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DJI Neo Review

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DJI’s latest drone is the lightest of them all. Weighing only 135 grams, it’s lighter than 99% of smartphones in the market. Yet, this tiny drone can do so much more.

Want to know why? Check out in this full review of the DJI 19 Neo.

Table of Contents

Design and Construction

The DJI Neo has a very similar design and structure as the DJI Avata 2 14, but the former is much smaller and lighter. Imagine, at only 135 grams, it’s actually lighter than 145-gram battery of the Avata 2.

This mens you can basically bring the DJI Neo with you almost anywhere — fits right inside your backpack and add almost negligible weight. This is best content creators or vloggers who want an additional arsenal for shooting videos. In fact, the DJI Neo has built-in features just for that. More on that later.

Just like the Avata series, the DJI Neo is designed as a cinewhoop, which comes with built-in propeller guards. This allows the drone to be more ideal for flying indoors or in low altitudes and still feel safe when operating it.

The dimensions are just the same size as the palm of my hands when spread out, allowing it to launch and land back on my palm with ease. And while you can also do this with other models of the DJI drones, the Neo does this stunt perfectly.

Full-Coverage Propeller Guards: Ensuring that the propellers remain undamaged upon contact with obstacles during flight, while also helping to stabilize the drone, preventing easy falls and damage.

Accessories and Storage

Our review unit is the DJI Fly More Combo which comes with the drone itself, 3 batteries with the charging cradle, an extra propeller, USB Type-C and Apple Lightning cables as well as the RC.

The DJI Neo also comes with a 22GB internal storage with no option for a microSD card expansion slot (giving it a leaner and lighter profile). This gives the Neo around 50 minutes of recording in 4K @ 30fps or up to 170 minutes when recording at 1080p @ 30fps.

The video clips and photos are stored in the DJI Neo’s internal storage and you can simply transfer them to your phone when it is connected to the RC via the attached USB cables.

Operation, Flying and Handling

The drone is rated for Level 4 Wind Resistance which allows for maximum wind speeds of about 28km/hour although at that level, you should expect some impact on control and stability of the drone.

Multiple Control Options, Diverse Fun

The DJI Neo has multiple ways of being controlled — you can use the DJI mobile app, the remote controller that we have for this review, and also compatible with RC Motion 3 and Goggles 3 and supports FPV Remote Controller 3 for M mode.

On top of that, you can use the DJI Neo free of any controllers. There several shooting/recording modes that can be activated on the body of the drone. This allows the user to launch and land the drone with the palm of their hands and without the aid of any controller.

How to Takeoff and Land with the Palm

Place DJI Neo on your palm with the camera facing your face, power it on, and select an intelligent shooting mode. After facial recognition, Neo can take off and enter the intelligent shooting mode.

Except for Follow, Neo will return to its home point after completing other intelligent shooting modes. Place your palm underneath it, and Neo will automatically land on your hand.

AI Subject Tracking

Locks onto the subject, following smoothly like your personal photographer. There are 6 QuickShots modes including Dronie, Circle, Spotlight, Rocket, Helix, and Boomerang.

Despite the absence of a remote controller, the drone can complete the filming or shooting automatically.

The DJI Neo can also record audio in real-time through your phone and can also be controlled via voice commands. The DJI Fly app responds to the wake words “Hey Fly” and supports voice commands, allowing DJI Neo to perform according to your spoken flight instructions.

If you are a content creator or a vlogger, you can use the DJI Neo to record front follow the subject and use the mobile phone to record audio. This is a good alternative from using the usual camera with tripod with stabilizer.

Camera

The DJI Neo has a single electronically stabilized camera that can shot stills and videos up to 4K @ 30fps.

Check out some of the sample clips we took using the camera:

Clips taken from the camera are crisp and clear, not very saturated and has some obvious pixelation due to high efficiency video compression (H.265). Shots are smooth and stable and indicative of DJI’s signature stabilization features.

Battery, Charging and Connectivity

The DJI Neo’s removable battery is rated at 1,435mAh which isn’t much but DJI claims it can last up to 18 minutes in a single full charge which is actually impressive for its size. Of course, it did help that the drone is also very lightweight.

Over the course of the past couple of weeks, we’re able to play with the drone and did manage to get to that promised flight time in most cases.

For charging, there drone has a built-in USB Type-C port situated at the back side so you can simply recharge the batteries straight from there. You can even use a powerbank to constantly fill up the battery when you are on the go so you don’t run out of juice too often.

Conclusion

The DJI Neo is a no-brainer for a first-time drone-owner. And, with a suggested retail price of only Php 10,799USD 184INR 15,600EUR 175CNY 1,340, it’s very affordable and practical for casual users. For content creators and vloggers, this is a perfect addition to complement their existing recording devices.

The DJI Neo’s strengths lies on its lightweight profile and portability, palm control mode or controller-free operation, long battery life on top of the very affordable price point.

Of course, it has its disadvantages — like the range and wind resistance.

There will be three product versions:

DJI Neo standalone, mainly includes the drone and one drone battery;
DJI Neo Fly More Combo mainly includes the drone, three batteries, and the standard DJI RC-N3 Remote Controller;
DJI Goggles 3, DJI RC Motion 3, DJI RC 2, and DJI FPV Remote Controller 3 are available for separate purchase.

Among the three versions, we recommend getting the Fly More Combo as it offers two mode batteries, the charging cradle an the remote controller.

The DJI Neo has a suggested retail price of only Php 10,799USD 184INR 15,600EUR 175CNY 1,340 and if you get the DJI Fly More Combo, it will only cost you Php 18,999.

DJI Neo specs:
22GB internal storage
4K @ 30fps video recording, EIS
USB Type-C port
1,435mAh Li-Ion battery
Level 4 Wind Resistance
135 grams (weight)

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Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.