Can U.S. made, self-flying Skydio 2 drone “Trump” world leader DJI ?

Upstart California drone maker Skydio just released it’s second consumer drone aimed squarely at market leader DJI’s Mavic Series of prosumer drones.

Skydio’s original drone, the R1, was released last year with a $2,500 (US) price tag and amazing autonomous flight programming that allowed it to follow it’s subject without fear of crashing into obtacles.  With the heavy price tag, we don’t think they sold too many.

But the 360 degree obstacle avoidance built in to Skydio integrates so well with it’s tracking feature that everyone in our industry stood up and took notice. Unfortunately price and short battery life were the biggest obstacles.

Yesterday, the release of Skydio 2 shows how hard they’ve been working to create a prosumer drone that can compete with, DJI at it’s own game.

Skydio 2 will come with an optional remote controller($149) that pairs with an App enabled smartphone to operate the drone. Built by Parrott with Skydio specific programming, Skydio promises “More camera. Less cockpit” by claiming to provide “the easiest and most intuitive flight experience ever”.  With range up to 3.5 km this places Skydio 2 roughly around the distance capability of a DJI Spark.

But one thing stands out as Skydio 2’s main point of difference: truly intelligent obstacle avoidance.  DJI has it’s APAS system, but Skydio 2 looks like it’s intelligent, obstacle avoiding flight system could be superior.  We’re looking forward to testing one as soon as possible to put it through it’s paces.

For now, if you’re looking for what is essentially a GoPro with wings and an amazing brain, we suggest you hit that pre-order button.  You can always change your mind and get your $100 deposit back before it ships (expected November).

Skydio 2 is aimed at the user who is most focused on safe, crash-resistant active tracking.  For adrenaline junkies looking for a GoPro with wings this is your machine.  And with the included fob, Skydio 2 will follow you even when it can’t see you using an included “Beacon”(also $150 extra) you carry or put in your pocket that keeps contact with the drone up to 1.5km.

We first saw this “follow me fob” feature a couple of years ago with the AirDog drone.  Airdog launched itself as an autonomous following drone designed to carry a GoPro. A niche product, we can’t speak to AirDog’s sales volume nor have we seen one in the wild.

Skydio’s success, or failure, will ultimately hinge on the ratio of cost to features.  So let’s run through the specs and rate how it stacks up to industry leader DJI’s fleet of consumer drones.

Video

All other things being equal, this is most important.  If video doesn’t stack up, the rest doesn’t matter.

Skydio 2 captures stills at 12 megapixels and can record 4K up to 100 Mbps with it’s 1/2.3″ Sony CMOS sensor at f/2.8.  A quick glance at the stack of drones in our lab and that sounds an awful lot like the DJI Mavic Air….basically 2 year old tech. Your framerate options with Skydio 2 are 24,30,48, 60fps at 4K or 30,60,120fps at 1080p with 13 stops of dynamic range.

Verdict: Tie, with DJI’s Mavic Air.

Size

Skydio 2 is a fixed wing quad, similar to DJI’s Spark mini-drone.  so packing up the drone doesn’t require any fold-up origami…it’ just nestles into the included hard shell case and you’re good to go.  The drone’s size puts it squarely between the Mavic Air and the Mavic Pro for size, which we can tell immediately is going to make it an extremely manageable drone.

We appreciate how much technology is jammed into that little airframe.  With 6 obstacle sensing cameras and the brains to make it work incredibly well maybe Skydio couldn’t figure out a way to make it foldable.  Unfortunately, that will be a deal breaker for some in 2019….and it will be a hurdle for us at DRN as well.

Verdict: Loss. Lack of folding arms gives DJI the edge.

Battery Life

Skydio 2 comes with one 4280 mAh battery that gives 23 minutes of power.  Extra batteries are available for $99 each.

We’ve been reporting on the UAV ecosystem since 2016, and of all the drone specs battery life is at #1 or always a close 2nd.  23 minutes puts the Skydio 2 very modestly ahead of DJI’s Mavic Air drone with it’s 21 minute battery.

Based on our experience flying drones, 23 minutes just doesn’t cut it.  We never use the Mavic Air anymore, primarily because of battery life.

Skydio 2’s unparralleled object tracking is so epic, we don’t think battery life will really be a determining factor for the end buyer.  And we don’t think it’s fair to focus to much on the fairly modest battery life.

Verdict: Tie. Slight more than Mavic Air, noticeably less than Mavic Pro, 2 Pro. But we don’t think this will matter.

Object Tracking

This is the hill that Skydio decided they are willing to die on.  It is the “why” of how the Skydio R1 was launched.

From what we’ve seen no other UAV even comes close to achieving the smooth, uninteruppted and intelligent follow characteristics of the Skydio 2.

Drone enthusiasts, often owners of Phantoms and Mavics, who wanted to capture action video of active or extreme sports literally had to bend the shooting options to fit the drone.  It was a “do the best you can with what the drone can do” world.

Skydio 2 has upped the ante, and we predict it will not only fill the gap created when the GoPro loyalists lost the Karma drone but will also chip away at DJI’s client base….especially buyers considering the Mavic Air.

We predict that Skydio 2 will see very quick adoption by commercial videographers, even sports broadcasters, deploying them in real-time to capture a new dimension in extreme, sports reporting.

But don’t take our word for it.  Head to Skydio’s website and check out the side-by-side video comparing active tracking on the Mavic 2 against the Skydio 2.  There’s no comparison.  Actually feel sad for DJI!

Verdict: Epic win. Hands down.

Price

You can pre-order Skydio 2 now, with $100 down and delivery sometime in November.  Total price is $999 for the basic kit, which includes a battery, Beacon fob, one set of props and one extra of each type, USB-C cable and wall adapter for charging in a hardshell carrying case.

$200 more than the Mavic Air (which does come with an controller) isn’t out of line given what Skydio 2 is bringing to the table.  In fact, next to the Parrott ANAFI, we think Skydio is the first serious challenger to DJI’s dominance in years.

Skydio 2 also comes with it’s own ‘built-in’ crash protection warranty that doesn’t cost anything extra.  If you crash your Skydio 2 while operating it within Skydio’s Safe Flight guidelines they’ll repair or replace it for free. That’s a company putting your money where your mouth is.

Verdict: Win.

Bottom Line

Like everyone else on earth, we’re really excited to do our own ‘hands-on’ testing of Skydio 2.  But everything we’ve seen since Skydio R1 has us convinced that what Skydio is achieving with smooth, reliable active tracking will have staying power.

This tiny upstart from California has unexpectedly leap-frogged DJI, and given drone enthusiasts serious reasons to stand up and take notice. And we think even more people will be taking notice once the Skydio 2 gets released into the wild.

Your move, DJI.