I've been flying for about a year.  I've had 3 GEPRC and 3 HGLRC motors die, possibly killed by a bad GEPRC AOI FC or so I was informed in another thread.  I'm retiring that FC.

HappyModel motors are cheaper than other brands.  Are they usable or not worth the savings?  I fly 2-3" props.  Thanks.

Yeah they can be a bit hit and miss the HM motors. I would look at the mamba motors in those sizes, they're cost competitive and much better quality.

Motors in the FPV world are fairly basic technology wise and the differences we see are mainly the number of turns of the windings to adjust KV, the strength of the magnets, the material used in the shaft and bells, motor dimensions or stator volume, and weight savings.

Hard to objectively say any one manufacturer makes better motors than the other in terms of durability. A bad MOSFET on your ESC can burn any motor and a crash can easily bent a motor shaft or damage a motor bell.

I still have the original Happy Model motors on my Mobula 6 that has crashed over several hundred times and they still fly.

happymodel motors are good in weight compared to diatone mamba motors, 20% or more, if you aim a lightweight build, hm motors will make you happy.
less weight does also mean a bit less crashability for the hm motors


hm ex1404 is 8.7g - diatone mamba is 11.8g
hm ex1103 is 3,7g - diatone mamba is 4,9g

I think they are pretty good for what you pay and they go up to 1404's. i use 1202.5's on one of my quads. Cheap motors that fly ok. I can't talk about longevity, as I haven't had them for that long yet.

But so far the ones I have are fine.