The HoverAir X1 could have popularized easy-to-use selfie drones, however it’s DJI’s new $199 Neo we’ve been testing that appears set to dominate gross sales. It’s launching globally immediately and does virtually every thing the $350 X1 can do and a lot extra.
Like the X1, DJI’s new Neo is a drone you primarily purchase to document your self doing issues for social media. It flies itself, no controller mandatory — you merely push a button on the drone to cycle by a listing of predefined flights like observe, hover in place, orbit overhead, and zoom out and in. It launches in seconds, begins recording, after which returns to land within the palm of your hand with out requiring earlier flying expertise.
The Neo can and can crash if you happen to fly it close to obstacles, however just like the X1, its versatile body can survive a beating.
Unlike the X1, the Neo has return-to-home (RTH) capabilities, and if you happen to add a controller, it might probably fly a lot farther away given its twin antennas (one transmitter, two receivers), which supply a most video transmission distance of 10km (six miles). It may be paired with DJI’s $129 RC-N3 Remote Controller to seize sweeping panorama photographs with confidence that it’ll return when the battery is low. It also can pair with DJI’s $499 Goggles 3 and the corporate’s newest movement controller or FPV controller to carry out acrobatic stunts in an immersive first-person view. Just don’t count on the Neo to compete with DJI’s extra highly effective and succesful drones that characteristic impediment avoidance, higher stabilization, and improved optics.
My colleague Sean Hollister and I’ve been testing the Neo in quite a lot of eventualities over the previous few weeks. While the folding X1 stays extra pocketable, appears to maintain a lock on its topic higher, and is usually much less buggy and simpler to make use of, the Neo has confirmed to be a really succesful challenger, which is predicted from the world’s main maker of drones. It’s additionally simple to forgive the Neo’s faults given its value, however we’ll challenge a last verdict once we publish a assessment within the coming weeks.
One main shortcoming of the Neo to be used as a selfie drone is its lack of portrait video mode. When requested why the characteristic was omitted, DJI’s European spokesperson Matt Bailey stated that the corporate “will take into account person suggestions on this.” Weird.
DJI’s Neo does, nevertheless, shoot in 4K at 30fps, which is one thing the X1 can’t do (however newer, much more costly HoverAir drones can). Its half-inch sensor shoots video in a 16:9 facet ratio with the choice to document at 60fps in 1080p mode. It also can seize 12-megapixel stills in 4:3 or 16:9 facet ratios and options the naked minimal of single-axis mechanical gimbal stabilization alongside some software program stabilization tips. DJI says it’ll additionally shoot video in 4:3, however that possibility wasn’t out there within the firmware we examined.
The Neo has 20GB of onboard storage and — just like the X1 — lacks any enlargement possibility, however that doesn’t appear to current any points, because the 4K movies normally solely final between 10 and 30 seconds. DJI’s battery lasts longer at as much as 18 minutes, however that additionally helps to make it barely heavier than the X1. Still, at 135g, it’s effectively beneath the all-important 250g threshold, making it exempt from probably the most onerous of drone licensing necessities.
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The Neo can also be bought in a really engaging $289 combo bundle that features three batteries and a USB-C charging hub. The two-way charging hub will cost all three batteries concurrently in about an hour when used with a 45W charger. The Neo has a built-in USB-C port that additionally helps you to cost its detachable battery in about 50 minutes from a 15W charger, although we’ve seen this cease working a number of instances in our prerelease firmware.
The Neo doesn’t supply any gesture controls, however it may be managed with voice instructions after saying “Hey! Fly!” It can be managed from the DJI Fly app on a cellphone over a direct Wi-Fi connection. And just like the HoverAir X1, the Neo can document audio out of your cellphone’s built-in mic, which DJI will robotically overlay onto your recorded video with none swarming bee propeller sounds. The Neo also can document audio by DJI’s Mic 2 when paired over Bluetooth. 4K video information, starting from 80MB to 200MB, switch rapidly to telephones over a direct Wi-Fi connection or to laptops over a USB-C cable.
DJI’s Neo seems to be like a direct response to the HoverAir X1 that’s overtaken social media during the last 12 months — not less than, based on my very own advice algorithms. Let’s see if Zero Zero Robotics lowers its HoverAir costs in response. Regardless, at $199 within the US, the Neo stands an excellent likelihood of turning selfie drones right into a mainstream gadget, for higher or worse.
In Europe, DJI’s Neo is priced at a tax-inclusive £169 / €199. There’s additionally a £299 / €349 Neo Fly More Combo that bundles the Neo drone with DJI’s RC-N3 Remote Controller, three batteries and a charging hub, and spare elements.
DJI isn’t bundling any controllers within the US, and the Neo is sadly not suitable with DJI’s older units of goggles or movement controllers for FPV flight, solely the most recent ones. For FPV flight, meaning DJI’s Avata Explorer Combo is at present a greater deal; in Sean’s early exams, it additionally provides a extra secure first-person flying expertise than the Neo.
Photography by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
