DJI Drone - honest review after 1 month

This is my take on the DJI FPV Drone. Quite a controversial drone - heavily advertised by an army of top tier influencers, too high expectations and a quick wake up for the "early adopters". I'm one of them as I ordered this (NOT SPONSORED) on the first day (actually before knowing any hard facts). I'm NOT DISSAPOINTED now - as so many are, many sent it back (or they crashed it too soon ;)
To me this is the first drone with REALLY GOOD video transmission. The immersion was never higher and the sensation of flight can be experienced as never before with a drone (I was about to write "in a drone" :)

I just saw they even have a "refurbished" 100€ off version there atm.

►Quick FACTS:
Weight: 800gr
Flighttime: 8-16mins (20mins will not happen :)
Batteryweight: 270gr
Video transmission: DUAL Band! (5.8 and/or 2.4GHz)
dynamic power output of up to 1.4 watts in FCC mode (25/100mw in ce)

What I love:
VIDEO TRANSMISSION - like a dream! very smooth and sharp
VERSATILITY medium speed, some acro but also stable and reliable to put in the air as a camera, change tilt-angle of cam (for faster chase or slow/hovering to inspect something...
RELIABLE, CONFIDENT flying modes (RTH, battery management, H icon)
EFFICIENT (consider the weight! - if you fly it right you get 15mins)

What I hate:
CE mode performance (which isnt bad if you consider it's only 25mw - FCC mode goes up to 1.4watts either 2.4 or 5.8 - where 2.4 would mean much better range usually)
500m ALT limitation (understood but not good for the mountains)
PROPWASH - on lower throttle flights it shakes quite a lot - ugly video
FLIGHTMODE TRANSITION - from manual to N or S:
the GPS position hold is much too agressive in breaking
DURABILITY not so much an issue for a careful pilot like me...
BATTERYCOST (150$?)

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Filmed with: Sony ZV-1
This is my biggest video project so far :)
330gb of source footage compiled, condensed to 7gb of 4k60 video. Rendered 3hrs (because Magix Vegas once again wouldnt wanna use my GPU for help).
●▬▬▬♫MUSIC▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬●
A Tiny Spark - Johannes Bornloef
Razzmatazz - Jules Gaia
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●▬▬▬VIDEO INDEX▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬●
00:00 intro
00:31 BEST FLIGHTS
03:26 Video Transmission MODES explained
03:42 Occusync3 = DJI V2
04:17 DVR V2 vs V1
04:32 Range?
05:08 what I LOVE
05:28 what I HATE
05:53 Geofence, noflight zones
06:40 Flighttimes
07:45 Battery and forced landings
08:47 ...for beginners?
09:59 Confidence!
10:23 Goggles V2
11:05 Remote
11:27 Batteries, charging
12:41 Propwash
13:15 JELLO
13:46 Cam Tilt!
14:37 flies weird sometimes...
14:58 PAUSE Button!
15:42 Hangar, Backpack, Update
16:36 External Shots
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#RCSchim #DJIFPV #DJIRacer

[xjet]

It's a real love-hate machine (hence my *TWO* videos). The real deal-breakers for me are the geofencing (my usual flying site is a no-go zone) and the fact that so many of the "hand-hold" features can't really be disabled and tend to get in the way when an experienced pilot just wants to have some fun. For this reason, I'm still mainly flying my hand-built quads and, with my DIY Li-Ion packs I'm getting 20+ minutes per "cruising" flight (at just US$20 per battery instead of $150).

It's a great quad for some, just not a great quad for most experienced FPV pilots. Beginners can fly it in "normal" mode though and have a great experience.

[AlbertKimTV]

Great video Mario. I was briefly temped to buy this myself to review it, but after all the hype reviews came out, I knew at that point I did not want to review it. The hype reviews actually discouraged me from considering it at all. The main problem is that there is no clear path to transition from this drone to a DIY hobby drone. Perhaps that is all part of the DJI design and their intention.

[aarem]

Marrio, compliments on your work. Your analisys in English is super, and your presentation skills are fantastic. Clear, no shouting, and for a foreigner like me very good to understand. Spot on analysis. Your channel is clearly totally independent. I salute you for that. So glad to see some channels still stay independed and totally honest about the pro’s and cons. Images are indeed good for a commercial for dji!

[xjet]

Great footage Mario, some of your shots were better (and more credible) than DJI's own marketing videos! Let's hope they do an Occusync 3 version of the Air Units for those who prefer to roll their own quadcopters and/or fixed-wing FPV craft. BTW: which "FCC unlock" method did you use?

[DirtyLew]

When I saw the release of this quad my very first thought was that it was the perfect quad for u. Awesome review and very honest.

[jeffsend]

Amazing opening sequence! Excellent review too.

[disco.volante]

Stellar review and amazing footage. Reminds me of what FPV is about. Your channel is great. Thanks!

[gmivisualsjason]

Excellent as I've recently purchased the mini 2 and have been gobsmacked with how good the range is even in CE mode (4+km) and the gps link is just brilliant!
Rth... is fabulous.
Oh if only I could fly it with my v1

[kobi-kobsen]

Yes, I wait for nice solutions to adjust the camera angle inflight until my first drone.

[seewell]

Best review I’ve seen from an FPV perspective

[gletschertroll]

Great summary like always. I can confirm everything you said. Only additional issue: the thing brought me back to FPV (as you know), so it has some additional merit for me. ;-)

[rcrdps]

Really epic opening edits. Makes you want the quad, ... and then I realize the landscape isn't like that around here. :D It'd be really cool to cruise the swamp here, but we have zero elevation, and lots of very tall trees, so the only way I'll get any range is to build a communications tower.

It still tempts me from time to time though. Like you said, no fuss, just fly, ...and it has some cool techy features. But the lack of availability on those replacement arms keeps me from impulse buying.

[GeorgeCooper_LoneWolf]

Great review / info matey... Could be wrong but don't think anyone else has coved the point about the antennas being different 👍👍👍

[MCsCreations]

Fantastic flying and review, Mario! 😃
I'm thinking about getting it for my father! This way he would be able to fly with me. 😃
Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[ghafoorhussain]

Great Video, Great Information Mr Schim, I had been waiting for your take on it...It really pleases me to hear you also managed to get it to break dance it's back, as did I :-(

[SlipperyFPV]

I might have missed it but in manual mode will it allow you to fly until it drops out the sky? Or does it switch back to automatic return to home or does an automatic controlled landing?

[typxxilps]

lot of work in nice chapters, great example like flying against the wall, the real on over 600m altitude and the virtual or geofence one.

The V1 and V2 compatibility issues are a nightmare, the 4:3 screen or DVR format looks not convincing - more "Dallas" style of the 80s back when JR Ewing played the role of a King of Texas.

They also had no spare parts in stock when they sold it - at least in the beginning. Now some shops at least in the UK offer dji spare parts for end customers while DJI itself does not sell anything to us consumers that is worth to mention like motors or antennas or legs and so on.

[no-trick-pony]

Thanks for the review! I would be more excited if they simply opened up their FPV system a bit more. Instead it seems it's gotten so proprietary that even their own models aren't compatible with it anymore (the S2 you mentioned with the new goggles). The news about them not producing the air unit with the camera anymore and instead only providing the air unit for now and cameras being only manufactured by Caddx also does not bode well. :/ That said, I don't have the kind of money for the DJI system or even Sharkbyte anyway, but I hope that when one day I could afford either, there will be a more open source alternative to this like we have now with ExpressLRS ^^

[teufelboy]

Mal bitte eine kurze Frage jo eigendlich eine lange Frage. Habe ich es richtig verstanden das ich die V2 nicht mit anderen Modellen verwenden kann sondern nur die V1 mit den Modulen funktioniert ? zb Caddix.

[changeagent]

I want the Air unit v2. Since they have given up updating the v1 system I guess I'm going to have to feed the money beast to get the next iteration with higher quality and a working OSD.