Emax Eco 1404 brushless micro motor review

The Emax Eco 1404 is a newly released lightweight brushless micro motor and is available in both 3700kV and 6000kV variants. It follows on from the successful Emax Eco 2207 and 2306 5" motors which have redefined the budget motor offering with a much higher build quality. I have been using the 3700kv variant on a lightweight 3 inch HD build with battery sizes ranging from 2-4s and my review is below.

Build objective
The objective of this particular build is a light, stable 3 inch HD platform that has exceptional control so that I can fly like a regular quad or fly around objects in close proximity at low-medium speed. Basically a cinewhoop without limitations of duct performance or weight. The lightweight 1404 fits this brief well with the large diameter to height ratio making for great control in the lower rev ranges. The smaller magnets on the eco series means the motors are not a notchy so smoother and much more effcient at the cost of a bit of top end speed.

I quickly need to disclose my bias for Emax ECO motors as I've had a really good experience with the larger ECO 2306 motors that I use on my 5 inch sweet spot build that I built here and reviewed here. After a year of use and abuse the motors are still performing well. They are not the most powerful but are light, smooth, efficient, reliable and very durable which are excellent characteristics for a freestyle quadcopter. Building on this foundation Emax have released the eco as a micro series in 1407, 1106 and 1404 sizes. I leapt at the chance to order the 1404 as this is my ideal lightweight 3 inch size for efficiency and smoothness. 1407 is a good size for a 'power' 3 inch build (or even a 4 inch build like this one) but not what I was wanting here. 1106 are better suited for a power 2.5 inch build. I chose 3700kv as a good motors speed for 4s that could run more sedately on 2s. I have no interest in 6000kv in a motor this size as you are limited to 2s batteries which don't suit me.

Motor details are below:

8.6g without wire (9.4 with very long wires)
​12 magnets (for rpm filtering)
1.5mm t-mount prop (2.5-4")
​2mm main shaft diameter
​26AWG silicon motor wires.

Steel Shaft
Double ball bearing
9x9mm mounting pattern (same as 110X, 120X and 130X motors)
Multi-strand windings

Nothing especially exciting on paper other than the fact the are pretty light for a motor of this size. By comparison the 1306 motors these replaced were 12g+. Mounting is the same as smaller motors that use the t-mount style props.

Uncut wires are very long but even so these were only 9.4g with the full length

Just under 12g for the gutless old 1306 motors on short wire

Installation
Nothing tricky here, stock wires are silicon and veeery long meaning they are easy to trim, tuck and mount for anything up to a 4 inch frame. Rest is the same as any other motor. For this particular build I used a flexRC Komori frame (a very light "squished" X layout) and a runcam split 3 nano at a dry weight of around 100g. Propellers were the HQ 3x3x3 but I think I'd see an improvement for control out of a light a prop like the newer Gemfan 3018.

Just under 100g with everything including the strap

Let's go fly!

Results
I'm pleased to say these motors meet my objective perfectly. As you can see in the two videos below (one of which is from my son's YT channel!) that even with my barely adequate flying I had confidence in navigating close proximity even without ducts whilst still having the power to fly like any regular quad - something a cinewhoop can't do.

Efficiency has been good. Playing around at the local part with a CNHL 4s 650mah battery I got 7.5 minutes runtime twice in a row (resting voltage was 3.7v per cell). 

Durability is hard to comment on at this stage but I've seen nothing that would make me question it. As I said I'm a year in on the larger motors on my main 5" freestyle so am hopeful they are in the same league.

7.5 minutes on this CNHL 650mah 4s but lost the SD card in a crash after this :(

Conclusion
I chose these motors for quite a specific set of objectives but lightness, durability, smoothness and efficiency would appeal to most people and I can say they are ideal for a lightweight 3 inch build of about 100-180g.

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