Holybro just released their latest Kakute H7 BT FC and Tekko F4 ESC. The new FC is using the latest greatest H7 processor along with Bluetooth for connecting to Betaflight Configurator wirelessly. It can be bought alone, or together with a 4in1 ESC in a stack.
Table of Contents
Where to Buy?
Kakute H7 FC Alone
- RDQ: https://oscarliang.com/product-ywz4
- Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-pqxu
- GetFPV: https://oscarliang.com/product-ln4d
Kakute H7 FC + Tekko32 F4 50A ESC
- Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-rwb8
- GetFPV: https://oscarliang.com/product-5dv2
Kakute H7 FC + Tekko32 F4 Metal 65A ESC
- Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-rmzc
- GetFPV: https://oscarliang.com/product-7wbi
Kakute H7 FC + Tekko32 F4 Metal 65A ESC + VTX
- Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-d6b8
- GetFPV: https://oscarliang.com/product-g8ql
The unit I am reviewing here is the FC & ESC stack. It comes with
- two FC to ESC cables of different length (25mm and 65mm, JST-SH1.0_8pin)
- two FC to DJI Air Unit cables of different length (80mm and 150mm, JST-GH1.5_6pin)
- a 1000uF 35v capacitor (to solder to the power input of the ESC for reducing electrical noise)
Specs and Features
I personally prefer FC and 4in1 ESC combo, because it’s very convenient to use. All you have to do is connect the ribbon cable provided between the FC and ESC, that’s it. You don’t need to worry about compatibility and pinout which can often cause problems if you get these boards separately from different brands.
The new Kakute H7 BT FC from Holybro is packed with features. Here’s a diagram explaining all the components on the board:
Some notable features are Bluetooth, dual plug-and-play 4in1 ESC ports, DJI FPV connector, Analog OSD, barometer, 6x UARTs, MicroSD card slot, 5V and 9V BEC and more!
Specifications:
- Input Voltage: 7-42V (2-8S)
- MCU: STM32H743 32-bit processor running at 480 MHz
- IMU (gyro): MPU6000
- Onboard BMP280 Barometer
- Built-in OSD chip, supports Analogue FPV System
- 9x PWM Outputs (8 Motor Outputs + 1 LED_Strip)
- 6x UARTs (1,2,3,4,6,7; UART2 is used for Bluetooth telemetry)
- BEC: 5V 2A
- BEC: 9V 1.5A
- Mounting: 30.5 x 30.5mm/Φ4mm hole with Φ3mm Grommets
- Dimension: 35x35mm
- Weight: 8g
Between the FC and 4in1 ESC, there’s more than enough clearance for wires to pass through, as well as allowing airflow for cooling.
Closer Look at the Kakute H7 BT FC
The Kakute H7 BT FC has Bluetooth built-in, so you can configure Betaflight via the Speedybee app on your phone without cables. It’s a very convenient feature when you want to make changes to the FC in the field, I talked more about the app in this post.
It supports both DJI FPV system and traditional analogue FPV system. The onboard AT7456E chip is used to overlay Betaflight OSD on the video if you are using analog. And the board has a dedicated plug for the DJI Air Unit if that’s what you are using, there’s no soldering required.
The Kakute H7 BT FC has two 4in1 ESC connectors (8 motor outputs in total), meaning you can actually connect it to two separate 4in1 ESC, and use this FC on a quadcopter, hexacopter as well as an octocopter (8-motor drone).
It’s using the tried and tested MPU6000 gyro, which is known to be one of the most reliable gyro’s out there.
There are 6 UART as well as i2C port, which means you basically will not run out of ports to connect to peripherals.
It has an built-in barometer which can be used to measure flight altitude, more accurate than GPS. Not so useful for freestyle and racing but still a nice-to-have.
It even comes with an micro SD card slot for blackbox recording which is handy. See my recommendations for SD card for blackbox, you will literally get unlimited recording using an SD card instead of a flash memory chip :)
The only complaint I have is probably the USB port, I think they should have used USB-C instead of micro USB. USB-C is more robust and easier to connect, and it’s more common nowadays.
Note:
Bluetooth is set to automatically turn off when the flight controller is armed. It will turn on again automatically when the drone is disarmed.
The Kakute H7 BT FC I am reviewing comes with customized version of Betaflight 4.3 pre-loaded, so when you plug it into your computer, you might get a warning if you have an older version of the configurator (10.7.1 or older), which can be ignored.
However I have been told the new batches now ship with Betaflight 4.2.11 instead, and it has no such problems anymore.
It’s also compatible (or will be compatible) with Ardupilot and iNav. However I don’t really use these systems apart from Betaflight so I won’t delve into too much detail.
Tekko32 F4 Metal 50A / 65A 4in1 ESC
You can buy both the 50A and 65A 4in1 ESC separately, or with the H7 FC as a bundle.
The Tekko32 Metal 65A 4in1 ESC continues with the design from the previous F3 version and using the same beefy MOSFET’s with metal casing. These offers an astonishing 65A continuous current rating and 80A peak current. The main difference in the new version is the faster F4 processors.
The Metal 65A ESC is probably an overkill for most people, but it’s definitely a more reliable option if you are running a high power 6S quad.
The amount of filtering capacitors on this ESC is just ridiculous (in a good way)! The total onboard capacitance is around 2000uF. However, if you are running 6S, it doesn’t hurt (actually recommended) to add another 1000uF 35V low ESR capacitor to the power pads of the ESC, which is included in the box.
If you are tight on budget and only plan to run 4S, you might want to consider the Tekko32 F4 50A 4in1 ESC instead, which is cheaper and offers the same flight performance. You can save about $20.
In the box it comes with two ESC to FC ribbon cables of different length, rubber grommets and a 35V 1000uF capacitor.
Here are some close up shot of the Holybro Tekko32 F4 50A 4in1 ESC:
5 comments
nothing has been said about memory
I am planning my next build with this FC but with the Diatone Mamba 65A 128k ESC
I bought this combination and hooked it up to a DJI air unit. I have spent much time trying to get the betaflight OSD to feed through to the air unit, and then on to the DJI goggles with no success. On a previous drone I used the F7 stack and had no problems.
you should activate the second uart1 at the end of the list in Betaflight 4.2.11 and it’ll make Betaflight odd appear ;)
Weird, the 20×20 H7 version of this FC has USB-C.
Perhaps Holybro will alter the USB connection in a future production batch.
Although both the 20×20 and 30×30 versions of this Flight Controller seem future proof.