Godox X1 wireless flash trigger and receiver Review

The Godox X1 wireless flash trigger and receiver enable you to use your hotshoe or studio flash wirelessly. The system consists of two parts the transmitter that slots into your camera’s hotshoe and the receiver that plugs into your flash. Both the transmitter and receiver feature TTL, so it’s worth noting that you need to purchase the correct model for your camera system and will need to be using a compatible system flash.

In this review, I’ll look at the Godox X1T-S and the Godox X1R-S. You could probably work it out, but the X1 is the model, the T is a transmitter, R is the receiver, and S is Sony. C, Canon, N, Nikon and other options are also available.

The X1 wireless flash system has several ways of working; the first is a direct TTL flash system. This enables you to move your flash from your camera to the trigger system and still be able to use the camera’s TTL; in other words, your camera handles the flash power for you and power adjustment can be made through the camera or transmitter.

If you want more control, then you can switch your flash to a manual, and as you would expect, you can take complete creative control over the look and style of your images.

If you want to use the flash system with a flash unit that doesn’t feature a hotshoe, such as a studio flash, then there’s a sync socket built into the side of the transmitter. Connect the cable to the back of your studio flash, and everything should work perfectly. Likewise, if you’re using a camera with a sync socket, then again, the transmitter can plug in through sync rather than through the ISO hotshoe contacts.

That’s not all; as part of the Godox wireless flash system, you can link up other Godox Flash products using the channels, pop the units on the same channel, and they’ll get all fire from the same transmitter. You can have multiple flashes mounted on X1s or add a V860 III Speedlite into the mix, Godox has made it all very easy to do.

The Godox X1 wireless flash trigger transmitter and receiver instantly stand out with the large logo printed across the top. Checking the units over, and they all seem solid enough. The quality isn’t quite Profoto, but not at the cheaper end of the market either. These are a set of wireless flash triggers that will last the distance if looked after by both enthusiasts and professionals.

Set-up is easy enough, with each unit taking two AA batteries before being installed onto the camera and flash. A small side power button lets you switch the two units on. A quick push of the test button on the transmitter and the red light flashes on the receiver to show that the wireless connection has been made. When first switching on, it takes between 5 and 10 seconds for the two devices to connect.

Once connected, if the initial connection seems a little weak or the flash is firing at random due to interference, you can select from 32 channels until you find a clean one that is interference-free.

As the connection is TTL, the group’s option can be used to change the flash power. This means that if you had several receivers connected to the same Transmitter through TTL, you could assign each flash a group but keep them all on the same channel. Then with group 1, you could adjust the power to 1/4, group 2 to 1/64 and group 3 to 1/128 and operate that power change from the transmitter without needing to nip to each flash to change it manually.

For a wireless flash trigger at this level, the Godox X1 wireless flash trigger and receiver pack in the features. Firstly the two units feature full TTL control, meaning that your camera can adjust the power of the flash to suit the scene you’re shooting automatically. It also means you can use the flash compensation on the camera to adjust the exposure. If you’re using more than one flash, you can assign each flash a group and then adjust the power of each group on the transmitter; this is extremely useful.

When it comes to the types of flash that you can use, the X1 is extremely flexible. Any TTL flash that is compatible with your system will work directly, and you’ll retain all TTL features; likewise, if you have a simple manual flash, then pop it on, and you’re ready to shoot, all be it with the adjustments to power having to be made on the flash rather than through the trigger system.

If you’re looking for a wireless flash solution in the studio, then again, as the receiver features a sync socket, you can plug it in and go.

One other stand-out feature is the AF light on the transmitter. It takes a little to set this up correctly for your system but once done; it sends out the familiar red light beam that aids your AF in lower light conditions. It’s a nice feature and can be quickly activated with a switch on the side of the unit.

The X1 also has several other features accessed through the menu system. These are referred to as 01, 02 etc.; unless you’re looking for them and know what they are, they’re very difficult to decode. Essentially a quick look in the manual will outline how to access the features and what they are.

Initially, the two units take a few moments to connect and pushing the small test button confirms that the connection is made with a fire of the flash and blink of the red connection light.

On one or two occasions where the system was slightly slower to connect or a flash trigger was missed, I found swapping channels would often improve the performance. As the triggers work on 2.4Ghz, some older Wifi devices and other units also use this frequency, so interference can be an issue. With 32 channels to select from, the interference issue was minimal and easily corrected.

Once a clear channel was found, the operation of the units as direct TTL wireless off-camera flash couldn’t have been easier. Point the camera let the camera do the readings, and shoot. If the image looks too bright or dark, then a simple adjustment through the flash exposure compensation and the image is captured.

For the most part, during the test, I used the Godox X1 flash trigger system with a hotshoe flash and then coupled this with an additional V860 III, which I am also testing and has a compatible receiver built in. The communication between the transmitter and two flash receivers was spot on and gave plenty of flexibility.

In another scenario, I plugged the receiver into a Profoto head using the sync lead. Again the wireless signal was robust and worked as well in the situation as the old Profoto transmitter. I also tried the system out with the Rotolight ANOVA II lights and again plugged through the sync socket; these worked incredibly well.

Considering the price, there is very little to fault with the Godox X1 system. It puts in a solid performance, and considering the price, the build quality and function are exceptional.

Looking at negative points, I’d say that while the documentation for the units is good, there is no explanation of what some of the features do, such as the Multi flash; a few good tutorials from Godox or explainers would go a long way. I’ll post some soon looking at some of the intricacies of the system.

Then there’s the UI; while this is nice, some aspects are a little tricky to decode, and a check of the manual is the only way to know exactly what some of those features are and how to access them.

These points are small, considering that while this wireless flash system looks simple, it isn’t. In basic use, you can very quickly get up and running, and with the TTL system, there is very little prior knowledge that you’ll need to become a master at off-camera flash photography. As you’re knowledge of flash grows, the additional functions and features of this wireless flash system will reveal themselves; need to add more flashes? Easy, control them wirelessly in groups? Not a problem.

Having used and sworn at many wireless flash systems over the years, I’m pleased to say at the base level, the X1 wireless flash system is easy to use, and due to the extensive features, you may never need an upgrade. Ultimately Godox has created an exceptionally solid functioning wireless flash system with huge potential for very little money.