Orqa FPV.One Goggles Review | Next level FPV Experience

Orqa FPV.One Goggles are premium product intended for serious FPV pilots who demand top quality. Currently they are available with analog link and we’re anticipating digital module very soon. Orqa FPV is one of the most innovative company in the FPV industry and you’re gonna find out why in this review.

Orqa FPV was started by three friends in Croatia. They were enjoying FPV just like
the rest of us pilots but they soon realized that the current technology could be a lot better. A lot of companies that make FPV goggles refused to do something because it would be too expensive or that a new feature could introduce a new problem.

LEAN HARDWARE STARTUP ORQA FPV | FROM INCUBATOR PROTOTYPING TO PRODUCTION LINE

Orqa decided to make a list with all of the things that real FPV pilots want and put as much of those features in a complete product.

The goggles campaign on kickstarter started in June, 2019 and by the end it
succeed more than 10 times of its original goal.

ORQA FPV.ONE REVIEW

FPV.One Goggles feature innovative solutions like a power button, high definition OLED panels, 60 fps high-definition dvr, secondary module bay for future expansion, wifi module, capability of life streaming, constant firmware updates, easy to use dvr playback, etc.

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BUTTONS AND JOYSTICK

The most hyped feature of Orqa goggles is of course the power button. Fatshark always had a reason for not adding it but as soon as they heard that Orqa is coming up with goggles that has it, they rushed back to the drawing board and made the Fatshark HDO2 goggles which could be compared with Orqas.

Two big buttons are the power button and a fan button. Power button has 3 modes: always on, single click and click and hold (DJI style). Fan button has a sound indicator so you always know if your fan is on or off.

On the left side of the goggles there is a red record button. It is used for starting and stopping the recording of the DVR.

The button on the top of the red one is used for checking the battery state. Battery state can be shown in percentage or voltage. All of those things can be adjusted in the Orqas main menu.

Goggles also have two joysticks. The left joystick is mainly for the dvr menu and dvr playback. You can skip through your recordings, play them in different speeds and pause them.

On the other side, the buttons are used for switching the channels and bands on your receiver module. Goggles support SPI protocol so you have an osd that shows you what channel and band you are on.

The right joystick is used for the main menu. If you move it without entering the menu, you can quickly adjust the brightness and contrast of the goggles. In the menu there are a lot of options which will be shown down below.

ORQA OLED SCREENS

The OLED screens in the Orqa FPV.ONE are Sony 0.5” 1280×960 panels. OLED technology ensures that the black colors are really black because each pixel can be turned off individually. OLED panels are brighter thinner and lighter, they don’t require any kind of backlight and so they draw less current and they have a massive field of view.

The picture inside is sharp edge to edge and there is no deformation in the corners. Because of the cylindrical optics, some people may experience pincushion effect on the screen where the picture is a bit squished from the sides but that’s not a big concern because there is an option in the menu that can reduce that problem.

They are amazing for watching films and playing simulators because everything is so sharp. A standard 24” 1080p monitor has a PPI of 90. These displays without magnification are at 3200.

Faceplate

Light leak is something people may look into before buying goggles and I can report that there is none.

The goggles come with different faceplate foams that are secured with velcro and can be switched or replaced at any time with ease.

At the top left you can see an sd card slot that has an indent so it can be reached and pulled out easily. On the other side there is an IR sensor for standby. You can turn it on in the menu and set the timer however you like.

IPD ADJUSTMENTS

At the bottom of the goggles you can find a set of wheels that are used for IPD
adjustment. They click in the place and hold their position. Once you set them up,
you will never need to fiddle with them again. IPD adjustment goes from 56 do 74 mm.

MODULE BAY

Orqas can take any fatshark compatible module on the market. They have a high power system capable of handling the newest generation of modules.They ship with a cover for rapidFIRE but there are a lot of models on thingiverse that you can print if you are using a different one.

There is also a secondary module bay that will be used for FPV.connect. It will allow you to connect to a mobile app so you can update the firmware wirelessly. You will be able to review the footage, sort it, stream your video and many more things.

CONNECTORS

On the left side there are the power connector, AV-in and HDMI. Power connector is a 5.5x2x1 barrel connector that can be found on almost all fpv goggles which means that you won’t need any adapters and you can use your current batteries.

Unther the power connector there is a 3.5mm jack for AV in. Unfortunately, goggles do not support AV out.

There is also a micro HDMI connector for connecting your goggles to a computer so you can play your simulator of watch a film. You can connect them to a DJI drone and use the inbuilt head tracker to move the gimbal on the drone itself.

On the other side, there are two more connectors. A 3.5mm jack for headphones which also acts like a microphone port. Microphone would be used while recording and streaming DVR. Underneath is another 3.5mm jack for the inbuilt headtracker.

PROTECTIVE CASE

Orqa FPV.One goggles come with a protective case which is made of high quality material. It will protect your goggles inside your FPV backpack and on the bench. There is enough space to fit the goggles, few antennas and of course the battery.

Goggles sit inside with a tight fit and there is no shaking when it’s closed. The whole inside is covered with soft cotton-like material which ensures that nothing will get scratched. The zipper is also made of a high quality material and feels like it won’t get broken anytime soon.

ORQA BATTERY

Orqa goggles come with a battery pack that consists of two 18500 3.7V 2000mah cells in series. It’s a 2S Li-ion battery pack and It has a standard 5.5×2.1mm barrel connector that is used on almost all today’s goggles including Fatsharks, Skyzones, Eachine etc.

Because it’s a 2S pack, it has to have a balance connector. The balance connector is more like an extension cable from the pack to the charger. It can be removed and replaced easily if it gets damaged.

The battery pack also has a clip that slides around the battery strap. The whole battery has a curve so it rests better next to your head.

The capacity is enough for around 4 hours of flying and it has a capacity indicator at the top so you can quickly check the state of your batteries.

ORQA ANTENNAS

When most people see Orqa’s omnidirectional antenna for the firt time, they immediately think that it is a patch antenna. It is actually an omnidirectional which works in a similar way as a Pagoda but has only one PCB. They are available in both LHCP and RHCP polarisation and with both SMA and RP-SMA connectors. Orqa FPV.O1Pro and FPV.P1Pro both come in a white and grey combo. The omni antenna also comes with a long 90 degree adapter.

MAIN MENU

The main menu consists of 7 submenus: Receiver settings, Input source, Image settings, Stand-by, Features, Battery and About

Receiver

In the receiver submenu, you can set the receiver type and view your channel table.

Input Source

In Input Source menu you can set your source and toggle the automatic switching option.

Image settings

Image Settings submenu allows you to change brightness, contrast, saturation and luminescence. The aspect ratio can also be toggled between 4:3 and 16:9. Super Size option is for reduction of the pincushion effect.

Stand-by option

There is also a Stand-by option. The goggles use the IR sensor on the faceplate to detect if you are wearing them or if they are on the table. It can be turned on and off and you can set a delay time.

Features

In the features submenu there is an option to turn on the head tracker. It is important to set the zero point otherwise it won’t work correctly. Because of its internal gyroscope, there is also a head tilt alarm setting. This can be very useful if you have a patch antenna that needs to be oriented in a certain direction.

Battery

In the battery submenu you can change the displayed unit for the battery indicator. It can show it in volts or percent. You can also adjust the position of the indicator so it doesn’t interfere with your current quadcopters OSD.

About

In the about submenu there is your current time. Goggles have an RTC battery that saves the date. You can perform a factory reset and there is the information about your firmware.

DVR Menu

In the DVR menu there are two submenus. One for settings and the other for playback. In the settings menu you can set the auto delete option which deletes the oldest clips if you ran out of space while recording. Microphone and receiver volumes can also be set separately and there is a format option of course.

In the playback submenu there are all your recordings. When you play a certain clip, you can pause it, play it in slow or fast motion and skip through the sections.

ORQA VS. COMPETITORS

FatShark was first to respond to Orqa entering the market; soon after Orqa goggles were released, they developed new and upgraded goggles HDO2. Considering the specifications, Orqa is most similar to HDO2 so we’ll compare them.

Orqa was the first goggle vendor to introduce top of the line Sony OLED micro display, soon after FatShark followed. So, both goggles use the same micro display – Sony 0.5“ OLED. The model itself is most probably ECX337A. They’re originally designed as viewfinder and it’s definitely the most expensive part of the goggles.

For the technology being used for FPV, this is the best and most expensive display version possible. ECX337A has 1280×960 screen resolution and OLED technology delivers blacks so much better than traditional LED. In addition, contrast ration is also much better. Both HDO2 and FPV.One enable 16:9 and 4:3 screen ratio.

The most important thing about their goggles is definitely their optics. Every goggle manufacturer is left on their own when it comes to technology and optics design.

That’s actually the most complex task every engineer has to perform. Although the screens are identical, what makes them different is optics in front of them. The difference between Orqa FPV.One and HDO2 is minimal. That’s why we have 44°FOV for FPV.One and 46° for HDO2, but some of the test shows that is not completely precise.

IPD range in FPV.One is 56mm to 74mm. It’s a bit different in HDO2- 54mm to 74mm. This was a great opportunity for FatShark to fix their older model’s cons, and one of the main ones was 59mm to 69mm IPD. Screen distortion is very expressed in both devices – in completely opposite ways. In HDO2 it’s “Barrel Distortion” and in FPV.One it’s “Pincushion Distorsion”.

	Orqa FPV.One	Fatshark HDO 2

Display Technology	Oled	Oled
Display Resolution	1280×960	1280×960
Aspect Ratio	16:9/4:3	16:9/4:3
FOV	30/44º	46˚
Receiver	Modular RX (receiver to be bought separately)	Modular RX (receiver to be bought separately)
IPD Adjustment (mm)	56-74	54-74
Weight (g)	232	207
Battery supplied	Yes	No
Rating	★★★★★	★★★★

Corrective lenses are not just diopter lenses. Diopter correction is only a portion of a prescription. There are also cylinder and prism corrections for astigmatism and double vision respectively. Some 30% of the population has astigmatism and needs a cylinder correction (in addition to any diopter for myopia). This is why the Fat Shark HDO 2 is falling behind Orqas when it comes to display quality – the built-in lenses can only correct for diopter/myopia and result in a poor image for many people.

The built-in lenses and lack of slots for corrective inserts preclude the use of the HDO 2 by anyone that needs more than simple correction – it’s worse than not having a power button on a product. Somehow manufactures have led customers into thinking that diopter is the only type of correction.

Receiver modules are identical. Both devices use the same receivers and the power supply is done in a way all modules are compatible with both goggles. Module opening in FPV.One is designed to support ImmersionRC rapidFIRE module by default, which doesn’t mean this module bay is incompatible with other modules. It just means you have to 3D print bays for them. Over time, this should be fixed by injected moulded covers.

FPV.One has sorted communication with ImmersionRC rapidFIRE out in a better way – SPI protocol. Not only is it possible for user to switch channels on goggles themselves, but he/she can also change the bands. Secondary bay for add-ons like FPV.Connect should definitely enhance capabilities without investing in new equipment and also is a unique, highly expendable feature that no other goggles have.

FatShark HDO2 supports DVR recorder with 640×480 resolution at 30FPS. It saves recorded data in .avi format. Orqa FPV.One has more robust DVR with 1290×960 resolution at 60FPS, and it has capabilities to save recorded data in .mp4 format. What’s interesting is the possibility of manipulating the recording – fast forward, slo-mo, rewind and pausing the video.

Power button was a part of FPV.One from day one while HDO2 is the first pair of FatShark’s goggles which has it.

Both devices support input HDMI signal and AV-In/Out. HDO2 unfortunately doesn’t include Head-Tracker module in the box. Orqa, on the other hand, offers this module by default, out-of the-box.

CONCLUSION

We must say we’re truly immpressed by the Orqa FPV.One Goggles, this is premium product and long term investment. The Orqa support is on the level: if you got stuck with firmware update, have hardware issues, etc. the support team is fast and reliable. The FPV.One is our top recommended analog goggles and we believe they will deliver the digital link on the high quality level as well.

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