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I am really looking to receiving the Happymodel Mobula7 “Power Whoop”, The Winter in the UK makes flying FPV quite hard for a number of reasons (not only the cold weather but also the wind rain and snow), I can’t wait to get more stick time with one of this new breed of Power Whoops.

This year however instead of their trusty 1s brushed they have had for the last few years, they now have a totally different set of beasts available to them:

2s Brushless Whoops, lovingly called “Power Whoops”.

The Mobula 7 from Happymodel is the 2s Power Whoop that has taken the FPV community by storm in the Winter of 2018. Given the Poor weather in the northern hemisphere, a lot of people are trying to get their FPV fix from the new range of “Power” Whoops (Brushless Tiny Whoop style Drones that can run on 2S batteries). The Mobula 7 is classed as one of the best in its class.

The Mobula 7 features:

• 75mm frame
• 5 amp ESC able to run Dshot600
• F3 Processor
• 0802 1600kv Motors swinging 40mm props.
• Smart Audio (depending on your receiver)
• Can be run on 1s or 2s.

I am very keen to see how this performs both indoor and outdoor and compare it to my  Betafpv 65s.

In this Review, I will be taking a Mobula 7 through its paces and comparing it to my Betafpv 65x, which is a 10mm smaller in frame size but has a similar spec.

Does this frame stand up to the Hype? Is Rugid enough for an indoor quad? Is it too powerful? And Most importantly is it fun? Let find out.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

I am reviewing the Mobula 7 Standard with an EU Receiver (Frsky XM+) this is the more premium offering and you get more in the box. There is a Basic Version, which is slightly cheaper has only a USB battery charger.

The first impression when the opening is the box is very positive, everything is nicely set out and you even get a proper set of instructions that take you through how to bind to your Transmitter (The same cannot be said for other suppliers).

You get a decent 6 channel charger which can either be powered from a Lipo or from a 12-volt power supply. You have 2 options for the C rating you charge it. You can change between charging Standard Lipos or HV (High Voltage Lipos) and you also have 2 different connectors MCPX (PW) and MX.

The LCD Screen gives you the Input voltage (very handy if you are using a Lipo to charge) and the voltage of each of the batteries. Each charging point has an LED, that goes out when the batteries are fully charged.

Also included:

• A spare set of 40mm 3-blade propellers
• Some spare screws
• A screwdriver
• A jumper so you can run on 1s (unlike the Betafpv 65x)

MOBULA 7 FEATURES & SPECIFICATIONS

The Mobula 7 is a 75mm (diagonally motor to motor) with 4 brushless SE0802 16000KV motor Happymodel motors. It runs on Betaflight and comes with both a built-in Frsky D8 Receiver and in my case an External Frsky XM+ Receiver (I live in the EU).

If you buy the non-Eu version, I understand it also offers Smartaudio (change your VTX setting from the built-in OSD). However, this is not available on the EU version because there are not enough UARTS.

The 2 Great features that stand out for me are:

• It can be run happily on 1s - All you need to do is plug in the supplied Jumper and you can “tame” the Mobula 7 and make it nice and easy to fly around your house. This makes it very versatile.
• Adjustable Camera Angle - This seems like a small thing, but my biggest issue with the Betafpv 65x is that you can not change the camera angle. This makes it very hard to fly indoors. However, the Mobula 7 has this covered, because you can simply loosen the screws on the camera and adjust the angle to your liking.

Other little things are that It has a buzzer and also you can wire up LED’s that can be controlled within Betaflight.

FLIGHT CONTROLLER & ESC’S

The Flight Controller in the Mobula 7 is a Crazybee F3 Pro FC that is running Betaflight. It is capable of being powered by either 1s or 2s. It has the Betaflight OSD and a built-in Receiver.

As I have mentioned before if you are not using an external receiver you can also use Smartaudio.

The Flight controller also includes the 4in1 ESCs. Which are Blheli_s 5Amp Esc’s that run on Dshot 600. There is also a current sensor, so you can keep an eye on your battery’s voltage.

Overall the flight controller is perfectly adequate and the rates and PIDS didn’t feel like they needed changing out of the box.

FRAME & BUILD QUALITY

Out of the box, I was really impressed with the build quality of the Mobula 7. The wires where nicely braded and everything was fitted nicely within the canopy. This was better than the Betafpv 65x which had the motor wires just hanging out of the bottom.

The frame itself has a 3d printed part that allows you to either run 1 2s 300mah battery (xt30 mod required) or two 1s 300mah (or 260mah) batteries. This is a nice touch.

All this being said, the frame is the weak point of the Mobula 7. It is quite fragile. I have done around 15 flights with it and I have managed to crack one of the ducts. This is not uncommon, so much so that Happymodel have released a V2 of the frame that should be a little stronger.

MOTORS

The motors are HappyModel SE0802 16000KV Motors. They have a 1mm shaft and offer plenty of punch on both 1s and 2s. However, on 2s you really do get a lot of power which lets you throw the Mobula 7 around like a 5 inch (other than it has very little momentum).

The power draw is pretty aggressive when I was flying outside I was only getting 2 and a half minutes. That being said, the batteries were not as hot when I had finished as the 65X.

PROPS

The Mobula 7 comes with 40mm 4-blade propellers. These are fairly strong, offer great control and power. You still get quite a lot of propwash, but that is common in tinywhoops.

In the Box you get a full spare set (2 CW and 2 CCW). Others can be ordered online ether via banggood or a local supplier.

FPV CAMERA

The camera is an all in 1 Camera and VTX. It has a field of view of 120 degrees and a resolution of 700TVL. It offers a pretty good picture for its size and had no noticeable latency or interference issues.

The video transmitter runs on 5.8Ghz and covers 40 channels including raceband. It can be controlled over Smartaudio (Not on EU or DSMX receiver versions). It outputs at 25mw which is what you would expect from a Tinywhoop. It has a Linear Whip-style antenna which is nice a rugged.

Performance wise, I was quite impressed with A: the Range I could get outdoors and B: the range I could get in my house (which has really bad RF issues). Outside I was able to fly around 700 meters away without issue.

RECEIVERS

The Mobula 7 has 4 options for receivers

On the versions with external receivers, they are fitted under the canopy so are easy to access for binding.

It is a shame that smart audio is lost on the external receiver models. However, that being said, I run most of my Drones of Raceband 1 and very rarely need to change it with the people I fly with.

FLIGHT TEST

So, how does it Fly?

Indoors, it is fun. I had to make some changes to lower the minimum throttle position because it was bouncing around way too much with air mode enabled. If you fly it in either angle or horizon mode, you will have hours of fun (2 to 3 minutes at a time).

It’s a little bit too aggressive to fly in full acro mode indoors unless you have a lot of space. Power wise, on 2s it can be a bit of an animal but it can be tamed quite nicely by simply going to 1s. This really drops the power, but you still have plenty left to have fun flying around your house.

I was really keen to take the Mobula 7 to an indoor race event, but unfortunately, I simply didn’t get time. I strongly believe that this little pocket rocket in a large indoor space like a sports hall would be tons of fun.

Outdoors, I really didn’t expect to have as much fun as I did. You can fly the Mobula 7 like a full Acro Drone, with the added advantage that bounces off most things that it hits.

Once you get used to the lack of momentum you can pull off power loops and matty flips on gates or anything you find. I felt confident that I could hit any gap and really found it a joy to fly. However, I would suggest it is not one to take out on a windy day.

The shame is that the frame is quite fragile. I don’t quite know when I broke mine, but I was not pushing it too hard and I don’t remember hitting anything more than a glancing blow. That being said, I am lucky, I have seen people split the frame in half.

CONCLUSION

I have really enjoyed my time with the Mobula 7 even though I have broken the frame. It is very adaptable, and the setup is pretty good out of the box. What you get in the box is a great place to start if this is your first whoop. A decent charger is always handy. The 1s Jumper and a screwdriver really give you everything you need to get going. If you paired this up with a Frsky X-lite and a cheap set of goggles, you would have an awesome starter setup.

It flies so well, and I cannot believe how much I enjoyed flying it outside. I had only planned to do 2 flights and I ended up going through around 16 packs. I had a smile on my face from ear to ear.

The source from http://dronenodes.com/happymodel-mobula-7-review-setup/