DJI recently unveiled the Neo, the much-leaked $200 drone meant for content creators and casual users. It’s small and easy to use thanks to newbie-friendly features like propeller guards, palm takeoff, and voice control.
The Neo is no toy (or Snap Pixy), though. It has a number of powerful features like ActiveTrack, Quick Shots, FPV controller support, smartphone control, and the ability to record yourself with the DJI Mic 2.
The video specs also look promising, but not everything is perfect – it lacks obstacle detection and uses small propellers that are prone to noise. I wasn’t able to test it out fully as it was missing some features, but I was still surprised by what DJI managed to squeeze out of a small, inexpensive drone.
Weighing 135 grams, the Neo is DJI’s lightest drone and almost small enough to carry in a pocket. That small size also means it’s exempt from FAA registration and doesn’t require a drone pilot permit.
It also has a feature we haven’t seen on the company’s drones before: a second button near the camera gimbal that lets you choose different “Smart Shot” modes (Quick Shot on other DJI drones) such as Follow and Dronie.
It comes with removable propeller guards that provide protection for use indoors and around people. Be careful when you fly, though, as there’s no obstacle avoidance other than the main camera’s AI and the IR landing sensor on the bottom.
The camera gimbal can tilt 60 degrees up and 90 degrees down, though it doesn’t flip up for vertical video. The half-inch 12-megapixel sensor has an ultra-wide angle 13mm equivalent focal length with an f/2.8 aperture — good specs for a drone in this price range.
The Neo’s 1,435mAh lithium-ion battery is incredibly lightweight but delivers up to 17 minutes of flight time, or about 13 to 14 minutes in the real world. The small size means they charge quickly, but most users will want the two extra cells and a charger included in the Neo Combo Kit.
For charging the battery and transferring footage, there’s a USB-C port on the back. However, you won’t find a microSD card slot, as the Neo relies on 22GB of internal storage that holds about 40 minutes of 4K 30p footage.
Although small, the Neo offers the features you’d expect from a high-end drone. To make it less intimidating for beginners, the Neo can be launched by simply holding it in the hand and pressing the Mode button. Then, it will automatically record video while performing one of six preprogrammed Smart Shots: Follow, Dronie, Circle, Rocket, Spotlight, and Direction Track. To land the drone, just place your hand underneath it.
Settings can be changed from the new DJI Fly app, which now works without a controller and connects to the drone via Wi-Fi. For Smart mode, you can change things like follow distance and height, drone radius and flight path, circle radius, and more. You can also adjust video and photo resolution.
The Neo is DJI’s first model that lets you use voice control to launch the drone and perform Smart Shots and other actions. The feature wasn’t available in the beta software I tested, but DJI said it will be there when the drone goes on sale today.
If you want to pilot the drone yourself without buying a controller, that’s now possible too. Manual mode offers touch screen controls for camera/video mode and return-to-home (RTH) toggles, as well as all drone movements.
Touchscreen piloting worked surprisingly well, allowing me to fly the Neo with precision. The drone is pretty stable outdoors with a GPS lock, but it can move around and be a little tricky to handle indoors.
For more precision, the Neo also supports a number of DJI controllers, including the RC N3 model sold separately. However, you can also use it as an FPV drone by connecting it to DJI’s RC Motion 3 and DJI Goggles 3.
The controller mode offers the same features you’d find on drones like the Mini 4 Pro, including cinema, normal and sport modes, manual and auto video, quick shot features and more. Using it with FPV goggles and a controller gives you a similar experience to the Avata 2, including one-press acrobatics – albeit with a big drop in performance.