I was really excited to finally own a DJI drone when I bought the Spark.  The hype on this drone was amazing...too good to be true though. First  it was small things like dronie not gaining altitude and rocket mode  drifting.

Then it progressed into the very scary disconnects from RC>AC not knowing if it would RTH or not.

Now we have numerous reports  of Sparks dropping mid-flight from the sky. This is unacceptable and  DJI's refusal to acknowledge they have a major problem is the final  straw for me. While I haven't experienced mine dropping, I am NOT willing to risk it and become another frustrated customer complaining to deaf ears on this forum.

I  am initiating my return on Amazon right now. Maybe I'll re-invest in a  Mavic, which I probably should have done in the beginning.

@DJI - I really hope you guys do the right thing here and address this issue.


-Former Spark Owner

Not only does this hurt DJI on the returns side, I'm sure they are losing customers since people are holding off purchasing a Spark until it is proven that the Spark will not disconnect, fly off, fall from the sky, etc., without user error.

I've had a DJI Drone for over 4 years now and have had minimal issues.  The Spark is my 4th DJI product and have had minimal issues.  Granted the Dronie and some other Quickshot options seem to have some short comings, it has for the most part lived up to the hype and performs as expected.  Most accidents are USER Error and you should be worried about flying the Spark, be mindful and fly safely and You'll likely experience no problems either...

I'm not willing to risk $500 on "likely"

Aside from the Dronie not working as advertised, I've flown 74,495ft distance w/o major issues.

I have 90 flights totaling 10 hours in the air on my Spark. I just flew my furthest flight at 3100 feet out from RC. I have had very few issues. The dronie not rising isnt an issue for me, and the new firmware it does rise about 5 feet for a 25m pull back. I think if it raised up much more then you lose the background behind you and its a dronie of you and the ground around you. I think it should pull back and reveal the surroundings behind you more than the ground. So I feel that the feature works great. I was having a little signal freeze/breakup at 1500feet, but with the new FW, I was happy with the signal all the way out to 3100 feet. I didnt want to go any further due to the area I would be over top of past that distance would be hard to recover had something gone wrong. Gesture controls are not a feature I have played with a lot. But when I have, they work most of the time. I think they will iron out those features soon enough. I am nervous about flying over water still but gaining confidence with each flight.

I was thinking the same way, I'm getting my Spark tom and reading all these negative stuff about it and thinking I should have ordered the mavic..then I see this in their forum..

http://forum.dji.com/thread-105008-1-2.html

Sparky Tim Posted at 2017-7-27 09:59
I have 90 flights totaling 10 hours in the air on my Spark. I just flew my furthest flight at 3100 feet out from RC. I have had very few issues. The dronie not rising isnt an issue for me, and the new firmware it does rise about 5 feet for a 25m pull back. I think if it raised up much more then you lose the background behind you and its a dronie of you and the ground around you. I think it should pull back and reveal the surroundings behind you more than the ground. So I feel that the feature works great. I was having a little signal freeze/breakup at 1500feet, but with the new FW, I was happy with the signal all the way out to 3100 feet. I didnt want to go any further due to the area I would be over top of past that distance would be hard to recover had something gone wrong. Gesture controls are not a feature I have played with a lot. But when I have, they work most of the time. I think they will iron out those features soon enough. I am nervous about flying over water still but gaining confidence with each flight.

The gesture is a party trick and a bit gimmicky. But I'll start switching it to gesture mode and use palm landing in situations that warrants it.

JDAVIS21 Posted at 2017-7-27 09:50
I'm not willing to risk $500 on "likely"

Honestly, you always take a risk when you fly anything. Upgrading to a Mavic is not going to remove that risk completely (google lost mavic and you'll see what I mean) and it's double the price.

If you're looking for the least amount of financial risk, your best bet is to buy those cheaper toy drones. Before I got my Spark, I got a $20 Protocol drone. The video resolution wasn't great, it had no gimbal, and you can only fly it in near-zero wind within a very short distance, but it was still fun to zip around.

I find the Spark to be 100x better so for now I'm willing to take that risk.

Best of luck to you.

bye. I love my Spark, flys great.

Adios my friend.

You might want to go do some reading on the Mavic forum.

Spark is my first drone and I totally love it, no problems at all!

Mattymatt Posted at 2017-7-27 09:36
Not only does this hurt DJI on the returns side, I'm sure they are losing customers since people are holding off purchasing a Spark until it is proven that the Spark will not disconnect, fly off, fall from the sky, etc., without user error.

You got it - I for one am waiting until the dust settles on this ....

That's too bad. I've had zero problems with mine.

Sorry to hear that.  I love mine, no problems at all and I've flown mine in some questionable areas including outside of a famous radio astronomy observatory.

When the Phantom 3 came out, there were issues with fly aways there as well. Turned out most, if not all, were user error (never ever calibrated).

But I never had issues with my P3 ever, as I followed the preflight exactly, every time.

Mavic users report the same, and here we are with the Spark, yet again hearing it. Basically, every time a new device shows up, you have people with *zero* interest in RC buying these as toys, first drones, etc, then never following directions, so the rate of incidence seems high.

In the case of the Spark, it is marketed differently, at newbies, at people with zero interest in RC, hence Gesture Mode (disconnected) and smart phone WiFi control. This will inherently draw those prone to errors. It will cool off.

That al said, and as an experienced drone pilot, both DJI and home built RC, I did have my first fly away, in disconnected gesture mode. I'll never use that again.

So, where do you, OP, fall: noob with no real interest in RC or aerial photos (in which case, you won't escape the problems entirely), or person who wants to pursue this as a fun and creative hobby?

Flying drone is a stress, but fun. If you cannot take the stress, returning Spark gives you a peace but you will lost chance to see things from above.

New firmware out to address these issues.... when they also update the Battery Firmware along with Controller, and AC it seems that DJ has fixed this issue..... or is making major progress towards getting it fixed.  Major Companies don't make announcements about all the things that got fixed, for MANY reasons.  Each new version of iOS usually says "Bug Fixes" in the pathnotes....

I have had zero issues with the core functionality, like 99.9% of Spark Owners -- did the fly aways happen -- no doubt in some cases, did the power shut off, you bet!   but still having a lot of fun with mine

To each his own

My Spark didn't come back after it disconnected 7/2/17 DJI said it's my fault and DJI Care Refresh will not cover it. Check out video on YouTube ( DJI Spark and DJI Care Refresh ) they don't care about there customers. Have herd of a lid of disconnected sparks

no "major" issues here. mine works fine. a smattering of failures on a forum dedicated to issues isn't really a "major" its what happens. if you get a mavic, don't read the mavic forum, you'll take it back as well. both my spark and my mavic have been awesome.

Sparky Tim Posted at 2017-7-27 09:59
I have 90 flights totaling 10 hours in the air on my Spark. I just flew my furthest flight at 3100 feet out from RC. I have had very few issues. The dronie not rising isnt an issue for me, and the new firmware it does rise about 5 feet for a 25m pull back. I think if it raised up much more then you lose the background behind you and its a dronie of you and the ground around you. I think it should pull back and reveal the surroundings behind you more than the ground. So I feel that the feature works great. I was having a little signal freeze/breakup at 1500feet, but with the new FW, I was happy with the signal all the way out to 3100 feet. I didnt want to go any further due to the area I would be over top of past that distance would be hard to recover had something gone wrong. Gesture controls are not a feature I have played with a lot. But when I have, they work most of the time. I think they will iron out those features soon enough. I am nervous about flying over water still but gaining confidence with each flight.

Are you using the RC with the fly more combo or another DJI RC? I have had multiple drop outs at <200m in 2.4 and 5.8 spectrums. Having checked the channels for interference and selecting a stable and low noise channel I don't expect to lose control of the platform while it is that close to me. This morning the DJI GO4 App shut itself down and followed by a disconnect of the Spark at 80m above ground. I wasn't flying in a dense building rich or cell tower location and no body was within 30m of me. Location here
New Farm QLD 4005
-27.468811, 153.051154
Even on the return after reconnection (fortunately) I still had weak signal and drop out at 80m  (250ft) above launch and <50m (150ft) horizontal. I really don't understand the difference in experience with this system.
I really want to find out how people are getting and maintaining consistent connection to their Spark.

Sparky Tim Posted at 2017-7-27 09:59
I have 90 flights totaling 10 hours in the air on my Spark. I just flew my furthest flight at 3100 feet out from RC. I have had very few issues. The dronie not rising isnt an issue for me, and the new firmware it does rise about 5 feet for a 25m pull back. I think if it raised up much more then you lose the background behind you and its a dronie of you and the ground around you. I think it should pull back and reveal the surroundings behind you more than the ground. So I feel that the feature works great. I was having a little signal freeze/breakup at 1500feet, but with the new FW, I was happy with the signal all the way out to 3100 feet. I didnt want to go any further due to the area I would be over top of past that distance would be hard to recover had something gone wrong. Gesture controls are not a feature I have played with a lot. But when I have, they work most of the time. I think they will iron out those features soon enough. I am nervous about flying over water still but gaining confidence with each flight.

Um, dronie not pulling back, not stopping at designated distances, all while staying at eyeball choping height is kind of a big big issue. Maybe not for you, but it is an issue.

Sparky Tim Posted at 2017-7-27 09:59
I have 90 flights totaling 10 hours in the air on my Spark. I just flew my furthest flight at 3100 feet out from RC. I have had very few issues. The dronie not rising isnt an issue for me, and the new firmware it does rise about 5 feet for a 25m pull back. I think if it raised up much more then you lose the background behind you and its a dronie of you and the ground around you. I think it should pull back and reveal the surroundings behind you more than the ground. So I feel that the feature works great. I was having a little signal freeze/breakup at 1500feet, but with the new FW, I was happy with the signal all the way out to 3100 feet. I didnt want to go any further due to the area I would be over top of past that distance would be hard to recover had something gone wrong. Gesture controls are not a feature I have played with a lot. But when I have, they work most of the time. I think they will iron out those features soon enough. I am nervous about flying over water still but gaining confidence with each flight.

Um, dronie not pulling back, not stopping at designated distances, all while staying at eyeball choping height is kind of a big big issue. Maybe not for you, but it is an issue.

Well 11 of my flights were good with no disconnect it was # 12 that was a bitch anyone see my Spark ?

If you're really that upset with DJI -- despite not having experienced issues yourself -- why would you replace your Spark with another DJI product? Sorry, but I don't see how your post adds much value here ...

I do find it funny when someone says " I'm really disappointed with DJI, they are treating me horrible regarding issues with my Spark, so I'll show them, I'm returning it!!!!!........ and buying a Mavic for twice the cost"  boy did you teach DJI a lesson.

The Spark is my  5th DJI drone.  No issues with any of those drones.   Go ahead and try another brand, you'll see DJI drones have the least amount of problems.  I owned a Yuneec Typhoon H that was exchanged once and went back to Yuneec twice.

fansab7d98f9 Posted at 2017-7-27 14:21
My Spark didn't come back after it disconnected 7/2/17 DJI said it's my fault and DJI Care Refresh will not cover it. Check out video on YouTube ( DJI Spark and DJI Care Refresh ) they don't care about there customers. Have herd of a lid of disconnected sparks

Sorry for your loss, could you please provide me your case number so I can look into it?  Sorry to say that the DJI Care Refresh will not cover this case, since the drone is lost. As you can see the pic below for the Exclusions of the DJI Care Refresh.

DJI is aware of a small number of reports involving Spark drones that have lost power mid-flight. Flight safety and product reliability are top priorities. Our engineers are thoroughly reviewing each customer case and working to address this matter urgently.

DJI products are tested for thousands of hours, and the overwhelming number of customers enjoy using our products with minimal disruption.

We are looking to implement additional safeguards with a firmware update which was issued Wednesday. When prompted on the DJI GO 4 App, we recommend all customers to connect to the internet and update their aircraft’s firmware to ensure a safe flight when flying their Spark.

Most of victim including me the explanation was just "flight log suddenly stop and cannot be analysis"  and we have to pay for the repair cost. How can we trust DJI was concerning us and the issue ?

This is my first DJI product. I own a Yuneec Typhoon H, had a Yuneec Q500, had a Blade 350QX, also a Parrot Bebop..... Believe me, with every model you will experience people having issues. I had lot's of issues with my Bebop and Q500, all other drones never experienced a major issue.
Everyting you put in the air CAN and WILL come down. This is something everyone flying SHOULD be aware of! You can have a dozen safe flights and suddenly have a flight where the drone spontaneously comes down.
DJI is reviewing the issues, and surely will take their responsibility. I believe in DJI. And sorry, but some fly-away's are just pilot errors (and offcourse anyone will say it is not, but if GPS disables mid-flight and the craft is driven with the wind it a drone pilot should still be able to fly it).

At this point only some minor issues on the Spark and I think firmware will solve them. If there really is an hardware issue, DJI will recall the Sparks.

MaikR Posted at 2017-7-27 21:41
This is my first DJI product. I own a Yuneec Typhoon H, had a Yuneec Q500, had a Blade 350QX, also a Parrot Bebop..... Believe me, with every model you will experience people having issues. I had lot's of issues with my Bebop and Q500, all other drones never experienced a major issue.
Everyting you put in the air CAN and WILL come down. This is something everyone flying SHOULD be aware of! You can have a dozen safe flights and suddenly have a flight where the drone spontaneously comes down.
DJI is reviewing the issues, and surely will take their responsibility. I believe in DJI. And sorry, but some fly-away's are just pilot errors (and offcourse anyone will say it is not, but if GPS disables mid-flight and the craft is driven with the wind it a drone pilot should still be able to fly it).

Yes every products got issues and some can fix and some need recall. But how DJI treat those got power cut issues customers ? Ignore the issue with no explanations and force them to pay for the repairing cost.

My case happened on the first of July and I had warn them it would be a big and serious issue of the Spark.

Their answer was just log suddenly stopped and you have to pay, but i concern you and give you some discount. Thats it and no more follow up to the case until now all news was spread widely and they still no reaction to the victims.

Is that the correct attitude to due with such big issue ?

rickysuperdog Posted at 2017-7-27 21:49
Yes every products got issues and some can fix and some need recall. But how DJI treat those got power cut issues customers ? Ignore the issue with no explanations and force them to pay for the repairing cost.

My case happened on the first of July and I had warn them it would be a big and serious issue of the Spark.

No that surely isn't the correct attitude. Keep bugging them with mail and store them. If it truly comes out it is a design issue, they will have to replace it for free.
In the beginnen we had the same issue with the Yuneec Typhoon H. After all it looked some people didn't push the battery in to the click. They were scared to push harder. So that was a pilot issue (don't say the spark is the same, but try to make clear why DJI reacts like this).

PinpointMapping Posted at 2017-7-27 09:45
I've had a DJI Drone for over 4 years now and have had minimal issues.  The Spark is my 4th DJI product and have had minimal issues.  Granted the Dronie and some other Quickshot options seem to have some short comings, it has for the most part lived up to the hype and performs as expected.  Most accidents are USER Error and you should be worried about flying the Spark, be mindful and fly safely and You'll likely experience no problems either...

I too find it very hard to believe there are son many faulty Sparks dropping out of the skies - biblical plague. Mine has been well and truely tested with all 3 batteries being ran through it in all modes possible with no issues at all. Admittedly I have not tried to fly it 10 miles at 600m altitude as this is both stupid and not what I Bought it for but.........I have to agree that a lot of these reports have to be attributed to user error. This is now my 4th DJI purchase and apart from the P3S having pants range, no issues that have not been caused by myself without the need for a rant. Yes, this is going to have an effect on the sales etc but DJI have more than enough high end users to cover the shortfall in sales and refunds. No one is still capable of competing with the products they provide and the results that are possible. GO-PRO's entry is a joke, Yuneec is a possible but not without its issues and boy are they ugly drones and not forgetting 3DR who are really producing a better but still limited version of the Karma. People who are abandoning DJI don't really have a lot of options at entry level apart from Parrot, Syma and Hubsan.

OneMatt Posted at 2017-7-27 18:14
Um, dronie not pulling back, not stopping at designated distances, all while staying at eyeball choping height is kind of a big big issue. Maybe not for you, but it is an issue.

My dronie stopped at the distance I had it set for. It did only raise about 5/6 feet when I had it pull back 25M. But I felt that it was good.