6 of the Best Micro FPV Drones in 2022: Complete Guide

Micro FPV drones are a ton of fun for all ages! If you have been flying larger drones for a while or if you are brand new to FPV, getting a micro FPV drone is one of the best investments you can make in the hobby of drone flying.

Micro drones are known for their low weight, safety, and being cheaper than larger drones. The low weight helps to keep them free from the 250 gram limit some countries use for registration. 

They can also be flown indoors, which is perfect to keep your drone skills sharp through wintertime. 

Here’s six of the best ultralight micro FPV drones in 2022.

Whoops

Whoops are the best choice for a drone you can safely fly indoors, and our #1 pick for beginner FPV pilots.

You can also fly whoops outside, but because of their low weight they can be blown around very easily.

The term whoop has been adopted by the FPV community to define any micro drone under 85mm that has ducts around the props.

Having ducts gives a drone 2 main benefits.

Firstly, they help to protect people and property from prop strikes.

Secondly, the ducts help to make whoops much more durable than regular drones, mainly because the props can’t come into contact with the ground when you crash.

Check out our picks for the best whoops of 2021/2022 below. 

Emax Tinyhawk III

The Tinyhawk III from Emax is the third version of the popular and reliable Tinyhawk whoop line.

Emax is known for making their drones as beginner friendly as possible. All of their FPV drones come with detailed documentation, have good after sales support and have lots of spare parts available.

The reason the Tinyhawk III drone is so good is because Emax has used what they’ve learned from the first two Tinyhawk versions to make the third version as perfect as possible.

Emax also makes sure their drones are perfect by getting experienced FPV pilots to vigorously test all of their drones before they are released.

The Tinyhawk comes as a Bind and Fly, if you already have goggles and a radio, or in a Ready to Fly package which comes with goggles and a radio.

You can buy the Tinyhawk from Banggood or Amazon.

Both options come with a charger and 1 battery for you to fly with. 

• Weight: 32g (without battery)
• Size: 76mm
• Battery type: 1s/2s Lipo.
• Indoors: Yes
• Receiver: FRSKY

HappyModel Mobula 6

HappyModel actually released the Mobula 6 in the 2019/2020 season.

It’s still one of the most popular and highly beloved whoops for FPV pilots even today, and it’s not hard to understand why.

The Mobula 6 is small, fast, durable and very well priced whoop.

Because of its popularity, it is very easy to find spare parts for the Mobula 6, and support in the community if you need help setting it up.

There are two versions to choose from, with the only difference being the speed of the motors.

For new pilots we recommend the 19000 KV option. This is also the preferred option for a smaller indoor area.

For pilots with a bit more experience or with a larger space to fly in, the 25000 KV option is the best.

You can buy the HappyModel Mobula 6 from Banggood or Amazon.   

• Weight: 20g (without battery)
• Size: 65mm
• Battery type: 1s Lipo
• Indoors: Yes
• Receiver: FRSKY or FLYSKY

HappyModel Mobula 6 ELRS Version

HappyModel released a new version of their popular Mobula 6 drone in late 2021, with just a couple of key differences.

The first difference is the control link. This version of the Mobula 6 uses ELRS.

ELRS is one of the fastest growing radio control links in FPV, with key benefits of longer range and faster response times.

This means you can fly your Mobula 6 further than ever before, with less lag between your radio and the drone itself.

The video transmitter also has a 200mw setting, which is eight times the power of the original Mobula 6.

HappyModel also updated the motors on the Mobula 6, deciding to go with a smaller 0702 motors with a higher KV of 26000.

With the reduced total weight of 18.7g for this Mobula 6, these motors make it a very fast whoop. 

If you already have an ELRS capable radio, this version of the Mobula 6 is for you.

If you are new to the hobby, consider getting a radio that can do ELRS. 2.4GHz is easily the most popular ELRS version, so keep that in mind when choosing a compatible radio. 

You can buy the ELRS Mobula 6 from Banggood.

• Weight: 18.7g (without battery)
• Size: 65mm
• Battery type: 1s Lipo
• Indoors: Yes
• Receiver: ELRS 2.4GHz/915MHz/868MHz

Toothpicks

Toothpicks are defined by being lightweight with large props and motors, and no ducts.  

Toothpicks are perfect for people wanting a small, powerful, and fast micro FPV drone that they can fly outside. They’re definitely not a drone for flying indoors!

The light frames and large motors give toothpicks a crazy power to weight ratio.

HappyModel Crux 3

The HappyModel Crux 3 is a solid beginner toothpick for new and experienced pilots.

Weighing just over 40 grams, the Crux 3 is one of the lightest toothpicks we have seen.

When it comes to speed, the 3” props make this an incredibly fast drone on a 2s lipo battery. You can also fly it on 1s if you want a more tame and stable flight.

The Crux 3 is powerful enough to carry an Insta 360 Go 2 HD camera, so you can get some amazing HD footage with this drone also.

HappyModel used quality components for this toothpick. The Crux 3 runs 1202.5 6400 KV motors, a 25/200mw VTX, and has a decent FPV cam, the Caddx Ant. 

HappyModel made a lot of receiver options for the Crux 3. You can pick from Frsky, Flysky, Spektrum, Crossfire and 2.4ghz ELRS. We recommend getting the ELRS version if your radio supports it. 

You can buy the Happymodel Crux 3 from Banggood and Amazon.

Happymodel Crux 3 ELRS Version

The ELRS version of the Crux 3 is a little different compared to the original version.

Instead of the 6400 KV motors, HappyModel used 11500KV motors. This makes it a 1s only drone, so pilots don’t need to worry about two different kind of batteries.

Having one battery type makes tuning and flying the drone much easier. 1s batteries are generally smaller than 2s, so it also helps to keep the overall weight of the drone lower than the original Crux 3.

You can buy the ELRS Happymodel Crux 3 from Banggood and Amazon.

• Weight 41/40g (without battery)
• Size: 115mm
• Battery type: 1s/2s Lipo (1s only for ELRS version)
• Indoors: No
• Receiver: FRSKY, FLYSKY, Spektrum, Crossfire, ELRS.

Nanohawk X

The Nanohawk X from Emax is one the best Bind and Fly micros we’ve seen.

Emax always tries to make their drones as beginner friendly as possible, and this drone is no exception.

The price and amazing features this drone provides makes it the best value out of any toothpick drone.

Included with the drone is a charger and one 1s lipo battery, so you can fly as soon as you get it bound to your radio.

The VTX can use either 25 of 200mw, and the camera is the highly loved Runcam Nano 3.

The Nanohawk uses 1202.5 11000 KV motors – which strikes the perfect balance between speed and efficiency. A 1s 450mAh lipo will get you around 4-7 of flight time.

There is only one receiver protocol option for the Nanohawk, FRSKY d8, so make sure your radio can support this receiver type.

A Radiomaster T16, Jumper T16/T18 or Jumper T-Lite will work because they have multiprotocol modules built in. Any FRSKY radio with ACCST firmware will also work. You can alternatively install your own receiver, if you know how to solder and read a wiring pinout. 

One big difference from other toothpicks is that the Nanohawk uses an xt30 battery connector. This gives it even more efficiency than the other toothpicks in this category, but it makes it harder to find compatible 1s lipo batteries. 

We recommend the Nanohawk X to anyone who wants a fun and fast micro, but mainly for beginners who want a drone that is easy to set up and fly.

You can buy the Nanohawk X from Banggood or Amazon.

• Weight: 41g (without battery)
• Size: 120mm
• Battery type: 1s lipo
• Indoors: No
• Receiver: FRSKY D8

Flywoo Firefly

The Firefly is technically not a toothpick, but an ultralight micro. Because of its ultra low weight and size we still think it deserves a mention in the toothpick category.  

The Firefly is literally one of the smallest drones on the market. Coming in at just 20.4g, it is half the weight of the Crux 3 or Nanohawk X we reviewed above.

According to Flywoo, the Firefly has a flight time of 8 minutes and 45 seconds, making it perfect for people who don’t want to change batteries every 3-4 minutes.

There is a 25mw/200mw VTX, which provides more than enough power to fly at least a few hundred metres.

The Firefly is effectively a whoop put onto a carbon fibre frame. It is one the verge of being able to fly indoor or outdoors, but the lack of prop guards means you need a large indoor space to manage the speed. 

The Firefly has proven so popular that Flywoo recently announced a revised 1.2 edition. The new model has a different canopy to improve durability. Flywoo also redesigned the bottom plate to allow for horizontal and vertical battery mounting. 

One important thing to note is the unusual battery connector. Flywoo uses a GNB27 connector, which won’t be compatible with most 1s lipo batteries.

They do include a conversion cable, but you will be limited to charging one battery at a time. This battery connector is more efficient than the widely used PH 2.0 connector but finding lipos and charges with this connection will be difficult. 

You can buy the Flywoo Firefly from Banggood.

• Weight: 20.4g (without battery)
• Size: 65mm
• Battery type: 1s lipo
• Indoors: Yes
• Receiver: FRSKY D8, Crossfire, ELRS.

Best Charger for your Micro FPV Drones

Although some of the drones we reviewed in this article come with chargers, they are slow, and a better charger is one of our most highly recommended upgrades.

The Ultra Power 1s charger is specifically for small 1s lipo batteries. You can charge up to 6 batteries at a time, making it perfect for people who want to fly as many packs as possible.

Charging is very easy. Simply plug in a battery and it will start charging right away. The charger will automatically shut off once the desired voltage is reached.

You can power the charger using the AC adapter, or via the DC adapter if you have a larger lipo battery to use as a power source.

Having a larger lipo battery to charge your smaller lipos with is great for when you’re not next to any outlets. We recommend a 2000-4000mAh 3-4s lipo battery if you don’t already have one for your larger drones. 

You can buy the Ultra Power Charger from Banggood or Amazon.

Other Types of Micro FPV Drones

In this article we’re only going over Whoops and Toothpicks.

There are a couple other main types of micro FPV drones as well,  long range and cinematic.

These types of drones are still under 250g, but serve a different purpose than whoops and toothpicks. They can usually carry a larger HD camera like a GoPro and fly much longer range than whoops or toothpicks. 

Final Thoughts

FPV Micro drones are a ton of fun, and every beginner FPV pilot should learn how to fly with one.

Whoop style micro drones are recommended for beginners, and indoor flying, and toothpick style micro drones are recommended for outdoors, and more experienced pilots.

These drones are so fun that most FPV pilots probably end up getting one of each category. Being able to fly something small and fast both indoors and outdoors means you can fly any time you like.

Our personal pick for the best micro FPV drone that every FPV pilot should have is the Mobula 6 is a must own for everyone. 

Comment below with any questions, and make sure to let us know if you’d rather fly a toothpick or a whoop micro FPV drone.

Happy flying!