A few months ago, on the recommendation of a friend, I purchased a DJI Neo drone. There were several reasons behind my decision to buy the Neo, and that started with them recommending it highly.
Why a drone?
That’s simple to answer: I recently started doing videos, to supplement my traffic-free cycling route guides. Using helmet camera footage alone results in video that becomes rapidly boring. Being able to intersperse it with drone video adds another dimension.
While I’m under no delusions that my videos are cinematographic masterpieces, they serve a purpose. You see, the videos were originally just meant to give you the chance to see what a route looked like in real life, and all of them do that just fine.
Why a DJI Neo?
I owned a few drones before, but all of them were, at best, simply toys. The gold standard I was after was a drone that could do a follow-me mode, and had a 4K camera. The Neo ticks both those boxes, and more!
Remember, I wanted a drone to use when making videos, not simply for flying around, and the Neo has a phenomenally good gimbal. Even in blustery winds, where I observed the Neo juddering in the air, fighting the wind, the resulting video was remarkably clear and steady.
Control
You can fly the Neo using a dedicated DJI controller, fly is using your phone, or simply fly it using the hardware buttons on the drone. The controller gives you the most options, but is costs nearly as much as the drone itself. As a result, I don’t have the controller.
When flying it using an app on your phone, the drone limits you to a range of 50 metres, and a max height of 30 metres. For my needs, that’s more than enough. However, if you wanted a greater range, with a DJI RC-N3 controller, you can have a range of up to 10 kilometres (around 6 miles). DJI says the practical range, with video feed from the drone, is 1.5 to 3 km, in urban areas, where there can be heavy interference. That’s FAR more than the range I need.
When flying using just the buttons on the drone, the drone flies itself (for example, in follow-me mode). The only way to change the settings of each mode is via the app.
Spotlight on…
The Neo has a mode called Spotlight. When flying in that mode, it flies itself, and will hover in one place. However, it will turn to keep you in focus at all times. This means the Neo can act like a dedicated camera person.
However, due to propeller noise, the Neo doesn’t record any audio. In Spotlight mode, you can record audio, using the app on your phone. For best results, you will need to use an external lavalier microphone. The app offers good noise cancellation, and you should be able to get decent audio.
The catch is (and there’s always a catch) that you must keep the phone on and unlocked, and keep the DJI Fly app in the foreground.
Flight time
A single battery limits you to around 17 minutes max flight time, with the propeller guards on. I keep mine on, as apparently I am at risk of crashing my drone (see the video below). Removing the prop guards gives you an extra minute of flight time.
You can purchase additional batteries, and because DJI is such a large producer of drones, availability is assured for years to come. There’s considerable peace of mind in that. As for how many spare batteries you need, well, that will depend on your unique needs.
A single battery takes roughly an hour to fully recharge.
Speed
In follow-me mode, the Neo has a max speed of around 13 mph. When paired with a DJI controller, the Neo can be much faster, up to 36 mph. For such a tiny drone, that’s blisteringly fast. However, there’s a price to pay: when flying at max speed all the time, the flight time per battery will be reduced.
In my route guide videos, where my Neo is in follow-me mode, I try to keep my speed down to around 10 mph.
The law
Under UK law, any drone of 250 gram or less is classified as a toy. At just 135 g, the Neo slots into this category. What this means in practice is that you need neither a CAA Flyer ID, nor an Operator ID to fly the Neo. The single exception is if you used the Neo for commercial work, for example, someone pays you to survey a roof for them. In such cases, you require an Operator’s ID.
Combined with the fact that I operate mine from my phone, and therefore have a maximum range of 50 metres, and a maximum height of 30 metres, it slots under what the CAA classifies as basic, low-risk flying. The CAA also requires that you need to limit the range of the drone to visual line of sight (VLOS), and again, the 50 metres range comfortably falls within that.
But how does VLOS work when in follow-me mode? After all, then the drone is behind me. The CAA website explicitly states “You do not have to keep your drone or model aircraft in direct sight when follow-me mode is active and set to follow within 50m of you.”
For drones over 250 g, you must not fly closer than 50 metres to people. However, the CAA website explicitly states for drones lighter than 250 g, you are exempted from that restriction. What this means in practice is you may legally use the Neo in follow-me mode, even on shared paths, provided you exercise care.
Verdict
The DJI Neo is spectacular value for money, within certain parameters. If you just want a toy drone, there are far cheaper options available, though you’ll also sacrifice video quality.
If you wanted (or needed) the follow-me mode, the Neo is by far your best bet. In addition, it’s tiny and weighs next to nothing, so you can easily take it on adventures.
You can get it from here for less than what I paid for mine.