The FPV radio market has turn into fiercely aggressive over the previous few years. In lately years, RadioMaster has dominated the high-end transmitter house virtually uncontested. However newer releases are clearly aiming to shake issues up — and the Jumper T15 Professional is without doubt one of the most critical makes an attempt but. Listed here are my ideas on what the T15 Professional brings to the desk, the way it feels in actual use, and whether or not it genuinely challenges RadioMaster’s flagship radios just like the TX15.
Be taught extra about radios: https://oscarliang.com/radio-transmitter/
The place to Purchase
Get the T15 Professional from AliExpress: https://s.click on.aliexpress.com/e/_c3N72gnz
Equipment together with:
- Laborious carrying case
- Gimbal protector
- Neck strap
- Spare springs and screws
- USB cable
- Display screen protector
- Stickers and fast begin handbook
Specs
- MCU: STM32H750
- Display screen: 3.5″ IPS touchscreen
- Display screen Decision: 480 × 320
- Gimbal Stick Dimension: Commonplace
- Gimbals: Corridor Sensor / RDC90
- Constructed-in RF: ExpressLRS
- Most Transmission Energy: 1W
- Exterior Module: JR module bay
- Storage: Built-in 2GB reminiscence
- Working Voltage: 6V–8.4V
- Battery: 2 × 21700 cells (not included)
- Dimensions: 185 × 177 × 82 mm
- Weight:
- 597g (not together with battery)
- 790g (together with 2x 21700 Li-ion batteries)
3 Variations
The T15 Professional is available in 3 variations, and the primary distinction between them is the gimbals.
| Function | T15 Professional Corridor | T15 Professional RDC90 | T15 Professional FPG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Again Deal with | Foldable Deal with | Foldable Deal with | “Leather-based” Deal with |
| Gimbals | Corridor Gimbals | RDC90 Gimbals | FPG Gimbals |
| CNC Foldable Kickstand | — | — | ✓ |
| Gimbal RGB Backlighting | — | — | ✓ |
| Value (Est.) | $200 | $250 | $300 |
I’m reviewing the T15 Professional FPG right here, the costliest model. At $300, it feels fairly dear contemplating the RadioMaster TX15 Max (the premium model with AG02 gimbals) prices solely $200, which is identical worth as the bottom mannequin of the T15 Professional.
Is it price it? Let’s discover out.
First Impressions
Left: Radiomaster TX15; Proper: Jumper T15 Professional
Wanting on the options and capabilities, the T15 Professional looks like a direct competitor to the RadioMaster TX15. Not solely are the specs comparable, however the type issue can also be very shut — even the names are virtually an identical, differing by only one letter 🙂
See my evaluation of the Radiomaster TX15 Max: https://oscarliang.com/radiomaster-tx15-max/
Coloration Customization
One factor Jumper did otherwise is customization.
You may swap totally different coloration faceplates (entrance panels) simply by eradicating a number of screws on the skin. Additionally they provide a variety of housing colours, permitting you to combine and match to create your personal distinctive radio.
There are additionally RGB LED rings across the gimbals, together with RGB backlights for the menu buttons and flight mode buttons, which provides a little bit of aptitude to the general design.
Switches and Controls
I just like the compact shoulder buttons, though they do stick out barely. The format is sort of an identical to the TX15: the highest left change is a two-position change, whereas the highest proper is a momentary change, and also you get 4 3-position switches on the entrance.
I do like the place the switches are positioned on the entrance. For pinchers, there’s much less probability of by accident bumping them whereas flying in comparison with the TX15.
The placement of the six flight mode buttons is kind of distinctive. Two of them are positioned beneath the gimbals, which makes them simpler to achieve throughout flight — a surprisingly useful design selection.
The 2 rotary knobs on the high have a really mild middle detent, which makes it troublesome to really feel the middle place when adjusting shortly. I additionally want they had been CNC metallic like the opposite controls — the plastic end makes them look barely low cost.
Menu Buttons and Display screen
One other large distinction is the menu buttons, which appears to be closely impressed by the FrSky X10.
You get a round 5-button management on the left:
- Mannequin
- System
- Web page
- Again
- Telemetry
And a round scroll wheel on the proper, with the middle button appearing as Enter.
Nevertheless, none of those buttons are labeled, which made utilizing them fairly complicated in the course of the first few days. To be trustworthy, I nonetheless want the older design used within the T15 and T20S — it’s merely extra intuitive.
In case you don’t like utilizing buttons, you too can navigate the menus utilizing the colour touchscreen.
The display screen seems to be the identical dimension because the TX15’s show, however Jumper added a big black body round it, which makes the display screen really feel bigger when the show is turned off. It’s a small element, however aesthetically it does make the radio really feel a bit extra premium.
The touchscreen is quick and responsive, and the speaker is loud and clear.
Different Design Decisions
In contrast to the TX15, which doesn’t assist exterior antennas, the T15 Professional does. There are two holes on the highest the place you possibly can set up antenna connectors if you wish to run exterior antennas.
On the again, there’s a fake leather-based deal with and a foldable kickstand. The kickstand is an attention-grabbing thought — some folks could discover it helpful in the event that they regularly place the radio on the bench.
Gimbals and Ergonomics
The ergonomics really feel pure for thumbers, however for pinchers (and hybrid pinchers) it has the identical frequent difficulty as many full-size radios: it’s barely bottom-heavy because of the battery location. You would possibly wish to use a neck strap in the event you plan to fly for lengthy intervals whereas standing. Alternatively, resting the radio in your lap whereas sitting could make it extra snug.
Thumbing and pinching are the alternative ways of holding the gimbal sticks: https://oscarliang.com/pinch-thumb-stick/
The gimbals really feel extraordinarily free out of the field, with barely any resistance on the sticks. I believe this is perhaps intentional to offer the impression that the gimbals are “additional clean”, however in observe I discover them too free and so they profit from tightening.
You may regulate the gimbal spring stress by opening the radio—sadly this can’t be performed from the entrance just like the AG02 gimbals. There are screws seen on the entrance of the gimbals, however these are for adjusting stick journey, not spring stress. For many customers, I’d advocate leaving stick journey on the most to get essentially the most decision, until you like shorter journey (for instance when you have smaller fingers). Jumper additionally offers stronger alternative springs in case the inventory springs aren’t agency sufficient.
When it comes to smoothness, I’d say they really feel just like the AG01/AG02 gimbals.
The stick ends are additionally utterly totally different. The screw gap is positioned within the gimbal itself, which suggests your present stick ends could not work with these gimbals. The stick thread dimension is M3.
Battery and Charging
In contrast to most radios that use 18650 batteries, the T15 Professional makes use of a battery holder designed for 2 21700 Li-ion cells. These sometimes present 4000–5000mAh capability, which is roughly 25% extra capability than 18650 batteries.
Charging is straightforward: simply plug a USB-C cable into the port on high of the radio. It requires a 5V energy supply and attracts round 1.8A, with charging energy peaking at roughly 9W.
Absolutely charging two empty 5000mAh cells takes about 4 to 4.5 hours.
Energy Consumption & Battery Life
Listed here are my measurements of the T15 Professional’s present draw (display screen brightness at minimal until acknowledged in any other case). Voltage enter: 7.4V.
- RF module off: 0.28A
- RF module off, display screen at max brightness: 0.41A
- 25mW: 0.47A
- 50mW: 0.52A
- 100mW: 0.58A
- 250mW: 0.79A (cooling fan activated by default)
- 500mW: 0.87A
- 1000mW: 1.05A
Energy consumption is sort of the identical because the TX15, however contemplating it takes 21700 batteries, you possibly can count on 25% longer run time.
- 25mW: round 10 hours
- 250mW: ~6 hours
- 1000mW: ~4 hours
Tear Down: What’s Inside?
Chinese language Menu Solely? Firmware Flash Required
The primary difficulty I encountered was the menu — it was fully in Chinese language.
The radio got here with “EdgeTX T15 Professional” firmware, model listed as Manufacturing unit firmware 7faa94f1. The interface was utterly in Chinese language and there was no choice to modify to English within the settings.
To get an English menu, I needed to flash the most recent EdgeTX firmware (which was nonetheless a launch candidate on the time of writing). It was barely annoying, however the course of was easy and solely took about two minutes.
Right here is the best way to do it.
1. Go to EdgeTX’s web site and obtain the firmware for Jumper T15 Professional: https://buddy.edgetx.org/. Save the “.uf2” file in your laptop.
2. Put the radio in bootloader mode by pushing the 2 trim buttons inwards, then energy on the radio. You’ll be prompted to plug in USB cable.
3. A drive referred to as “EDGETX_UF2” ought to seem. Now copy the firmware file you simply downloaded into that drive.
4. The replace course of will start mechanically.
5. As soon as it’s performed, restart your radio and the menu shall be in English.
No 900MHz, Solely 2.4GHz?
The specs declare the radio helps each 2.4GHz and 900MHz, however I used to be solely in a position to make use of 2.4GHz on my unit. There are not any 868/915MHz choices obtainable within the ExpressLRS LUA script.
Initially I believed it is perhaps because of the outdated transmitter firmware (it ships with ExpressLRS V3.3.2), however when checking the ExpressLRS 4.0 firmware, I couldn’t discover a goal for “Jumper T15 Professional”.
Nevertheless, when connecting to the WebUI by way of WiFi, the system goal seems as “Jumper AION T15 2.4GHz”, which suggests the radio would possibly even have a 2.4GHz-only transmitter module.
I additionally opened the plastic antenna housing to have a look, and it seems to comprise a small PCB antenna — probably too small for 900MHz (though I could possibly be fallacious).
So this can be a bit complicated. Maybe Jumper plans to launch a 900MHz model sooner or later? Anyway for now it seems to be 2.4GHz solely.
If you’d like 900MHz or Gemini assist, you possibly can nonetheless use an exterior JR module.
Mild Leak
The plastic shell could also be barely too skinny. With the RGB LED rings across the gimbals and the menu button backlighting, some mild leaks by means of the housing.
You’ll solely actually discover this in darkish environments. Some folks won’t thoughts it, however personally I don’t like the way it seems at night time.
That is purely beauty and never a deal breaker. It will be extra noticeable on lighter-colored housing. A easy repair could be spraying a layer of paint contained in the shell, with out growing the plastic thickness.
As you possibly can see, the RadioMaster TX15 doesn’t have this difficulty, as a result of it utilized a darker carbon-fiber paint on the skin.
Conclusion: Jumper T15 Professional or RadioMaster TX15?
Frankly, I feel the RadioMaster TX15 continues to be the higher selection for most individuals.
In comparison with the Jumper T15 Professional, the TX15 is:
-
- Cheaper
- Has higher general construct high quality and end
- Has extra intuitive menu buttons
- Helps each 2.4GHz and 900MHz out of the field
For me, the primary benefit of the T15 Professional is its customization choices — extra coloration selections and interchangeable faceplates. If you’d like a radio that stands out visually, the T15 Professional positively provides that.
Get the T15 Professional from AliExpress: https://s.click on.aliexpress.com/e/_c3N72gnz
Apart from these variations, the general really feel and ergonomics are fairly comparable.
Truthfully, I’m unsure what Jumper is considering with the pricing. The construct high quality and options don’t fairly justify the worth tag. I feel it needs to be priced just like — and even barely decrease than — the TX15 to be really aggressive.