DJI Neo, Avata 2, or Mavic? What's the right DJI drone for YOU

It's that exciting time of year again! DJI just announced their new drone: DJI Neo, that BARELY weighs 135g! This 'toy powerhouse' of a gadget has some great features- sure.

BUT... is it the right drone for you?

flashback to when i unboxed dji avata 2 fly more combo

The answer may be easier than you think. Whenever you read and article or watch a product review video, you need to understand who You simply need to understand who YOU are, vs who the reviewer is. This has personally been my only go to strategy while deciding whether or not i should buy something. Once you're able to compare your requirements, primary use case, difference in spending apetite and what not... you shall be able to reach to a decision.

So without further ado, let's start the venture! this time its the battle of DJI drones.

Spoiler alert: there is no winner or loser here. Only winner or loser 'for you'. So let's go!

Drone Buying Guide:

Factor I.) The Reviewer's Background: Who I am?

flying fpv drone on a windy winter morning

Back in 2017 when I passed out of college and got my first pay check, I spent all my money on buying a drone. I mean, I didn't even care to save money to rent an room to live in! Spent the next 3 months hopping from one friend's couch to another. Call me crazy, but my early 20s were full of energy, ideas, but a lack of financial resources.

I used to dream of owning a drone, flying off like a bird levitating and leaving the day-to-day problems back behind. Traveling the world, making youtube films, monetising drone flying skill in every possible way was my dream. Fast forward 7 years and a long agonising path full of realisations, and learnings- here we are living in a world where you no more need a full sized backpack to carry a kilo worth of drone and RC behind your back while climbing up a mountain any more!

7 years of flying cinematic drones, and 3+ years of (attempting to master) FPV drones flights later, we reach where we are today. A lot changed over the years, and for me personally it had to do with the shift in preferring to fly FPV over cinematic drones. I can't even begin to tell you about the amount of fpv drones I've crashed or lost, or destroyed and demotivate me in this process.

FPV is a long, time taking process which requires a fair bit of risk taking apetite if you wish to excel. So when DJI launched Avata 2 with "DJI Care Refresh" warranty (which includes collisions and flyaways in case you didn't know) - I just knew this was it: finally a drone I could to go absolutely reckless with, without the fear of demotivation or slowing me down.

So far the journey has been GREAT! I've flown it over mountains on windy days, I've freestyled with it. It's just a very capable, punchy drone in a class of its own. Don't compare it with the 5inch freestyle quads though- this is where it has its limitations (topic for another day, maybe).

But for now you basically know who i am and what i was looking for. and Avata 2 just seemed to tick most of the boxes for me.

Freestyle, cinematic fpv, indoor flying, long range, max flight time, etc etc etc - It may be the master of none, but its definitely NOT the jack of these trades: it is the undisputable Queen !

 Also: a true fpv lover here, so ALL my flights with avata 2 are with the RC and on manual mode(where you can fly it like a normal fpv drone). I'm team : "Hand controller is ridiculous, this is an insult to the fpv community" ! :)

But there's one thing I really, dearly, heartly miss not being able to do with this drone very well still : flying indoors. This is where Neo comes into picture for me.

which also brings me to the main decision making question:

Factor II.) The Buyer Mindset: Who are YOU?

• A casual traveler with no experience flying the drone: someone who is busy with his life, takes two vacations or less every year. scenario 1.) For someone with no time, energy or bandwidth to invest on learning a new craft:
  

  Get the DJI Neo. Period. The drone itself does all the chasing, vlogging and flying for you. Taking off and landing is a cake walk too. with time you might want to take more control of the flight and that's when you can start using the controller. but you do have to unless you want to. :) scenario 2.) For someone willing to learn:

  it boils down to how much you can invest. Avata 2 is great, but for learning I honestly think the Neo or the Mavic series are better alternatives. Just be careful learning with the Neo as it lacks obstacle avoidance, and might not handle heavy winds as great as the Mavic series. but the mavics come with a much, much heavier price tag. So boils down to how much you're willing to pay for it. If you stick to practise flights in vast open areas with no winds, DJI Neo will be the one for you.

  
  

• amateur or semi-professional Youtubers, and vloggers: DJI Neo would tick most boxes. Just be aware of the wind and obstacle related points i mentioned above.
  

• serious Youtubers, vloggers looking for a drone for their content:

  
  

  DJI Mavic series wins this segment by a HUGE margin.With features like obstaacle avoidance, cruise control, intelligent flight modes, picture profiles, dynamic range, low light performance , ... the list of capabilities are endless. Get the mavic which best fits in your budget and it shall last with you for years to come. I personally use the DJI Mavic 3 Classic and love every aspect of it.
  

• beginner FPV pilots:
  

  If you fall under this segment, you're my favorite kind of person. I already have immense love and respect for you.

  FPV is not everyone's cup of tea, and requires a lot of learning, practising and patience, and I wish you all the very best in this journey. Just don't give up as quickly as I used to. You'll get where you want to be. DJI Avata 2 will definitely make the road to learning easier and less overwhelming. You don't have to worry about a long list of tools, cables, lipos, chargers, naked action cams, soldering devices, converters, binding skills, calibration orcoding skills, yada yada yada to just begin to fly a drone for God's sake. The anxiety of flying an FPV drone is already enough. You don't deserve to be anxious about keeping track of battery percentage, or not finding your return to home position yourself when its about to die on you. DJI avata 2 is a fun drone that will not let you down and get you up and flying quickly. Do not forget the warranty as its a life saver.

  
  

•  somewhat experienced FPV pilots:

Let me ask you, why you're here? If you're someone who already owns a bunch of fpv drones, let me break the news for you: don't go the DJI route as it won't make you happy. Nothing compares to the flight characteristcs of a 5inch racing quad, and I miss the brief days that experience lasted for me (until i crashed one into a huge tree, lost another in a mountain valley, and a third one to Dutch storms straight into a river). DJI drones exist to make it easier for just about everyone to fly a drone, and fpv pilots (whether you're digitals or analogs)- are a different class of its own.

husky vs a wolf

It's like gorgeous husky standing side by side to a mighty, glorious wolf.

Still want me to say it? Okay, here I go: You don't need a DJI drone.

You can switch to angle or horizon modes for a cinematic outdoor flight, or tweak the rates in beta-flight to fly indoors better. And if a better video recording quality is what you seek- just invest in a good GoPro and you should be good.

Coming to myself, I'm in a sort of existential crisis currently. One leg is on the Youtube vlogger boat, with the second one drilled deep to the base of the 'beginner fpv boat'. I definitely see myself doing some fun, creative FPV flying with the Neo through tight spaces and indoors in coming future.

Thanks to already owning the Avata, I have goggles and the RC, so its not a lot of money I need to put on the table for the Neo.

Investing 199USD might unlock a new, fun angle for my content, which I don't mind spending. So personally speaking, the decision is easier.

However, its a shame that I would never be using the drone for any of its "fancy features" that seem to be their major selling point, and I'm not even part of their primary target audience, but rather make it purely about getting the fpv experience differently.

I hope I'm not crazy and I hope I'm not the only one. Time will tell the rest. Meanwhile you can enjoy the videos I create with each of these drones on my Youtube.

Thanks for reading! Did I miss any category that I should talk about? Other questions/ thoughts? Let me know in comments below!