DJI recently introduced the Neo leaked a lot A $200 drone aimed at content creators and casual users. It’s small and easy to use with beginner-friendly features like propeller guards, palm lift and voice control.
However, Neo is not a toy (or Snap Pixy). It has powerful features such as ActiveTrack, Quick Shots, FPV controller support, smartphone control and the ability to record yourself. DJI Microphone 2.
The video features also look promising, but not everything is perfect – it lacks obstacle detection and uses small propellers that can be noisy. I didn’t get to give it a full look because it lacked some features, but I’m impressed with what DJI has achieved with such a small, inexpensive drone.
Neo is DJI’s lightest drone at 135 grams and is small enough to fit in a pocket. It also has a feature we haven’t seen before on the company’s drones: a second button next to the camera gimbal lets you choose from different “Smart Shot” modes like Follow and Dronie (Quick Shots on other DJI drones).
It comes with removable propeller guards that provide protection for use indoors and around people. Be careful while flying as there is no obstacle avoidance apart from the AI of the main camera and the downward facing IR landing sensor.
Although the camera gimbal does not rotate for vertical video, it can tilt up 60 degrees and down 90 degrees. The half-inch 12-megapixel sensor has an ultra-wide-angle 13mm-equivalent focal length with an f/2.8 aperture—good specs for a drone in this price range.
The Neo’s 1,435mAh lithium-ion battery is incredibly light yet supports up to 17 minutes of flight time, or about 13-14 minutes in the real world. The small size means they charge quickly, but most users will want the two extra cells and charger included in the Neo Combo kit.
There is a USB-C port on the back for charging batteries and transferring images. You won’t find a microSD card slot as the Neo relies on 22GB of internal storage, which holds around 40 minutes of 4K 30p footage.
Despite its small size, the Neo offers the features you’d expect in a high-end drone. To make it less intimidating for beginners, the Neo can be turned on by simply placing it in the hand and pressing the mode button. It will then automatically record video while performing one of six pre-programmed smart shots: Follow, Dronie, Circle, Rocket, Spotlight and Direction Track. Just put your hand under the drone to land it.
Settings can now be changed with the new DJI Fly app, which works without a controller and connects to the drone via Wi-Fi. Tracking distance and altitude, dronie radius and flight path, circle radius, etc. for smart modes. you can change things like You can also adjust video and photo resolution.
Neo is DJI’s first model that lets you use voice control to launch the drone, perform Smart Shots and other actions. This feature wasn’t available in the beta firmware I tested, but DJI said it will be there when the drone goes on sale today.
If you want to fly a drone yourself without buying a controller, that’s also possible now. Manual mode brings touchscreen controls for all drone movements, along with camera/video modes and a return-to-home (RTH) switch.
Testing the touchscreen worked surprisingly well and allowed me to fly the Neo with precision. Outdoors with GPS lock, the drone is fairly stable, but it can drift around and become a bit difficult to control indoors.
For added precision, the Neo supports multiple DJI controllers, including the RC N3 model included in the Combo kit. However, you can also use it as an FPV drone by connecting it to DJI’s RC Motion 3 and DJI Goggles 3.
It offers the same features you’d find in drones, like controller mode Mini 4 Procinema, normal and sport modes, manual and automatic video, quick shooting features and more. Using it with FPV goggles and controller gives you the same experience as the goggles Avata 2including one-press acrobatics – albeit, of course, with a huge reduction in performance.
And Neo performs surprisingly well. The maximum horizontal speed is 18 mph in sport mode or 36 mph in manual mode – pretty fast for such a small drone. However, manual mode is only available if you’re using the FPV Controller 3 and wasn’t enabled for my test.
The Neo neo can withstand winds of 18 mph compared to 24 mph for the Mini 4 Pro. In fact, it’s only good for light winds below 10 mph.
It’s also maneuverable and precise, especially with the optional controller. This makes it ideal for events as it is very safe between people and small enough to fit into tight spaces. it is so a lot noisy, but with a sound not unlike a hive of angry bees. As my colleague Aaron Souppouris says, “That propeller noise is criminal.”
The Neo also happens to be an awesome FPV drone, especially considering the $200 price tag since there’s little to worry about crashing. It’s certainly not as fast as Avata 2, but it’s a lot of fun when using the RC Motion 3 remote.
ActiveTrack, Spotlight, and Point of Interest (POI) all work to follow objects with boldness, just like in other DJI drones. Another mode, Direction Track, lets you vlog while walking and talking with the drone to see your face. There is no rear obstacle sensor, so you have to be careful when using it.
When the Neo is under smartphone Wi-Fi control, don’t let it stray too far, as the maximum range is only 165 feet. With the controller and DJI’s O4 transmission, it has a range of 6.2 miles in the US or about 3.7 miles in Europe. That’s impressive considering its size, though you’d be braver than I if you took it that far.
Like the Mini 4 Pro, the Neo supports 4K 30p video without D-LogM and up to 1080p at 60fps. You can also use Instagram, Facebook, etc. you can take 12 megapixel photos for. Video isn’t even on par with the DJI Mini 4 Pro, but in terms of sharpness and color accuracy, it’s well beyond what you’d expect for something in this price range. . Low light capability isn’t great with a small sensor.
Stabilization is excellent thanks to DJI’s RockSteady and HorizonBalancing systems. These offer action camera-like stability while tilting up to 45 degrees. Still, I was impressed with the smoothness of the shots even in the stiff wind.
Finally, you can record audio through your smartphone’s microphone by simply pressing the DJI Fly app’s record button. You can use the DJI Mic 2 to increase the quality significantly by connecting it to your phone via Bluetooth. Although the drone is extremely noisy, the DJI software manages to remove almost all of it, making your voice shockingly clear and legible with some distortion.
DJI’s Neo is an incredibly capable lightweight drone that will appeal to a wide range of potential users. For example, mine drone pilot and photographer my friend (probable buyer) thought it would be ideal as a behind-the-scenes drone because it can shoot quality video around people without risk of injury.
It’s also a great drone for vloggers, content creators and entertainment users on a budget. It automatically takes cool shots and the image quality is smartphone-level, which is easy enough for social media. The main problem is noise, although all drones have this problem to some degree.
The most interesting aspect of the Neo is the price. For $200 or $289 in a bundled kit with three batteries and a charger, it’s an incredible value considering the capabilities. It really doesn’t have any serious competition, the closest being the $350 HoverAir X1, which costs more and shoots lower-quality videos. All told, the Neo is DJI’s most exciting drone in years, and it’s likely to be another hit.
