Skydio vs DJI: Which Drone is Right for You

If you're in the market for a new drone, you're probably considering two of the biggest players in the industry: Skydio and DJI. Both brands offer high-quality drones with impressive features, but they cater to different needs and preferences.

Skydio's drones are designed with a focus on autonomy and ease of use, with features like obstacle avoidance and automatic flight modes. DJI's drones, on the other hand, are geared towards enthusiasts and professionals who want more manual control over their flights.

One key difference between the two brands is their approach to camera stabilization. Skydio's drones use a 360-degree gimbal to capture smooth footage, while DJI's drones rely on a traditional 3-axis gimbal. This can make a big difference in the quality of your footage, especially when flying in windy conditions.

Ultimately, the choice between Skydio and DJI will depend on your specific needs and preferences.

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The Skydio 2 has some impressive features that make it a great choice for solar contractors. It has six 4k cameras that provide an all-around view of its surroundings, making it easy to focus on taking pictures instead of avoiding obstacles.

The drone's camera quality is also top-notch, with crisp and clear pictures even when it's zig-zagging around obstacles. In fact, it's on par with the Mavic Pro 2 and better than the Mavic Air 2.

One feature that's particularly useful for solar contractors is the beacon, which allows you to fly the drone without the controller or your phone. This is especially helpful for live action tracking, like sports.

However, there are some downsides to the Skydio 2's hardware. The drone is not foldable, which can make it cumbersome to travel with, especially compared to the DJI Mavic Air.

The battery also has a magnetic attachment, which might be a bit confusing at first, but didn't cause any problems during test flights.

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The Skydio 2 is a game-changer for solar contractors, thanks to its on-board obstacle avoidance system. This feature uses six 4k cameras and NVIDIA graphics cards to analyze images and avoid obstacles at incredibly fast speeds.

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The camera quality is also top-notch, with the front 4k camera producing crisp, clear pictures even when the drone is zig-zagging around obstacles. This is comparable to the Mavic Pro 2 and better than the Mavic Air 2.

One of the standout features of the Skydio 2 is its premium feel and build quality. Despite having many small pieces, everything fits together seamlessly and feels solid in your hands.

The beacon is a useful feature that allows you to fly the drone without the controller or your phone, especially for live action tracking like sports. However, it's not a huge impact outside of that use case.

The Polar Pro filters that come with the drone's cinema kit are high-quality and help manage light exposure for images on bright or cloudy days. They have a magnetic attachment method that makes them easy to use.

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The Skydio 2 has a few downsides to its hardware.

The drone is not foldable, which can make it cumbersome to carry around, especially for those who travel from site to site.

It measures 223 x 273 x 74 mm (L x W x H), which is fairly big compared to other drones like the DJI Mavic Air.

The magnetic battery attachment can be a bit confusing, as it doesn't clip in anywhere, which might lead to it falling off during flight.

However, the user experienced no problems with the battery during test flights.

The whole system, including the carrying case, feels a bit bulky compared to other drones.

But, if you're driving around instead of walking, it fits easily in the back seat or on the floor in the passenger side.

The controller, made in partnership with Parrot, felt a bit cheap in the user's hands and might break if held too tightly.

The multi-charger can only charge two batteries and the controller (or three batteries and no controller) at once, which is limiting compared to some other drones.

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In terms of hardware, Skydio's Autonomy 2 has a quad-core processor and 12GB of RAM, giving it a significant boost in processing power compared to the DJI Mavic 2 Pro's dual-core processor and 8GB of RAM.

Skydio's Autonomy 2 also features a more advanced sensor suite, including a 24MP camera, 1/2.3" sensor, and 24fps video capture at 100Mbps.

The DJI Mavic 2 Pro, on the other hand, has a 20MP camera, 1" sensor, and 30fps video capture at 200Mbps.

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The Skydio 2's battery life is a major concern. A single battery gives about 23 minutes of flight time, which is below average for a high-end drone.

This is a significant drawback, especially compared to other drones in its class. The DJI Mavic 3 has an advertised flight time of 46 minutes on a single battery.

For the same cost as the Skydio 2's Starter Kit, you could get a DJI Mavic Air 2 Fly-More combo with 3 batteries. This would significantly increase your flight time and creative potential.

The Skydio 2's unique magnetic mount system makes it easy to swap out batteries, but it's not enough to make up for the short flight time. Running six 4K cameras and actively processing all that imagery likely makes the biggest difference battery-wise.

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The Skydio 2 measures 8.8” x 10.7” x 2.9” (or 223 x 273 x 74 mm) in size, slightly smaller than an unfolded DJI Mavic 3.

Its fixed arms make it less portable than some other options, but folding propellers do bring the packing size down a bit.

The Skydio 2 weighs 775 g (1.7 lbs), which is less than the Mavic 3.

In comparison to the Skydio R1, the Skydio 2 is a significant improvement in size and weight, as the R1 was a bulky 13 x 16 x 1.5 inches and weighed almost 1000 grams (2.2 lbs).

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The Skydio 2 was essentially a proving ground for the capabilities of their 3D Scanning software, aimed at inspections and other enterprise-type use.

Skydio makes a 3D Scanning software that's geared towards enterprise applications. This software is the basis for their enterprise-grade drones, the Skydio 2 for Enterprise and Skydio X2.

The US Department of the Interior, Armed Forces, and the Pentagon blacklisted DJI from being used in official capacities, creating a power vacuum for other manufacturers to get government contracts.

Skydio's US-based release of the X2 this year showed incredibly similar specs to the Skydio 2, which somewhat explains why the software behind the drone is so much better than the overall product.

It's hard to say if enterprise and federal contract level drones are Skydio's current goal, but it seems to be one direction the company is moving in.

The Skydio 2 has a Sony IMX577 ½.3” 12.3MP CMOS sensor that shoots 4K footage at up to 60 fps.

This sensor allows for 3840 x 2160 resolution at 30, 60, 48, or 24 fps and 1920 x 1080 at 120, 60, 30 fps, giving you the ability to shoot slow-motion at 1080p at 120 fps.

The camera also takes still images using the entire resolution on the sensor, shooting 4056 x 3040 12MP images in JPEG or DNG (RAW).

With 13 stops of dynamic range, images will be well balanced and not over or under-saturated.

The built-in lens is a 20mm (35mm equivalent) with an f/2.8 aperture.

The Skydio 2 has a bitrate of 100 Mbps, slightly slower than the DJI Mavic Air 2’s 120 Mbps.

Videos are recorded in MPEG-4 with AVC/H.264 or AVC/H.265 encoding.

The three-axis gimbal mount for the main camera keeps the video footage steady in all types of conditions.

NomiCam published a report comparing the real-world static image capabilities of the Skydio 2 to the DJI Mavic 2 Zoom, DJI Mavic 2 Pro, and DJI Mavic Air.

In the report, the Skydio 2 won the color, noise, and dynamic range categories, but the DJI Mavic 2 Pro beat out Skydio in the exposure and resolution categories.

The report is from September 2019, so it's slightly outdated, but it gives a good idea of how the Skydio 2 stacks up against the competition.

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The Skydio 2 stands out with its focus on self-flying and obstacle avoidance, making it feel like having Tesla's self-driving capabilities in a drone.

Its onboard AI makes obstacle avoidance more accurate and predicts environmental changes around the drone, allowing for buttery smooth flight capabilities even when manually controlled.

The AI-assisted obstacle avoidance feature evening out jerky motions and navigating around unanticipated objects, making it possible for a beginner operator to fly as smoothly as a seasoned pilot.

The Skydio 2 also offers a software upgrade package, Advanced AI Skills, as an aftermarket add-on for commercial and defense use, showing the potential of its onboard AI.

The Skydio 2 drone's software is a game-changer. It's the key to unlocking the drone's full potential and making it a valuable tool for various industries.

The Skydio 2 stands out from its competitors due to the company's focus on self-flying and obstacle avoidance. This focus is evident in the drone's features, which are designed to make it fly itself.

The software that powers the drone is what makes its obstacle avoidance features so impressive. The onboard AI model predicts environmental changes around the drone, making obstacle avoidance more accurate.

Flying the Skydio 2 drone is a breeze, thanks to its on-board obstacle avoidance features. It's like having a personal co-pilot who helps you navigate through tight spaces.

The Skydio 2's software also allows for a premium flying experience, making it enjoyable for both beginners and seasoned pilots.

The Skydio 2 with Cinema Kit is a powerful drone that retails for $999. This price includes the drone, a battery, a basic charger, and the ability to control the drone using off-the-shelf software available for both Android and iOS.

The Cinema Kit adds a lot of value to the Skydio 2, costing an additional $900. This extra hardware includes a controller, beacon, filters, an additional hardshell case, and filters you can use on the camera.

In comparison, the Mavic Pro with the "Fly More" package, similar to the Skydio Cinema Kit, will cost you about $1,800 total. This puts the Skydio 2 and Cinema Kit's price point in the normal range for drones of this type.

The price point shouldn't scare you if you're a regular drone user.

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