It’s only held back by a limited battery life.
Pros
Cons
Its a machine full of contradictions.
DJI also sells a $280 No-RC combo with three batteries and the charging hub.
© Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
That costs around the same as DJIs former starter drone, theDJI Mini.
Once you start buying the peripherals, the $200 drone becomes far more expensive.
The exterior is fully plastic, from the propellers to the guards and gimbal-mounted lens casing.
© Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
My drone survived a few mild crashes without damage but for a few scuffs.
I avoided running it headlong into a brick wall; you should, too.
If youre using it with any amount of intelligence, its honestly pretty hard to damage it.
© Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
The drone has two physical controls: a power button and a mode button.
The mode lets you select between automatic quick shots.
These work if you only want a video with your drone circling you or rocketing upwards.
© Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
DJI Neo Review: Controls and Maneuverability
The DJI Neo is the little drone that could.
However, to get the most speed, youll need a physical controller.
On the phone, youre stuck with 6 m/s horizontal and 2 m/s vertical with Normal mode.
© Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo
It will also annoy the crap out of anybody unlucky enough to be in the vicinity.
DJI says the drones operating range is around 50 meters.
I also wouldnt trust the drone much in any strong gales.
Flying at 120 meters, the drone wobbled a fair bit.
Thankfully, the resulting video came out fair anyway with the automated image stabilization.
Its a .5-inch sensor with a 117.6-degree FOV and an f/2.8 aperture.
Its hard to complain about the results of a $200 drone.
My high-above shots of Coney Island were spectacular on a bright, clear day.
The image in bright sunlight tends to be washed out without fiddling with Pro video configs.
Images in low light also had some graininess to them.
Again, you wont get studio-quality footage without spending studio-levels of cash.
The Neo is perfect if you all need quick pick-up shots of the city skyline.
You cant do too much with such a small sensor for longer or high-detailed video.
The gimbal-mounted sensor can go from -90 degrees straight down to 60 degrees.
For quick pickup shots, you cant find better or cheaper than the Neo.
you’ve got the option to also shoot at 1080p for better battery life.
By itself plugged into the drone, it takes about 50 minutes.
But I think theres more to it than that.
This is the cheapest drone on the market with these capabilities.
The starting price is still significant, considering theres not much competition.
HOVERAirs competing small selfie drone,the X1, goes for $350 on Amazon.
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