Overview

RadioMaster have been on a roll lately, basically climbing right to the top of the radio tower (lol), at least for FPV pilots. However even with their cheapest radio starting at $100, there was still a gap in the market for something even cheaper. No more T-Lite’s, no more Literadio 3’s, now we have the Pocket!

At only $65, it’s right around the price of the above-mentioned LR3/T-Lite V2, but will likely surpass them in terms of features and quality. Let’s take a look at what it has to offer:

Fancy Case

The first thing we can see is that Radiomaster is playing into the popularity of their recently released clear shells for the Zorro and Boxer. The Pocket comes in a Clear and a Charcoal version, both of which look great in their own way, I may even prefer the semi-transparent look of the Charcoal one over the Clear, which is pretty matte, not doing a great job of showing off the internals.

If the two stock colors aren’t to your liking, they offer a lot of extra cases with different colors. Currently orange, pink, neon yellow, and blue. You do have to buy them separately and transplant the electronics, but what’s a little surgery to get a fancier radio?

Backside Features

Going around to the back, there is a Lite/Nano module bay, and removable grips on each side that can each house the removable sticks! Under these reside two 18650 LiIon cells, it looks like they learned a lesson from the Zorro - 18350’s just aren’t as comon, and don’t last as long. You also get a foldable antenna for the internal module.

In terms of switches, there are two latching buttons along with one momentary, two flip switches, and a single potentiometer. For a budget/entry level radio, that’s likely enough for most people. They even included LEDs for the switches, which we haven’t seen before on any of their radios.

Front Inputs

Back in the front, we see the different ways they saved space. They shrunk the usual RTN, PAGE, and TELE buttons down a fair bit, moved MDL and SYS towards the center, and put the speaker right between the two sets of inputs. It lacks the 6pos buttons on the front that are present on the TX16S and Boxer, but on such a small radio I do not see a way to fit them in within reason.

The trims are also handled in an entirely new way, being just 4-way switch for each of the two sticks. It’ll likely further lessen the chance that you’ll bump them accidentally, and if you need to trim anyway, you’ll still be able to do so with relative ease.

The gimbals are different than the ones on the TX12/Zorro to accomodate for the sticks that you can completely unscrew and hide away in the back. They’re fully plastic, but they’re still using hall effect sensors, so they shouldn’t wear out anytime soon. I’m not sure if the TX12/Zorro will get updatd gimbals to match, nor if this thing will get the fancy AG01 treatment as well. But I’d guess most people wouldn’t buy a $110 set of gimbals for a $65 radio. I know you're out there, you know who you are.

Features

I touched briefly on the features in the overview, but let’s go over them in a bit more detail.

• The radio weighs in at 288g
• It has a 128x64px monochrome LCD screen
• As all other modern Radiomaster radios, it runs EdgeTX
• You can pick between a CC2500 or an ELRS internal module
• The CC2500 transmits at its usual 100mW, the ELRS module goes up to 250mW
• It takes two 18650 LiIon cells
• Usual 2 USB-C ports, one for charging, one for data and simulators
• SD card slot for firmware updates and model backups
• And a 3.5mm headphone jack, as well as a trainer port

Conclusion

I think this radio will fully root RadioMaster as the best radio manufacturer across all the different price points. I doubt anyone will be able to compete with them in the near future. I’m looking forward to seeing it in the hands of people new to the hobby as it will definitely lower the barrier for entry. And hey, even if you already have a radio you’re happy with, it may be worth your attention for quickly taking it with you for a few packs, or as a backup radio to keep in your bag, as it’s just so small.

Where You Can Buy It

• Radiomaster(Pre-Order)