DJI Neo 2 review: I guess I’m a drone guy now

I’m not a drone guy. In fact, I’ve ever been a spot tense to play astir pinch them excessively much. They’re big, fragile, and expensive, which is simply a vulnerable operation for personification pinch my hand-eye coordination. But I’ve ever benignant of wanted one, mostly because I’ve been suspicious of the mid-air photos and videos I’ve seen different group propulsion off.

DJI has been trying to make the smaller, simpler, cheaper drone to triumph complete group for illustration maine for a while. It astir sewage location pinch the $199 Neo, but that was held backmost by basal obstacle avoidance and overseas omissions for illustration nary image video recording. The fold-down Flip benefits from much precocious features, but astatine $439 is excessively costly for first-timers for illustration me, and rival HoverAir’s X1 isn’t overmuch cheaper astatine $349.

The Neo 2 solves those problems. At £209 / €245 (around $280 — though location are nary realistic hopes of a US motorboat now that DJI has been banned from the country) it’s pricier than the Neo, but still undercuts different rivals, and benefits from camera upgrades and improved, though by nary intends perfect, obstacle detection. It’s mini and ray capable to alert almost anyplace without worrying excessively overmuch astir analyzable regulations, tin seizure awesome footage and photos without the request for immoderate controller astatine all, and has the manual power and FPV formation options needed to double arsenic some artifact and flying camera.

Sure, it has its limits. More powerful drones mightiness person amended cameras, faster speeds, aliases longer artillery life, and there’s a spot for each of that. But that’s not wherever I americium correct now, and if you’re not either, past the Neo 2 is astir apt each you need. It’s an affordable, low-risk measurement to fig retired that flying a drone is beautiful damn fun.

The first point I did was propulsion the Neo 2 successful my backpack and caput retired for a run, leaving the controller astatine location and my telephone successful my pocket. Let’s telephone this the “drones for dummies” usage case, and it’s fittingly astatine astir my level.

At 151g, aliases 160g pinch the optional other transceiver attached, the Neo 2 is simply a small heavier than the first Neo, but still ray capable to transportation astir beautiful easily. Plus, it’s good beneath the 250g statement that serves arsenic the cutoff for much onerous restrictions and regulations successful galore countries.

It takes a mates of fastener presses to move the Neo 2 on, and from location the on-device controls are simple: 2 buttons connected the broadside rhythm done the drone’s default automatic formation options, while a agelong property lets you set parameters for illustration the drone’s height, distance, aliases filming angle. Then you clasp the drone level successful your hand, pat the dedicated commencement button, and it’s off.

The Follow mode is the 1 apt to get the astir use, and it does a awesome job. You get plentifulness of power complete the Neo 2’s positioning, distance, and angle, and while the apical velocity of 12m/s (about 26mph) is slow compared to larger drones, it’s accelerated capable to comfortably support up connected a tally — though whitethorn lag down connected faster motorcycle rides.

Obstacle discovery is the different logic it whitethorn suffer you, and you will person to support an receptor retired for immoderate telltale changes successful the whine of the propellers. I made a constituent of stepping and moving amongst trees, and while the Neo 2 could confidently reroute astir the trunks successful its path, it did occasionally get caught up successful low-hanging branches, spindly and difficult to spot without immoderate wintertime foliage. The first clip this happened it clattered astir a bit, sewage itself free, and quickly corrected people to find maine again; the 2nd clip it couldn’t flight and simply unopen its propellers down, stranded successful the tree, leaving maine to pluck it retired of the branches. I was capable to break the search by hiding down an particularly ample character trunk, astatine which constituent the Neo 2 hovered successful place, incapable to find me, but if you’re not actively trying to instrumentality the drone it does a bully occupation keeping you successful its sights.

Thankfully, the Neo 2 is reliable capable to past a small unsmooth and tumble, contempt the lightweight build. It ships pinch removable propeller guards attached, and contempt a mates of crashes and collisions during my testing there’s not moreover a scratch aliases scuff connected the assemblage truthful far. There’s nary waterproofing — truthful you’ll want to support this retired of the rainfall — but beyond that I haven’t felt the request to beryllium overly precious pinch it, chucking it loose successful my gym container and trusting it to past conscionable fine. I’m conscionable a small tense astir the transceiver antennae, included successful the Neo 2’s much costly bundles, and wish it didn’t require 4 screws to detach for safekeeping, but truthful acold their small spot of flex seems to person kept them safe.

Beyond Follow, the different automatic options are much focused connected speedy photos and videos. There’s the Dronie, wherever it flies backwards and upwards arsenic it films for a fewer seconds; Rocket, wherever it films while shooting up and backmost down; aliases Circle, which you tin astir apt fig out. There are much options besides, and you tin usage the DJI Fly app to customize which are disposable straight from the drone shortcuts.

Video value benefits from humble improvements connected the original Neo. The camera uses the aforesaid half-inch-type sensor size and 4K resolution, improved by a wider f/2.2 aperture and a jump from 30fps to 60fps erstwhile filming successful 4K, aliases 100fps for slow-mo. It besides moves to a higher 2.7K solution astatine 60fps for vertical video, having antecedently been constricted to 1080p.

The Neo 2 isn’t really going to compete pinch larger aliases much costly drones erstwhile it comes to the camera, and it particularly struggles pinch highlights, whether that beryllium nonstop agleam ray aliases over-exposing my (admittedly pale) skin. But that’s hardly the constituent — this is astir arsenic mini arsenic your phone, arsenic easy to use, and shoots video astatine comparable quality, and it does each that while hovering successful the air, pursuing you astir the place, which your telephone astir apt doesn’t.

You tin moreover power the drone straight without reaching for your phone, acknowledgment to built-in motion controls. They’re elemental capable — telling the drone to raise, lower, backmost away, aliases onshore successful your thenar — but I did really find myself utilizing them, which wasn’t what I expected from the outset. There are basal sound controls too, though since you request your telephone in-hand to prime up your audio, you mightiness arsenic good conscionable usage the touchscreen controls.

For those, you tin power the drone straight from the DJI Fly app, aliases utilizing a distant for illustration DJI’s RC-N3, which is included alongside 2 spare batteries successful DJI’s £349 / €405 (around $470) Fly More Combo, almost doubling the value of the drone alone. You tin take betwixt the regular formation mode, a slower Cine option, aliases faster Sport mode, and tin besides determine really you want the Neo 2 to grip obstacles: extremity successful beforehand of them, automatically alert astir them, aliases conscionable move disconnected obstacle discovery altogether and return matters into your ain hands.

There’s FPV support too, though DJI didn’t nonstop maine the goggles and mobility controller included successful its £509 / €589 (about $680) Fly Motion Combo to trial that retired for myself — but my workfellow Sean Hollister wasn’t sold connected the included Goggles N3 erstwhile he tested them alongside the first Neo a twelvemonth ago.

Given its size, I worried the Neo 2 would consciousness flimsy erstwhile piloting it about, but it feels amazingly nippy, and the 2-axis stabilization acquits itself well. On a blustery London time the drone did person to alert astatine rather a noticeable slant to enactment dependable successful the wind, but dependable it was, only getting blown astir arsenic it slowed down to land, prompting maine to drawback it retired of the aerial conscionable to beryllium safe. In regular formation the footage comes retired remarkably dependable moreover erstwhile the drone itself was teetering astatine an angle, though much analyzable effects tin suffer — a dolly zoom successful the aforesaid conditions came retired jerkily nauseating.

I tried to caput disconnected a fewer different imaginable threats truthful you won’t person to. Fly it retired of scope (I deed issues astir 120m/400ft utilizing the telephone arsenic a remote, though scope will beryllium longer utilizing the transceiver and a due RC) and the video gets choppy earlier a large correction connection pops up, prompting the drone to automatically effort to alert backmost to wherever it took disconnected from.

You’ll want to beryllium observant wherever you return disconnected from too, arsenic it mightiness impact the Neo 2’s expertise to safely return to that spot for landings. Take disconnected from nether a character and the drone mightiness return to that spot successful a precocious arc, thing I spotted was happening conscionable successful clip to deed cancel earlier the drone tried to descend done the branches astatine the very top, acold retired of scope of a rescue. Perhaps I was overcautious, and the Neo 2’s omnidirectional obstacle avoidance would person reacted successful time, but aft already sportfishing it retired of the little branches of a character once, I didn’t fancy taking the consequence of it getting stuck 30ft up.

Then there’s artillery life. The Neo 2 tin alert for 15-20 minutes connected a afloat charge, though for information it’ll effort to initiate an emergency landing earlier the artillery percent hits azygous digits, meaning the applicable runtime will beryllium astatine the little extremity of that spread. If that doesn’t sound for illustration much, you’ll astir apt want to bargain a mates spare batteries, which are included alongside the distant power successful DJI’s Fly More Combo.

The drone doesn’t request — and successful fact, can’t usage — an SD paper for storage. Instead it includes 49GB of retention space, much than double the 22GB of its predecessor. The 15 minutes aliases truthful of 4K trial footage I’ve recorded truthful far, positive a fewer photos, person utilized up conscionable 6GB of that, meaning you tin astir apt expect to sprout a mates hours’ worthy earlier needing to transportation files elsewhere.

The biggest downside to the full acquisition is astir apt the DJI Fly app you negociate the drone through. It’s a small awkward to use, astatine slightest connected Android. It insists connected scenery mode erstwhile you unfastened it, but huffily tells you to move to image whenever you participate the formation controls, video editor, aliases safe formation area map. The interface is cluttered, clunky, and difficult to navigate, and offers nary thief astatine each connected basal tasks for illustration connecting to the RC controller.

It’s moreover annoying to get clasp of: Android users will person to download this straight from the DJI website, since it isn’t successful the Google Play Store, and while iPhone owners tin find it successful the App Store for now, I’m not judge that will past erstwhile the US prohibition kicks in.

More precocious drone owners are apt to bristle astatine the Neo 2’s limits, but arsenic a compact, fly-anywhere action that almost anyone tin operate, it excels. Am I a drone feline now? I’m not astir to driblet a expansive connected a high-end FPV model, but the Neo 2 made maine recognize I don’t request to — for now, this is each the drone I need.

Photography by Dominic Preston / The Verge.