While many FPV drone manufacturers are busy copying each other and releasing near-identical products these days, HGLRC is one of the very few companies still trying to innovate and do something genuinely different. I am genuinely impressed by what HGLRC has achieved with the Rekon35 V2, a 3.5-inch micro FPV drone purpose-built for long-range cruising. It’s clear that a lot of thought went into this design. After flying it and tearing it down, I’ve gathered plenty of thoughts—both good and bad. Here’s my hands-on review.
Interested in flying long range? Here are some practical tips: https://oscarliang.com/long-range-fpv-flying-mini-quad/
Table of Contents
Where to Buy
You can buy the Rekon35 V2 from these vendors:
- AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c2z53DTj
- Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-jcs3
What’s Included
- 2 sets of propellers (8 in total)
- USB cable for charging
- screws for mounting the props
- screwdriver
- stickers
- manual
Specifications
- Frame: Rekon35 V2
- Flight Controller: HGLRC H743 20A ELRS 2.4G 2S V1 AIO
- FC Firmware: HGLRCH743
- Gyro: ICM42688P
- Motors: Specter 1404 5500KV
- Camera/VTX:
- HD: DJI O4 Lite Air Unit
- Analog: HGLRC Zeus Nano VTX 350mW
- Receiver: Onboard ELRS 2.4G (or 915MHz)
- GPS: HGLRC M100 Mini
- Propellers: Gemfan 3630 triblade
- Supported Battery: 2× 18650 Li-ion cells
- Advertised Weight (without battery)
- HD Version: 180 ±5g
- Analog Version: 174 ±5g
- Power Kit Version: 169 ±5g
- Weight (My Measurements)
- DJI O4 version without batteries: 187.5g
- With 2× Molicel P30B 18650 cells: 278.5g
Design and Build
The HGLRC Rekon35 V2 is a 3.5-inch, 2S FPV drone.
Right away, it stands out thanks to its unique construction. The drone features a fully enclosed injection-molded plastic body that protects all internal electronics, giving it a clean, professional, and durable appearance.
One common issue with the DJI O4 Air Unit is overheating when powered on without airflow. Thankfully, HGLRC addressed this with a large heatsink mounted underneath the air unit. I was able to leave the drone powered on the bench for over 5 minutes without any overheating warnings, which should be even less of a concern during actual flight with constant airflow.
HGLRC also replaced the stock linear-polarized O4 antenna with a longer circularly polarized antenna, improving both range and penetration. Based on my testing, its performance is excellent.
The flight controller and motors are mounted on a carbon fiber plate, with 3mm-thick arms that feel very stiff and robust.
There are two rows of bright RGB LEDs on each side of the drone. Fly this thing at night and it genuinely looks like a tiny UFO gliding through the air. The LEDs are configurable in Betaflight and can be used to display useful information such as GPS status, throttle level, or battery voltage level. Out of the box, they default to a rainbow effect.
Learn about configuring Betaflight LED in this guide: https://oscarliang.com/setup-led-betaflight/
The drone is powered by two 18650 cells housed in a hinged battery compartment (battery is not included). Simply insert the batteries and you’re ready to fly.
Even better, you can leave the batteries inside the drone and charge them directly via the USB-C port on the rear like a DJI Mini, which is incredibly convenient.
The “no exposed wires” design is one of my favorite aspects—everything looks clean, sleek, and well protected.
You can access the DJI O4 Air Unit’s USB port and bind button from the sides of the drone.
To connect the drone to Betaflight, there’s another USB-C port located just below the charging port. You’ll need to push the spring-loaded antenna mount downward to access it.
Battery – It Only Takes 18650!
Open the battery compartment by holding down the two locking tabs and lifting the cover to reveal the battery tray—easily the most interesting aspect of this drone.
The Rekon35 V2 does NOT support LiPo battery. Instead, it runs on two individual 18650 Li-ion cells—yes, the same cylindrical batteries you’d normally use in radios, flashlights, or vaping devices.
At first, this might sound limiting, but it’s actually the core identity of the drone: long-range.
Li-ion batteries are extremely popular for long-range FPV, but they’re usually assembled into a battery pack and connected to the drone via an XT30 or XT60 connector like a standard LiPo. Directly inserting individual 18650 cells into the drone itself is genuinely unique. While we have seen similar ideas before, they were limited to 1S setups—this is the first BNF FPV drone to do it on 2S.
Recommended 18650 Batteries
I’ve tested many different 18650 cells: https://oscarliang.com/best-18650-li-ion-battery/
Here are my recommendations:
Top choice
- Molicel P30B – AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Dmp0uVT
Good Alternatives
- Molicel P28A:
- VTC6:
- AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DdTpbXb
- GetFPV: https://oscarliang.com/product-0owd
Important: The battery holder only supports flat-top cells. Button-top 18650s will not fit.
Tear Down: What’s Inside the Drone?
Disassembling the Rekon35 V2 is straightforward. There are only 6 M2 hex screws securing the plastic body to the frame.
The first thing that surprised me was the unconventional flight controller design. It appears HGLRC may have designed this board specifically for the Rekon35 V2—it’s long and rectangular rather than the usual square shape. This is an all-in-one (AIO) board, integrating the ESC and ELRS receiver onto the same PCB. The upside is a very compact layout; the downside is that if any major component fails, you’ll need to replace the entire board.
The GPS module is the HGLRC M100 Mini, which I tested last year and found to be excellent. Despite its tiny size, it uses a u-blox M10 chip, delivering strong performance. I typically get a GPS fix in about 1.5 minutes with 8 satellites, and after 10 minutes it often locks onto 19 satellites.
The camera angle is adjustable, but you’ll need to remove the front canopy to access the mounting screws. Out of the box, the angle is set to around 20 degrees, which is ideal for long-range cruising, so I didn’t feel the need to change it. If you frequently adjust camera angle, you could probably drill a small access hole in the canopy to avoid removing it each time.
The drone also comes with a small physical beeper hidden between the two USB port in the rear, which is pretty loud. If you crash in bushes or tall grass, this will be extremely helpful for recovery.
Flight Performance
Smooth, Quiet, and Surprisingly Well Tuned
The first thing I noticed is just how quiet the Rekon35 V2 is. It’s shockingly low-noise for a 3.5-inch drone—you can barely hear it from 100 meters away, even when doing flips and rolls. It’s perfect for discreet cruising.
The second surprise was how stable and smooth it feels in the air. It comes with a fairly aggressive PID and filter tune, which is exactly what I like to see in a BNF. This really shows that HGLRC put genuine effort into tuning rather than shipping a generic setup.
But It’s Not Fast
This is not a freestyle machine; it’s best suited for relaxed cruising.
It hovers at around 30% throttle at takeoff. At first, it feels reasonably agile—you can even do some freestyle moves like flips, rolls, and split-S maneuvers. However, a few minutes into the flight, you can feel the drone slowly losing punch due to voltage sag, and it becomes increasingly risky to attempt aggressive maneuvers as you’re constantly warned about low voltage. That’s the drawback of Li-ion battery: high energy density but low discharge rate.
Top speed is around 70–80 km/h, and cruising typically sits between 40–50 km/h at roughly 40–45% throttle.
Long Flight Time
The advertised 15-minute flight time is fairly accurate for slow cruising. Realistically, you should expect 13–14 minutes if you fly up and down frequently and mix in some freestyle moves here and there, especially with some wind.
In calm conditions with steady cruising, covering 10km or more is absolutely achievable.
Not the Best in Windy Conditions
The Rekon 35 V2 doesn’t handle wind particularly well. In 20mph wind, the quad struggled significantly and was barely moving into headwind.
With LiPo batteries, you could normally just punch through wind, but with Li-ion cells, there is little throttle response due to voltage sag. If you fly too far out in windy conditions, there’s a real risk you may not make it back, so avoid pushing distance when wind is strong.
GPS Rescue Worked Well
GPS Rescue is configured out of the box, and failsafe is set to Rescue mode.
In my testing environment, GPS Rescue worked well and brought the drone back close to the takeoff point.
That said, you should always double-check your Rescue mode settings to ensure they suit your flying environment.
Check out my guide on Rescue Mode: https://oscarliang.com/setup-gps-rescue-mode-betaflight/
Current Sensor Needs Calibration
My Molicel P30B has an actual capacity of around 2851 mAh, but the OSD reported 6036 mAh—more than double the real value. The current sensor scale clearly needs calibration.
Limitations and Potential Improvements
With this quad, battery quality matters a lot. You must use decent 18650 cells—cheap or counterfeit batteries will completely ruin the experience. Unfortunately, fake 18650s are common on eBay and Amazon, which could frustrate beginners who aren’t familiar with sourcing quality cells.
The drone is also slightly heavy for a 3.5-inch quad, weighing 187g without batteries. If your goal is to stay under the 250g weight limit, this may not be the best option out of the box. That said, I already have a few ideas to reduce weight and improve efficiency, and I believe it should be possible to bring it under 250g. I’ll try to cover those modifications in a future post or update this review after the New Year when I have more free time.
Battery Charging
You can charge the batteries inside the drone via USB-C, with a charging power of around 11–12W. This means it takes approximately 2 to 2.5 hours to fully charge two 3000mAh 18650 cells.
Charging appears to stop at around 4.15V per cell, which is actually a good sign—it doesn’t overcharge. However, it doesn’t reach the full 4.20V, so you’re potentially losing a tiny amount of capacity (roughly 50mAh, or about 10 seconds of flight time). In practice, this is negligible.
If you prefer, you can remove the cells and charge them with a dedicated 18650 charger, or even a LiPo charger using a DIY holder like this. These methods are likely to be much faster and ensures a full 4.2V charge. Still, charging directly inside the drone is extremely convenient, perfect for lazy people like me :)
How to Setup
Manual is very helpful.
Firmware
- FC Board: HGLRCH743, comes with BF 4.5.2
- ESC Firmware: Bluejay, 0.21.0 (F-H-40)
- ELRS Receiver: HGLRC Hermes 2.4GHz RX (3.5.3 firmware)
Binding ELRS receiver
Detailed instructions can be found here: https://oscarliang.com/bind-expresslrs-receivers/
Pairing DJI Goggles
Follow the instructions here: https://oscarliang.com/how-to-setup-dji-o4-lite/#Pairing-DJI-Goggles-3-with-O4-Lite. The O4 doesn’t require activation, so you can fly as soon as it’s paired.
Betaflight Setup
- Power & Battery tab: The settings are left at Betaflight default, which are for LiPo batteries, so low-voltage warnings will trigger way too early. For 18650, you should set Minimum Cell Voltage to 3V (depends on the cells you are using, some can safely go as low as 2.8V or even 2.7V). Maximum Cell Voltage to 4.2V. Warning Cell voltage to 3.2V. Current sensor scale also needs changing – I will publish my value on a later date.
- PID Tuning tab: Set up your own rates.
- Modes Tab: Configure your arm switch, angle mode, and turtle mode. For guidance, see this tutorial: https://oscarliang.com/betaflight-modes/#How-to-Setup-Arm-Switch
- Receiver tab: Enable Telemetry
- GPS tab: My usual settings are to enable “Use Galileo” and “Set Home Point Once”, set Ground assistance Type to Auto
- OSD tab: Customize to your preference.
Installing Propellers
Insert the translucent bushings into the prop hubs, mount them on the motors, and secure each prop with two screws.
Important: The Rekon35 V2 uses reversed motor direction.
That’s it—your Rekon35 V2 should now be ready for its maiden flight.
Final Thoughts: Is the HGLRC Rekon35 V2 Worth It?
The HGLRC Rekon35 V2 is a bold experiment—a drone built entirely around 18650 Li-ion. One crucial point is that you must use good-quality cells; poor batteries will result in frustrating performance.
HGLRC clearly invested a lot of effort into the design. This is the most well-thought-out Li-ion-only FPV drone I’ve tested so far. GPS Rescue works well, the quad is efficient, quiet, smooth, and cleverly engineered.
Get the Rekon35 V2 from:
- AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_c2z53DTj
- Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-jcs3
That said, I do wish HGLRC had made the drone lighter, ideally keeping it under the 250g weight limit. Since it’s not designed for freestyle or high-speed flight, the bulky construction feels unnecessary. I believe a large portion of the plastic could be removed to reduce weight.
Even in stock form, a 5 km round trip is entirely possible, which is impressive. Making it lighter would only enhance its potential.
The Rekon35 V2 is not perfect, but it’s genuinely interesting. And in a hobby full of look-alike drones, that alone is refreshing.
11 comments
hey Oscar, it’s Oscar ;)
I’m sharing the correct values to apply for the voltage and current sensor:
Voltage sensor: Scale: 212; Divider: 10; Muktilier: 1
Current sensor: scale: 440; Offset: 0
Voltage has been calibrated with an accurate Voltmeter and Current sensor with the OSD mAh VS post-flight Charged mAh method. Accuracy has shown something around ~50mAh
I bought the original Rekon35 V1 analog and liked the idea of using 18650’s for ease of use and cruising.
I purchased the Rekon35 V2 frame deciding to build my own. I went with a Flywoo GOKU 745 AIO and the DJI O4 lite. The build was extremely difficult getting the components to fit correctly and I am still working on it.
I highly recommend you dont builid your own unless you can find/purchase the AIO HGLRC uses in their RTF and then you might as well just buy the RTF. So far as I can tell the AIO HGLRC uses is not available for purchase.
Dear Oscar
I am a reader who studies your posts every day. Additionally, I purchased the Rekon 35 v2 you reviewed and made its maiden flight using a VTC6 18650 battery. As you mentioned, it seems I need to adjust the scale value. Could you please let me know how?
Yes, I have a tutorial here: https://oscarliang.com/current-sensor-calibration/#How-to-Calibrate-Current-Sensor
I have a Rekon35 V1 “digital” and I generally liked it. Exactly like you said, it was decent at cruising but could do some light freestyle. I like HGLRC, but I’m wary of bespoke all-in-one components. It seems the frame will support a few different mounting options of you use your own FC. But, I had the Rekon35 V1 frame and didn’t like how fragile the arms are. Plus, their availability in the USA is hot and miss right now, and ordering from them directly can be very expensive for shipping. When I tried to order a new top plate, the shipping was a lot more expensive than the plate. It would be a lot more than a whole new frame kit, in fact.
It’s cool, but tbh if it’s not under 250g I don’t see the point.
Additionally, I wonder if Gemfan 3630 props aren’t way too much for the 1404 motors – perhaps 3525 props would be more reasonable?
I think with some modifications it’s possible to make it sub250. And yes, it’s worth experimenting with different props which I shall cover in my future post.
Re: “a 5 km round trip is entirely possible”, I would certainly hope so: with my Rekon35 v1 (previous version), I can easily go for 8 km and more, even climbing up a steep hill at the start of the flight with absolutely no issues and consuming only about 60% of the battery charge.
Re: “Top choice [for 18650 drone batteries] Molicel P30B”, I’ve tried these, and the Ampace JP30-P1 batteries, on my HGLRC Rekon35 v1 (previous model) and the JP30s have an edge on the P30Bs due to much lower internal resistance (about half of the P30Bs) and therefore much less voltage sag, specially at the end of their discharge curves; this results in a couple of minutes more flight time witn the JP30s than with the P30Bs.
I see LionBee 3 inch of NewbeeDrone It’s also an interesting long-range I’m really looking forward to hearing about your experience.
Yes, I will test this one in the coming weeks.