CNHL 4S 2000mAh & 6S 1500mAh: Long-range FPV LIPOs

For long-range FPV flights, you will need much higher capacity batteries than for freestyling and racing. Commonly, 5″ LR FPV drones run on 4S or 6S batteries. You must choose the right battery according to your motor’s KV ratings. For example, the CNHL 4S 2000mAh is an excellent option for 2000-3000KV, and the CNHL 6S 1500mAh for 1600-1900kV. The capacity of a LiPo battery, measured in mAh (milliampere-hour), indicates how much current you can draw from the pack continuously for an hour until it’s empty. Higher capacity batteries can dramatically reduce flight performance due to the increased take-off weight. Another issue with using big LIPO packs is the space they need on top of your drones.

The primary difference between the CNHL Black 4S and 6S LiPo batteries is their voltage. The 4S pack consists of four 3.7V cells connected in series, providing a nominal voltage of around 14.8 volts (16.8v fully charged). The 6S pack has six cells connected in series, resulting in a nominal voltage of approximately 22.2 volts (25.2v). The higher voltage of the 6S battery can deliver more power and increased performance compared to the 4S battery. On the other hand, the higher voltage of the 6S battery drains power more quickly, leading to shorter flight times.

Theoretically, a 6S FPV drone with low KV (1600-2000kV) motors can provide more torque and equivalent top speed than a high kV 4S setup (2600kV and up). My Volador II VD6 drone has 2506 1750KV motors and works excellently with 4S 2000mAh and 6S 1500mAh batteries.

Discharge rate, aka ‘C’ rating, is another important parameter of LIPO packs -the higher the discharge rate, the better. The discharge rating shows how quickly you can safely discharge your battery. A higher C rating means less noticeable voltage sag will be on full throttle.

CNHL Black Series 4S 2000mAh & 6S 1500mAh 100C review

Disclosure: I received these batteries in a product review collaboration with China Hobby Line (CNHL). Although the LIPO packs were offered for free, all opinions in this article remain mine, and the sponsor did not influence me by any means.

Last month I received some CNHL LI-ION 4S 3200mAh packs that proved to have a too-small C-rating to handle the power need of a 5-inch quad. I contacted them again, and they sent me three packs of 4S/2000mAh and three of 6S/1500mAh. All arrived safely in a not-too-fancy black box. To protect the batteries, they were additionally wrapped in a bubble sheet. Both batteries are from the “Black” series with a 100C rating (200A max continuous discharge current for the 4S and 150A for the 6S).

When you put the 4S 2000mAh alongside the 6S 1500mAh, the 6s version is visibly thicker due to the two extra cells. The 4S has 29.6Wh total power and 234g, respectively, the 6s 33.3Wh and 266g. The packs feel well-made outside, and the connection terminal looks solid.

I discharged/charged each battery to 3.2V five times at 1C to test the max charging capacity. Apart from true storage capability, the most important factor is internal resistance (IR), which indicates the health and performance of the LiPo battery. These two CNHL Black 100C batteries have IR between 2-5mΩ/cell, which is really impressive for such affordable batteries. A too-high IR value means more heat and less flight due to energy waste.

CNHL 4S 2000mAh 100C

The CNHL 4S 2000mAh battery measures 47x38x76mm and weighs 234 grams. By comparison, a similar capacity battery from another brand has an identical size but weighs just 217g. Unfortunately, this CNHL pack is about 10% heavier than its contender. It should not be an issue if more weight results from higher-quality materials and better enveloping.

After the break-in process, I charged the 4S 2000mAh battery back to 4.2V. The total capacity was between 1950-1970 mAh, close to the labeled one. Next, I put the battery on my iFLight Nazgul5 V3 with a take-off weight of 600 grams (w/o battery). The test flight lasted 8 minutes till I had to land due to a low battery warning (3.34vcell).

I’m currently about 25+ cycles through each of my CNHL 4S 2000mAh 100C Black LiPo batteries, and I’m still getting excellent balance charges and not seeing performance degradation.

4S 2000mAh Technical specifications

2. CNHL 6S 1500mAh 100C

The China Hobby Line 6S 1500mAh battery measures 54x34x75mm and weighs 266 grams. The footprint of the battery is rectangular instead of being more square. It was challenging to install it on my true-X frame regardless of whether I tried vertical or horizontal orientation -it was too wide/ tall. Probably on a CineWhoop-style FPV drone, you will not have the same problem. According to CNHL, these LIPOs are compatible with Danaus QAV250, Vortex, FLIP FPV 250S MINI, Nemesis 240 Mini, Tweaker 180 Micro Quad, LRC Freestyle V1(270-296), FLIP FPV 260H MINI, and other models.

To my surprise, I managed to charge them over the labeled capacity. During my tests, I got a 1550-1570mAh max capacity.

By comparison, a similar capacity battery from another brand has a size of 78x36x51m  and weighs 250 grams. It looks like this pack is also heavier than other alternatives.

Without a doubt, with the 6s, the same drone was much faster than with the 4s battery. Because of the less voltage sag under load, the motors have more consistent acceleration, enabling them to rapidly and consistently change RPM. At the end of the test flight, it had a 0.07V maximum variance between cells.

Using high-KV motors (2300+) with 6S LIPO batteries is not recommended. Even if it would give you insane straight-line speed, the motors will burn hot after a short flight. 

6S 1500mAh technical specifications

Price and availability

China Hobby Line has Chinese (Global), European, Canadian, UK, and US warehouses for faster processing orders. When I published my review, the 4S 2000mAh Long-Range LIPO was priced at $29.99, and the 6S 1500mAh pack at $31.99. Both variants are also available in packs of four. Since I received these 100C packs, CNHL released their new “Ultra Black” series with a 150C rating.