Mine seems to have always had a hardware issue. DJI not even interested in what causes it or fixing it. They know the Spark is defective and don't want to do anything to fix them.

Well, let's see. Sylvester: 9 hr 32 min before his owner decided I was no longer his drone pilot. Phoebe 7 hr 0 min and no sign of stopping.

No good option to vote for a well functioning Spark. Never had any issues with it same as with many other Spark pilots.

I purchased mine in july 2017 and it still flies. I have flown it lots.

Over 100 flights over a year and a half. All is still going great!   I have a backup still packaged in the closet for when this does go...  Love my Spark

Almost 2 years, till now.
I lost one by pilot error after about one year of flying and 46h logged on Go4, the other one, 2 years old, is just @ 50h.
The replacement for the "lost" one is just under 15h. Plus some hours with litchi, each.
Is there an h meter in the bird and Go4 , if connected?

Had a Spark for almost a year before it developed some gimbal problems - could not keep horizon quite straight while turning around.
DJI replaced it on warranty by a new refurbished one. The process was painless and quick.
Flying this one another year. No issues.
It's a marvelous piece of technology.

Mirek

Have had mine since 2017, hundreds of flights with GO4 and Litchi.  No issues.  Fantastic little bird...

My Spark has lasted to fly 5,000,000 feet.

The HD feed even at 500m out w/ the Mavic 2 is so bliss.

It's like going from a 3GS to an S10+.

David Martin Graff Posted at 7-19 19:37
My Spark has lasted to fly 5,000,000 feet.

Where do you fly, what do you do when you fly?  I have lots of batteries too but without a purpose, it becomes super boring.

AntDX316 Posted at 7-20 21:03
Where do you fly, what do you do when you fly?  I have lots of batteries too but without a purpose, it becomes super boring.

I mostly fly around where I live in Arizona where the land is spread out and I'll fly distance each flight 20,000 feet or so and get good shots of the landscape and the angle to where I'm flying. I agree with you not flying without a purpose, but what I've learned with DJI drones is that they need to be flown frequently as a sort of maintenance, believe me it's better to fly the drone a lot of feet per flight frequently, or fly an entire battery each time then to only fly only several days a month for little time or only a few feet.

The drone has a set useful life of whatever that amount is and that doesn't change whether you fly a lot or not, since not flying a lot will render the drone eventually unusable, so in my opinion it doesn't matter DJI is really good about making sure its customers have the best equipment during the life of each of its drones' warranties so to fly often and far. I purchased DJI Care Refresh+ that gives two years of warranty support and coverage, and I've only had my Spark since January 2018, so I know for thse two years it is worth flying far and often, and then after the two years perhaps be more conservative but that will also limit the eventual total useful flight time of the Spark anyway.

Believe in DJI as they know what they're doing and you don't have to worry in the short term about how long your Spark will last. As long as you keep it in good shape, check the props from now and then, but especially check the drone carefully each time you are done flying where if anything were to be a concern then immediately notify DJI so that they can keep you flying in the air frequently.

I hope that helps.

David Martin Graff Posted at 7-20 21:16
I mostly fly around where I live in Arizona where the land is spread out and I'll fly distance each flight 20,000 feet or so and get good shots of the landscape and the angle to where I'm flying. I agree with you not flying without a purpose, but what I've learned with DJI drones is that they need to be flown frequently as a sort of maintenance, believe me it's better to fly the drone a lot of feet per flight frequently, or fly an entire battery each time then to only fly only several days a month for little time or only a few feet.

The drone has a set useful life of whatever that amount is and that doesn't change whether you fly a lot or not, since not flying a lot will render the drone eventually unusable, so in my opinion it doesn't matter DJI is really good about making sure its customers have the best equipment during the life of each of its drones' warranties so to fly often and far. I purchased DJI Care Refresh+ that gives two years of warranty support and coverage, and I've only had my Spark since January 2018, so I know for thse two years it is worth flying far and often, and then after the two years perhaps be more conservative but that will also limit the eventual total useful flight time of the Spark anyway.

Yeah, I know they are reliable but I was wondering how you actually fly the Spark a lot.  Even the M2Z before commercial work took off got boring.  It was the same routes all the time.

AntDX316 Posted at 7-20 21:20
Yeah, I know they are reliable but I was wondering how you actually fly the Spark a lot.  Even the M2Z before commercial work took off got boring.  It was the same routes all the time.

I agree with you that the same routes all the time are boring, but like I said the drone needs to be flown and when you do have something unique to film then the drone won't have a compass or calibration issue or other mishaps because you've kept it active and up in the air. It is when I don't have the drone in the air previously have I noticed problems upon flying first for the first time in a while.

Last year around this time I hadn't flown for over a month and this was for both my Spark and my Mavic Pro and the next time I took them up in the air, both drones had issues with not hovering properly over the ground (drifting) to other Atti mode issues, etc. Made me really nervous, which is why I'm a slave to them today...

David Martin Graff Posted at 7-20 21:57
I agree with you that the same routes all the time are boring, but like I said the drone needs to be flown and when you do have something unique to film then the drone won't have a compass or calibration issue or other mishaps because you've kept it active and up in the air. It is when I don't have the drone in the air previously have I noticed problems upon flying first for the first time in a while.

Last year around this time I hadn't flown for over a month and this was for both my Spark and my Mavic Pro and the next time I took them up in the air, both drones had issues with not hovering properly over the ground (drifting) to other Atti mode issues, etc. Made me really nervous, which is why I'm a slave to them today...

Considering how much you like to fly, the Mavic 2s are amazing.  I highly recommend upgrading.

AntDX316 Posted at 7-21 07:39
Considering how much you like to fly, the Mavic 2s are amazing.  I highly recommend upgrading.

Yes, I think the Mavic 2s are amazing and I just haven't gotten around to upgrading as there's functions on the Mavic Pro I still haven't tried yet.

David Martin Graff Posted at 7-21 16:15
Yes, I think the Mavic 2s are amazing and I just haven't gotten around to upgrading as there's functions on the Mavic Pro I still haven't tried yet.

I don't use any of the features.  I just fly.

AntDX316 Posted at 7-21 18:52
I don't use any of the features.  I just fly.

Yeah when you are pressed for flight time and you get up quick and easy I sometimes think better to fly and not break up the momentum than to start fiddling around and invite a possible mishap...

David Martin Graff Posted at 7-21 19:07
Yeah when you are pressed for flight time and you get up quick and easy I sometimes think better to fly and not break up the momentum than to start fiddling around and invite a possible mishap...

I honestly get scared to fly long distances unless I'm paid to do it.

AntDX316 Posted at 7-21 19:28
I honestly get scared to fly long distances unless I'm paid to do it.

How far do you usually fly out to maximum?

David Martin Graff Posted at 7-21 21:41
How far do you usually fly out to maximum?

Anything beyond 300m I consider long distance.

AntDX316 Posted at 7-21 22:02
Anything beyond 300m I consider long distance.

Which drone do you consider to be your go to?

David Martin Graff Posted at 7-22 08:57
Which drone do you consider to be your go to?

M2Z has the best reliable long-range feed.  The Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 isn't that great but is sharper and a better camera.

AntDX316 Posted at 7-22 09:28
M2Z has the best reliable long-range feed.  The Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 isn't that great but is sharper and a better camera.

That seems to be the school of thought, even though both are running Ocusync 2.0. The Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 has that sharper camera but I value zooming in to subjects more.

David Martin Graff Posted at 7-22 09:57
That seems to be the school of thought, even though both are running Ocusync 2.0. The Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 has that sharper camera but I value zooming in to subjects more.

yeah but the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 likes to Yaw drift depending on the wind hitting it.

AntDX316 Posted at 7-22 10:44
yeah but the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 likes to Yaw drift depending on the wind hitting it.

Yeah, that doesn't sound too good if it drifts that much when yawing in wind.

David Martin Graff Posted at 7-22 14:57
Yeah, that doesn't sound too good if it drifts that much when yawing in wind.

Because the camera is at the bottom and the square shape doesn't make it as stable as the Mavic 2s design.  For orthomosacis, it does them perfectly.

AntDX316 Posted at 7-22 15:54
Because the camera is at the bottom and the square shape doesn't make it as stable as the Mavic 2s design.  For orthomosacis, it does them perfectly.

I know it's a stupid question, but how do you like OcuSync 2.0 compared to WiFi? I find the WiFi on the Spark seems to have gotten better and it isn't that far off compared to OcuSync 1.0...

Excellent poll. Too much information from just one thread. Thanks for sharing.