First off, if you want good reliable control, stick with what the manufacturer uses for antennas, some people think they know more than the people who design and build this stuff, but I can tell you from experience, they do not. Many people "switch out" something without knowing the full story of the circuitry and operational parameters and wonder why they are getting reduced range or their friends are having failsafes all of a sudden, and often this is the cause.
Soldered on antennas antennas, in my opinion, are no more of an issue than removable and they won't pop off like a removable can. A properly protected antenna is much less likely to get damaged. I have put all of mine through hell, but have never damaged a single antenna more. I completely cover them in heat shrink against a zip tie to keep them straight and protected, just a little research into RF do's and don'ts can go a long way to having good reliable performance. I see so many people tie the antenna against the carbon fiber frame, or leave the end completely uncovered, or have them parallel to each other instead of at a 90 degree angle to each other, and even some of the pros have antenna ends that look like pretzels, and they should know better. 40+ years working with all kinds of electronics and radio gear has given me some insights that others must not have and I routinely fly about 1/4 mile away and have never had a failsafe.
ALL new RX's need to be flashed to the latest firmware, installing and binding is the exact same for all of them, and telemetry is just a wire between the Smart Port pin and a free UART TX pin and then configuring in BF. If you haven't flashed a Frsky RX, check out Project Blue Falcon video on it and that should point you in the right direction. If you have any issues or questions let me know, we can do a quick video call and I can show you how it goes, I am Eastern US time zone.