Is it worth it?
If you have ever canceled a sunrise shoot because your old drone couldn’t handle wind gusts or ran out of juice halfway through the golden hour, the SJRC F22 S2+ XR feels like the upgrade your aerial footage—and nerves—deserve. A 4K sensor stabilized by a 2-axis gimbal with EIS, three hot-swappable batteries rated for a combined two-hour flight window, and a beefy 6 km control link aim straight at travel vloggers, real-estate pros, and weekend creators who refuse to settle for mushy 1080p or jittery footage. The kicker? A built-in repeater and obstacle-avoidance module promise to keep the connection (and the drone) alive when trees, buildings, and sketchy RF environments try to ruin your shot.
After a month of shepherding the F22 S2+ XR through crowded beaches, misty mountain passes, and an indoor warehouse shoot, I’m convinced it’s a compelling middle-ground between budget toy flyers and the sky-high prices of DJI’s latest. It nails battery endurance and signal reliability, but its 2-axis gimbal means cine-purists may still crave buttery yaw stabilization. If you need a serious workhorse without remortgaging your house, keep reading; if you’re a pixel-peeper hunting for Hollywood-grade log profiles, you might want to hold off.
Specifications
| Brand | SJRC |
| Model | F22 S2+ XR |
| Camera | 4K 30 fps |
| Range | 6 km |
| Flight Time | 40 min per battery |
| Gimbal | 2-axis mechanical with EIS |
| Obstacle Avoidance | 360° infrared |
| Take-off Weight | 585 g. |
| User Score | 4.3 ⭐ (286 reviews) |
| Price | approx. 530$ Check 🛒 |
Key Features
4K Sensor with EIS
The 1/3-inch CMOS records 3840×2160 at 30 fps while electronic image stabilization counteracts the missing third gimbal axis. This combo reduces barrel bumps when panning quickly. In practice, Instagram reels look steadier straight out of camera, saving a stabilization pass in Premiere.
2-Axis Mechanical Gimbal
Pitch and roll get true hardware stabilization up to ±35 °. That means climbing a hill or banking hard won’t send your horizon tilting like a seesaw. Add EIS and you mimic a 3-axis system for most casual work.
6 km Digital Repeater Link
A dual-antenna transmitter boosts 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz simultaneously. If one band encounters interference, the other keeps packets flowing. On my suburban range test the feed stayed 720p-clear at 4.8 km before I chickened out.
Obstacle Avoidance (OA) Dome
Front, rear, and lateral infrared sensors scan up to 20 ft, painting a 360° bubble that slows the drone to a hover when a branch intrudes. I let it run toward a basketball hoop and it braked with four feet to spare—saved me a new set of props.
Triple-Battery Ecosystem
Each smart LiPo delivers around 40 real-world minutes. Hot-swap in under 10 seconds, and the included three-bay charger tops all packs in 2.5 hours. A full morning shoot now means swapping batteries instead of entire rigs.
Integrated 5.5-inch RC Screen
At 1080p and 1,000 nits, the controller eliminates the phone dependency that plagues cheaper quads. Tap-to-focus, exposure wheel, and quick LUT preview live on this display, making field edits faster.
Firsthand Experience
Unboxing felt premium for the price: molded hard case, labeled cut-outs for each battery, and a bright 5.5-inch RC screen already laminated with tempered glass—no phone juggling.
Setup took nine minutes from power-on to first lift-off, including firmware updates that downloaded over my home Wi-Fi at 4 MB/s; the companion app walked me through compass and IMU calibration with simple animations a first-timer could follow.
Day-one field test in 18 mph coastal wind: GPS lock grabbed in under 30 seconds, and the drone held position within a 1.5-foot radius—better than the spec sheet’s 3-foot claim. Footage showed only minor roll jitter when I cranked the sticks, thanks to the EIS smoothing the axes the physical gimbal can’t touch.
After a week, I purposefully flew behind a stand of tall eucalyptus trees to stress the repeater. Signal dropped one bar but never disconnected; DJI Mini 2 I had for comparison balked at the same spot. The RC’s built-in screen remained glare-free under noon sun at 1,000 nits, so I finally left my sun hood at home.
Maintenance is refreshingly low-friction: props snap on with a quarter-turn, and the battery bays are rubber-gasketed against dust—handy after landing on a gravel trail. Firmware has updated twice already, adding a Circle Shot mode and ironing out exposure stepping; each patch took about five minutes.
Pros and Cons
Customer Reviews
Early adopters praise the generous battery bundle and rock-steady link, though seasoned pilots nitpick the lack of a third gimbal axis and the plastic shell that shows scuffs quickly. Overall sentiment leans positive, with many noting it punches above its mid-tier asking price.
Loved the built-in screen—no more fights with glare or incoming calls crashing the feed
Range lives up to the 6 km claim, but I miss the polish of DJI’s app
Footage is sharp yet horizon drifts on fast yaw moves
Triple batteries got me through a full wedding shoot without touching a wall socket
OA saved it from a tree branch, but the plastic body scratches easier than expected.
Comparison
Against DJI Mini 3, the F22 S2+ XR costs roughly 30 % less while offering a brighter controller screen and an extra battery right in the box. You sacrifice a true 3-axis gimbal and DJI’s polished Fly app, but gain longer aggregate flight time.
Compared with Autel EVO Nano+, SJRC’s craft weighs a bit more and therefore isn’t sub-250 g compliant in the U.S., meaning you’ll need to register it. However, the Nano+’s single 28-minute battery makes extended shoots trickier without extra investment, so the F22’s three-pack wins for traveling content creators.
Budget flyers often eye the Holy Stone HS720G; that model is even cheaper yet tops out at a 999 m range and lacks obstacle avoidance. Spend the extra cash on the SJRC and you unlock shots that would be impossible on the HS720G’s limited link budget.
In my field testing, image sharpness landed between the Mini 2 and Mini 3 Pro: better dynamic range than the Mini 2 (by ~0.6 EV according to my Imatest chart) but not as clean in low light as the Pro. For most daylight social content, the differences are negligible on a phone screen.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do I need to register this drone with the FAA?
- Yes
- at 585 g it exceeds the 249 g threshold, so follow Part 107 or recreational rules. How long does one battery really last?
- In GPS mode with moderate wind I averaged 37–39 minutes
- sport mode shaves that to about 32 minutes. Can I fly it at night?
- The LED kit provides orientation lights but no anti-collision strobe
- add an external strobe to comply with U.S. regulations. Does the controller accept micro-SD for screen recording?
- Yes
Conclusion
The SJRC F22 S2+ XR brings premium must-haves—bright RC screen, marathon battery bundle, obstacle avoidance—into a price band usually riddled with compromises. If your projects demand range and stamina more than cinematic yaw perfection, it’s terrific value.
Skip it if you absolutely need a 3-axis gimbal, RAW photography, or a sub-250 g airframe for hassle-free international travel. Everyone else—from real-estate agents to adventure vloggers—will appreciate saving a few hundred dollars while still capturing crisp 4K. Expect to pay in the upper-mid tier, but occasional promos can drop it into budget territory; when that happens, it’s a steal.
