Yes but NO reverse does not improve confidence; there's times when reverse is a need and not a luxury. No reverse could mean your model not coming back to you in a worst case scenario. Guess one should avoid those scenarios at all costs.

Corsair-Fan (and everyone): keep us posted on your experiences with these ESCs. The more the better as an accurate consensus of opinion can be built around these inexpensive little units. Maybe they're not all lackluster in performance like mfr02 has reported. There's got to be some cheap, fully functional ESCs out there to fill the gap. I will also share as much info as I can.