Betaflight 4.6 is shaping as much as be one of the vital feature-rich updates in latest reminiscence. Though it’s nonetheless in pre-release on the time of writing, lots of the new options and enhancements have already confirmed to work effectively for early adopters. Let’s break down the main updates you possibly can anticipate on this model—and whether or not it’s value upgrading now.
New Options in Betaflight 4.6
Altitude Maintain, Place Maintain & Auto-Touchdown
Probably the most thrilling addition for me needs to be the brand new GPS-assisted flight modes, together with Place Maintain, Altitude Maintain, and Auto-Touchdown. Now, your freestyle FPV drone can hover in place with minimal drifting—just like how a DJI Mavic behaves.
This places Betaflight nearer to what iNav affords by way of GPS-assisted options, making it particularly interesting for long-range and cinematic pilots.
Altitude Maintain & Place Maintain ( Works with or with no magnetometer, although it’s endorsed for higher accuracy. Auto-Touchdown: A brand new characteristic that helps with hands-free landings. GPS Rescue Enhancements: Higher altitude management and return conduct.
Ought to I write a tutorial on the best way to set this up? Let me know within the remark if there’s curiosity.
Chirp Sign Generator for Tuning
The Chirp Sign Generator is a model new tuning device that helps you tune your quad’s PID and filtering higher.
You possibly can assign this tuning mode to a change, and when activated, it sends stepped enter indicators (oscillations) to at least one axis at a time, first roll, then pitch, then yaw—when you can nonetheless fly usually. It begins gradual and step by step quickens, letting Betaflight see how your drone reacts at totally different speeds.
It will generate constant Blackbox knowledge for evaluation, and can allow you to measure how the drone responds to allow them to make PID tuning extra correct.
For you as a newbie: You wouldn’t use this for on a regular basis flying—it’s extra of a diagnostic device to enhance tune high quality. Nevertheless it’s cool to know your firmware can do automated “in-flight testing” now as a substitute of solely handbook stick waggling.
Turtle Mode Enhancements
This replace makes turtle mode (flip-over-after-crash) smarter and safer—particularly for highly effective quads that are inclined to over-flip or slam into the bottom when making an attempt to show upright.
Controls the flip velocity so that you don’t over-rotate. Stops the motors routinely as quickly as you’ve flipped upright, saving your ESCs and motors from injury. Helps you to immediately resume flying after a profitable flip with out doing a full disarm/re-arm, helps you get better quicker in races.
LED Enhancements
Two new LED upgrades:
Adjustable LED brightness ( – Now you can management LED strip brightness utilizing an AUX change or slider in your radio (setup in Adjustment tab within the configurator). New LED show modes ( – Your LED strip can now: Present the variety of GPS satellites as a bar, if you get GPS lock it modifications from crimson to inexperienced. Reveals the battery proportion in a loading bar type. Goes from inexperienced to crimson relying on the battery degree. Change shade based mostly on barometer altitude.
Racing-Particular Enhancements
Superior Feedforward Algorithm ( A brand new rise/decay management makes quads extra responsive with out including oscillations—particularly useful for racing. Launch Timer Mode ( Mechanically begins a timer when launch mode is activated—good for time-based racing.
Cinematic & Lengthy Vary Enhancements
Higher Filtering: Extra exact RPM and dynamic notch filter placement plus improved filter initialization. That is particularly useful for heavy builds like CineLifters that want additional filtering to cope with noise. Rangefinder & Optical Movement Assist: Betaflight will assist rangefinders and optical circulation sensors, enabling correct altitude maintain near the bottom—preferrred for exact indoor or low-level outside flying.
Enhanced Mounted-Wing Assist
There are a bunch of recent options added for wings, which makes Betaflight an actual contender for high-performance wing plane. I received’t go into all the small print, however among the new options embrace:
S-Time period and Management Floor Compensation ( A brand new management enter for dealing with servo throw based mostly on airspeed. TPA Based mostly on Airspeed: As an alternative of throttle enter, TPA (Throttle PID Attenuation) can now scale PID positive aspects based mostly on precise GPS-derived velocity. Nice for dealing with gusty winds at excessive speeds. Stage-Flight and Pitch Offset Changes
Different Enhancements
Betaflight 4.6 contains over 500 new options, enhancements, and bug fixes—we’ve solely scratched the floor right here. For the total checklist, take a look at the official GitHub milestone web page:
Is there something you’re enthusiastic about that I haven’t talked about? Drop it within the feedback—I’d love to listen to your ideas.
Ought to You Improve to Betaflight 4.6?
On the time of writing, Betaflight 4.6 continues to be in pre-release. Meaning:
There should still be bugs. Some deliberate options and enhancements won’t be totally applied. You’ll have to arrange your flight controller from scratch—it’s not really helpful to revive your 4.5 settings as a consequence of doable incompatibilities.
For those who get pleasure from experimenting with the newest options and don’t thoughts troubleshooting, you possibly can take a look at 4.6 now—be certain that to again up your current configuration first.
For those who’re pleased with how 4.5 performs or wish to be secure, it’s finest to attend for the official launch.
The way to Replace to Betaflight 4.6
Entry Newest Configurator
Each new Betaflight launch requires an up to date Configurator. It’s essential to use the latest model for Betaflight 4.6—older variations could trigger compatibility points.
As an alternative of downloading and putting in, the simplest possibility is to make use of the net configurator, which is already up to date to model 11.0:
Observe: Betaflight 4.6 continues to be in pre-release. There could also be bugs, so proceed at your personal threat.
Backup Settings
Again up your flight controller utilizing the Presets tab earlier than updating to Betaflight 4.6. If something goes flawed, you possibly can all the time revert to your earlier state (i.e., flash the earlier firmware then restore the preset).
An alternate backup methodology is utilizing STM32CubeProg, which backs up your current firmware and configuration in a single file:
Flashing BF4.6
As a result of BF4.6 continues to be not formally launched but, observe these further steps:
Go to the firmware flasher tab. Allow the “Present Launch Candidates” possibility, and choose “Improvement”. Auto-detect your flight controller goal or manually choose the right one. Choose the newest firmware model, on this case “4.6.0”. Underneath Construct Configuration, choose the options and protocols you wish to embrace in your construct. The default ought to work fantastic for a quad that makes use of ExpressLRS/Crossfire. If you wish to be taught extra concerning the technique of flashing, see this detailed tutorial: For those who intent to make use of Magnetometer (compass) be certain that to pick it within the choices in any other case it received’t work.
For those who encounter any points whereas flashing, seek advice from my FC driver troubleshooting. One frequent drawback with new flight controllers is failing to enter DFU mode:
Remaining Ideas
Betaflight 4.6 delivers enhancements for each kind of pilot—whether or not you race, fly cinematic FPV, go long-range, freestyle, or fly fastened wings. Whereas it could not seriously change flight efficiency, the GPS options and utility upgrades stand out as probably the most thrilling. I can not wait to check Betaflight 4.6 on my quads!
