I am Brett Garamella with BrettGaramella.com and we are going to compare the DJI Mavic
2 Pro versus the Skydio 2 in the video coming up!
First off, while I am comparing the Skydio 2 to the DJI Mavic 2 Pro, the Skydio probably
more resembles the specs and features of the Mavic Air or Mavic 2 Zoom.
Nevertheless, being the 2 flagship portable drones for both of these companies - DJI and
Skydio - we will proceed with this video, so give me your attention.
The Skydio 2 is the successor to the autonomously-flying Skydio R1, which was introduced in early 2018
and could basically follow a person in situations other drones couldn’t, such as a park with
a lot of trees close together.
But quite frankly, it was really just a drone that was too big and could do only one thing
well, follow you without anyone controlling it.
Now, spoiler alert, I will give you my conclusion right now so you get a quick overview of these
two drones, but this video is not very long and packed with valuable info so I recommend
you stick around to the end.
So my conclusion, the Mavic 2 Pro is going to give you better resolution for videos and
photos due to its bigger camera sensor and high megapixel count.
The Mavic 2 Pro will be better for those who are shooting normally or want to make high-end
films.
In general, the Mavic 2 Pro is better suited for more experienced drone pilots than the
Skydio 2.
The Skydio 2 is better than the Mavic 2 Pro for vloggers and those who want to film themselves,
especially with its new magic wand, which I’ll talk about later in this video.
Also if you are terrified of crashing your drone, the Skydio 2 will guarantee you a pleasant
experience.
It will also be better for drone pilots who don’t want to learn all the cinematic moves
and techniques for filmmaking like I teach on this channel.
Also, the Skydio is cheaper.
However, the Mavic 2 Pro is a little more portable.
Now that I have finished my conclusion, if you want to go watch cat videos, you can go
do that.
For those who really are interested in how these 2 drones compare side-by-side, let’s
continue on with the video.
The DJI Mavic 2 Pro has 2 obvious advantages - it can fold up, the Skydio can’t, and
the Mavic 2 Pro has landing gear, the Skydio does not.
This will mean when you land the Skydio 2, you will need a landing pad to protect the
Skydio’s battery (which magnetically attaches to the bottom of the drone), gimbal camera,
and propellers.
Or if you’re feeling bold, you could catch it in your hand, which I do all the time with
my Mavic 2 Pro, but don’t recommend it for beginner drone pilots.
Let’s take a look at the specs side by side.
When shooting 4K video, the specs are very similar, and the DJI Mavic 2 Pro is going
to have better resolution at 24fps or 30fps because of its 1-inch camera sensor versus
the 1/2.3-inch camera sensor on the Skydio 2.
With that said, at 60fps, the Skydio 2 can shoot 4K, where as the Mavic 2 Pro can only
shoot 2.7K.
However, because the Skydio 2 has a smaller camera sensor, I believe this will only give
it a slight advantage over the Mavic 2 Pro for this 60 fps slow motion footage.
By the way, the Skydio 2 shoots 8-bit video now, but the company told me they hope to
have a firmware update for 10-bit video sometime in the future.
When exactly, they couldn’t tell me.
The Skydio’s advantages on paper are hard to notice next to the Mavic 2 Pro specs.
However, I did some more research and visited their website, where I discovered that Skydio
hired a company from Finland called NomiCam to make a report comparing the Skydio 2 with
the Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom, along with the Mavic Air.
Take this test with a grain of salt.
It shows the Mavic 2 Pro has the best resolution, but only slightly better than the Skydio 2.
The Skydio 2 has better color and dynamic range than the DJI drones.
The Skydio 2 also has less noise in its photos.
Again, I can’t 100% support this test, but I have provided a link in the description
so you can check it out for yourself.
I can say with certainty that where the Skydio 2 really outperforms the Mavic 2 Pro is with
its versatile gimbal and its autonomous follow features.
Let’s start with the Skydio’s gimbal.
It can tilt down 110 degrees and tilt up 45 degrees.
The Mavic 2 can only go down 90 degrees and up 30 degrees.
The Skydio 2 won’t be able to look straight up like the Parrot Anafi, but when the drone
is flying fast and tilted at an angle, the extra range of motion will come in handy.
Now the next feature is the one everyone is excited about - obstacle avoidance and autonomous
flying.
The Skydio has unrivaled obstacle avoidance and autonomous flight, or flight with no pilot
controlling the drone.
It’s by far the best in the world at this.
In addition to its main camera, Skydio 2 has six 200-degree cameras, 3 on top and 3 on
the bottom that allow it to fly with no pilot for up to 23 minutes.
As seen on its website, Skydio 2 has 45MP of obstacle avoidance, where the DJI Mavic
2 and Mavic Air aren’t even close.
These are estimations for DJI, but you get the picture.
With that artificial intelligence technology, Skydio 2 can follow you through and around
the most difficult situations.
That’s not all.
I know this sounds like a commercial, but I am really pumped about this next feature!
The Skydio 2 comes with what it calls a Skydio Beacon, but let’s refer to it as the magic
wand.
It certainly is magical, and worth the $149.
It allows you to control the drone while on a bike or moving, and also allows the drone
to autonomously follow you for up to 1.5 kilometers away.
If you crash your Skydio 2 drone while flying within their guidelines for normal flying,
they will repair or replace your drone at no cost to you for the first year.
Another truly innovative and exciting accessory is the Skydio 2 Dock, or charging base station
for the Skydio 2.
The Dock is basically a launching pad that recharges the battery in about one hour.
It doesn’t swap the battery for a new one.
This Dock will allow first responders and those who have work sites to have a drone
in the air while they are working.
The Dock can plug into a normal AC outlet or into 12V DC power if you wanted to mount
it to an SUV or truck.
It is worth noting Skydio is partnering with Drone Deploy for mapping work and use with
this Dock.
The price of the Skydio 2 Dock will be disclosed in the near future.
Now I’m going to talk about a few more things about the Skydio 2 that aren’t quite obvious.
It has 2 microSD card slots.
I don’t know any other drone that does this.
The Skydio 2 controller is the same price as the magic wand at $149 and sold separately,
though I highly recommend it as you get up to 3.5km range and much better control.
The Skydio 2 controller looks exactly like the Parrot Anafi controller because they have
a partnership.
However, they are not cross compatible, so you can only use it with the Skydio and the
Anafi controller you can only use with the Parrot Anafi drone.
It’s worth noting that you can’t use the Skydio 2 controller and magic wand simultaneously.
Lastly, let’s talk about the price.
Because the Skydio is an American company, it won’t be affected by the tariffs that
caused DJI to raise its price of the Mavic 2 Pro to $1,729.
Compare that with $1,297 for the Skydio 2 with the controller and magic wand, it’s
easy to see why people will like this drone.
Skydio has only released a limited amount of Skydio 2 drones, and if you place an order
right now, October 2019, you won’t receive your drone until the second quarter 2020,
which is around March or April 2020.
This gives DJI time to possibly release the Mavic 3 and undermine Skydio’s plans for
the Skydio 2.
But that is for my next video.
So if you want to see that next video when I release it, please subscribe to my channel
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I’m Brett Garamella with BrettGaramella.com, and I will see you in my next video.