Overview: Walksnail Avatar Goggles L – Digital FPV Simply Received a Lot Cheaper

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Digital FPV has been making waves within the drone neighborhood, however the price barrier has been a big hurdle for a lot of fans. Walksnail’s newest providing, the Goggles L, goals to decrease that barrier with a budget-friendly possibility for these seeking to get into the Walksnail FPV system with out breaking the financial institution. On this assessment, I’ll dive into the specs, efficiency, and general worth of the Walksnail Goggles L, offering an in-depth take a look at whether or not these goggles are price your funding.

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New to FPV? Study extra in regards to the variations in FPV methods: https://oscarliang.com/fpv-system/

Reasonably priced Entry into Digital FPV

The Walksnail flagship goggles, the Goggles X, are priced at a steep $460. Whereas they’re the last word possibility relating to general efficiency for the Walksnail system, there are cheaper options such because the Walksnail VRX. Nonetheless, it has a fancy setup with dangling cables and potential latency points will be deal breakers for some.

Enter the Walksnail Goggles L, a budget-friendly field goggle designed particularly for the Walksnail system, making digital FPV extra accessible than ever. Priced at simply $199, these goggles are a extra reasonably priced various to different digital FPV goggles available on the market.

In truth they’re fairly just like the Fatshark Recon HD that was launched a few years in the past by way of specs and options, however that was discontinued and so they have been barely costlier. It’s good that we’ve got extra low cost walksnail choices.

The place to Purchase

You may get the Walksnail Goggles L from these distributors:

The bundle contains the next equipment:

Micro fibre material
Energy cable (XT60 to barrel)
Handbook leaflet

Specs

Display screen Decision: 1920*1080/60Hz
Display screen Measurement: 4.5 Inch
Display screen Materials: LCD
Supported FPV System: Walksnail Avatar HD FPV System
Communication Frequency: 5.725–5.850GHz
Accessible Channels: 8
Transmitter Energy (EIRP):
- FCC: <30dBm
- CE: <14dBm
- SRRC: <20dBm
- MIC: <25dBm
Transmission Distance: >4km
Transmission Decision:
- 1080p60fps
- 720p100fps
- 720p60fps
Bit Price: Max 50 Mbps
Minimal Latency: Common 32ms
Antenna Polarization: LHCP
Antenna Common Acquire: 4.9dBi
I/O Interface:
- 4Pin 3.5mm Plug
- DC 5.5*2.1mm
Micro SD Card Slot: Help SD Card As much as 256G
Gyro: 9-axis gyroscope
Energy Enter: 6V–25.2V (2S–6S)
Dimensions: TBC
Weight: 351g

Energy Necessities

Powering the Goggles L is versatile. The goggles settle for an influence enter starting from 2S to 6S, just like the costlier Goggles X. You possibly can just about simply decide up any frequent drone batteries with XT60 connector to energy the goggle.

The entrance cowl has an LED panel that lights up when powered on. It serves as reminder to unplug the battery and provides a technological contact to your gear. Nonetheless, it appears there’s no approach to change the colour, however you may flip it on and off within the menu settings.

Look, Consumer Interface and Controls

The Walksnail Goggles L characteristic a white plastic housing with a matte end and a well-organized format of buttons and connectors for ease of use.

On the appropriate aspect of the goggles, you will discover a collection of important controls.

From the left, there may be the 5D Joystick Button, which allows you to scroll by means of the menu and ensure picks by toggling and urgent the button.
Subsequent, you have got the Again Button for returning to the earlier menu or exiting the present mode. Nonetheless, the Again button doesn’t appear to work in my unit. I can return within the menu utilizing the report button, and the Again button merely doesn’t do something in any respect. I hope it’s only a bizarre bug they’ll fastened in future firmware.
Subsequent, is the Report Button, which is meant for use to begin or cease video recording.
Lastly, we’ve got the Hyperlink Button on the far proper, which lets you pair the goggles to a VTX.

On the underside of the goggles, you have got the three.5mm Port, offering head monitoring output. Adjoining to it’s the Energy Port (DC 5.5*2.1mm barrel connector), supporting a voltage vary of 6V–25.2V (2S to 6S).

On the highest aspect of the goggles, there’s a Warmth Dissipation Outlet for sustaining optimum working temperature.

The Micro SD Card Slot is conveniently positioned above the show space underneath the faceplate foam, permitting easy accessibility for storing and retrieving recordings. With a built-in Micro SD card slot, customers can simply report their flights.

For some motive they haven’t put any LED indicator on this goggles, so it’s a must to depend on its beeper to guess what state the goggles are in.

Lastly, there’s no USB-C port, so improve is completed by way of the SD card, and energy solely by means of the barrel to XT60 connector. There’s no video output to exterior show both.

Display screen and Menu

The 1080p screens look crisp and clear, offering excessive decision. That is ample because the Walksnail system helps as much as 1080p, and most customers choose 720p for higher stability and decrease latency. The interface and menu are an identical to what you see within the Goggles X.

Antenna Efficiency

One motive the Goggles L look so streamlined and clear is as a result of built-in antennas. These patch antennas present balanced efficiency between protection and vary. Whereas particular beam width will not be supplied, the achieve is about 4.9dBi, and the antennas are LHCP.

These are directional antennas, providing higher vary when flying in entrance of your self however doubtlessly diminished efficiency when flying behind. You possibly can’t swap to aftermarket antennas, so these goggles are usually not designed for long-range flights or conditions requiring excessive penetration efficiency. They’re extra appropriate for indoor whoop flying or flying in small native parks.

Head Tracker Help

Most individuals in all probability gained’t care about head monitoring, however when you do, the Goggles L is for you. The top monitoring sensor, which makes use of a 9-axis gyro module, is built-in into the goggles to seize the pilot’s head actions. Paired with a gimbal, it sends alerts by way of the picture transmission system to manage the digital camera’s pan and tilt, offering pilots with a cockpit-like sensation. Caddx just lately launched some gimbals for this characteristic: https://oscarliang.com/product-e5un

It additionally helps PPM sign output to Radio Controllers by way of the Goggles L’s 3.5mm headphone TX connector, which in flip outputs to the drone.

Consolation and Match

Walksnail excels in creating goggles that match properly, and the Goggles L isn’t any exception.Using thick, good high quality polyurethane foam, the goggles’ face masks ensures softness and luxury whereas lowering mild leakage for an enhanced sporting expertise. The froth is connected by velcro and is detachable.

The goggles weigh solely 351 grams and are comparatively snug, though some mild leakage across the nostril space is frequent with field goggles. The supplied foam padding is ample, however hopefully, we are going to see another aftermarket foam and headstrap choices for these in search of a greater match.

One situation is that the highest of the goggles will get fairly scorching after operating for about 10 minutes, even when not paired with the VTX. Heat air will get blown to your brow and eyes, which could turn out to be uncomfortable in scorching summer time days.

Lack of Low Latency Mode

The Walksnail Goggles L come geared up with 1080p decision screens operating at 60fps. This implies you gained’t be capable to use the 100fps low latency mode obtainable on the Goggles X, leading to about 35 to 40ms latency versus the 25 to 30ms latency of the 100fps mode.

Not for Folks Sporting Glasses

The Goggles L makes use of a magnifying lens system, making the display screen seem additional away than it really is, which helps scale back eye pressure. This setup is useful for many customers, although these with vital imaginative and prescient correction wants would possibly discover it difficult with out customizable diopters. There’s no focus adjustment, and the goggles are too small to suit a pair of glasses whereas sporting them.

In keeping with my contact at Walksnail, they’ll customise lenses for customers, however they require a prescription. The customized lens is removable, permitting for the set up of nearsighted, farsighted, or blue light-blocking lenses to fulfill particular person preferences. They will’t present me with a value presently so it’s unclear how a lot they are going to cost.

I want they might present generic lenses with -2, -4, -6 diopters like Fatshark did, nevertheless after discussing with Walksnail they don’t appear too eager on doing that and insisted on a prescription.

For many who put on glasses, the Goggles X is likely to be a extra handy possibility as you may regulate focus contained in the goggles.

Compatibility

The Goggles L is appropriate with all present Walksnail VTX fashions – VTX V1/V2, 1S Lite, Moonlight, and so on. Nonetheless, the Goggles L is strictly designed for the Walksnail FPV System. As a result of lack of AV enter and HDMI enter, you gained’t be capable to use the Goggles L with Analog and HDZero.

Goggles X Comparability

Regardless of the completely totally different design, the load and dimension variations between the Goggles X and Goggles L are literally extra related than I anticipated. With out battery, the Goggles X weighs 317g, whereas the Goggles L weighs 351g.

To guage the efficiency, I in contrast the Goggles L to my Walksnail Goggles X geared up with unique antennas. Regardless of the Goggles L’s decrease body price, the efficiency was spectacular. The sign power and latency have been comparable when flying inside 300m. In some circumstances, the Goggles L maintained even higher bitrate (Mbps) and latency efficiency than the Goggles X setup, in all probability as a result of greater achieve antennas.

Buzzer Standing

The Goggles L doesn’t have any LED for standing indication, relying solely on the beeper.

Goggles Buzzer Standing	Buzzer Sound
Hyperlink State	DI…. DI…. DI…. DI….
Improve Firmware	DI…… DI…… DI…… DI——
Improve Failed (No SD card or firmware detected)	DI.. DI.. DI.. DI..
Boot Failure (Reboot or re-upgrade)	DI.. DI…… DI.. DI……

Included handbook leaflet.

Linking Goggles L to VTX

The process is strictly the identical as different Walksnail Goggles: https://oscarliang.com/setup-avatar-fpv-system/#Pairing-Air-Unit-to-Goggles

Nonetheless, you do must replace the firmware on the VTX to the newest model to assist the Goggles L; in any other case, it’ll simply keep in binding mode.

Updating Firmware

The method of updating firmware on the Goggles L is an identical to different goggles. See my tutorial right here: https://oscarliang.com/setup-avatar-fpv-system/#How-to-Replace-Firmware-on-GogglesVRX

The firmware file for the Goggles L is: AvatarLite_Gnd_xx.xx.xx.

Conclusion

For $199, the Walksnail Goggles L supplies stability of high quality, efficiency, and affordability, making digital FPV extra accessible to a wider viewers. Whereas they lack a few of the superior options and decrease latency of higher-end fashions, their efficiency is commendable, making them a strong alternative for these seeking to step into the digital FPV world with no hefty funding.