The Jumper T-Lite is a budget radio with powerful features. This thing ticks a lot of boxes for me: it has the shape of a gaming controller, supports multi-protocol as well as external RF modules. But is it as good as it sounds? Let’s find out.
New to FPV? Don’t forget to check out my radio transmitter buyer’s guide. This review is written by guest writer, B. Von Bla, edited by Oscar Liang.
Table of Contents
Where to Buy?
Check price here:
- Makerfire: https://oscarliang.com/product-g5ml
- RDQ: https://oscarliang.com/product-r7hn
- NBD: https://oscarliang.com/product-bdeb
- Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-qhn5
Specifications
- Multi-protocol module (JP4IN1) chipsets and their supported protocols are:
- A7105: Flysky, Hubsan, AFHDS2A etc
- CC2500: Frsky, Futaba SFHSS, Hitec, Radiolink, Esky, Corona etc
- CYRF6936: DSM / DSMX, Walkera Devo, Wfly, etc
- NRF24L01: HISKY, Syma, ASSAN, etc
- Radio Micro-controller: STM32F205
- Mono color LCD Screen: 1.3” 128×64 pixels
- Input Voltage: DC 3.5-4.2V
- Required Battery: 1x 18650 (not included)
- 16 Channels
- Size: 166*106*56mm
- Weight: 260g (with 1×18650)
Key Features of Jumper T-Lite
Like I said, the Jumper T-Lite ticks a lot of boxes for me:
- Amazing price – $76 Only
- Compact form factor, good shape for thumbers
- Internal multi-protocol RF module
- Runs OpenTX firmware
- Hall sensor gimbals
- Supports external modules like Jumper R900, Frsky R9, TBS Crossfire, etc
- Powered by a single 18650 cell
- You can charge the battery inside the radio via USB-C
- Supports FPV Simulator on PC
- Removable antenna for easy transportation or upgrading to a higher gain antenna
- Voice and Vibration function
T-Lite is Great but not perfect
So far, it sounds too good to be true right? Yup! There are a few minor issues you should be aware of.
To keep the price down, they’ve skipped some protection in the circuits. For example you should not power the radio without an antenna, and do not insert the 18650 cell backward (avoid reverse polarity). Both mistakes could fry the electronics, the radio comes with stickers reminding you of these.
There are no momentary switches, but I’ve been told that you can reconfigure the trim buttons in OpenTX to be used as momentary switches if you wish.
And the big RGB LED in the center, it’s blindingly bright. I remedied it by covering it with a piece of electrical tape.
For me personally, those are the only downsides and they are absolutely not deal breakers.
Closer Look at the Jumper T-Lite
Let’s look at the radio from all sides and explain what are on there.
Top view:
We have the gimbals and the trim-buttons. Between the trim-buttons is the power button. Above that is the LCD screen surrounded by menu navigation buttons.
On the very top we have the antenna and two of the four switches. On the bottom we have the speaker in one of the grips and inside the other grip is a haptic feedback motor.
View from the top:
There are four switches: the two bottom ones are 2-position switches and the two top ones are 3-position switches.
In the middle we have, from left to right, a 3.5mm audio jack for buddy box, a SMA antenna connector, above that is a micro-SD card slot, and finally on the left is a USB-C connector for charging the battery and connecting the radio to a pc so you can use it with FPV simulators.
The view from the back:
We have the 18650 battery compartment and behind the “T-Lite” sticker, is a small hole that gives access to the connector for the module bay.
User Experience
Some reviewers complain about ergonomics of the T-Lite radio, but here is my take on that: It’s fine!
I’m a thumber and for me it works just fine. Some reviewers argued that you have to wedge your fingers between the switches and that, for instance, arming and disarming would be a bit awkward. I’d say it is a non-issue for me, just a matter of getting used to the layout really.
I arm with the 3-position switch: Down is disarmed, Middle is beeper, and Up is armed.
If you want to be able to disarm faster you can use the bottom switch for arming.
The screen is a transflective LCD screen. So absolutely no problem at all reading it in sunlight. I prefer this over those fancy color screens. When you are indoor, the bright LED under the screen can be irritating, I simply put a piece of electrical tape over it.
The radio has haptic feedback and speaker. I prefer to have my radios silent so i do not use any voice files for the speaker. If you want to use voice files, note that they don’t come preinstalled, you’ll need to put them on a micro SD card and insert it into the radio.
See my recommendations on SD card for your radio.
Inside the Jumper T-Lite Radio
The back case is held on with 8 screws of the same size.
All electronics is connected to the mainboard with connectors and flexible silicone wires, very nice build quality. The multi-protocol module board connects to the mainboard with pin headers. The designers even had one set of pin headers reversed so that you can’t possibly insert the board the wrong way, very nice touch.
Tension on the gimbal springs can be easily adjusted.
If you ever had to replace a broken switch, it is really easy to do. Just de-solder the wires on the switch, and solder them to the new switch and you are ready to go.
Inside the radio there is plenty of room for expansion. There’s so much room, Jumper had to stack 3 pieces of foam to press down on the radio module so it is secured in place.
So, there it is, the Jumber T-Lite radio. It’s a compact and versatile transmitter that does not break the bank and has plenty of tinkering/expansion possibilities.
Thank you for reading and happy flying.
29 comments
please provide information, how to fix the corrupted eeprom.bin and firmware.bin jumper t lite
I am looking into buying this radio because my sons dx6i is on its last legs. He has a bunch of DSM and dsmx receivers but I can’t find any information on how to set up the radio and bind to dsm or dsmx. I am familiar with open tx, I fly with a QX7S.
Can the radio hook up to frsky Xm + rx please
yes the 4in1 multiprotocol can bind to it with accst protocol
Unfortunatelly this Jumper T-Lite Radio seems to be out of stock everywhere. Or is it still buyable for $65 or any price?
Could u please make a review for the new Jumper T-Pro?
Yes, Jumper approached me I think i will review it very soon.
I just bought this used and it had the crossfire module in it already but the regular antenna was not on it. I powered it on briefly to make sure it powered up and then turned it back off. Will I be ok or would that have messed it up? Wasnt sure if because the TBS module was on there it would be fine or if you even needed the regular antenna? Any help is greatly appreciated!!
Just got T-lite for my nephew’s Mobula7 – it arrived 5 hours ago. You are right about build quality – it would be better. Although this radio have awesome value for the price. Except menu control overall ergonomics is fine. Already made having further modding in mind. Hall gimbals and OpenTX by default. Multimodule for a ton of protocols as internal transmitter rocks. External transmitter module socket is bundled. Powered from replaceable 18650 liIon batteries. Awesome.
What I didn’t liked:
– Menu control. After FrSky and TBS Tango 2 radios having Enter/Cancel at left side feel weird. And SYS/Model buttons in place of wheel – even weirder. Luckily they aren’t required during flight, but it sucks anyway.
– Battery compartment quality. I know that radio itself is built cheap. However at first time compartment cover opening was extra hard. And manufacturer should make minus pad as spring. Had to align battery contact plates with a screwdriver and pliers to fit my 18650 batteries inside.
What else I would like to have:
– ExpressLRS 2.4 GHz transmitter as default built-in transmitter module. And the rest of protocols added via multimodule. Required model socket assembly is already bundled with radio. I hope that in future Jumper will make upgrade board with built-in ELRS transmitter which would allow to ditch external module completely.
– External power to external module from built-in USB-C port. Having more power from USB-C even via decent USB power bank with QC and USB-PD support not an issue anymore – even AliExpress sellers have a nice mix of these modules on sale. It would allow to use fully charged decent 10000+ mAh USB power bank using to power radio and transmitter module for long range model control for few hours.
– LCD screen most likely is taken from the bottom of barrel and have lines in uneven brightness. Very noticeable when radio is turned on. Luckily during uneven line brightness it is not visible. And during flight you don’t look into screen anyway.
A rant: Didn’t fried internal transmitter module only by sheer luck. Was already ready to turn it on before antenna was attached, but got distracted by home chores. Phew!
I bought the t Lite , but as I wasn’t too sure about the build quality , I bought another one in spare.
2nd one is with minor changes.
They fixed the too bright led and they use better springs on the gimbals now, as my older ones had a touch of feeling like a ratched.
Yep, they now use tiny SMD LED with plastic cover above it, which is already bearable. Gimbals still have uneven strength. In my T-lite stock left stick strength was 2x weaker than for right stick. Had to align them evenly by opening the radio.
Thanks, Oscar for this great review. Write up reviews makes it easier to scan through important notes than verbals. Anyways, do you know where can I get the LUA script for TBS Nano? Thanks a bunch
TBS Crossfire Script you mean? That should be included in the latest OpenTX firmware. You can find it in the Tool menu.
Gracias por su trabajo tan didáctico. Difícil de mejorar.
Hi Oscar,
Do you know a fix for the solid red led light on the Jumper T Lite. Mine starts up with the OpenTX Splash screen then there’s a sold blue screen with solid red led. Can’t go no further from there.
Thanx in advance!
This looks like a really nice radio as far as not having and momentary switches you can with re map buttons as you stated or since they’re so easy to get to once the radio is open simply find a momentary switch that matches the size of the preinstalled switches and swap them out
Hi Oscar,
Can I use this t lite for my rc car?
Perhaps little setup for the gimbal to stay in the middle, or maybe change the throttle gimbal in order to keep the stick in the middle?
Hi Oscar,
I heard that this radio doesn’t support crossfire over 25mW due to battery limitations.
Is it correct?
Hi Oscar,
If anybody would know it would be you. When binding the t-lite to frsky on a pwm receiver for a fixed wing, the channel mapping is defaulted to aetr and unlike my qx7 in open tx on my t-lite, I can’t change it to taer. This is a problem when trying to arm a brushless esc as the throttle has to be at minimum before you can arm the esc. I’ve tried several things but the throttle still shows up on the elevator input. This isn’t a problem for a multirotor because you just remap in betaflight. How can I bind it to an frsky pwm receiver with the standard frsky taer channel configuration? Why don’t I just switch my esc to a different channel? Because the receiver has a built in esc. Thanks
You can create a new model in your radio and use a different channel mapping? See this post for detail: Fixing Channel Map in Betaflight and OpenTX
1. I had problems with sag and failsafes using the crossfire module, even at 250W with dynamic power off. The mosfet mod works wonders! It feeds power directly to the module bay when it’s turned on, and cuts module power when it’s not active.
——
#2. I can’t figure out which screws adjust the gimbal tension. The throttle is obvious because of the tension bar, but the other screws didn’t seem to have much of an effect.
hi,
Are you sure the module jp4in1 inside t-lite can binding radiolink receiver?
thank you
I like the radio so far, now that I have a working one. RDQ went back and forth with Jumper on my behalf to replace my TX. The horizontal axis’ on both gimbals did not work and Jumper initially tried to pawn it off on not knowing how the calibration process works. In many ways I prefer it to my T16 Pro. Despite not running sound on your TX, do you know what version of SD Card contents we should be using, as the firmware only shows as opentx-tlite vs. a version number in the system settings on the TX?
Hi,
I want to buy Tx with multiprotocol. All I need is at least 8 channels (10 will be great), 4in1 multiprotocol and low price (below 100$). It’s mainly for toy drones and other simple homemade (with 8ch receivers). I thought about Jumper T-lite and Jumper TS8G. Can anyone compare those 2 radios? Or maybe there is alternative for them?
Main differences are the OS, form factor and module bay. Build quality is similar.
The TS8G uses Deviation firmware, while the T-Lite uses OpenTX, that’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to review the TS8G because I personally prefer OpenTX. Not saying it’s bad or anything, it’s just I am more used to OpenTX.
TS8G uses the normal JR module bay, which is more common, but the Lite module in the T-Lite is also getting more popular so it shouldn’t be difficult to find compatible modules for it.
Personally I think I’d prefer the T-Lite.
Well, I come from a jumper tsg8 (the original black one). That one had pretty low quality gimbals and I did not really have any problem with that. The gimbals on the t-lite certainly center a lot more accurately and there is almost no jitter. For me they just work well. And, as they work with hall sensors instead op potentiometers, I think they will be less prone to wear and tear. Especially in wet climates. (Just an assumption as I do not live noway near the tropics.)
I received my T-Lite Jumper and the throttle Gimbal was defective. I found the product very bad in terms of construction, the features are great but it could be of higher quality. Anyway, I ended up buying the TX16S MAX and this one is TOP 10.
It seems it is not compatible with R9 (at least, for the moment).
I completely agree with what you say about this radio, some small defect that can be remedied with a few tricks.
I would have liked a your oppinion of the gimbals quality.
Thnx