Today I am going to review the Holybro Shuriken 180 FPV Racer. Normally I build my own drones and choose the parts I need accordingly. It is a lot of fun and I like building new quads, but you nee know-how- and time. If you are beginner and want just to start flying, you may consider buying a “bind to fly” quad. The Holybro Shuriken 180 is that kind of drone.
Specifications overview:
- Size: 180mm frame
- STM32 F3 flight controller, flashed with Cleanflight firmware
- 1806 2700kv motors
- 20A BLHeli ESCs (OneShot and motor braking)
- 4045 3-blade propeller
- 800TVL FPV camera
- 5.8GHz video transmitter
- SpiroNet antenna
- FrSky XSR receiver
Package
I didn’t expected that the copter will come in such nice package. It is easy to carry with as well as protects the mini FPV racer while transporting. I also managed to fit one extra 4s LiPo 1300mAh battery inside.
Additionally you get four spare propellers, a battery strap and some cables.
My version of the copter came with a build-in FrSky receiver, so I can easily connect it with my FrSky Taranis. There are also Spectrum and Futaba versions available.
Design and build quality
The build quality of the Shuriken 180 is very good. The upper cover is made from carbon, which makes it light and strength. The plastic doesn’t look cheap at all and everything looks perfectly assembled. The FPV camera is well protected, however I haven´t crash it hardly so far. The propeller are really easy to break, so make sure to order more spare 4×4.5 3-blade propeller.
On the back side you will find the XT60 plug for the LiPo battery, which is well fixed.
Note: Never plug the battery without the FPV antenna attached. Otherwise there is a risk you can damage the integrated video transmitter.
On the small “display” you can check the selected video transmitting channel.
You can select from 40 supported channels. I am using the Shuriken with my FatShark Attitude goggles without any problems. Great is also that you can switch the transmitting power of the vTX (25mW or 200mW) according to your local regulations using two jumpers near the antenna plug.
Under the hood
I decided to open the Shuriken to check what´s inside the mini drone. The MCU of the flight controller is a STM32 F3 running on 72Mhz, like the SPRacingF3 board. The ESCs are branded as Shuriken 20A, but are actually Flycolor Raptor 20A (BLHeli 14.4). So if you for some reason damage these, you can easily repair it.
The receiver is the small FrSky XSR, connected as a SBUS receiver. There are also an integrated beeper and 8MB flash memory for flight logs/blackbox.
Insallation
In order to configure the drone settings you need to connect it with your PC/MAC and install the Cleanflight Configurator app for Google Chrome. The Shuriken pre-installed firmware is Cleanflight 1.12. You can update it to the latest 1.14 or even install the Betaflight firmware.
Note: You may need to install the drivers for the virtual com port, if you havent done it yet. Download it here.
While connected to the PC/MAC, the receiver is also powered, so you can easily check in the “Receiver Tab” if everything is configured correctly.
Note: Select “Serial RX” and SBUS receiver in the “Configuration”-Tab. On the “Ports”-Tab, select the Serial RX for UART Port 3.
Flashing the ESCs to the latest BLHeli firmware could easily be performed, because the flight controller support BLHeli passthrough.
To bind the Shuriken 180 with your Taranis transmitter, press the binding button while powering the drone and then click on “Bind” in the software of your transmitter.
What you need:
- Minimum 4 channel radio transmitter
- 3S 850mAh or 4S 1000mAh LiPo battery
- FPV Goggles or monitor
Flight experience
I am using the FPV racer with the latest Betaflight 3.0.1 and haven´t changed any of the PID settings. It flies great and is very responsive. Flips and rolls are easy to make 🙂 However I will advise the beginners to enable the “Angle” mode, which auto-levels the quadcopter in the air.
If you want more power and real FPV racer feeling consider using the Shuriken with a 4S LiPo battery. I tested it with a 1300mAh 4S Graphene battery, but it is too big for that small quad. I got about 6min of flight time. My tipp is to get a 1000mAh 4S battery.
The video quality of the camera is good, but I need some more time to test it in different light conditions.
Summary
The Holybro Shuriken 180 is a great mini FPV racer for beginners (and not only). The propeller are easy to break, so better buy more 4045 props. I personally very much like the clean design and the transporting bag.
You get a quad with good flight controller and upgradeable ESC, switchable power of the video transmitter and great FrSky XSR receiver. With some hardware tweaks, you can also get telemetry on your transmitter.
The Shuriken 180 is definitely one of my favourite mini FPV quads now and I would absolutely recommend it to beginners. If you need some help with the configuration, leave me a comment.
The Shuriken 180 in on promotion right now for 159$ if you use the code “shuriken180”.
Hi, very nice write up! I got one about six weeks ago got everything working what appears to be right however the quad when attempting hover will lift at the rear first till it just about rolls over. If you could steer me in the right direction I would sure appreciate it. Everything in clean flight looks right?
I hanks, Dave
Hey Dave, if everything in flight is normal, it is hard to say what can cause it. You can do an ESC calibration in Cleanflight/Betaflight with propellers removed. You can also try to raise the “minimum throttle” in the configuration tab with about 50 points. Let me know if this works for you. Cheers, Sergey
Hey I have the holybro 250 and have problem with arming it. Any help??
Hey Jackie, what problem exactly? You can´t arm? Check for any safety features that can prevent from arming. If you can you can make a video showing the problem. Best, Sergey