs 4:3
The native facet ratio is 16:9 which gives the largest area of view. You’ll be able to swap to 4:3, but it surely merely crops the left and proper sides of the picture, leading to a smaller total FOV.
In observe, there’s no actual benefit to utilizing 4:3 right here. I like to recommend sticking with 16:9.
left: 16:9 mode; proper: 4:3 mode
Transmission Settings
You’ll be able to alter bitrate, output energy, and channel. The P1 Air Unit helps output energy ranges from 25mW as much as 200mW.
Potential Issues So Far
DVR Video Encoding Points
There look like encoding points with the DVR footage. DaVinci Resolve (my go-to video editor) had issues exporting edited movies. Whereas I might edit them, clicking randomly on the timeline typically resulted in a short “Media Offline” warning as effectively, requiring a number of seconds for the footage to load. This habits additionally occurred in VLC Media Participant—fast-forwarding brought about noticeable loading delays.
It is likely to be a codec-related situation. Hopefully, BetaFPV can tackle this in a future firmware replace.
My workaround: Earlier than importing the video in my video editor, I exploit GoPro Participant (free to obtain) to export the footage utilizing a special codec on the highest potential bitrate so I don’t lose any high quality.
Video Connection Subject
Sometimes, after crashing far-off, the video feed doesn’t reconnect even after I get near the drone. I needed to restart the drone to revive video connection (energy off and energy on once more)
I tried to breed this by strolling away from the drone till video was misplaced, however as quickly as I walked again inside vary, video reconnected instantly. The difficulty appears to be fairly random.
Replace (04/01/2025): I consider I’ve recognized the trigger—video doesn’t reconnect when the VTX overheats. This may occur if the drone crashes or sits on the bench powered on for too lengthy with out adequate airflow for cooling.
Remaining Ideas
That is solely an preliminary evaluate, and I’ll proceed updating this publish as I spend extra time with the Artlynk system. Picture high quality is clearly a fantastic enchancment from analog. {Hardware} are light-weight which is nice for FPV drones. I hope latency could be diminished additional to make it extra versatile. There are some clear points, however with firmware and {hardware} enhancements, hopefully it is going to get higher over time.
In the meanwhile, the Artlynk ecosystem remains to be restricted when it comes to goggles and VTX choices, and total efficiency doesn’t but match extra established methods like DJI or Walksnail. That stated, Artlynk could be very inexpensive and gives a low-cost entry level into HD FPV for budget-conscious pilots.
I’m excited to see how this platform evolves.
To be taught extra about all FPV methods and which one is likely to be best for you, try my full evaluation right here: https://oscarliang.com/fpv-system/