Hollyland Pyro 5 review: a beast of a small field monitor

While the trend for larger field monitors seems to be continuing, there is still a lot to be said for the 5”. It’s smaller, lighter, and easier to manage, but does that mean you have to compromise on quality or features? Well, that is exactly what I wanted to find out, especially after using the Pyro 7 and really appreciating what it has to offer. Hollyland’s Pyro 5 is the obvious comparison, so I’ve been putting it through its paces to see if it can do the job, but in a more compact form. I still need the same performance and features, from power options and IO to shooting assistance, but can all of that be crammed into a considerably more pocketable device?

Hollyland Pyro 5: Specifications

Hollyland Pyro 5: Price

From $419 / £375, the Pyro 5 is affordable for most working pros and keen enthusiasts, and while there are cheaper options out there, they might not be as competitive as you think, once you look at the balance of quality and features. That said, I think Hollyland missed out by not including some basic accessories, such as a case or even a basic mounting option.

Hollyland Pyro 5: Design & Handling

As soon as you pick up the Pyro 5, you can feel the quality. It may have a plastic shell, but it feels very premium, with a slight texture and soft touch that is very pleasing. On the left is a 3.5mm headphone socket, below a sliding type power switch, which is preferable to a push type. Opposite that is a ¼”20 mounting point, of which another can be found on the bottom, so rigging in different positions is made easy. The rear is home to an HDMI in and out port, a single SDI in port, the DC in and USB-C port, as well as the NPF battery plate. It’s all very clean and rugged, and the SDI port is recessed, giving it some protection against knocks. I would have liked to have seen an option for a V-mount battery plate, but given the overall size of the Pyro 5, I can see why that option isn’t realistic.

The top edge houses the antenna, which, unlike the Pyro 7, uses a push-fit connection, which I really like. They click into place in a rather satisfying way and take a good tug to release, so it’s unlikely they will get accidentally dislodged.

Lastly, on the right-hand side is an SD card slot, plus each corner has a small indent that can be used for mounting accessories like hoods.

Everything falls nicely in place on the Pyro 5. Nothing feels cluttered or hard to access, aided by the fact that this has a single power switch and no other buttons, as it’s a touchscreen-only interface. I can see the appeal of this choice, but I think one or two custom buttons might be useful, although not a deal-breaker by any means.

One thing I did notice is that at times the cooling fan can get just loud enough to be picked up on a camera-mounted mic. It’s slight but something to be aware of, if that’s your usual rigging method.

Hollyland Pyro 5: Performance

I’ve used the Pyro 7 a fair bit and was hoping for a similar experience with the Pyro 5, and I wasn’t disappointed. Of course, there are some differences, other than the size, but the overall feel is much the same.

The first thing to mention is the screen. It’s gorgeous. Crystal clear and bright. At 1500 nits, it’s easy to use outdoors in bright daylight. Although this is the same as the Pyro 7 on this smaller screen, it feels even better. The pixel pitch is smaller, so clarity looks subjectively superior. The touch aspect of the screen is excellent, too, with no continual prodding needed. A simple tap registers first time, every time, and swiping is equally responsive. Now, there are devices out there with similar assist features, but the Hollyland menus make all the difference. They are easy to navigate, logical and clear, plus they are much easier on the eye than some of the competition. If this were a simple field monitor, I’d pay more for the menus alone, but of course, this does a lot more, of which I’ll come to shortly.

Monitors like this need to cater to all needs and all kinds of shooting situations. Luckily, the Pyro 5 ships with a very comprehensive set of shooting assists. It has a histogram, audio metering, false colour, zebras, and waveforms, etc, as well as support for anamorphic squeezing and LUT support. Speaking of LUTs, the Pyro 5 ships with 5 preloaded, but you can load your own to tailor things to your specific workflow.

Something you don’t often see is a customisable layout, but that is easy as pie to do here. Want your waveform in a certain location? A simple press and swipe allows you to put it wherever you like. This is really handy as it means you can shift things around to suit the shot. For example, if you're trying to focus on a part of the frame that has a histogram on it, you can very easily move it out of the way.

Now, proxies can be important to some, so Hollyland makes that even easier, with recordings that can be saved to the SD card or an external USB-C drive. These can include timecode too, so your editing can start with ease.

Now, one of the main reasons to go for something like the Pyro is the wireless capability. Like the Pyro 7, there is a lot to like here. For starters, you can transmit to up to four receivers, which is great for teams, where a director can have a clean feed, the AC can pull focus remotely, and you still have a couple left for client viewing and the like.

Then there’s the range, which maxes out at 400ft. Often those quoted figures come from testing in ideal conditions, but I easily managed over 200ft with a brick wall and trees between the transmitter and receiver.

Range is only one part of the picture and means nothing if the signal isn’t stable. That’s no problem for the Pyro 5, as it has auto frequency hopping, although you can manually choose if you prefer. The auto option seems to work flawlessly, but it’s nice to have the control, just in case.

Something the Pyro 5 has that I really appreciated in the 7 is the latency options. You can choose where your priorities are by means of a mode selection. You can choose HD mode to prioritise the image quality, or if lower latency is required, choose the smooth mode. This will change the bit rate to retain a steady 60ms.

This really demonstrates the overall experience of the Pyro 5, which marries quality with choice. Some devices excel at a single task, others are ok at a number of them. With the Pyro series, Hollyland seems to have made something that is of excellent quality and that has options for various use cases, all while being elegantly designed. That’s not even the end of the features, as you can also set camera groups for multicam setups, stream directly to your favourite service via the USB-C port, or control your camera. This last is only available for certain makes and models, so do check compatibility before you buy.

Hollyland Pyro 5: Verdict

The Pyro 5 is somewhat of a dream field monitor/wireless device. It’s small and lightweight yet packs in a very comprehensive feature set, which is very nicely designed. What’s more, it can grow with you as your team expands and your requirements change.

Alternatives

The venerable Atomos Ninja V may not be wireless, but it's still a very capable field monitor.

Read our full Atomos Ninja V review

If the Pyro 5 isn't quite big enough, then go for its similarly specced big brother, the Pyro 7.

Read our full Hollyland Pyro 7 review