The Flywoo GP9 Action camera is basically the GoPro Hero 9 Black in a much lighter form that is known as a Naked GoPro.
You can learn a bit more about Naked GoPro 9 in this post.
Where to Buy
Naked GoPro 9:
- Flywoo: https://oscarliang.com/product-6dmp
- Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-rrxw
They also do Naked GoPro 10:
- Flywoo: https://oscarliang.com/product-lrut
- Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-gcjt
It comes with the following accessories
- 1x Flywoo Action Camera 9 w/ UV Filter
- 2x Power Cable
- 1x Power BEC Balance Type-C Adapter
- 2x PLA Mount
- Cleaning wipes
- manual
ND Filters set can be bought separately: https://oscarliang.com/product-uzcn
It comes with CPL, ND4, ND8, ND16, ND32, ND64 lenses.
Features and Specs
The original GoPro Hero 9 Black weighs 158g, the Flywoo GP9 is under 45g. It’s heavier than other naked GoPro because they are keeping the front aluminium plate for extra protection and cooling. Still, both the GP9 and 10 from Flywoo are lighter than the GoPro 10 Bones.
It has a built-in front screen which displays the camera settings as well as what you are filming.
Optionally, you can also get a detachable back touch screen that allows you to view what you are filming and change camera settings on the spot.
Here’s the specifications:
- Resolution and Frame Rate: 5K@30fps/4K@60fps/2.7K@120fps
- Video file format: MP4
- Video encoding: H.264/AVC,H.265AEVC
- Input voltage: 2S-6S
- Built-in BEC Power: 5V@2A
- Power Connector: SH1.0-3P
- Lens Protection: UV lens
- Dimension: 67mm*48mm*20mm
- Weight: 44.9g
Here’s a size comparison with other Naked GoPro’s.
From left to right: Bones GP10, Flywoo GP9, Nameless GP9, GEPRC GP8, BetaFPV GP6
From left to right: Bones GP10, Flywoo GP9, Nameless GP9, GEPRC GP8, BetaFPV GP6
Closer Look at the Flywoo Naked GoPro 9
The Flywoo GP9 comes with a protection lens (UV) already installed. It can be removed and swapped out to an ND filter which can be bought separately from Flywoo. The front colour screen is protected by transparent plastic.
Both the case and BEC look similar to the NamelessRC version, but the new GP9 camera by Flywoo is clearly more refined and of higher quality. The locations of two buttons and power connector on the back are identical too.
Even the lens have identical dimension, so both cameras can take the same ND filters.
One major concern with Naked GoPro is overheating because the metal casing and heatsink are removed. By adding a cooling fan on the back could reduce the chance of overheating, but it also adds extra weight to the camera.
The fan turns on as soon as power is connected even when the camera is off. It makes buzzing noise, but I can hardly hear it in the video, and it definitely not an issue if you are using the camera on a drone as the motors are much louder.
If you don’t like the fan, it can be easily removed.
Because of the added fan and extra material used for protection, the Flywoo version is nearly 15 grams heavier than the NamelessRC’s (almost 50%).
SD card slot on the side:
The balance port power cable has a built-in voltage regulator in it. It can take up to 6S LiPo input, and it outputs 11V (tested with 4S and 6S Lipo). It’s quite a convenient and safer solution to power the camera, as there’s no extra soldering required, just plug it in to the LiPo’s balance lead and you are good to go. And it reduces the voltage spikes that could potentially fry the camera too.
Here’s what the camera holder looks like. It’s right in the middle which helps ensure the centre of mass is in the centre, however that means the lens is off to the left side slightly.
The hole is for M2 hardware.
This is how I am mounting it on the Flywoo Venom hexacopter I recently reviewed.
Here’s inside of the camera, and how the BEC board looks like. The microphone is located at the bottom.
How to Use Flywoo GP9
The menu language was initially set to Chinese, so I had to change it to English by following this video.
WiFi/Bluetooth was turned off by default, to turn it on you need to attach the back touch screen, or scan the QR code (the camera beeps when it detects the QR code). After that the app should find the gopro.
Here’s how to attach the back screen, make sure it’s all the way in.
Here’s the manual that comes with the camera.
Conclusion
GoPro image quality is undisputedly the best you can get from a camera this size.
I will upload some footage from this camera later this week, but there’s already thousands of videos on youtube taken by the GoPro Hero 9 you can go check out.
If you don’t want to build your own naked GoPro, and you can’t get the GoPro Bones which is limited to people in the USA, then the Flywoo GP9 and GP10 are great options. The built-in cooling fans are great for those who worry about overheating especially in the summer.
The Flywoo is heavier than other self-built Naked GoPro, but that depends on how much you value the extra protection it offers. It’s still considerably lighter than the GoPro Bones, and there aren’t that many other off-the-shelf naked gopro options on the market right now.