My Opinion on the DJI FPV Drone
I have no experience in flying quads. My closest experience with drones is flying the Mavic Air 2 and, more recently, the Mini 2. I was, of course, interested in the DJI FPV Drone as a natural evolution to the flying hobby and I bought it as soon as DJI launched it.
From the leaks up until now, there has been a lot of hate being thrown at this product, almost all of it from the hardcore FPV community. They say things that this is not a true FPV quad, that it’s going to break easily, that it can’t do acro as well as traditional FPV drones, that this will be a dud.
I concur with most of these trains of thought, but I would have to say that these are misguided.
FPV stands for First Person View, which means that you are seeing what the “drone” is seeing and nothing else. There’s not a lot of difference between looking through goggles and through your phone or Smart Controller except that, in FPV, the drone’s view is ALL that you see. The DJI FPV Drone is a check on that front.
Regarding durability, I firmly believe that any type of electronics are not meant to be crashed, and I don’t care if other drones are made of titanium or carbon fiber. Crash it often enough and hard enough, and it WILL break. Sure, the DJI FPV Drone is less durable than one made out of carbon fiber. So what’s the solution? Don’t crash it.
This product is not meant for close-quarters flying (although it can fly close to the ground or go through tight obstacles, at your own risk). This drone is meant for cinematic flying, for diving across mountain slopes, to capture epic footage of extreme sports activities, and to capture unique angles that a traditional cinematic drone cannot do.
I believe that it’s a tool that does its job well, but how well you take care of that tool depends on you. That’s where the three flight modes kick in. You have three options of flight, but you have to make sure to fly with enough relative skill and experience before you go ripping off and making barrel rolls and such.
There ARE safety features, too, so if you crash and break your drone, that’s on you. Better cough up on arm braces and DJI Care Refresh if you’re gonna fly your drone daredevil-style. Otherwise, you’re probably fine 90% of the time as I have flown Mavics and have never crashed because I know how to respect my drone.
I was actually excited when it was finally confirmed that the DJI FPV drone can do acro. For a fairly large and fairly heavy drone, this came as a surprise. Yes, it won’t beat traditional racing drones when it comes to speed and maneuverability, but it CAN beat traditional racing drones when it comes to range and battery life. Of course, a crystal clear view from the DJI FPV Goggles V2 is the cherry on top.
There’s a lot of things that the DJI FPV Drone fell short on, but that would depend on what your expectations are. Is it better than a Mavic 2 Pro when it comes to video stability and quality? No. Is it faster or more durable than a conventional racing quad? No.
What it does offer, though, is the best of both worlds. It offers that way that you can learn by tier how to fly FPV at your own pace even if you know nothing about FPV. It provides all the safeties and tools necessary to make FPV an easy and convenient experience for beginners in the hobby like me.
Will I eventually move on to building my own quads? Probably, if the hobby looks lucrative enough. Still, I got the best tool to work my up towards that level with the DJI FPV Drone. From the way that the community has accepted this product and despite the rejection of some members of the FPV industry, it seems that the DJI FPV Drone is on the right path.
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