Is the DJI Neo the perfect drone for adventure motorcycle vlogs?
To not make you watch the entire video, I will start with the conclusion of my first real life impressions – Yes, it is absolutely awesome!
Feel free to stick around to find out the details or use the timestamps in the description of how this works in the field. This is just the first impression, I do plan to make a full on review once I have more time to play around with it.
I have split the review into my main requirements for my needs:
Ease of use & time to set up
It is important that the drone footage is secondary to my motorcycle ride experience – I already have great footage with my GoPro.
That means I want to spend the least amount of time possible to set up and launch the drone – something that really you cannot find anywhere else on the market, no matter the price range.
With any other drone – you have to take off your helmet, your gloves, open your bag, take out the remote, take out the drone, unfold the drone, start the remote, start the drone, open your phone, connect the phone, launch the drone, set tracking, put the remote in the bag, put your phone in the pocket, put on your helmet, start riding, stop, take off your helmet, open your bag, take out the remote, call the drone back, land it, fold it, put the remote in the bag, put the drone in the bag, close the bags, put on your helmet and ride away.
With the DJI Neo – you keep your helmet on, take off one glove, open your bag, take out the drone, launch it in the desired mode with a push of a button, put on your helmet and glove and ride. Then just stop, extent your palm and put the drone back in your bag.
Storage – I got a small hardcase waterproof leg bag that fits the DJI Neo and 2 batteries. No need for bulky bags, extra luggage. I decided to keep it on my leg and not the bike since it is subjected to a lot fewer vibrations.
Tracking ability – after the firmware update it is close to 32 km /h which for me personally is enough to capture some nice footage of climbs, tracked from the back or the side. Or just some beautiful tracks through the hills. For when I feel like speeding I can always set it up in a fixed position, but I normally relly on my GoPro for those shots. However the most amazing thing about the DJI Neo is how it follows the path you leave on the ground so if you’re able to avoid obstacles in the air in it’s flight path it will just do an amazing job at tracking you through the woods.
Video Modes – Besides tracking and staying in one place I think the third most useful mode is the Circle/Boomerang as it can provide some pretty awesome 360 perspective of a mountain top or any other scenic place really, something you can’t really do with a GoPro
Video Quality – Yes, the 4k from this sensor could look a bit less sharpened and with higher dynamic range – but honestly, even the GoPro Heros 10/11/12 struggle with overexposure from time to time, and really for the 60 seconds that you end up shooting of an amazing scenic place, nobody is going to care or notice. Nothing an ND Filter and a bit of post-editing can’t fix, really.
Price to Risk of breaking it risk ratio – This is another huge bonus, as this drone, crash tested with repeated impacts in walls or trees, survives pretty much everything you can throw at it – this gives you a lot of peace of mind that even if it crashes in a tree you’re not losing a few thousand euros, most of the times it comes out without a scratch.
As an overall conclusion – there is no other drone on the market right now that can offer decent quality in 4k resolution, AI tracking up to a decent speed, convenience of storage, ease of mind for crashes, and most importantly for me – ease and speed of use at this price range – or any price range really. Curious of what the Neo 2 will bring.
