ok so ive been flying whoops and a pre-built tinywhoop thing for about a year and i think im finally ready to build my own 5inch freestyle quad. i know the basics, ive watched probably way too many build videos at this point, but im getting a little overwhelmed by the actual parts selection because everyone online seems to have a different opinion on literally everything.

my budget is roughly $250-300 not including a radio (already have a radiomaster boxer) and goggles (fat shark attitude v6s). i fly mostly outdoor in a field near my house, mix of freestyle and just general cruising around, not racing. i want something durable because im definitely gonna crash a lot still.

right now im looking at a diatone roma f5 v2 frame because ive seen it hold up pretty well in videos and the arm thickness looks decent. for motors i was thinking somewhere in the 2306 or 2207 range, maybe around 1750-1900kv for 4s. ESC im totally lost on ? do i need a 4in1 or separate ESCs? and for the FC i keep seeing people mention the betaflight F7 boards but idk if thats overkill for a beginner build.

anyone built something similar recently? genuinely just want something that flies well and isnt gonna fall apart when i smash into a tree which will definitely happen

the roma f5 is a solid choice honestly, arms are chunky enough that you wont be snapping them every other session. my one gripe with it is the stack area can get a little cramped depending on what FC you go with but nothing crazy.

for motors at that budget i'd look at the brotherhobby tornado t2 or the xing2 2207s, both have been pretty bulletproof for me and theyre usually cheap enough that you can grab a spare set without crying. 1800kv on 4s is a sweet spot for freestyle imo ? enough punch without burning through packs in 3 minutes.

skip separate ESCs for now, 4in1 is just way cleaner to build and for freestyle it doesnt really matter. something like the SpeedyBee F405 stack is honestly great bang for buck and has built in bluetooth for betaflight tuning from your phone which is kind of a game changer when youre out at the field and need to tweak something. F7 is not really necessary unless youre doing GPS or something more exotic, F4 or F405 is totally fine for what you're describing.

also budget like $15-20 for capacitors, heat shrink, and spare hardware because you will need it and nobody ever mentions that stuff until youre mid build at 11pm

i built almost the exact same thing like 6 months ago so lemme know if you have questions. went with the speedybee stack the other guy mentioned and its been really good, setup in betaflight was not as painful as i expected. only thing i'd add is dont cheap out on the capacitor, slap a 1000uf low ESR one on the battery lead and youll thank yourself later when your video feed isnt full of noise