Skydio R1 Review: The Smart Drone of The Future
By now, we reviewed a large number of budget drones on this website. They are usually ideal for amateurs, to be used as a hobby or as part of the learning process. Their features are basic but the price is also minimal. However, there’s a couple of more professional options on the market too. One of them is the Skydio R1 drone which we’re about to review in this article.
The Skydio R1 is a professional tool that can be used in most scenarios to obtain the best results possible. The drone costs some top dollars which makes it unavailable to many people but, an ideal drone for those looking to obtain highly-professional results. It is ideal for extreme outdoor activities like racing, rock climbing, off-road biking, and any other sports. It’s also great for recording professional-looking videos. We will underline all of the main features of the drone in this Skydio R1 review.
Design and Durability
The drone has a stylish design that allows it to compete with some of the most popular quads in the current market. It has a nice-looking black coating with subtle blue details around the onboard camera. Its design is reminiscent of the AirSelfie line of drones.
The drone is built out of alloy metal to ensure the increased durability in extreme conditions but also the case of crashes. The Skydio R1 is heavier than most of its competitors and other drones on the market, weighing a total of 1kg. Although more difficult to transport than a small quadcopter, the Skydio drone can react very well in case of windy conditions due to the stability generated by the increased weight.
It comes with propeller guards that are part of the overall design. They are meant to protect the propellers and increase the life span of the drone. Although the prop guards don’t have the most protection functionalities, the drone has an object avoidance function that works all around. The sensors can detect obstacles from anywhere around the drone and adjust the course accordingly. This increases safety and lowers the chances of a crash occurring.
Camera
The Skydio R1 drone comes with a built-in 4k camera that we’re about to review in this section. The camera is one of the most essential features of this drone, and a selling point on its own. It is mounted on a 2-axis gimbal, enabling the user to record high-quality footage stably, even in dynamic environments.
Due to its gimbal, the camera can look both upwards but also downwards. Since it’s mounted on the quadcopter, the 4k camera tends to be more durable and stable even in the worst of conditions. The camera can understand and even map the environment surrounding the drone.
The self-awareness of the drone allows the Skydio R1 to predict the position of the people, up to 4 seconds in the future. The NVIDIA Tegra that’s powering up the quadcopter allows it to take such smart decisions. This feature is ideal for beginners as well but, considering the price point of this drone it has a better use-case scenario in the hands of professionals.
Performance
In the performance, the department is where this pro drone excels. We can easily call this tool a smart drone due to its high-performance features, ability to record quality clips and images and the other autonomous functions. It can do all of them at once.
The drone is built with the latest technologies available on the market. It’s an ideal choice for pilots desiring a highly-versatile drone. Its battery can last for 16 minutes. Although it’s not the best time, paired with a few extra batteries it can still deliver great results.
Smart Features
Even if all of the features listed above are exceptional, a large number of them can be found in competitor drones that retail for far cheaper. However, the Skydio R1 drone has a handful of smart and unique features that we’re about to review now.
This quadcopter has a built-in supercomputer powered by Artificial Intelligence. This allows it to fly autonomously and predict the movement of the targetted object to record videos of a higher quality. The Skydio R1 can process the data way faster than other drones and results in better flying experience.
The drone features a large number of smart functions like intelligent flight modes, one-key takeoff, and landing, return to home, waypoint mode and countless others. The drone has an outstanding follow me mode that can’t be found on most cheap drones.
You can control the drone hands-free with a smartwatch, allowing you to enjoy a large number of activities without having to use a remote controller. You can also share your footage “on the fly”, straight from the drone without having to upload the images or clips on a computer.
Conclusion
As we showcased in the above review, the Skydio R1 drone is packed with smart and useful features. They can greatly improve your flying experience. The drone is capable of things that none of its cheap competitors can perform. However, such greatness often comes at a price, and so is the case for Skydio R1. The drone retails for around $2000 on most marketplaces. It’s an overall great option if you have the spare money.
