okay so background: ive been flying whoops for about eight months, got pretty comfortable with a Mobula7 and then a Beta95X, can lock in gaps and do basic freestyle. ready to move up to a proper 5" outdoor quad and i've narrowed it down to the iFlight Nazgul5 Evoque or the Chimera7 Pro mainly because those are the two that keep coming up when i search around.

my question is basically are these actually different enough to matter for someone at my level or am i just gonna be overwhelmed either way and the quad itself wont be the limiting factor. i know the Chimera is the bigger one and has the different frame geometry but i cant really find anyone doing a side by side that isnt like a sponsored youtube video where they love everything.

flying mostly open fields, maybe some light wooded areas eventually. i have a Walksnail avatar system already so i'd be going analog-less on whatever i get. budget is around 250-300 USD for the quad itself

honestly at your level just get the Nazgul, its smaller, more forgiving on crashes (cheaper to fix), and the 5" class is just easier to learn on outdoors coming from whoops. the jump in power is already going to be a lot to deal with, no need to also be managing a bigger heavier quad at the same time. the Chimera is more of a like... you know what you want and why you want it kind of purchase

i had this exact debate with myself like six months ago and went Nazgul and have zero regrets. the frame geometry on it is really nice for freestyle, rolls feel snappy. coming from whoops the thing that got me wasnt the power it was how much wind resistance dropped, these things just punch through air in a way the little guys cant and it took a few packs to recalibrate my brain for the speed.

one thing though - if you're putting Walksnail on it make sure you check the weight and balance with the camera and VTX mounted before you finalize anything. i know a few people who had to shim stuff or reposition the battery to get CoG right on prebuilts when swapping video systems. probably fine but worth checking. the Evoque frame has decent mounting options for it from what i remember