After creating a stir with the $200 Neo, DJI is back at it with another innovative drone, the Flip. It has a first-of-a-kind folding design and shrouded propellers to keep people safe. It also integrates 3D infrared obstacle detection to track subjects and has a long list of impressive features.

With a camera borrowed from the Mini 4 Pro, the Flip can take high-quality 4K 60p video indoors or out with little risk. It comes with vlogger-friendly features like Direction Track and Quickshots for social media. And it can be flown with either DJI’s controllers, a smartphone, voice control or the push of a button.

There’s no need for a permit to fly it, and best of all, it’s priced at $439 with an RC-N3 controller included — making it one of the more affordable drones available. To see how well it serves creators, I flew it inside a castle, a 500-year-old house and out in nature. It’s not perfect (hello, stiff winds and obstacles), and it has some stiff competition with the HoverAir X1 Pro, but it’s one of the most useful creator drones yet.

Design

The Flip has a clever, user-friendly design. All four propellers fold down and stack below the body like some kind of Star Wars spacecraft. DJI chose this construction so that it could incorporate permanent (rather than detachable) shrouds that protect the props to limit damage or injury in case of a collision. The design also employs large propellers that aid performance and reduce noise. By comparison, DJI’s Neo has tiny, fast-spinning propellers that make a high-pitched shrieking noise.

DJI kept the takeoff weight including battery and microSD card under 250 grams by using carbon fiber and other lightweight materials. This means the Flip can be flown without special permits. It’s still rather bulky though, especially compared to the sleek HoverAir X1 Pro.

The Flip has far better battery life than its rival, however. DJI promises up to 34 minutes max flight time (about 27 minutes in real-world conditions), compared to just 16 minutes for the X1 Pro. The batteries can be charged up quickly as well, taking about 35 minutes each with the optional four-battery charger. You’ll need a memory card, though, as the Flip only has 2GB of internal storage.

The Flip is DJI’s first lightweight drone with a 3D infrared sensor for forward obstacle avoidance and it also has a downward vision sensor for landing spot detection and stability. However, unlike the Mini 4 Pro and other DJI drones, it has no side or rear obstacle sensors. 

One small issue is that the Flip’s propellers don’t have much clearance, so they can snag even in short grass on takeoffs. Like the Neo, though, it’s designed more for takeoffs and landings from your hand. To that end, it has a button on the opposite side of the power switch to select a flight mode and takeoff automatically, just like the Neo. It can also be flown with the app, voice control or manually with a controller — either the DJI RC-N3 controller (which requires a smartphone) or the RC 2 controller with a built-in 5.5-inch display.

Features and performance

The Flip can hum along at up to 26 mph in sport mode, which isn’t bad for a light drone, but a good bit slower than the Mini 4 Pro (37 mph). However, the reduced weight and large surface area means it’s not the best in high winds. When it flew over the roof of a castle, for example, it got hit by a gust that pushed it nearly backwards.

However, the Flip can do things that you’d never attempt with a Mini 4 Pro. The full propeller protection, stability and relatively low noise make it well-suited for flying inside large rooms full of fragile objects and people. That, along with the excellent picture quality, means it’s a great choice for event professionals and content creators working in public spaces.

It’s also perfect for beginners, because like the Neo, you can launch the Flip off your hand at the push of a button. It will then fly a pre-programmed mode and land back where it started. One of those modes, Direction Track, allows the drone to fly backwards and follow you for vlogging. There’s also a follow mode for activities like running and hiking, along with social media-friendly flight modes like Dronie, Rocket, Circle, Helix and Boomerang. Note that video in these automatic modes is limited to 4K 30 fps.

At the same time, the Flip is easy to fly manually either with a smartphone or the supported controllers. Though not as maneuverable as the Mini 4 Pro, it’s easier for novices to fly and makes a stable camera platform. You do need to be careful in areas with untextured floors (painted concrete, for instance), as it can throw off the Flip’s sensors and make it unstable. When that happens, your best bet is to switch it into sport mode to disable the vision-based flight stability sensors (and then fly carefully because obstacle detection will also be disabled).

Oddly, the Flip doesn’t work with DJI’s Goggles N3 and Motion 3 controller, unlike the much cheaper Neo. That’s because DJI sees it predominantly as a camera drone rather than an acrobatic device.

If you’re hoping to use the Flip to track yourself or others, there’s a big issue: It lacks obstacle detection in any direction except forward or down. If you’re flying the drone backwards, for instance, you have to make sure there’s nothing behind it can crash into. And automatic obstacle avoidance doesn’t work at all when you use the Flip’s smart features like Direction Track or ActiveTrack, though the drone will stop 10 feet before hitting anything it detects. The lack of that feature is odd, since obstacle avoidance is an important part of subject tracking, and DJI didn’t say if it had plans to rectify that issue via a future update. None of this is an issue with the HoverAir X1 Pro, which can track forwards, backwards and even sideways with full obstacle detection enabled.

The Flip has excellent range for such a tiny drone at up to eight miles, thanks to DJI’s O4 transmission system. At the same time, it can send a high quality 1080p 60 fps video signal that can be recorded to the controller as a backup. However, if you’re flying using your smartphone with a Wi-Fi connection, range is limited to just 165 feet.

Camera

The cameras are the biggest difference between the Flip and the Neo. The Flip comes with a much larger 1/1.3-inch 48-megapixel sensor and a 24mm-equivalent wide angle F/1.7 lens. It’s the same as the one on the Mini 4 Pro and provides sharp, noise-free video in good light.

You can shoot 4K video at up to 60 fps (100 fps in slow-mo mode), rather than just 30 fps like the Neo. In addition, the Flip supports 10-bit D-LogM video that allows for improved dynamic range in bright lighting, like on ski slopes. You can also capture 12MP or 48MP RAW (DNG) photos.

Video quality is noticeably sharper than on the Neo and the Flip is a far better drone for night shoots or dimly lit indoor settings thanks to the lower noise levels. Though the DJI Air 3S and Mavic 4 offer higher quality due to the larger sensors, there isn’t a large difference in good light. Since the Flip has just a single camera, video is noticeably more noisy when using the 2x zoom. Note that when shooting in the automated modes (Direction Track, Dronie, etc.) there is no manual control of the camera to adjust exposure, shutter speed and ISO.

The HoverAir X1 Pro has the same-sized 1/1.3-inch sensor and offers very similar video quality (with a log mode as well), though I find DJI’s colors to be a touch more accurate. The HoverAir has slightly inferior 4K 60p video unless you spend an extra $200 for the Pro Max version to get 8K 30fps and 4K 120fps.

With a three-axis gimbal, the Flip shoots silky smooth video even if it’s being buffeted by winds. You can choose Follow mode to keep the camera level even when the drone banks, or FPV mode that allows the camera to tilt for a more exciting first-person perspective. Generally, video remains smooth even with sudden maneuvers, while footage from the HoverAir X1 Pro exhibits occasional jolts and janky movements.

The Flip’s camera doesn’t rotate 90 degrees like the one on the Mini 4 Pro, so maximum resolution for vertical video is 2.7K — a step backwards from the 4K 60 fps 9:16 vertical video on the Mini 4 Pro.

Wrap-up

The Flip represents a bold change in direction (and design) for DJI. Unlike open prop drones, it gives creators the ability to shoot indoors and around people with relatively high video quality. And it does this for just $439 — much less than the $759 Mini 4 Pro. However, the Flip isn’t perfect, with its main flaws being the reduced maneuverability, problems in wind and lack of obstacle avoidance when using smart modes like ActiveTrack.

As I mentioned, DJI also has some serious competition in this category, namely the $500 HoverAir X1 Pro. Both offer features like palm takeoff, intelligent flight modes and subject tracking and have similar quality, but the HoverAir X1 Pro offers rear-side active collision detection, a wider lens and more internal storage. It’s also about half the size of the Flip. For its part, the Flip has double the flight time and a much longer transmission range.

The choice then depends on what you want. If portability, subject tracking and obstacle avoidance are key, the HoverAir X1 Pro is a better option. Others who prioritize battery life, smoother video and a more established company should choose the Flip. In any case, DJI usually dominates all drone categories, so it’s nice to see multiple products facing off in this creator-centric space.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/dji-flip-review-a-unique-and-useful-creator-drone-with-a-few-flaws-181507462.html?src=rss

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