Spektrum iX14+ 20-Channel DSMX Transmitter Only

Remote control and miniature helicopter on display.

Ease of programming and plenty of channels

By Fitz Walker | [email protected] | Photos by the author

Radio control helicopter and transmitter with display. — The iX14+ has no shortage of helicopter features. You can also add custom pictures to your model selection screen.

RC TRANSMITTERS are simple devices. You move the sticks and servos magically move on a model hundreds of feet away. This, of course, is like saying a supercomputer is just an adding machine. It is true, but it’s also an absurd simplification. In that same vein is the new Spektrum iX14+, a transmitter that is much more sophisticated than its name implies.

It’s the latest update in the company’s series of iX-brand transmitters that feature a hybrid of core firmware transmitter functions and an Android operating system for extra features and flexibility. Originally a 14-channel radio, the new 14+ (plus) version now comes from the factory as a 20-channel transmitter, with native AS3X+ forward-programming support and a different carrying case. This is my first venture into owning an iX-series transmitter, so I was eager to explore its capabilities.

The transmitter comes with a small, foam carrying case with a few accessories, such as a neck strap and USB-C charge cord. There is a seemingly too-small instruction manual, but I’ll get to that later. Similar to many of Spektrum’s other transmitters, this iX14+ feels comfortable to hold with rubberized side grips. Hall-effect gimbals are smooth in feel and completely adjustable. In fact, I adjusted the throttle gimbal for just a hint of ratcheting and to slightly stiffen the feel.

Most of the switches have three positions, with a couple of two-position switches, a push-button, a rotary knob, and two sliders on the back. On the back, you’ll also find the USB-C charge port, micro SD card slot, headphone jack, and serial interface port. A swivel antenna can be positioned from straight down to roughly 45° up. The battery is a hefty 10,500 mAh Li-Ion.

The 4.5-inch multicolor touch screen is large and has a crisp display. Upon powering up, a splash title screen appears for a few seconds, after which the various bits of Android and Airware software load in the background. I say background because, while the system takes a measured 1 minute, 15 seconds to fully boot to the model screen, the core transmitter model control function is fully working within a couple of seconds of pressing the power button. It is good to know that the critical parts of the radio that control models are segregated from the Android operating system.

Select Model screen with options: Airplane, Helicopter, Sailplane, Multirotor. — There are four baseline model setups from which to choose when adding a model to the transmitter.

Radio transmitter display showing Model Setup menu options. — The iX14+ menu system is logical and easy to navigate.

After it is fully booted, you are treated to the main model screen, which is organized into multiple quadrants that shows the model name (and optional color picture), trim positions, timers, transmitter battery charge state, menu options, and a nice, easy-access bind button.

The basic main display hides the fact that there are many options within the various menu selections. There are far too many to be explained within this review, so I will focus on what I consider core functions for most modelers: interesting features and the overall usability of the transmitter.

For those who are giving me the side eye about a feature-packed transmitter with a tiny, printed manual, there’s actually a huge manual in the system-settings screen of the transmitter. You have a searchable PDF file that can be called up at any time and displayed on the transmitter’s screen—all 365 pages of it!

Aircraft type selection screen with four diagram options. — There are many options for setting up wing and tail control surfaces.

Also in the system settings are options to name the transmitter, change the mode (modes 1-4), battery alerts, screen brightness, etc. You can also check the software versions and calibrate the unit.

The main screen features a top menu that dynamically changes, depending upon what kind of telemetry receiver you might have. You can then either tap the telemetry option by name or drag the screen right or left with your finger to view various telemetry displays.

For Spektrum Smart ESC and battery users, there’s a multipanel telemetry screen where you can custom-configure various sensor displays. If any of the screens seem a bit busy for your taste, there is a "declutter" button that cleans up the displays and, in some cases, makes the font slightly larger.

I should note that the touch screen can be fully utilized—there are many cases where you might need to use a long press to change an option when a quick tap has a different or no effect. Swiping down the screen from the top edge brings up the Android buttons, virtual keyboard, and more. It pays to experiment with the gestures a bit because some screens might have hidden features that you might be unaware of.

One of the first models I set up was my venerable E-flite Twin Timber. Because this is a Horizon Hobby product, there is a downloadable transmitter file from the Spektrum website. Simply save the configuration file to a micro SD card (32 GB maximum size) and insert it into the transmitter. Go into the model utilities screen by following the prompts after tapping the model name on the main screen. Three little dots on the top right (which are easy to miss at first) open the model import and export options, along with options to delete, sort, and add a new model.

If you are like me, changing over to a new transmitter likely means swapping a bunch of aircraft to it from the old transmitter. Spektrum users can import model configuration files exported from your old NX- and even DX-series transmitters. I tested both cases and the files were imported without issue.

Not all models have convenient setup files that can be downloaded. As an exercise in practical usage of the iX14+, I manually configured several models of varying complexity to test the ease of programming.

Case 1: Seagull Models RV-8

This is basically a typical five-channel model with flaps. Because of servo geometry, extra channels are needed for dual elevator and flap servos to all be on independent channels.

Aircraft type in the model setup menu has easy-to-follow graphical representations of these wing and tail servo configurations. The pretty pictures show more servo options than I thought were possible. The channel assignment screen allows further customization of receiver port channel assignments.

I wanted to see whether I could set up selectable flaperons, where the flaps also act as in-board ailerons for high-speed rolls. This was done by going into the mixing menu and activating two P-mixes—one each for left and right flap servos and both linked to the aileron channel. It took some back and forth on the mixes to adjust the travel and directions that I needed, but the user interface was intuitive enough that I didn’t need to consult the manual.

There is also a highly customizable exponential and dual-rates screen. By simply dragging your finger, you can quickly modify exponential curves. To my surprise, you can even have different curves for both upper and lower servo travel!

The iX14+, of course, has voice announcements for alerts and switch positions. Instead of selecting from a list of canned annunciations, you type in the text you want it to speak for each action—even full sentences. You can also set speech for just simply touching the switches! The text-tospeech option works well.

Sequencer screen showing percentage steps: 18%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. — A screen showing the retractable landing gear and door sequencer. Sequencing is configured for both retracting and extending the landing gear.

Controller kit with case, remote labeled "DX14," cables, and manuals on gray surface. — The iX14+ transmitter package includes a carrying case, a neck strap, charge cord, a quick-start guide, and a decal sheet.

I also used the preflight checklist feature to remind me to plug in the strobe lights before flying. As an "off-brand" model, there was no preloaded model picture, so I resized a personal photo onto the SD card and imported it as the model’s icon.

Case 2: F-8 Crusader Pusher Jet

This is an unusual model I built as a highly modified House of Balsa A-7 kit that features a working variable-incidence wing and retractable landing gear with sequencing doors. Again, I needed to use the P-mix feature to link lowering the flaps with raising the wing incidence. The adjustable servo-speed feature came in handy to slow the wing and flap movements to more realistic speeds.

This was my first opportunity to try the iX14+’s gear-door sequencing feature for retractable landing gear. This is a customizable sequencer to program the opening and closing of a servo-controlled gear door with retracts.

The configuration screen for this looks busy at first, but I quickly realized how everything worked and was able to program in the sequence I needed for the doors using the graphical display. I liked the options of step or proportional movement of doors and retracts. You can program doors that stay open or that open and close after the gear is extended (such as P-51 gear doors).

Case 3: Freewing Gripen

This is a delta canard EDF jet with a thrust-vectoring module that needs to be mixed with elevator and rudder. It turned out to be the most complicated to program because I wanted this and other features to be enabled or disabled while in flight.

Remote control screen displaying flap system adjustment settings and options. — The flap position and elevator mixing can be set by digital buttons or by using a sliding bar on the touch screen.

Battery compartment of a device showing connection ports and a label with text. — The back end of the unit is busy with the various ports mentioned in the text. The high-capacity battery is a three-cell Li-Ion.

I started with the two-servo flaperon wing type and dual-servo elevator as the baseline configuration. From there, I used two P-mixes that are activated by a switch to mix elevator and rudder inputs to the thrust-vectoring servos.

Feeling a bit frisky, I then added a mix from the ailerons to the canards so that the canards (which are normally in sync as an elevator) now function as elevons when the thrust-vectoring is active.

Going for the gold, I then set up up-flaperons on the wing to mix in a bit of up-canard movement when flaps are deployed. Because I was just guessing about how much canard trim I needed with the flaps deployed, I utilized the "On the Fly" elevator trim function linked to an assignable trim button so that I can fine-tune the flap-elevator mix while flying.

This required some trial and error to get all of the mixes to work right. For example, I had a minor issue with the vectoring servos not being centered with the mixing disabled, until I realized that the channels were assigned to other switches by default.

Going into the switch-assignment menu, I was able to unassign unwanted switch inputs to those channels. I still got it all working in a reasonable amount of time, thanks to the intuitive and logical user interface.

Case 4: Robot Dog

Yes, you read that correctly. Some time ago, I built a replica of K-9, an artificially intelligent robot dog from the Dr. Who TV show. It requires numerous channels to control drive motors, animatronics, and sound effects.

I quickly hit a control limit with my previous nine-channel radio. Now, with 20 channels at my disposal, K-9 is definitely getting a controller upgrade. After the Gripen, setting up K-9 on the iX14+ was easy!

Final Thoughts

Hopefully this shares examples of things that a typical modeler could do with the iX14+. I also explored the helicopter side by loading some Blade model configurations to investigate things such as pitch curves (up to seven) and swash types (five available).

I should note that the Android OS is an intriguing part of the transmitter. In many ways, it is like a smartphone and NX transmitter had a baby. You have both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectability, which is useful for adding devices such as wireless headphones in a noisy environment.

There are familiar apps, including a calculator, YouTube, a web browser, and even Google Maps, in addition to whatever RC model apps you might want to load onto it. You will need Wi-Fi connection or a hotspot for some items, but they are there to use. For me, the most liked feature of all of this is the ability to organize model files, icons, and data in customized file folders on the SD card, the same as what I do on my PC.

Overall, I found the iX14+ user interface bright, clear, and responsive. The transmitter has been a joy to use, despite my just beginning to unlock its immense features within. If you haven’t moved to the iX series of radios, now there is even more reason to do so. The upgrade to 20 channels is just what I needed in my life.