DJI entered the world of FPV fun with DJI FPV. Until then, FPV flying (usually piloting a drone from a first-person perspective wearing goggles) was considered something of a specialized niche. Because of the sport’s similarity to Formula One, the field was dominated by a small number of dedicated drone pilots who possessed the tremendous hand-eye coordination and motor skills required to pilot these machines.
DJI drones have made this specialized drone category affordable for the Captain Slow of the drone world. The beautifully constructed flying machine made FPV flying accessible, intuitive, and fun. Its simplicity of operation and clever design make it arguably one of the best drones we’ve tested – though its camera may not be as impressive for those who want to focus on aerial photography.
The DJI FPV is a new category of flying machine that comes fairly close to the ease of use of the Mavic series, but falls short of its refinement, comfort, and cost-effectiveness. The DJI FPV is primarily intended to shoot immersive FPV 4K video, and while it also has the ability to shoot still images at a basic level, you certainly shouldn’t buy this drone for that. the advantage of shooting video with an FPV drone is that it’s as if you are flying in an exhilarating first-person perspective, as if you were flying.
DJI FPV review: Design
The FPV has the same 1/2.3-inch sensor as the $450 Mini 2, which is mostly a good thing. However, it can’t match the capabilities of DJI’s more advanced photo and video drones. The FPV’s camera is good in daylight, but shows its weaknesses in darker environments, swallowing up details with heavy noise. The FPV can shoot 4K footage at 60 frames per second, while the Mini 2 can only manage 24 frames per second – perfect for slowing down for exciting close-ups. And if you want it even slower, you can also shoot up to 120 frames per second at 1080p.
The camera is mounted on a single-axis gimbal and has a super-wide 150-degree angle of view compared to the 83 degrees you get with the Mini 2. That’s wide enough that you can see the ends of the propellers in the footage. That’s good for seeing how close you’re getting to certain obstacles as you fly, but it’s not good for the overall aesthetic of the finished clip. You can easily remove it in post-production or apply lens correction in the goggles menu, which can also eliminate severely distorted edges. Part of me wishes there was a better camera here, especially at this price, but we get it – it’s DJI’s first FPV drone and if it’s successful, we can expect to see a more diverse lineup in the future.
The downside of analog transmission is that you can’t fly long distances with it. The advantage, however, is that analog transmission has very low latency, which takes precedence over range. Fortunately, DJI uses its OcuSync technology here, and from our experience over the past few weeks, it works great. In a few places we noticed some sort of image glitch. we had to stop and wait a few beats before continuing, but by and large everything went smoothly.
DJI FPV review: Features
Since the DJI FPV is a drone designed for fun flying rather than serious aerial video and photography, its motion video and still image capabilities are a bit less than other DJI drones. Still, video quality is impressive for an FPV drone, at 50/60 fps at 4K and 50/60/100/120 fps at 1080p.The DJI FPV is equipped with a 12MP 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor and a fixed-focus camera lens equivalent to 14.66mm with a viewing angle of 150 degrees and a fixed f/2.8 aperture.
Fixed focal lengths range from 0.6m to infinity, meaning that everything in the frame is theoretically in focus and appears so. The camera is capable of capturing immersive video, and video footage can be captured in standard and D-cineramic color profiles at bit rates up to 120 Mbps. So at first glance, there should be a wide dynamic range to work with your video editing software of choice.
Overall, the 4K and 1080p videos look pretty good, and aside from the camera capturing the front props, the footage is good enough to post on YouTube. There is a lens distortion option that, when turned on, eliminates the barrel distortion of the lens that would otherwise occur. One big difference is that since this is an FPV drone, the gimbal only works on the (vertical) tilt axis. But the image stabilization (with the Osmo’s DJI technology) takes care of any issues here, and again, the technology delivers buttery smooth video.
DJI FPV review: Controller
The DJI FPV comes with a beefy handheld controller that will be familiar to previous DJI drone owners. However, there are a few different buttons on the back that you will need to familiarize yourself with, namely the rear rocker switch that changes the flight modes from Normal to Sport and Manual. In addition to a video capture button and a photo button, the controller also has a gimbal tilt wheel, even though you’ll be flying the drone with the camera pointed straight ahead most of the time.
DJI introduced an optional motion controller (£139 / US$199 / A$229) that allows you to control the drone using only hand movements. This is surprisingly intuitive, but I found it quite intimidating, as you have to be gentle with your movements.
In other words, we wouldn’t want to fly it through a small concrete arch at 85 kilometers per hour, at least not until we did spent a few hours practicing on a large open area. On a positive note, the motion controller comes with a large, textured button that makes the drone stop and hover immediately if something goes wrong.
DJI FPV review: Image Quality
Still images can also be recorded. A long press of the shutter button on the remote control can be used to switch between still images and video. However, photo functionality is severely limited, and it is safe to say that DJI FPV is not a drone that is used exclusively for taking still images.
If this is important to you and you don’t already own another drone that is better suited for still photography, then the DJI FPV is probably not the drone for you. When taking still images, you can only shoot in Auto or Manual modes and capture JPEGs. Shooting in raw is not possible, and there are no automatic shooting modes for photos or videos. This drone is ultimately intended for forward FPV video recording.
One problem with taking photos or videos while hovering is that the drone will naturally tilt sideways to maintain its position when a crosswind blows. Since there is no gimbal movement on the horizontal axis, still images will be taken at an angle (see above). This is another difference between DJI FPV and the Mavic series, which uses gimbals to account for this tilt and align the camera.
DJI FPV review: Video Quality
The camera features a 1/2.3″ 12MP sensor with a 150o FOV and is mounted on a 1-axis tilt gimbal. The camera can capture still images and video at 4K/60p or 1080p/120p for slow motion recording at 120 Mbps. It also features an electronic roll axis and Rocksteady image stabilization. It produces smoother images than other FPV drones, but it can’t compare to the 3-axis mechanical image stabilization DJI offers on other series like the Mavic.
Remote pilots can simultaneously capture.JPG, images or.MP4 clips. Switching between the different modes is smooth. Although the photos were decent, the drone sometimes tilted, resulting in photos with crooked edges. The photo resolution is 3840×2160, which is equivalent to 4K video.
DJI FPV review: Performance
The racing scene is full of machines that are much faster than the average camera drone. While the FAA limits Part 107 operations to under 100 MPH, the fastest racing drones can reach over 170 MPH. The DJI FPV can’t fly that fast, it’s rated for 87 MPH. For any experienced Mavic pilots, that’s about twice as fast as they’re used to.
Performance is not limited to top speed in straight flight, the DJI FPV’s performance shows up in smaller missions as well. Be sure to move the control sticks smoothly when you are close to the drone. The drone has forward and downward obstacle avoidance, but it will jump into an obstacle to the side or back faster than most people can react. The drone’s acceleration is reported to be about 2 seconds from 0 to 62 MPH. We’re talking supercar speeds here.
All of this performance comes with a reasonable trade-off: expect a maximum of 20 minutes of flight time per battery – not a top performer on our list of battery runtimes. This number decreases depending on your aggressiveness with the sticks, but it’s still above that of a typical racing drone, which lands in the 5-10 minute range.
DJI FPV review: Configuration Option
The DJI FPV bundle starts at $1299. This includes the drone, FPV Goggles V2, remote control, a set of spare propellers, a spare top and other essential accessories. For an additional $299, you can purchase the Fly More Kit, which includes two additional Intelligent Flight Batteries and a 3-way charging port. You may also consider purchasing the Motion Controller for $199.
At $1299, the DJI FPV is considerably more expensive than the DJI Mavic Air 2 and Mini 2. Price-wise, it rivals ultra-portable professional drones like the Mavic 2 Pro and the Autel robotics Evo 2. Considering that the DJI FPV bundle already comes with FPV goggles, this is a very good price range. It should also be noted that the DJI FPV Bundle is considerably more expensive than purchasing the individual drone components and assembling them yourself. Of course, this is not an approach suitable for everyone.
Final Words
DJI FPV is “fun” when written in capital letters. The first-person perspective makes for an incredibly immersive flying experience thanks to the amazing DJI goggles, and of course the video from the front-facing camera is equally engaging. However, it is not all smooth sailing. The actual flight time is only about 10 minutes, the cost is high considering the accessories required, and it is difficult to perform true FPV acrobatics, making it clearly more complex and niche than other DJI drones.
