Best DJI Drones
DJI is known for their high-quality products and we know that a lot of people search for professional drones. So we have decided to make a list of the Best DJI Drones in 2018 to help you in your quest of making great aerial video and photos.
As a drone pilot, you would like to have all the best features on your drone for a decent price. Sadly this is hard to achieve and there will be some compromises depending on your target budget. As a result, I will present the Best DJI Drones while considering different price points.
DJI Spark – A Drone With Great Mobility
Our first drone is on the cheaper side and it will set you back around $399. While it is not capable of shooting 4k video, DJI Spark is a very small drone and it enables you to carry it with you wherever you go while occupying little space. It can shoot videos at Full HD quality, the camera has 12MP for awesome photos and it can be gesture controlled.
The battery life of this drone is around 16 minutes which gives you a good compromise at this price point. Other drones may give you worse quality and less flight time at the same price. The transmission distance of the controller is at around 2 km and because it can even be controlled through gestures it is quite easy to fly.
The bottom line regarding this drone is that it is made for people with a lower budget and people who don’t want to have extra luggage in order to be able to carry a drone with them. So especially if you’re the type that travels a lot, then you will surely appreciate the miniature size of this drone.
DJI Tello – The Budget Friendly Drone
DJI wanted to expand their market reach and they surely did. This drone costs only $99 and it is very appealing if you’re an amateur that wants to give drones a chance. Of course, many compromises have been made in order to deliver this result, but I’m pretty confident that it’s worth the value.
Of course, you shouldn’t expect any 4k cameras at this price point and you actually may get a bit disappointed a bit, but this drone can take videos only in 720p. It’s not good, but it’s not that bad either. And in any case, it’s ok since it is targeted for amateurs. Also, if you wanted to test VR flight, this drone offers it as a feature, but you need to buy the kit separately.
The battery life of the Tello stands at about 13 minutes. I think this is quite impressive for such a cheap drone with so many features. It has some built-in protective measure, auto-landing and a transmission distance of 100m. Basically this might be the best drone for you if you want to train in drone flight, or if you want something cheap to capture aerial videos and photos from.
DJI Mavic Air – When Mavic Pro and Spark Get Together
The Mavic Air is a pretty interesting drone. It seems to be a combination between the DJI Mavic Pro and the DJI Spark. It has most of the features of the Mavic Pro and the mobility and the cheaper price of the Spark. Basically, it’s what would come out if the Mavic Pro and Spark had babies.
Even though this drone isn’t that big, it sure packs a punch. It has a 12 MP 4K camera and it has front and rear obstacle avoidance. It will sting your wallet more than a Spark, but it will be cheaper than a Mavic Pro. It currently costs $799 and it’s a pretty good price to quality ratio if you consider that the Mavic Pro Costs $999 and it has similar features.
You can take slow-motion videos, HDR photos and it has a foldable design which allows it to be easily carried on your trips. The remote control is also foldable and you can attach a smartphone in order to see a live feed of what the drone sees. The Mavic Air has 21 minutes of flight time and it offers you good flight control.
The bottom line regarding this drone is that it can offer you professional footage for an accessible price. It might not be the best of the best when it comes to professional standards, but it is good enough for people who want to start doing aerial footage. It basically is a drone for semi-professionals.
DJI Inspire 2 – For Professionals
We have covered the best budget options and now it is time to cover the more expensive drones from DJI. The Inspire 2 is a truly professional drone that will give you the best of the best in most cases. There is a little compromise with this quadcopter and it shows in its price tag. It will punch quite the hole through your wallet at $2999.
The first notable thing is that it can achieve a speed of up to 95 km/h which will allow you to shoot some nice action-packed scenes above the ground at a high speed. You’ll also need to really try in order to break the drone because it has a 6-directional obstacle avoidance system.
The materials also scream premium since it’s made from magnesium aluminum composite for the shell and it also has carbon fiber arms for durability feather-like weight. The Inspire 2 offers around 27 minutes of flight with X4S.
Since this is a more professional drone, I will also mention the Image Processing, Storage, Video Format and File System. The image processing and storage is 5.2k@4.2Gbps RAW video recording, CineCore 2.0 and integrated DJI CINESSD. The video format is CinemaDNG and Apple ProRes 5.2K video support, H.265 and H.264 video codec support, 4K video at 100Mbps and the recorded video can be stored simultaneously on the DJI CINESSD and a micro-SD card. And lastly, the file system is FAT32/exFAT universal file system.
The controllable range of the drone is at around 7 km depending on the surroundings. As you’ve just seen earlier, drone camera supports many formats, which is quite useful for those who really need those types of formats. The Inspire 2 also has many built-in features that will help you take the perfect shot of anything. Things like ActiveTrack (tracking objects or people) and Smart Return to Home sure are handy it will make your life a lot easier.
So if you want to make a little compromise and if you want the Best DJI drone, then probably the DJI Inspire 2 was made for you. There are some even more expensive drones, but this one should be good enough and it is actually targeted at consumers that don’t have a big studio to film/take photos for.
DJI Phantom 4 Pro – A Prosumer Choice
While the Phantom 4 Pro doesn’t pack all the best professional features available, it packs most of them and it does it at a lower price. You can buy the Phantom 4 Pro at $1499 right now which is a decent enough price for a product that is aimed at people who want quality.
The camera of this drone can record videos at 4k@60 FPS, which is required even for youtube videos these days, especially if you’re making a living off them. The camera has 20MP and a 1-inch Image Sensor. The camera also has a mechanical shutter. The quadcopter is also made to be safe because of its 5-Direction Obstacle Sensing system.
Another good highlight for this drone is the OcuSync Transmission System which can transmit HD@2.4Ghz and @5.8Ghz which can automatically connect to the DJI Goggle wirelessly. The videos can be encoded in H.264 and H.265.
In order to provide further safety. The drone has Infrared Sensing System which can be very useful, especially if it’s darker outside. It is placed on the left and the right sides of the quadcopter and it can measure the distance between the aircraft and any obstacles.
For those who are concerned about the noise that this drone can produce, it also has a quite propulsion than most drones. So if you don’t want the sound of the drone to be heard through the video, then this might be a good choice for you. The intelligent batteries also help extend the battery life of the drone as much as possible stretching the flight time to up to 30 minutes which should be a lot of time for you to record anything.
Final Words
So this is the world of DJI. A world where everything can be achieved with the right budget. It seems that they have you covered regardless of your budget so you will be ready to fly at any time. It’s truly amazing how much technology they can cram even in the DJI Tello. That was all for the Best DJI Drones In 2018 list and I hope you will have a nice flight experience.
