iFlight Nazgul Evoke F5 V3 Review: The Dual-Geometry FPV Drone That Does It All

Today I’m excited to finally share my thoughts on the iFlight Nazgul Evoke F5 V3 with the DJI O4 Air Unit Pro, which I’ve been flying for the past couple of weeks and I have a lot to say about. In his latest video, Mike from Drone Supremacy puts this innovative ready-to-fly FPV drone through its paces, and the results are impressive.

First things first, this drone is a ready-to-fly drone from iFlight. If you know my channel, you know I’m a big fan of those. I’ve been flying them ever since I started flying FPV back in 2019, so I’m always excited to check out what they have to offer when they come up with a new drone. And this drone is no exception.

This one is particularly interesting because the Nazgul series has always been a very visually appealing line of drones that not only look stunning, but they also fly amazingly well. Now I was excited to check out the V3 and compare it to my previous experience with the V1 and the V2 and see whether this drone is actually any better.

Revolutionary Dual-Geometry Design

This drone is particularly interesting for one more reason, and that is that this is the first drone that I personally have seen that can easily switch between deadcat orientation and true X geometry. Whether you’re more into cinematic type of flying or you want to have a little bit more freestyle freedom, you can easily switch between the two by simply replacing a couple of screws here on the bottom plate. It’s as easy as that.

Huge thumbs up for iFlight for making this decision because I think it makes a lot of sense. You don’t have to choose or pick because as pilots we often have to decide if we want to rip it or we want to have it a little bit more relaxed without any props in view for more cinematic type of flying. We have different projects that require different types of flying, so obviously having one drone that can do it all makes a lot of sense.

DJI O4 Air Unit Pro Integration and Hardware Upgrades

As I mentioned, we have the O4 Air Unit Pro VTX here on the front. Another thing that we have on the front is the actual air unit—not only the camera but also the air unit is mounted way more forward than the usual design for less interference.

We have another new design of the antennas which now are a lot more rigid and a lot stronger. They don’t flop around as much and they have bigger end points here that are definitely more solid than before. They feel a lot more durable, impact ready, crash resistant, and won’t be as easy to damage in case of an accident.

Right underneath the O4 Air Unit Pro, we have a fin-designed channel that is responsible for a lot better cooling, works a lot better with the heat dissipation, and overall will prevent overheating of the air unit in case of long idle times and flying in warmer temperatures.

One more interesting thing is the fact that they’ve upgraded all TPU printed parts to injection-molded components. That definitely makes the drone feel a lot more premium and just feels better in the hand overall.

Stunning Nazgul Aesthetics

Of course, since this is a Nazgul drone, I just have to show you how it looks like when it’s powered on. When we see it from the sides, it’s also very, very beautiful—a very nice looking drone, one of the best looking drones that I’ve ever flown in terms of the looks with the lights, with the printed logo. Everything just seems on point.

iFlight has been doing this for such a long time that they’ve been refining and perfecting the process of making this a very, very beautiful looking drone. So I’m a big fan of how this thing looks. Of course, it doesn’t really matter that much how it looks—it mostly matters how it flies—but we have to be honest, when you have such a stunning looking drone, it just tickles you in a different way. It makes you feel a little bit better, and I’m a big fan of that feeling.

Essential Equipment Upgrades

Before we get to how this drone actually flies and performs, and I show you some footage from it, I want to quickly show you a few components that I have recently upgraded to and have become part of my workflow and my setup that I think are important to mention and they are responsible for my experience with the drone.

First of all, we have the batteries that I recently switched to. These are the Tattu R-Line V6 1600 mAh batteries with a 160C discharge rate. These have been amazing. This V6 battery comes with an enhanced internal build which means that we have better heat dissipation, improved impact resistance, and especially compared to the V5 battery, this is with a bigger capacity, bigger discharge rate, smaller size and lighter weight.

It definitely makes for an amazing upgrade. If you have been flying any other batteries, you will feel great checking out some of these R-Line V6 batteries from Tattu. They are some of the top-of-the-line batteries that I’ve ever tested and I’m super happy with them. I have a few for my freestyle quads and I also have a few of the Cine Lifter series—these are bigger, the 3500 mAh 150C discharge rate G-Tech Tattu battery that I use for my 7-inch drones.

It’s a great experience because again it’s not as heavy as other big batteries, but they also tend to last longer. Not only because they’re new, but also they tend to have a little bit of a longer battery life in terms of the months or years that you can use it for. They are a little bit more rigid and crash resistant, so they don’t fall apart in case of a hard crash. They are a little bit stronger than usual.

The next upgrade that I recently did to my setup is the TX16S Max from RadioMaster. This remote controller has been a game-changer ever since I switched to it because of many reasons. First of all, the collapsible antenna which just folds—you don’t have to unscrew the antenna when you want to transport this in your backpack. It just folds like it should have been a long time ago.

We have an amazing display which is now also touchscreen, which is not the biggest deal ever but makes for quicker setup and quicker changing of the settings that you want to tweak. It’s really convenient, really easy, and very bright as well.

The most important thing for me has been the gimbal feel. These are the AG02 gimbals that are incredibly smooth. I don’t know how to describe them, but I’ve been a massive fan of the AG01 gimbals. I’ve been using them ever since they came out a long time ago, but now the AG02 feels so much smoother that it’s just incredible how it feels to fly with a remote controller like this and the AG02 gimbals. I think it’s a must-have if you are looking for the best portable but also super solid remote that won’t feel like a tiny game controller but will also be small enough so you can carry it with you without any burden.

Flight Performance and Real-World Testing

My experience with the Nazgul Evoke F5 V3 has been very, very positive. I’ve been flying it in a couple of different locations in different weather conditions. Most of them included a lot of very strong wind, so I’m happy to report that my first impressions of flying even in windy conditions were very good.

I got the version with the GPS built-in, which I believe is not mandatory on a 5-inch drone because it adds some weight to it. However, I just started using GPS on most of my drones since it gives me a little bit more peace of mind, especially given the fact that Betaflight’s GPS rescue nowadays works so much better than it used to. I have a little bit more confidence knowing that it will work how it’s supposed to.

Generally, I have to say when flying this drone, you can pick up a lot of speed very quickly. For regular type of flying that involves a little bit of proximity next to some obstacles low to the ground, it gives you some great feeling that it’s definitely no slouch. It’s a very fast drone even with a larger capacity battery like I mentioned, my Tattu V6. Still I feel like the drone is very nimble.

It’s relatively smooth even in stronger winds. You don’t see any vibrations or jello or anything like that. That’s the purpose of showcasing the DVR—I don’t want to show you the stabilized footage that looks great because that kind of hides all the little problems or vibrations that you encounter during the flying itself. The DVR is what you will be seeing in your goggles anyway, so this is what you can expect out of this drone. Even in conditions where you have a lot of air currents and strong winds, it will still be quite stable.

Especially with the configurable orientation between deadcat and true X geometry, this drone will give you so much flexibility to decide how you want to fly it. Whether you want to have a little bit more freestyle movements in your flying or you are relying mostly on a little bit more slow-paced cinematic type of flying that obviously should have no props in view—that’s why you should use the deadcat orientation, which is what I personally use and am planning to continue using unless I really need the true X.

Final Verdict on the iFlight Nazgul Evoke F5 V3

Overall, I have to say that the drone has been smooth, fast enough, nimble, very agile, and it moves great. It’s one of the smoothest drones that I’ve ever flown, and I think that’s due not only to the great internals, but also to the fact that I have switched to a new radio recently. That also contributes a little bit to the feeling of smoothness that you have when flying this drone, which I’m a huge fan of.

Generally I have to say the Nazgul has been one of those platforms that just never fails to amaze you. They just fly great. They do everything they are supposed to and I wouldn’t really say there are any problems or potential issues that I have encountered during my flying and testing period of this drone. I’m quite happy with it and everything that you can do with this drone satisfies my needs to a great extent.

Huge thanks to iFlight for always pushing things forward, for improving their designs, for giving us better experience with the drone. I have to say I’m a massive, massive fan of the Nazgul F5 V3.

Thank you so much for watching today’s video. This is Mike from Drone Supremacy. Never stop flying and I’ll catch you in the next one very, very soon.