We recently had a vote on the best ESC for mini quad in our FB group. Here is the result and some of the comments by the members.
UPDATE in Oct 2016: http://intofpv.com/t-popular-esc-for-mini-quad-2016
Littlebee 20A
+16
LittleBee is rock solid and super cheap
Have worked well for me, easy to flash too. Only problem is that you need and a Capacitor or LC Filter between the PDB and electronics to avoid damaging voltage surges if you're using Littlebees
Little Bees are awesome but you just have to watch out for the voltage spikes. Also, if you plan to run higher kv motors at high cell counts or LiHV the slower F330 processor will limit your RPMs and so limit your thrust. The F330 will also struggle with Multishot at higher frequencies - 4kHz and beyond. So in terms of future proofing, F39x ESC would be better. The only options right now are the Angry Beast, XM20A, and XRotor (though they are massive). The upcoming ZTW Spider Pro HV and Flycolor Raptor Pro are also supposed to be F39x
Kiss 24A
+15
Tried them all and the kiss has the best control.
RG20A
+6
RG20 is very reliable, never had one failed on me.
UBAD Angry Beasts 30A
+5
Hobbywing X-Rotor 20A
+5
DYS XM20A
+5
DYS XM20A is one of the few F39x ESCs available. The V2 and V1 are the same apart from the solder pads for the motor wires. It is supposed to perform pretty well but ir\t remains to be seen how DYS will handle QC as they got more popular (like the SN/BL20A)
If you want cheaper practical esc (from banggood etc) go for the XM20a they run the faster Silicon Labs 8051 and have dedicated gate drivers.
Ztw 18A Spider Lite
+3
ZTW 18a lite is smoother, reacts faster, have equal power and dont give the noise like the littleBees (if flashed to BLheli blueserie12a firmware)
Littlebee 30A
+5
it really depends on what you want to do with it. little bee 30 and xrotor 40 are the most power but theyre too big for some applications
DYS SN20A
+2
ztw spider 12a opto
+2
Kiss 18A
+1
EzESC 20A
+1
XRotor 40A
+1
XRotor 40A - terrific breaking potential, lots of power and cheap as beans. Negatives: first time flashing blheli is challenging for newbies and its fairly big.
Love my xrotor20A, not the smallest, but cheap and powerfull.
the best performers are X-Rotor 40a and 20a, and then UBAD Angry Beasts and Kiss 30a...
afro 12a
+1
I have had afro 12a for over a year and still using them with no problems flashed with latest blheli and run 4s
Kiss 30A
+1
Blue Series 12A/20A
+0
tbs powercube
+0
Large in size, but Bullletproof!
UPDATE in Oct 2016: http://intofpv.com/t-popular-esc-for-mini-quad-2016
Littlebee 20A
+16
LittleBee is rock solid and super cheap
Have worked well for me, easy to flash too. Only problem is that you need and a Capacitor or LC Filter between the PDB and electronics to avoid damaging voltage surges if you're using Littlebees
Little Bees are awesome but you just have to watch out for the voltage spikes. Also, if you plan to run higher kv motors at high cell counts or LiHV the slower F330 processor will limit your RPMs and so limit your thrust. The F330 will also struggle with Multishot at higher frequencies - 4kHz and beyond. So in terms of future proofing, F39x ESC would be better. The only options right now are the Angry Beast, XM20A, and XRotor (though they are massive). The upcoming ZTW Spider Pro HV and Flycolor Raptor Pro are also supposed to be F39x
Kiss 24A
+15
Tried them all and the kiss has the best control.
RG20A
+6
RG20 is very reliable, never had one failed on me.
UBAD Angry Beasts 30A
+5
Hobbywing X-Rotor 20A
+5
DYS XM20A
+5
DYS XM20A is one of the few F39x ESCs available. The V2 and V1 are the same apart from the solder pads for the motor wires. It is supposed to perform pretty well but ir\t remains to be seen how DYS will handle QC as they got more popular (like the SN/BL20A)
If you want cheaper practical esc (from banggood etc) go for the XM20a they run the faster Silicon Labs 8051 and have dedicated gate drivers.
Ztw 18A Spider Lite
+3
ZTW 18a lite is smoother, reacts faster, have equal power and dont give the noise like the littleBees (if flashed to BLheli blueserie12a firmware)
Littlebee 30A
+5
it really depends on what you want to do with it. little bee 30 and xrotor 40 are the most power but theyre too big for some applications
DYS SN20A
+2
ztw spider 12a opto
+2
Kiss 18A
+1
EzESC 20A
+1
XRotor 40A
+1
XRotor 40A - terrific breaking potential, lots of power and cheap as beans. Negatives: first time flashing blheli is challenging for newbies and its fairly big.
Love my xrotor20A, not the smallest, but cheap and powerfull.
the best performers are X-Rotor 40a and 20a, and then UBAD Angry Beasts and Kiss 30a...
afro 12a
+1
I have had afro 12a for over a year and still using them with no problems flashed with latest blheli and run 4s
Kiss 30A
+1
Blue Series 12A/20A
+0
tbs powercube
+0
Large in size, but Bullletproof!