My leader120 is a year old! What I've changed in that time

The ultimate park quad?

I've now had my FullSpeed RC Leader 120 for 1 year and have completed a bench review and flight review. After hundreds packs and many replacement props I thought it would be good to look back at what I've changed to keep this up to date and fun because at it's core, the Leader 120 is still an excellent quad and sits in a class of it's own as a ready to fly 2.5 inch quadcopter.

The core of the quadcopter remains the same - original ESC, original flight controller, original 1104 7500kv motors. The bearings on the motors are a little noisy now but no detriment to flight. especially with the modern filtering available on beta and butterflight.

My original review quad was kindly provided by Gearbest but is also available now from Full Speed RC's own website. Full Speed is a little more expensive but offers an excellent customisation service. Speaking of Full Speed the proprieters are pilots and test their products a lot before release - it's no accident they have good products. The Leader 120 is available at Gearbest here and FullSpeed RC here. It sells for anywhere between $100 and $130 depending on sales, discounts.

So what have I changed in the last year?

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FPV system
The Leader 120 ships with a VM2751 CMOS AIO cam and while ok for a whoop I don't think it does the Leader 120 justice given the speeds you can move at. I cannot emphasise enough how much an improvement the FPV system makes. Choose any camera you like, mine happens to have an HGLRC elf as that is what I had available at the time. Now there are many options, my personaly favourite is the Arrow Micro Pro - a 4:3 CCD cam which has an excellend image and can often be had for $20. For the VTX I personally use the Fullspeed FSD-TX200. This has proven to be an excellent long term reliable vtx that mounts easily to the back of the camera. There is no smart audio but then again you can get it for only $11. If smart audio is a must for you I'd recommend FullSpeed's new FSD-TX600 or the AKK FX3 ultimate.

I've made a full article on the install here but with one recent change that has made this much more robust (see picture below). 

I trimmed a standoff by approximately 5mm and used longer screws to torque the frame together. This is much stronger and more secure than my previous install. Note: the caddx cameras are a different shape and you may be able to install without trimming that standoff

Previously camera was just wedged in with no extra support at the top of the frame

Receiver
You may have a receiver already but if not I'd recommend the Fullspeed model. They are less than $10 each and are available in DSM or FRSKY. More importantly they weigh less than 1g so help preserve the lightweight aspect of the Leader. Another thing I really like about the Fullspeed nano v2 receiver compared to the FRSKY XM is the fact that RSSI (control link strength) is enabled on aux 5 by default for immediate use in betaflight OSD. Frsky XM and XM+ receivers need to be flashed for this functionality. The Fullspeed FRSKY Nano V2 is available from Fullspeed RC, Banggood or Gearbest.

Battery Strap
Sorry Fullspeed but unless things have changed, the battery strap that came with my Leader 120 sucks. Rather than re-type a previous post I've written about some great micro alternatives here and some cheap silicon pads (think Ummagrip) here.

Propellers
This is a personal choice. The stock 2.8" Kingkong 2840 props are fine but power hungry due to weight and pitch on 2s and almost unusable on 3s. Probably the best alround props is the Gemfan 2540 (@Bangood, @Gearbest) which offers the benefit of grip as in the stock props but at a much better efficiency with marginally more noise as reviewed here. Another option is the Gemfan 3025 twin blade (@Bangood) trimmed down as detailed here. These offer better efficieny again with but with less top speed. I got 9 minutes of flight when using a new 950mah 2s on these props... full review here.

Batteries and connector
Get rid of the JST connector and replace with an XT30 no ifs or buts. It is well and truly the standard in 2018. Yes it can let more currently through but mostly it is a lot more durable and reliable.

For batteries use 2s in a tight space or 3s in more open space. For 2s I'd recommend between 500mah and 950mah depending on what you are trying to achieve. For 3s 450mah to 750mah. Going too heavy will blunt the performance.

Don't use 4s in this quad, it will asplode.

Software
Now running betaflight 3.4.0 which is release candidate at time of writing. Best features for me? Improved filters and much wider PID tuning window. I especially like the throttle limit options that are tied to rates as I think all I get between 90-100% throttle on 3s is noise with more current draw and very little increase in power. I believe my leader originally came with 3.1.7 Low pass and dynamic filtering has improved dramatically since then.

Conclusion
1 year on the Leader120 is surprisingly relevant with a few minor mods. Don't forget that Fullspeed have made minor tweaks throughout the life of this quad - 20a esc upgraded to 28a, FC upgraded with better board layout, UART access and improved BEC. No one has really got a comparable lightweight 2.5" ready to fly that compares - the shift to 1105, 1106, 1107 and even 1108 motors on 2.5" have changed flight characteristics and durability for the worse. Even the Skystars Bolt 120 which looked like Heir to the throne with 4s capbility felt like a porker to fly.

Enjoy this quad if you have it and upgrade at you leisure or not at all. Plenty of options on this community favourite.

Parts mentioned here:

Leader 120 Plug and Fly Micro Quadcopter

• $110 at Full Speed RC ($119 with receiver)
• $115 at Banggood​
• $130 at Gearbest

Foxeer Micro Arrow Pro

• $24 at Banggood
• $20 at Gearbest

Fullspeed FSD TX200

• $11 at Gearbest
• $19 at Banggood

Fullspeed FRSKY Nano V2 reciever

• $12 at Banggood
• $10 at Full Speed Rc

RJX Hobby battery straps that work

• $2 at Banggood

Honana sililcon battery pad

• $1 at Banggood

Kingkong 2840 propellers

• $5 for 5sets at Banggood
• $5 for 5 sets at Full Speed RC

Gemfan 2540 propellers

• $3 for 2 sets at Banggood
• $14 to 10(!) sets at Gearbest

Gemfan 3025 propellers

• $1.87 per set at Banggood

XT30 connectors

• $1 for a pair at Banggood
• $0.30 for a single plug at Full Speed RC