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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2024
This is an impressive little drone and great for beginners or intermediate drone operators. We have tried other drones in the $100 range and they are all seriously lacking in reception range, video quality, and other necessary features. Like its more expensive DJI siblings, this drone has excellent range, great video, and a decent set of features to get anyone started in this hobby. This drone is entry-level and so lacks many features found in its pricier siblings like the Mini 3 or the Mavic series, but the affordable price balances the value.
Overall very impressed with the range and video reception. DJI's proprietary wireless protocols gives this drone a premium feel at a budget price point. This drone is in a completely different class from most other drones below this price point. Recreational pilots in the US are limited by visual line of sight. This drone is a bit small so can be hard to pick out when farther away, but the reception has been perfect so far all the way out to our visual limit.
Drone is very stable in wind. We tested in winds up to 20 mph and winds that were around 10 mph with higher gusts. Rock solid especially for a drone of this small size. It has no problems flying upwind in the winds we tested with. We have not tested cross wind flying yet to measure course drift.
Requires a separate device for video. We tested this on Android and iOS. Works well with iPhone 13 and Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite. There is a clip in the controller for the phone/tablet. We found that it generally only worked for our iPhone 13. It can probably work for a device about 1" larger than the iPhone. It did not work for the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite and we needed to purchase an after-market clip.
Battery life is pretty consistent between 15 and 20 minutes even in wind. The battery is lithium poly and uses a proprietary case and connection. Charging seems only possible through the drone itself or using a separately purchases charger designed for DJI drones.
Not a big fan of the drone locking out the user in controlled airspace. When this happens the drone will not allow itself to be flown. Additionally the unlocking process is buggy and requires workaround to unlock an airspace that was unlocked on a prior day. It is not illegal in the US to fly in most controlled airspace when following FAA regulations which are pretty straight-forward for recreational pilots. I am concerned what might happen when DJI eventually sunsets the unlocking service. Perhaps they will release a firmware upgrade to disable that service one day, but I wish that day was now.
Four stars because of the locking issue. If the drone did not lock itself, this would be a five star review.
Overall very impressed with the range and video reception. DJI's proprietary wireless protocols gives this drone a premium feel at a budget price point. This drone is in a completely different class from most other drones below this price point. Recreational pilots in the US are limited by visual line of sight. This drone is a bit small so can be hard to pick out when farther away, but the reception has been perfect so far all the way out to our visual limit.
Drone is very stable in wind. We tested in winds up to 20 mph and winds that were around 10 mph with higher gusts. Rock solid especially for a drone of this small size. It has no problems flying upwind in the winds we tested with. We have not tested cross wind flying yet to measure course drift.
Requires a separate device for video. We tested this on Android and iOS. Works well with iPhone 13 and Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite. There is a clip in the controller for the phone/tablet. We found that it generally only worked for our iPhone 13. It can probably work for a device about 1" larger than the iPhone. It did not work for the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite and we needed to purchase an after-market clip.
Battery life is pretty consistent between 15 and 20 minutes even in wind. The battery is lithium poly and uses a proprietary case and connection. Charging seems only possible through the drone itself or using a separately purchases charger designed for DJI drones.
Not a big fan of the drone locking out the user in controlled airspace. When this happens the drone will not allow itself to be flown. Additionally the unlocking process is buggy and requires workaround to unlock an airspace that was unlocked on a prior day. It is not illegal in the US to fly in most controlled airspace when following FAA regulations which are pretty straight-forward for recreational pilots. I am concerned what might happen when DJI eventually sunsets the unlocking service. Perhaps they will release a firmware upgrade to disable that service one day, but I wish that day was now.
Four stars because of the locking issue. If the drone did not lock itself, this would be a five star review.
