I actually preferred the Firefly20, and on the identical product web page Flywoo additionally affords the Firefly25 variant, which is principally the identical quad however with a barely larger body and a couple of.5-inch props. After flying each, it actually makes me query the existence of the Firefly20, as a result of the Firefly25 simply appears to do every part higher. Let me clarify on this evaluate.
Take a look at my unique evaluate of the Firefly 20 Professional: https://oscarliang.com/flywoo-firefly-20-pro/
The place to Purchase
Get the Firefly 25 Mini from:
Within the field it comes with these equipment.
Specs
- Designed for DJI O4 Professional Air Unit
- FC / ESC Board: GOKU F405 SE 20A AIO
- Gyroscope: ICM-42688-P
- Flash Reminiscence for Blackbox: 8MB
- Receiver: Flywoo EL24E ExpressLRS 2.4GHz
- Motors: ROBO 1303 6000KV
- Propellers: Gemfan 2520-3 3 Blade 1.5mm shaft
- Battery Connector: XT30
- Beneficial Battery: 3S 550mAh / 750mAh / 1000mAh LiHV
- Claimed Flight Instances
- 3S 1000mAh: 12 min 30 sec
- 3S 750mAh: 9 min 30 sec
- 3S 550mAh: 8 min
- Claimed Max Pace: 95km/h
- Weight (excluding battery): 113.5g claimed, 114.8g measured
Design and Construct High quality
From the skin, the Firefly 25 Mini appears to be like so much like the Firefly 20 Professional that it’s simple to mistake one for the opposite. One makes use of 2.5-inch propellers, whereas the opposite makes use of 2-inch props, however the distinction in general measurement isn’t that massive.
Left: Firefly 20; Proper: Firefly 25
The Firefly 25 Mini additionally makes use of precisely the identical elements because the Firefly 20 Professional. The one variations are the marginally larger body and bigger propellers.
Regardless of the small distinction in prop measurement, the result’s a giant distinction in flight efficiency and general management really feel. The Firefly25 is considerably extra environment friendly and affords for much longer flight time — virtually 50% extra.
There’s a catch although. Not like the Firefly20, Flywoo solely recommends 3S batteries for the Firefly25, as 4S is likely to be a bit an excessive amount of.
On 3S, the Firefly25 feels noticeably much less agile and slower, which makes it extra suited to clean cinematic cruising and long-endurance flying. That mentioned, it will probably nonetheless do loads of freestyle strikes similar to its smaller brother, simply with a much less aggressive and fewer nimble really feel general.
No GPS
The dearth of GPS on the Firefly 25 Mini means it turns into riskier the farther you fly, particularly when it’s carrying an costly DJI O4 Professional. So it’s higher suited to close-range or indoor flying, the place you possibly can nonetheless simply retrieve the drone after a crash.
That mentioned, the flight controller has a devoted port for a GPS module, so set up is straightforward in order for you options like Rescue Mode or Place Maintain.
I just lately examined fairly a number of GPS modules, and for a micro drone just like the Firefly25, these are some good choices:
NewBeeDrone M10Q Micro
FlyFishRC M10 Mini:
Cyclone M10:
Beeper
It’s good to know the Firefly 25 Professional has a bodily buzzer positioned underneath the flight controller (built-in into the FC itself). It makes a giant distinction if you crash and lose your drone in tall grass. Micro quads this small don’t generally include a correct beeper, so you’d usually need to depend on the motors beeping via DShot Beacon. However that’s normally very quiet, which makes it a lot tougher to search out your quad. With an actual buzzer, it’s a lot simpler to find the Firefly 25 Mini.
Utilizing 4S Battery?
As talked about, the Firefly 20 and 25 use virtually the identical elements, so how come the 20 runs 4S whereas the 25 can solely runs 3S? That comes all the way down to prop measurement. The bigger 2.5-inch props draw far more energy.
For reference, with 2.5-inch props on 4S, max present draw is round 55A. On 2-inch props, it is just round 40A, so the distinction is kind of vital.
That’s the reason Flywoo recommends 3S, to keep away from overheating and placing an excessive amount of stress on the ESC and motors.
With that mentioned, it’s solely doable to run 4S on the Firefly25 by decreasing Motor Output Restrict to one thing like 75% or 80%. With out making this adjustment, the motors would possibly get sizzling, which may result in diminished energy and effectivity. Within the worst case, it might even burn out the motors.
Alternatively, you possibly can merely swap the two.5inch props for 2-inch when working a 4S battery, whereas holding Motor Output Restrict at 100%.
Battery Selections
These are the batteries I examined. You should buy them right here:
Firefly25 vs Firefly20
Frankly, the scale and weight variations between these two fashions are so small that it actually makes me query the purpose of the Firefly20.
Though the Firefly20 flies nice and I actually prefer it, the Firefly25 is simply a lot extra versatile.
For example, in order for you an environment friendly long-range cruiser, simply use the two.5-inch props with a big 3S battery. And in order for you a quick and aggressive freestyle ripper, simply put a 4S battery on it and scale back Motor Output Restrict in Betaflight to 75% or 80%. Or just swap to 2-inch props, which successfully turns the Firefly25 right into a Firefly20. 🙂
Flight Efficiency
First rate PID Tune, however Lacks Refinement
Each Firefly25 and Firefly20 share the very same PID and filter tune. Whereas it does work and flies fairly effectively and easily out of the field, I’d count on a extra personalised tune for the Firefly25, as a result of it’s designed for a slightly completely different flight model.
Extraordinary Flight Time
Flywoo’s formidable declare of 12.5 minutes of flight time on a 3S 1000mAh battery turned out to be actual.
That may be very spectacular for a micro drone this small. Even with this massive battery, the drone nonetheless feels comparatively nimble.
With a smaller 3S 750mAh, I used to be getting round 8 minutes of flight time (cruising).
The Firefly25 additionally handles wind higher than the Firefly20. I used to be flying it once more in 16 mph wind, and it felt extra secure and smoother. The larger props actually do make a distinction.
Nonetheless, on 3S, cruising velocity is kind of sluggish. Management feels a little bit sloppy and lazy. But when your purpose is environment friendly, relaxed cruising, it’s nonetheless completely flyable.
This is sensible, actually. All of it comes all the way down to the speed of RPM change. Bigger props are tougher to spin up and decelerate (for a similar motor), so that they really feel much less responsive. Then again, smaller props spin at greater RPM, which supplies you a higher-pitched noise, however they’re additionally much less environment friendly. These are the trade-offs.
With 3S, prime velocity is round 100–110 km/h based mostly on my estimate.
Not Preferrred for Lengthy Vary
Though the product web page states the Firefly25 is for “lengthy vary”, I don’t suppose it’s the only option for long-range flying, at the least not in its unique kind.
Certain, it has lengthy flight time, however the actual bottleneck is the way in which the RX antenna is mounted. It sits behind the body and battery, so if you fly again towards your self, the sign might get blocked.
See the screenshots beneath: the RSSI_dBm worth is excessive when the quad is flying away, as a result of the antenna has line of sight to the transmitter, but it surely all of a sudden drops considerably when the quad turns round and the antenna turns into blocked.
I’ve not examined most vary since this quad doesn’t have GPS, however based mostly on my estimate, you possibly can count on as much as round 1.5 km of most vary at 250Hz packet fee. It might go farther when you use a decrease packet fee.
For most individuals flying micro quads in native parks, although, I suppose that’s greater than sufficient vary.
In case your purpose is lengthy vary on a micro quad, it’s best to actually try the Flywoo Explorer: https://oscarliang.com/flywoo-explorer-lr4-o4-pro/
How Does It Deal with on 4S?
It’s completely AWESOME on 4S! The quad actually comes alive. It appears like a very completely different machine — so punchy and agile. Throttle is very responsive, simply very enjoyable to fly.
As talked about, Flywoo doesn’t advocate utilizing 4S on the Firefly25. If you happen to resolve to make use of 4S, achieve this at your individual threat.
The primary time I examined 4S on this quad with out making any changes (inventory tune and a couple of.5-inch props), I observed some trilling oscillation. That triggered the motors to get heat after a flight, although the ambient temperature was solely 10°C, which suggests it might be reaching its restrict. Tuning didn’t actually assist both.
To keep away from burning the motors, I’d strongly advocate decreasing Motor Output Restrict to 80% at the least, if you wish to strive 4S. The truth is, that additionally eradicated trilling oscillation for me, which is one other bonus. It does barely scale back efficiency and responsiveness, but it surely nonetheless feels snappier than 3S.
4S with 2-Inch Props
With out altering any Betaflight settings, you possibly can run 4S just by utilizing 2-inch props — the identical props that include the Firefly20 (Gemfan 2023-3, 3-blade, 1.5mm shaft).
This successfully turns the Firefly25 right into a Firefly20. I’d say it flies about 90% the identical. It could be a tiny bit much less snappy in sharp turns and through flips and rolls, and a bit extra propwash, most likely as a result of barely bigger body (the motors are farther away from the middle of gravity).
That actually made me marvel: what’s even the purpose of the Firefly 20? 🙂 The scale distinction is so small anyway.
How Loud Is It?
The Firefly 25 is about as loud because the Firefly 20 when utilizing the identical battery voltage, however the lower-pitched sound profile makes it barely much less annoying.
PID and Filter Tuning
The PID and filter settings are tuned on the manufacturing facility, however for my part the tune is fairly conservative and positively has room for enchancment.
It additionally runs an older model of Betaflight, so earlier than I tuned it, I up to date it to the most recent model (2025.12.2). If you’re already pleased with the way it flies, I’d keep away from updating Betaflight as a result of you would need to set every part up once more from scratch.
I’ll share my customized PID and filter tune on my Patreon shortly, together with screenshots of all of the settings I modified: TBA
My customized tune is for 4S, but it surely must also work advantageous on 3S when you restore Motor Output Restrict to 100%.
Putting in DJI O4 Professional
The quad I’m reviewing doesn’t include the DJI O4 Professional, so I needed to set up my very own.
Though it’s a simple course of, I want it got here with extra detailed directions, or at the least some data on which screws needs to be used for what. I feel that might be particularly helpful for newbies and assist keep away from confusion.
Learn how to Setup For First Flight
Firmware
- The flight controller (FC) board goal is FLYWOOF405S_AIO, and it comes preloaded with Betaflight firmware model 4.5.1. For inventory CLI Diff, see right here.
- ESC Firmware: Bluejay G-H-30, 0.19, 48kHz
- ELRS Receiver Firmware Goal: Flywoo EL24E, doesn’t specify what model, but it surely binds with radio on V3 firmware
- The quad runs props out (motors reversed).
Steps to Setup
- Bind the ELRS receiver (linked to UART3) – Element tutorial: https://oscarliang.com/bind-expresslrs-receivers/
- In Preset tab, search and cargo the ExpressLRS preset that matches your packet fee – Directions: https://oscarliang.com/rc-link-preset-betaflight/
- In PID Tuning tab, arrange charges in accordance with your desire – My Charges: https://oscarliang.com/charges/#My-Charges
- In Receiver tab, allow Telemetry. Roll and pitch channels jumps a tiny bit, so setting deadband (each RC and Yaw) to three might help stop jitters
- In Modes tab, setup arm change, Angle mode, Turtle mode, Beeper, and so forth.): https://oscarliang.com/betaflight-modes/#How-to-Setup-Arm-Change
- In OSD tab, underneath Video Format, choose HD. Then setup OSD components, or you possibly can copy my CLI strains: https://oscarliang.com/betaflight-osd/#My-OSD-Setup-CLI-Instructions
- Pair the DJI O4 Air Unit along with your goggles (linked to UART6) – Information: https://oscarliang.com/how-to-setup-dji-o4-pro/#Pairing-DJI-Goggles-3-with-O4-Air-Unit-Professional
- In Energy & Battery tab, I lowered Amperage Meter Scale from 170 to 165.
Conclusion: Ought to You Get the Firefly 25 or 20?
When utilizing 3S, the road between the Firefly25 and Firefly20 is obvious: one is designed for aggressive flying, whereas the opposite is designed for long-endurance cruising. However as quickly as you set 4S on the Firefly25, that line begins to blur. It will possibly now do just about every part the 20 can do, and in some methods do it higher.
Get the Firefly 25 Mini from:
I don’t absolutely perceive why Flywoo launched two fashions which might be so comparable. Perhaps they’re merely making an attempt to throw every part on the wall and see what sticks. For patrons, that may really be a superb factor as a result of it offers us extra choices. However general, I choose the Firefly25, and it might be the higher alternative for people who find themselves nonetheless deciding between the 2.
Don’t get me unsuitable, the Firefly20 is a unbelievable micro drone. If you happen to merely desire a small 2-inch freestyle ripper, you’ll not be upset. However in order for you a flexible micro quad that may do a little bit of every part simply by altering props or battery, the Firefly25 appears to be the higher possibility. And actually, the scale distinction is so small that they’re virtually like twins. I typically even get them blended up and choose up the unsuitable one. 🙂