I wish these companies would use a display like a Kindle paperwhite. Who cares about color display when eats your battery and you're not using it for watching video.

It's apparently what customers wanted, although it serves no real purpose on a radio. I guess people want everything to look and feel like their phone.

Looking at the display it is not the LCD screen drawing too much power but the backlight. and that can be adjusted how long it stays on.

micro USB at a port on side of radio base was a PITA? Or do you mean with non OEM batts?

Yes, at least to me even with the original Sanwa battery it was a (minor) PITA because the damn battery simply wouldn't last a full training day (even with brightness turned down and switching the transmitter off in the pits, etc). One more cable on the pit table, having to remember to plug it in frequently (dealing with the little rubber flap over the USB port)... nothing really serious, but still kind of annoying when you came from an M12 which I could run for at least a full weekend, if not two, before thinking about it's battery once. With wireless charging however (while yes, I have to set up the pad plus USB cable once as well), I just put the M17 onto the pad when I get back to the table, and no more worries. No cable to plug/unplug each time... good enough for me that way.

Even with aggressive power saving settings on my M17 it drains fast with the backlight dimmed. Does the 10PX shut off the display entirely while racing?

I've broken a few cables picking up my radio for a race, forgetting it's still plugged in.

I am using the Futaba LIFE battery in my 10x and get around 3 race weekends out of a charge.

That is incredible! wonder if the 10px draws less than the 4 and 7px? I can only get about 1 full day out of my 4px w/ a 1yr old 2100mah LIFE battery. -this is 1 full day running 3 or 4 classes. Assuming practice laps, turning controller on 2mins prior to race and while on drivers stand and 6-7min races ...thats about 80mins or 120mins of uses (for 3 or 4 classes) doing some quick math and estimating.
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I am using the 2100mAh NiMh battery in my 7XC and have no issues for an whole race weekend and going into the next one. I never has tested it but it looks easy to run up to 8 to 10 hours of total use w/o any problem.

I have noble nb4 and I can run for 10+ full race days without the need to charge..

If people hung an extra power bank off the bottom of their radio it would last longer too. LOL

That's for sure but you don't have to hung anything, it's a part of the radio.. Instead of have an empty base that you can only fit a specific battery..
I also have an MT-44 tha drains the battery like crazy..

I was just kidding, but the base of the NB4 is literally just a powerbank, and the radio operates without it. So It still remains I could stick a big ole battery pack on the bottom of my M17 and get far more life.

To be clear....10 days use is killer. And the NB4 is great value, but it just didn't have some features or the fit I was looking for. So I had to spend twice as much and get a Sanwa. 😒. Big radio companies need to offer some Fuller featured mid range radios.

If they did that, they'd cannibalize the sales of their high end radios.