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DJI Spark Pros | DJI Spark Cons |
---|---|
Very Small But Yet Very Capable | 16 Minute Battery Life |
Very Easy To Fly | Its Small Size Makes Flying In Wind A Little Hard |
Very Durable |
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DJI was not the first company to release a small $500 dollar drone. But they did take the Apple approach and took their time to release perhaps the best compact drone on the market right now. The DJI spark is basically the size of my iPhone 6s+ and with in minutes of taking it out of the box i was already flying. So whether you're looking for your first drone or you want a drone you can take almost anywhere the DJI spark might be what you're looking for. don't forget to like comment and subscribe.
The DJI spark currently comes in 5 color ways… white, red, green, blue, and yellow. the base model retails for $499 over amazon and includes the drone, one battery pack, a carrying case, an AC adaptor and USB cable for charging, and some replacement rotors. The fly more combo retails for $699 and you get everything in the base model plus 2 more batteries for a total of 3, a charging base for said batteries, propeller guards, a bag, and a separate controller. If you're planning on flying a lot, the fly more combo is a good idea. If you want to pick up the DJI spark, I’ll have links in the description below and ill keep them updated so you can get the best deals possible.
So we’re going to do a quick walk around of the drone. for starters the DJI spark is heavier than i first expected. 99% of the body is made up of hard plastic, there are some rubber footers on the belly of the Spark which absorb the shock when you land it and gives it a good amount of grip. theres a power button on the back and 4 LED’s that act as a fuel gauge. Under the spark tab you'll find a micro USB charging port and a micro SD card slot which goes up to 64 gigs. On the front of the device there is a 3D imaging sensor which help it avoid obstacles and its already saved my butt multiple times. Theres also a second sensor on the belly of the Spark that helps it know whats underneath it. There are 4 rotors on this drone and no they don't fold up. the props themselves do fold up though.
The camera of the Spark is a 12 megapixel sensor and you can take pictures and record video at 1080p 30 frames per second. The camera sensor is housed in a 2 axis gimbal and it can compensate for pitch and roll. But it can’t turn like on the Mavic Pro, instead you have to turn the whole device if you want to get a pan. its kinda like Christian Bale in batman begins where he has to turn his whole body. with low wind conditions the camera is very smooth but when the Spark is hit by a gust of wind you'll see some jerkiness in the video.
Concerning battery life, remember when i said the Fly More Package was a good idea? On a single charge the DJI spark is good for 16 minutes of flight time. in order to charge the battery from zero using the micro USB cable its going to take around an hour to an hour and a half. So, just keep that in mind.
At this point you might be wondering how do you fly this thing, well you have 3 options. first is with gesture control. you basically turn it on, hold it an arms length away from you with the camera pointing at your pretty little face, and press the power button twice and it will start hovering in front of you. You can then tell it to take a picture of you by making a rectangle with your fingers. If you hold your hand out you can move the spark left to right or up and down a little to adjust your shot. this is usually when i start pretending I'm a jedi and i do my best Ben Kenobi impression. use the force luke, for over a thousand generations the jedi knight where the guardians of peace and justice in the old republic, before the dark times, before the empire. Everything up to here works flawlessly. If you wave your hand from side to side the Spark will fly back and up so it can get a birds eye view of you. this is where stuff gets a little finicky. I've noticed that when the spark is farther away from me it has issues tracking me, or understanding my gesture to take a picture, or not reading my come back gesture.
You can also control the DJI Spark from your phone. You'll get a live feed of what the Spark sees with very little lag. The Spark connects to your phone via wifi and it has a range of about 300 feet. pro tip, to checkout your drone’s SSID and password take out the battery pack and check the underside. and finally you can use the separate controller that gives you physical buttons, since there is so much going on on the touch screen i really wish i had the physical controller. But if your drone were to lose connection with your phone, it will either hover in place until it establishes a connection or it'll fly back to where it initially took off.
the video quality on the DJI spark is good enough for any enthusiast that wants to get aerial shots of them selves, epic selfies or wants to jump into the drone game. but obviously the video quality the DJI Spark has to offer is not great for professional use.
I’ve never had this much fun or anxiety reviewing a product. The DJI Spark is so easy to fly and the obstacle avoidance system is much more accurate than i expected. It was even able to detect individual branches. But keep in mind there are no lateral or rear sensors and my drone has experienced some sever crashes. But it really only suffered minor scrapes and it was immediately ready for take off again. the Spark is tougher than it looks. But just keep in mind, its NOT water proof so don't fly it in the rain or crash it water. due to its small size the DJI spark is a little harder to control when its windy outside. but it does try very hard to keep its shot steady.
The DJI Go 4 app is really well made and intuitive. I haven't had any issues using it what so ever. obviously you can control the DJI spark with it, but you can also view and edit your captured videos. I’m going to be honest, manually editing your videos in the DJI app is a little annoying so i prefer using the auto edit feature instead. theres even a simulator so you can practice flying your drone. when flying your drone with your phone you have a few options. you can manually control it, you can also use tap to fly, you can use active track which will automatically follow any objects you highlight, or you can even just use the spark as a tripod.
over all, I love the DJI Spark. Its so much fun to use and its so easy to fly. if you're going to be flying a lot its a good idea to invest in at least a second battery. You cant go wrong with the DJI spark, but keep in mind for the same money you can also get the phantom 3 which has a 3 axis gimbal, and a flight time of 25 minutes. But its much bigger, so you have to ask your self how important is size to you. But for $500 dollars the DJI Spark is well worth the money. what ever you decide to record with your spark just know that you can post or share your videos with any one just seconds after landing.
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