GEPRC Cinebot30 – 3-Inch FPV Drone with DJI O3 Air Unit and Glowing Prop Guards now Available

Drone News

by Jakub HanJanuary 16^th, 2023

GEPRC Cinebot30 is a new FPV quadcopter with guarded 3″ propellers, a DJI O3 air Unit and dampened camera plate capable to carry a full-sized GoPro. There is a 4S and 6S version of the drone that takes compatible LiPo battery packs. With a flight time of up to 9-12 minutes, the Cinebot30 is available now starting at $520.

After the DJI O3 Air Unit got announced last year in November, we started seeing third-party manufacturers coming up with their own FPV quads based on the new 4K60-capable air unit. As the camera lens of the new DJI O3 is wider than all the existing cameras of other air units, the companies had to come up with new body designs or adjust the existing ones. Recently, iFlight launched the tiny sub-249g Defender 25.

In October 2022, another Chinese drone manufacturer GEPRC launched an FPV quadcopter called Cinebot30. After the O3 Air Unit got announced, they adapted the frame to be able to carry the new air unit. That is why in the GEPRC promotional video below, the drone does not yet have the DJI O3 Air Unit. Let’s take a short look at the GEPRC Cinebot30.

GEPRC Cinebot30

The Cinebot30 is a small cinewhoop that features (T76mm) 3″ props with prop guards. An interesting feature is that the prop guards have a thin glowing LED stripe around them. They should also be quite rugged thanks to the impact-resistant PC+PET material.

The drone body is a combination of 7075 aluminum and carbon fiber. There are also multiple TPU shock-absorbing pads (green on the images) that isolate high-frequency vibration of the fuselage coming from the SPEEDX2 1804 motors. On top of that, the air unit’s camera plate has rubber shock mounts to further eliminate vibration in the footage.

Cinebot30 uses a GEP-F722-45A AIO v2 flight controller tuned by GEPRC. Just like GEPRC’s previous Cinebot line, it has a “pusher” style body so the motors are mounted facing downwards. GEPRC also says that the drone body can be easily disassembled with only 6 screws.

Despite the larger 3″ propellers, the overall footprint of the drone is still fairly small (180 x 180cm in total), so even flying indoors should be comfortable. The weight of the Cinebot30 is between 210 and 235g (without the battery) depending on the receiver version. The overall weight will definitely be over 250g with the LiPo battery pack attached.

Cameras

The DJI O3 Air Unit of the drone allows capturing up to 4K 60fps footage on the built-in 20GB storage while sending a low-latency 1080p 120fps feed to the goggles. There is also an option to record with the flat D-Cinelike color profile. More information can be found in our previous article on the O3 Air Unit.

In case you want to mount a secondary camera to capture better-quality footage, it is possible. In fact, GEPRC claims that thanks to the upgraded camera base, the Cinebot30 can carry a full-sized GoPro (around 153g – HERO11 with a battery). They, however, recommend a naked GoPro to retain the agility of the drone and allow for longer flight times.

Batteries, receiver options

Cinebot30 uses the XT60H-M charging connector and there are two different versions of the drone in regard to the battery:

• 4S version – accepts 4S (4-cells) LiPo batteries and uses the SPEEDX2 1804-3450KV motors. GEPRC recommends LiPo 4S 1100mAh-1300mAh 120C batteries.
• 6S version – accepts 6S (6-cells) LiPo batteries (more range and more power) and uses the SPEEDX2 1804-2450KV motors. GEPRC recommends LiPo 6S 850mAh-1100mAh 60C batteries.

Generally, 6S batteries are more expensive than 4S, but they also offer longer flight times. Thanks to the lower amp draw than the 4S, the 6S batteries usually stay cooler during use and should have a longer lifespan. GEPRC claims that the maximum flight time will be around 9-12 minutes (depending on weather conditions, which battery is used, etc.)

GEPRC can ship the drone with the right receiver for your radio. The options are: PNP, FrSky R-XSR, TBS Nano RX, and ELRS 2.4G.

Price and availability

The drone can be purchased now from the GEPRC online store and the price ranges from $520 up to $555 depending on the receiver that the drone comes with. Along with the drone itself, GEPRC also includes the following items in the box: 2 pairs of HQ prop T76mm, battery strap M15*200mm, battery strap M15*220mm, 2 battery silicone pads, set of screws, screwdriver, GoPro camera mount holder, antenna fixed tube.

Don’t forget that the batteries, radio, and FPV goggles are not included and will have to be purchased separately in case you don’t have these already.

For more information, you can visit GEPRC’s website here.

Do you have experience flying with GEPRC drones? What do you think about the new GEPRC Cinebot30 FPV drone? Let us know in the comments section underneath the article.