Drone market has been divided into a plethora of niches, some of which are growing at exponentially increasing rates. FPV racing niche is one of them and at the time of writing this review the market was well and truly saturated with all sorts of products. Of course, such high level of competition in such a limited (size-wise) niche resulted in huge price drops over the course of this year. Up to the point that brushed models are no longer viable (price-wise) neither for sellers of consumers.
However, there’s a niche inside of this niche that’s flourishing even more than the others. Needless to say, I am referring to micro brushless FPV racers which are taking half the market by storm. One of them is the actual subject of this review – BeeBee 66 made by FullSpeed, an up and coming drone brand that is making it big at the moment.
But before we go any further, first we must get one thing clear – there are 2 versions of BeeBee 66 by FullSpeed available on the market:
2 versions – 1 quad
I’m sure you guys know that smaller DJI drones come in standard and Fly More Combo packages. We have something similar on display here. FullSpeed is offering BeeBee 66 and BeeBee 66 Lite. The former is slightly more expensive than the latter, but they are essentially the same quad, just different packaging. The suffix Lite represents the fact that package has only the essentials. On the other hand, standard BeeBee 66 package comes with prop guards and upgraded camera protection canopy. These parts make it a lot tougher than the Lite version, but considering the fact this is a 1S quad, the weight difference is more than noticeable.
With that being said, BeeBee 66 Lite is much faster than the standard version and turns (and reacts to commands) slightly quicker as well. Flight times are a bit lengthier too, but that’s something I doubt many of you will notice at all.
To summarize – if you are in it for the thrills, Lite version is all for you. On the other hand, if you are just starting out and you don’t want to risk flying a relatively unprotected quad – standard version is the obvious way to go!
Camera
This tiny little drone sports, what seems to be, the exact same camera as the one on their most successful racing drone – Leader 120. I am not 100% sure on this, but they look pretty damn similar to me. They both seem to come with same 48 channel vtx, sporting all the channels you might need. Of course, we are talking about a mere 25mW transmitter, but what else did you expect from such a tiny little drone? As far as the actual camera quality is concerned, you can expect decent night performance but solid at best overall image quality.
Teenie Flight Controller with OSD
Can you believe that this little thing has a 16mmx16mm stack? Yup, both 4 in 1 ESC and flight controller are 16 by 16 millimeters which is, at the time of writing this review, the smallest stack form factor on the market. But that’s not even the best part – you see, this Teenie 1S flight controller sports an integrated Betaflight OSD with a voltage sensor. Everything is nicely set up straight out of the box too, ensuring the convenience level is at the very maximum.
If you are more interested in the technical side of the deal, Teeny1S F3 flight controller is running on the standard MCU (TM32F303) and is sporting the well-known MPU6000 SPI sensor. Overall, this tiny flight controller does a great job of keeping the quad stable and smooth as possible while retaining a simple Betaflight programming environment. It’s easy to install Butterflight too, so if you’re tech savvy you might give it a go and enjoy the benefits.
Powerful ESC
FullSpeed BeeBee 66 and BeeBee 66 Lite both sport the same ESC… After all, we are talking about identical quads with just prop guards and canopy being the difference between them. With that being said, they both sport the same 6A Teeny1S 4 in 1 ESC board. Surprisingly though – it supports Dshot600 which is praiseworthy coming in at such a low voltage and form factor. As far as its actual performance is concerned, I’d say it does a pretty good job. It comes synchronized straight out of the box, as is the entire drone… but more on that right down below in the next section!
Impressive out of the box performance
It was already mentioned above that FullSpeed is an up and coming mini FPV racing drone brand. They are actually building upon their recent success with Fighter 130 and Leader 120 models. The latter one is an absolute beast and stands proud as the best drone ever made by FullSpeed. However, BeeBee 66 isn’t far off either, albeit aimed at different types of users.
Overall, we are talking about a truly powerful 1S brushless racer here. It’s highly agile too, especially in acro mode which gives you total control over the drone itself. As far as PIDs and rates are concerned, FullSpeed provides you with a good base tune meaning there won’t be that much prop-wash going on. As far as usage terrain is concerned, both versions of BeeBee 66 can go outdoor and indoor, making them highly versatile for every occasion.
It’s also noteworthy to add that throttle curve is not steep at all, allowing beginners to learn in a safer environment. One more thing – I warmly suggest purchasing several sets of 40mm props right after the drone purchase becuase you’re not getting any extra sets with it. If you’re unlucky, you might bend or break yours in a week or so, forcing you to stay a long time without any propellers. They’re not that expensive so I say go for it!
Pay attention to the battery
However, there is one thing you should look out for when connecting the battery to your BeeBee 66. You see, the connectors are pretty loose meaning it is easy to put them wrong side in. As a matter of fact, I know 2 guys who burned their 4 in 1 ESC boards by doing exactly that. What I’m basically trying to say is that you should pay attention and you will be all right.
Accessories
In addition to the above-mentioned accessories (prop guards) that come with the standard version of BeeBee 66 by FullSpeed, there are also 2 additional ones that come with both. These 2 accessories are essential for proper usage of this little bugger, and as such, they should not be taken for granted. First of them is the battery charger. It is essentially a small red board with mini USB port on one end and battery connector on the other.
The second accessory is micro USB adapter. You will have to use it every time you want to connect the drone to your PC to configure Betaflight settings or flash another firmware on it. If you lose it (like I did with mine), you will be forced to remove the motor in order to get access to the mini USB port on the FC.
Should we also mention that Anthony loves fancy drones, although he claims he’s all about raw performance? Our youngest mate is also a Professional FAA Certified Drone Pilot and proud owner of pretty much all DJI drones available in the USA.
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