Futaba 7PX or Spektrum DX6R ?
 

Time to upgrade from the stock 2 channel radio, and have never bought a high end radio yet. I'm stuck between the Futaba 7PX, and the Spektrum DX6R. What I really like about the DX6R is that it's using Android for the operating system. So I can tune the car with Hotwire 3.0 right from the radio. What radio would you guys recommend? If you can think of a better radio than either of those two, I'm all ears. Must be able to do full telemetry. Thank you for any responces!

Futaba 7px is the only choice when comparing those two in my honest opinion. I would personally choose the Sanwa M12s RS or the MT-44 but that is solely because those radios feel better in my hands, not necessarily because they are faster or "better".

Out of the two then the Futaba is the only way to go. The DX6R is way too flaky and unreliable to consider as a serious contender. We had 4 DX6R's at our local but these were replaced by the racers not long afterwards (3 Sanwas and a KO)!

As the previous poster if I was choosing freely I would choose the Sanwa M12S. It is the best of the bunch.

I'm guessing because you like Android that you may have an android phone in your pocket? If so then the point about the DX6R running a Hotwire is moot.

Futaba. If you are going to pay that much for a radio, get Futaba quality.

Just the other night we had to delay the start of a race at the local track where I rd because a DX6R needed to be "rebooted" by the racer who was using it in that race. :weird:

And you never want to be THAT guy when everyone is waiting on you lol

I’ve been reading that whole dx6r thread, and while I like the idea of it, the two softwares are not playing well together. I have a dx3r and am moving up to a Hitec lynx 4s here in a few days

DX6R had program issues in the past and it is unclear at this point if everything is ironed out. 7PX is a solid choice considering the functionality, build quality, and speed, but battery life might be a issue if it is anything like the 4PX. M12S and M12S RS are solid choice as well. To me, find the radio that feels the best in your hand out of Futaba, Sanwa, and KO and just stick with it.

I agree, I use a 4px but I’ve used airtronics, hitec, and spektrum in the past. For my money, it’s airtronics or futaba, hitec if you’re trying to save a buck or two, and spektrum somewhere back behind the wired radio I had on my remote controlled semi truck back in 1981.

Between the interference issues of the past leaving a bad taste in my mouth and the reliability issues with the newer versions (its android based, did you expect anything less?) they just don’t match the quality with the price tag. Like most android based devices, they’re more gimmicky and “look what my radio can do” than just plain solid functionality like the others. Futaba, Sanwa, And Hitec may not sync my iphones playlist but they never fail, never need a reboot, and just work and work well.

For 4-600 bucks, that’s what I want. Function and feel like an expensive radio, not like a crap cell phone.

Disclaimer: I’m a former android phone user from th very beginning until 2013 and then a brief relapse in 2016. To me, they’re much more finicky, wayyyy less streamlined, and just not friendly to use for any purpose other than Facebook and Snapchat with your teenage girlfriends.

All very sound advice. Their Air radios are just fine but I just don’t get why spektrum get their surface stuff so wrong! On the Hitec we’ve got a couple at our track and they’ve been great so far. So definitely a very viable option for you to consider.

Battery life on my personal 4px is 26 hours per charge and counting. I race at least once a week. It’s all in how you program the radio. Turning off the pilot light, dimming the screen, turning off vibration as well as speechhelps too. Like the phones in all of our pockets, the screen and lights are the two biggest drains aside from watching YouTube!!! Ha. Also not using telemetry helps extend the battery life even further. Also you can use a lipo with a small voltage regulator to almost double the run time on the radio per charge!

I used my 7px over the weekend and it is very nice. The touch screen let’s you access things quickly. The menus are laid out in a well organized way and you can edit them too. I have owned several Futaba radios and they have always performed on the ground and in the air. All the heli guys I know only trust Futaba.

Same here, Had a M12S nice radio, but for long mains (10+ minutes), it just started to feel heavy. The 4PX to me feels more balanced, and is easier to mess with as far as menus are concerned. Again it is all feel, I felt the Airtronics while very fast, felt heavy, and I went through that, a Ko Propo EX-1, Then the 4PX, and stuck with it mod free. And with all that said, Futaba needs to make smaller receivers, no question about it, their receivers are too big.....

What's sort of funny is that I won't touch an "i" anything and love my Andriod based phone. As far as a radio. Futaba or Sanwa, take your pick based on which you like better. I ran nothing but futaba in the 90's and when I got back into the hobby Spektrum was the hot thing at an affordable price. For that reason alone I stayed with it for far too long before investing again in Futaba with a 4PX. I respect what Spektrum/Horizon is doing with the 6R, it's cool and all but at the end of the day..race day, I need a reliable radio that's easy to use..and the 6R hasn't shown to be that..IMO

I've been using the Spectrum DX5R for a few months now and have to say that besides working flawlessly, I cannot comment enough on the comfort of the radio.. it just feels 'perfect'. Previous radio was the 3R Pro.

The 6R of today... is not what it was a year ago, or 8 months ago. Raceware 2.0 fixed the bugs... its like a whole different radio.