so ive been flying freestyle for about two years now, started on a used Emax Tinyhawk II that i basically beat to death learning to fly, and now im actually ready to step up to something proper. been looking at the DJI FPV system mostly because the video quality is obviously insane and i already have goggles v2 from when my buddy lent them to me for a weekend and i kinda fell in love with the latency

but every time i go down the rabbit hole on youtube or read threads here it feels like the hardcore FPV community kind of dunks on the DJI FPV drone itself as like a toy for people who dont want to actually fly. and i get that, motion mode or whatever its called is kinda training wheels stuff. but im not planning to use that, i want to use it in manual mode eventually

the thing is i could also just build something, ive done basic soldering, fixed a motor on my tinyhawk, nothing crazy. but a full 5 inch build feels intimidating and expensive when you add everything up. so yeah, is the DJI FPV a dead end purchase or am i overthinking this

honest answer? the DJI FPV drone is fine but youre paying a premium for a locked down ecosystem when that money could go toward a proper whoop or 5 inch freestyle quad with DJI O3 on it. the aircraft itself isnt particularly repairable compared to something you built yourself, and parts availability is kind of whatever DJI decides it is at any given moment

if you can solder and you already understand the basics id really push you toward a custom build. something like a 5 inch on a Squab or even an older Armattan frame with a good stack, throw O3 on it and you have goggles compatibility already sorted. youll spend similar money but youll actually understand what youre flying and when you crash (and you will crash) you can fix it yourself instead of sending it back or hunting for proprietary parts

the DJI FPV isnt a bad product its just not really an FPV product in the way the community means when they say FPV

i bought one last year and tbh i dont regret it, but i also wasnt coming from the freestyle background you are. i mainly do cinematic stuff and cruising around and for that it genuinely rips. the manual mode is legit once you get used to the feel of it, its just a very different tune than what youre probably used to

that said if freestyle is the goal i think the custom build route will make you happier in the long run, just based on what i see people actually enjoying in that space