NIKKO Air Race Vision 220 FPV Pro Drone with FPV Review (age 14+)

We're getting quite proficient at drones now and our latest review is the NIKKO Air Race Vision 220 FPV Pro Drone with FPV. This is a larger drone with camera and a first for us - the option of a first person view, via a specially designed 4.3" full colour LCD screen and the optional headset which are included in the pack.

The box claims it'll be an easy to use drone, with six different one touch stunts, variable flight modes and variable speeds, so it offers lots to the novice as well as the experienced pilot. NIKKO's partner the Drone Racing League is the global leader in professional drone racing.

Inside the really sturdy reusable storage box are your 30cm (12") drone itself plus rechargable 7.4v Li battery and USB charging cable. The LCD Screen and attachment for controller, Controller (plus option of joysticks or pads), FPV goggles, SD card, 4 x AA batteries for FPV screen and 4 x AA batteries for controller and of course, spare blades.

The addition of all the necessary consumables and peripherals is brilliant and makes this very user-friendly. Perfect for giving as a gift and Christmas morning friendly. You will still have to charge your drone battery via USB though before you can start actually flying.

Despite their flimsy appearance, we haven't managed to bend or break the Nylon blade guards or blades, even when our drone spent 20 minutes in a tree (see the video below). I cannot fault it for robustness. We're really impressed.

The controller is familiar and buttons are fairly intuitive - trick on the shoulder buttons, directions on the pads etc. It's a really nice feature that you can choose between joysticks or joypads. There's a small clip on attachment for the LCD screen which is nice and tight, but easy to attach.

Charge time is quite long. 60-90 minutes for a good 6 minutes flight time. It really is plenty of time to play, but a long time to wait.

The LCD screen uses 5.8GHz analogue frequency, so you see real-time images. The camera has a 130 degree wide-angle lens and vision is really good - it's an excellent picture. For traditionalists the screen can be mounted on the controller, but there is also the First Person View Headset.

The headset is surprisingly comfortable, although the LCD Screen is a little heavy. It's really well made and will fit anyone, with cushioned pads, comfortable harness and independently adjustable either side for each eye - brilliant for achieving perfect focus whatever your own vision.

I've always been more of an 'over the shoulder' gamer myself, FPV isn't my view of choice, so I was a bit nervous about trying it and I don't want to instantly destroy my drone. There is however a free DRL downloadable simulator for some pain-free extra indoor practise. It works really well. Easier than actually flying, but just as harsh when you crash and great for practising FPV and direction/height control. This is an excellent touch as it may not be possible for you to practise at home as often as you'd like - especially over Winter or when it's windy. It will eat your controller batteries though - so don't forget.

Flying is fairly intuitive and your drone is very responsive, so novices will spend a while getting used to controlling height. Steering is good and you can manage some pretty stable hovering. My OH took only a 10 minutes flying before he was able to perform a trick.

The range is 50 metres and top speed around 25mph, so this is a fast drone, but you should be able keep it reigned in.

You can see how we got along in this video...

The NIKKO Air Race Vision 220 Pro Drone with FPV (rrp £199.99) is available to buy now from larger toy shops instore and online, including Smyths, where it is currently reduced to £149.99.

You can find out more about all of the drones in the NIKKO AIR range on the NIKKO AIR website.

We were sent our Race Vision 220 Pro Drone with FPV for review by NIKKO