okay so ive been going back and forth on this for honestly too long and i need someone to just help me think through it. background: i fly mostly long range cruising, some light freestyle, mostly outdoor open areas. been on a 3.5 inch cinewhoop for a while and want to step up to something bigger

the chimera7 keeps coming up because the 7 inch efficiency argument is real and i do care about flight time. but its also bulkier and feels like it'd be annoying to transport. the evoque f5 is easier to carry and i could probably get similar air time with a big 6s pack but not quite the same

price difference isnt massive between them if youre looking at similar component tiers. the gps rescue on the chimera build is tempting but i feel like i could add that to anything. someone told me the chimera has vibration issues out of the box but i cant find consistent info on that

im not asking for the definitive answer just want to hear from people who have actually flown either one for more than a battery or two what they actually thought

had the chimera7 for about 4 months. the vibration thing is real but its mostly a prop balancing issue ? once i went through and balanced all 4 props it cleaned up a lot. stock props that come with it are honestly kind of trash. threw on some dal cyclone equivalents and the logs looked way better

for long range cruising its genuinely hard to beat 7 inch efficiency, i regularly get 8 to 9 minute packs on my 4s setup and i fly at a decent clip not just hovering around. the size does suck for transport i wont lie, i had to get a bigger bag. but if flight time matters to you then the chimera is probably the right call. the gps rescue also actually works which sounds like a low bar but you know how this stuff can be

tbh if you're coming from a cinewhoop the 5 inch jump might feel more natural first. 7 inch handles totally differently and some people find it harder to get into. not saying avoid it just something to consider ? the chimera isnt exactly forgiving if you clip something at speed