EACHINE VR D3 SETUP and Review- STARTER FPV GOGGLES

After quite a bit of teasing on their site, Banggood have released the Eachine VRD3 goggles for sale. These are a well-specced low cost 5.8GHz Goggle with DVR aimed at beginners or as a backup pair. On to discussion of the specifications below and what it included

Features:
Focus Adjustable - Should mean basic corrective lenses are not required
Support DVR Recording - Record your flights for reviewing later or helping fing a lost quad
Real-time display current voltage - Lets you know if battery is getting flat
Diversity Receiver - Better reception by utilising 2 x antenna types
Weight : 164.7g (without antenna and headband) Fairly light - shouldn't fatigue user.
Size : 138*129*79mm(without antenna seat and antenna height) - quite small for a box goggle (easy to transport)
Working Current : 350-450mA Low power consumption, included battery should last 2 hours continuous use
3 inch 900 x 600 screen Small but very high resolution screen - with the right optics this will make for a good FPV experience
Receiver Connector : RP-SMA Male - Most connectors are SMA - be wary with antenna choice and or buy adaptors
Built-in Battery - Great... no extra battery needed
Charging Real-time standby function - plug in a powerbank to keep you running if the battery gets low.
Receiving Frequency : 5.8G 40CH - fairly standard list which gets you access to all channels.

​Package Included
1 x Eachine VRD3 Goggles
1 x Mushroom Antenna
1 x Panel Antenna
1 x USB Charging Cable
1 x User Manual

Before use
On first glance these look like well-made durable goggles. You have the option of installing thick or thin foam pads when you get these. When you receive these you'll need to recharge the internal battery which you can do by plugging in the usb cable. The red light near when you plug in will show you this is charging and this will go out when charged. A full charge should be enough to give you about 2 hours of continuous operation.

Next you'll need to screw down the antennas. It doesn't matter which side each go on but do make sure the patch antenna (panel) has the flat face pointing away from you. If you want to use the DVR, you'll need to insert and micro sd card into the slot at the front of of the goggles at the top. Although it is overkill I'd recommend class 10 since they are so cheap now anyway for example this $6 32GB one from Banggood.

The last bit of preparation you'll need to do it ensure the straps are adjusted so the goggles fit correctly - I'm sure you can figure this bit out for yourself!

First use
Next you'll need to turn these on. The production units shouldbe labelled but assuming they are not (like my review sample) it is the front button of the bank of four buttons below. You'll need to hold it down for about 3 seconds to turn on and the same again to turn off. Once turned on a quick press of this button acts as an auto-scan, finding a the frequency your quad is transmitting to. You'll then need to use the +/- buttons to fine tune to the exact frequency if the auto-scan has not found it correctly. Note: These goggles work on frequency rather than band and channel so scrolling through everything can take a little longer. This is why I recommended auto-scan as a first step.

​Now you are ready to use the goggles, see right how to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation as suits you. To record DVR click the button by the sd card slot once to start and once again to stop. Please note you'll need to stop the recording this way because if you are still recording when powering off you will corrupt that file.

Review
So what are the actually like? Firstly the screen looks fantastic. Although it is 'only' 3 inch the optics help provide an immersive field of view whilst keeping the size down. The colours are good and the resultion is fantastic - higher than my $270 Aomway Commanders as I reviewed here. Of course you can't take full advantage of the resolution given the input signal but it does make the image more crisp. I like the fact that voltage is always available so you know how much charge is left in the battery given it is an internal one. Once you get down to about 3.7v you'll need to recharge. Also in the goggle OSD is the diversity feedback, letting you know which antenna (and receiver) is picking up the FPV signal from your quad.

What I like less about these is the fit on my face. I don't think I have an especially big or wide nose but find the goggles rest uncomfortable on the bridge of my nose. I was only able to fly 2-3 packs before they became too sore. There was no light leakage though and they are otherwise comfortable. Remember there is no single set of goggles that will fit everyone well, there is such variation in the sizes and shapes of human faces you really need to find what works for you.

In contrast with what at least one other reviewer has stated, these goggles actually have 2 receivers meaning that have true rather diversity - not just antenna diversity.

Antennas
The included antennas appear to work just fine but if you want to use different ones the more common connector standard is SMA (not RP SMA). It's not the end of the world, you'll just need some cheap adapters as below

Goggle uses a RP SMA male connector

I recommend purchasing these RP SMA male to SMA female adapters to use pretty much every other available antenna

Pricing and Conclusion
A quick note on pricing before I conclude this blog: Banggood state that these have a retail price of $99 and they are currently on discount for $59. That is rubbish - $59 is the standard price. That said $59 is actually really good value considering the diversity, DVR, screen resolution and included battery. As a result I think these will become very popular starter goggles and with good reason. Assuming these fit your face better than they do mine these will be a durable goggle with good performance and should be quite compact for carrying which is a surprisinly important consideration. If you are looking to purchase, you can buy them here at Banggood for $59.