Best FPV Goggle 2023 Buyer's Guide // DJI v. HDZERO v. WALKSNAIL v. ANALOG

Awesome

I really need someone who can help me. I bought the Moxie by Bubby ready to fly FPV drone 6S and it has a DJI 03 air unit in it and I have the DJI controller and goggles and I crashed it on my second flight because I didn't realize how fast the battery died so that seized one of my motors then I plugged it back in and it popped one of my mossfets so I replaced the motor and the stack and now it is saying that I have bad RX and everything connects, but the RX will work and then it just shuts off mid flight but then it'll come back and I can't figure out how to solve this issue if there is anyone that knows anything about that, I would be very very appreciative of some help

2025 correction:
Walksnail also supports analog in via extension box (came free! until march 2025) and it also has 1080p and is compatible with racing timers.

Worth an update for o4 especially o4 lite air unit

i wish i can fly atleast one of your quad out there. thanks for sharing your knowledge, because of you i did finished build my own quad and set up well at betaflight, ofcourse with your guides and tutorials. ❤

My original RC passion is in dirt cars and trucks. For years now I've wanted to try to breathe new life into track racing by putting a cam/vtx onto cars and trucks. Then having people at local tracks try racing fpv trucks.
I just can't afford to buy multiple sets of goggles.

I have always been interested in the DJI system that can be converted to an analog system. Since micro drones are my favorite to fly. But the range and penetration of digital is super impressive..

I am currently flying a Brinc Lemur 2 through my employer and am looking for a headset that will allow me the best picture for a direct HDMI connection to the remote. What would you recommend?

13.3km aren't long range O_O

... but then I fly into a tree branch and I'm like "F THINS!" ... lol got me falling of my chair!!

Appreciate your insight ...leaning towards the HDzero, and wanting a radiomaster boxer, as for the drone not sure. But youve set me on a path, just hoping its the right one 😅😅😆😆👍🤙🤘

Been watching you for years. Glad you’re still making videos. Did not know I wasn’t subscribed.

What's the discord??

You know you can also take the Telemetry file from the Goggle video if you have SD card in both the AIr unit and the goggles, and you can easily overlay the goggle telemetry on DJI from the 1080p Recording from the AirUnit.

And here we are in November 2024, I bought Goggles 2 and use both vista’s and 03. The question now is whether the new 04 and 04 lite firmware for goggles 2 will keep backwards compatibility with vista. If it does then I can build some micro’s. If not 🤬

bardwell - great comment/super relavent video reccomendation, that literally nobody talks a about anywhere alert***
So... all these goggles, all these different systems, alllll the thousands of wasted dollars I've spent in the past 4 years sine getting into the hobby on JUST googles alone - and all of this because of what I just said. noooobody talks about this big fact - everybody has different shaped faces... a $5,000 pair of goggles is going to wind up in the junk drawer if a pair of EV100's fits my specific face shape/eye location better because I wont wear goggles that I have to strain to see the screen clearly, or cant see the full screen clearly...hense why I am selling my goggles V2 and eachine EV200d's and going to be trying the walksnail L as my first pair of box goggles, which is considered a step down, but seem to be more of a universal fit style of goggle, much easier to see the screen clearly due to the much greater distsnce from the lens tot he screen... I'm super obsessed with finding a set of goggles that fit my face, ive tried 3 different 3rd party fiam options for the EV800's and 1 3rd party option for my DJI V2's along with the upgraded DJI foam )this was hands down the best option out of any option I've ever combined, but still cannot read edges of the screen clearly - just for context here)

PLEASE MAKE A VIDEO ADRESSING THE BARE BASICS OF WHY WE CANT GET CERTAIN GOGGLES TO FOCUS AND SEE THE SCREENS EDGE TO EDGE TOP TO BOTTOM CRYSTAL CLEAR - THIS DRIVES ME INSANE AND IM POSITIVE IM NOT ALONE HERE BECAUSE MY FACE SHAPE AND SIZE IS NOT THAT UNIQUE. WE NEED SOMEBODY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT CAUSES THIS, AND ANY POSSIBLE FIXES FOR IT AT ALL. like I mentioned, I've spent over a grand on goggles and aftermarket foam options now, and I'm to the point where I dont know what else to do other than try a box goggle instead at this point, and if the walksnail L goggles are still an issue/physically hurt to wear/give me migraines after 30 minutes/ ect. = I hate to say it, but my box of $5k in drones and FPV gear will be a total loss because I'm to the point after 4 years where I'm going to throw the towel in on trying to find a pair of goggles that FITS....which is something that noooobody talks about in any kind of depth whatsoever when it comes to comparing the shapes and sizes of all the different goggles and aftermarket options/possible fixes, for the bare basic neccessity - needing to have your screens able to be focused with your pupils, which is most important above anything else - because who can wear blurry goggles for longer than 30 minutes without a migraine?...not me.

eep dive into showing and somhow camparing all these sidfferent $400 goggles that you have access to, and how they actualy fit/how the actual optics work/are affected by different shaped faces, ect. I dont want to throw in the towel on FPV but the older im getting the less tolerance I have for the ability to deal with my v2 edges not being readable without manual adjustment, when the center of the screen is crystal clear. I'm asking for you to do a deep dive on an issue that you dont seem to have, so its not an easy thing to plan or do effectively, which is probably why you have avoided this exact video over the years lol. I get it. but on behanlf of alllll the people trying to get into this hobby since covid who threw $200-600 in the garbage on bangggood in 2019-2020 and used theyre goggles fir 1 day before realizing how terrible to optic system is in their goggles for THEIR face shape, or how physucally unconfortable the goggles they picked are for their big nose, ect. - we need a super deep dive into the fitment and shape of all the different goggles, somehow, some way. Please look into it. no need for a reply on this. I've watched every video you upload for the past 5 years now within minutes, so I'll know you read this comment when I see a goggles fitment related video pop up on my notfications for me to wspent 40 minutes seeing different faceplate shapes and sizes alllll in a single video side by side to make some sort of well-educated guess of which models/brands I need to narrow my search down to for 1 last try before I quit the hobby I've never even been able to start, if th walksnail goggles dont wind up being the fix to my small/ narrow/pointy face + tall/skinny nose combination (nothing especially unique, but when comparing to the shape and size of the faceplate on the goggles V2 for easy reference that made these things very easy to pinpoint due to how wide and flat that stock foam is) All I want to know is if I should toss it in now and forget the goggles L to save any more wasted money....forget the system, forget the technical specs. forget everything but the bare bones basics that manufacturers should be responsible for looking into/researching and developing solutions for ALL face sizes and shapes...not you lol... which is a whole different subjdect, and none of them have to date and probably never will put much time and thought into making their goggles adaptable for all if YOU dont bring some seriously needed attention to the topic...I know Im far from alone in this boat. I dont care what system it is or how crappy the screens themselves are. If theyre going to FIT MY FACE correctly is at this point my 1 and only concern since so many have fails this basic BASIC requirment that trumps all else for no other reason than health concerns... its not healthy to look through out of focus lenses...and its impossible to focus both eyes screens on any goggles I've tried to date...why did I never once have this issue when using VR goggles a decade ago?....why is this so skipped over?....I dont know but we need to tackle it head on before this hobby and the whole goggle industry dies off slowly but surely because not everybody has a super flat face that these goggles are literally ALL seemingly designed for very specifically.

Sincerely, I dont want to lose all my money I've poured into this hobby because of something sooo basic that its kind of ridiculous nobodys dove headfirst into it at this point. Thankkkk whoever is up to the task if JB isn't. It's a large request that the manufacturers should really be stepping up to the plate to adress in a major way, but they aren't. that's just the way it is. thanks for reading.

What if you plugged the hdzero hdmi into a adapter to usb-c and then plugged it into a meta quest

Thanks! That vid helped a lot!

It's funny when you say , DJI forgets about people that got the old goggles like V2. You remove the V2 go from your web page. Because you say that's an old model. So thanks I still got my V2. But now I know that you don't care. Four people that got the V2.

@joshuabardwell, I bought dji v2 goggles and didn't realize until it was too late that they aren't compatible with my dji mini 4k. If these goggles do analog, is there a good but cheap drone off pyrodrone I could get that would work with them? Thanks for this video, this explained so much to me

Hey Bardwell what goggles do you recommend in 2024 for analog between 2-500 max. thanks!

White sparkles in HDZ are there because the signal is produced on the screen as it has arrived.
Any additional processing would increase latency. Perhaps they could have an option to enable additional algorithm with sacrifice of the latency.

Your voice is so annoying but you are the only one who brings the heat... you tell it like it is get to the point and have so much information, I hate you and love you at the same time.

Thank you man regardless, thank you...!

Silly question here but are there any low profile goggles with a direct input for cameras that you’d recommend? I was hoping the HDzero had an input but according to their customer support it only supports MIPI signals.

So what I get from this is that DJI is the best. Which brings to mind the question I’ve been having since DJI NEO came out. I’ve seen videos about DJI going long 3 km long and then are there videos or at least one where they use the DJI Neo in fob mode and free styling like crazy. My question is is the long distance achievable with the FPV radio controller as well as if it is achievable the freestyle with the RC-N3 included in the Neo combo?? Because I’m thinking buying the DJI neo fly more combo and wait for the leaked Dji budget goggles. Or if it is not possible to combine those… then buy the DJI neo alone, and wait for the budget goggles and combine them with the freestyle FPV radio controller, only if it’s possible to achieve the long distance flight with those two. Did I get it right? Hope I made myself clear. Lol

“The psychedelic just kicked in.” 😂

Coming back into the hobby after a 4 year break, this was of great value to me, so thanks a lot mr. Bardwell!!!

Thanks for this video. I'm getting interested in FPV because I picked up a sim and have been having fun and want to make the sim a reality, but I don't want to buy the full "ready to fly kits", I want a kit to grow into. The goggles are probably the most confusing portion... it's like choosing Cannon vs Sony, vs Nikon, vs Fuji, etc... So this helped a ton getting all the info I needed :)

I've purchased nearly everything but still waiting on my goggles to ship to start my fpv journey. This video really has me second guessing my avatar goggles x purchase. 😢😢😢

Love your thorough reviews/tutorials and truthful observations, Joshua! Your IQ is off the charts. I hope you are planning a review/tutorial on how to set-up a third party drone with DJI 03 air unit installed, and using DJI goggles 3 and DJI rc 3. Because that tutorial doesn't seem to exist yet. I have a new Flylens flycal85, and on Betaflight I can't connect my goggles or RC at all. The default settings include no assigned switch for 'arm motors' so I have literally not gotten off the ground yet. Thanks for all you do!

Thanks for including long range!

Hi Joshua, would the DJI Goggles 3 now be the best option for HD video quality? The seem to be the newest, but can I use them with any drone? I'm thinking about 3d printing my own

Very good video! You said go analog for low budget, but still have good range/penetration. What analog goggles would you suggest for good range/pen, but still be on a tight budget?( I know skyzones are probably great, but they are $500-600)
Thanks!

Im just starting with FPV only for the reason that theres digital now (and i finally got some spare time :P)
If we where still live in the Analog ages i probably wouldnt start to be honest
the googles you only buy once and the urge not to have a gopro makes it allmost equal price wise to analog

Clarification question. Joshua said DJI FPV Goggles V2 could be used with an analog system as well as a digital system? I have a pair of fat shark transformer SE from like four or five years ago and a little diatone 2.5 drone that I got with it at the time. I haven’t flown it in four years and I’m just starting to get back into FPV. I was looking at upgrading goggles potentially and I wanted to get a 5 inch prebuilt bind and fly, maybe something like a Nazgul that I’ve been seeing a lot of videos about. Would those DJI goggles work with both my existing drone and something new like the Nazgul?

Thanks you for the video. Appreciate the effort.

After not flying my fpv drones for 6 years I am being sucked into the bardwell universe once again

Waiting skyzone x eachine release hd goggles

Just bought an analog Aliexpress/banggood item list for my first drone at about 400$ so I was thinking of looking upp a video for different video systems and this poped up. I like the explanations 😊

I am fresh chicken - have no idea what's what and all that things.
Saw it few others video, and I can easily say- thank You for so nice packed and presented all information together with samples.

Soooo... HDZero..?

DJI Avata 2 brought the controller 3 and I'm just praying and waiting for them to make the O3 Unit compatible or their O4 Unit to be sold then I can start doing my own builds I have a RM Boxer that I use for just flight Sims but IDK maybe for about $400 I can get everything i need for my first build I wanna spend 250-300 on the build and the rest for battery's and ext get a cheap pair of Analog this way I can get going quickkkk I'm not jerking my chain but im pretty good in Manual with FPV but I need to be able to do some cheap builds so I can push myself to be a better poit and waiting for DJI to send back a crashed Avata 2 dont want to keep doing that.

lets go cheap with analog and then crash some more xD

Analog 1.2 has great penetration and range and costs are low 😊

It would be amazing if they where able to use like an ai up scaling or filtering to average the blocky white colors to the neighboring pixels.

Based on the video quality comparisons...
If I valued low latency I'd go analog. That digital sparkle of hdzero looks really bad, and eh penetration when its possible to get higher powered analog makes analog better than hdzero. Imo, anyway.

So the question for digital where image quality is preferred over low latency, its dji vs walksnail.

... And thats tough. I wouldnt be able to fly with blurry smudges when mbps goes low for the same reason I disable motion blur in video games; makes it look like soup, which actually gives me a form of motion sickness.

So dji for the win?

But man... The price and less compatibility makes that a hard sell...

I'm really leaning to the dji v2 goggle because of all the abilities it gives. Can it communicate with analog systems with that AV plug in and a adapter? I saw one in another video. What about comfort? Eye relief? Prescription needs? These are big factors as well for goggles I'd think.

The biggest thing that is making me chose walksnail over dji is the longevity of it. Walksnail is aiming for their system to be compatible throughout where as dji you mostly need to buy a whole new set every one or two years to be up to date. And walksnail has a 4K unit now (moonlight)

Thank you ever so much for all that knowledge sharing. So if I resume well, in comparison with OS in computing:
DJI = Apple
HDZero = Linux
WalkSnail = Microsoft
Analogue = DOS

:)