Like i said in my initial review, i love my DJI spark…
I call it Droney, if you know which movie thats from comment below.
But this isn't the only drone you can get for $500.
You can also get the DJI Phantom 3 Standard.
And depending who you are and what you're planning to do with your drone you'll be better
off with one or the other.
So which drone is right for you?
Lets find out.
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So lets go over what comes in each box cause there is a big difference.
The DJI Spark comes in a few color ways.
You get the drone, some replacement propellers, a micro usb cable and wall adapter for charging,
and a carrying case.
If you want a dedicated controller you'll have to pay an extra $150 dollars and I’ll
go into detail about the benefits of the controller later in this video.
For the same $500 dollars the DJI Phantom 3 Standard comes included with a dedicated
controller, a power brick for charging the battery, and extra propellers as well.
If you want to pick either of these drones up I’ll have links in the description below
and i’ll keep them updated so you can get the best deals possible.
And if you're looking for deals on other drones check out my friends over at rizknows.com.
Now lets address the elephant in the room, the DJI Phantom is huge compared to the Spark.
The battery pack in the Phantom is the same size of the body of the spark.
The DJI Spark is basically the size of my iPhone 6S Plus.
The size of the DJI Spark does have its pros and cons.
Its super easy to take with you any where.
Its small enough that if you're leaving the house in a rush and realize you forgot your
spark you’ll run back in to get it.
Where as if you forget your phantom you’ll first think “Eh do i really want to lug
that thing around” cause remember, you're not just taking the phantom, you also have
to take the controller.
But the bigger size of the Phantom 3 does have its benefits.
For starters is much easier to see when you're flying.
Its also much more stable in windy environments, cause if the spark gets caught in a gust of
wind its pretty hard to control.
But the smaller size of the Spark makes it look inconspicuous and the majority of the
time people don't notice it or they just think its toy.
But when people see the larger Phantom 3 they know you're flying a drone and get scared
it going to fall on them or something.
and also, the DJI Spark is much quieter than the Phantom 3.
The size of the drone also plays a part on the battery life and flight time.
At this years 4th of july cook out everyone kept asking about the DJI Spark and the first
question was about battery life.
And when i told them its good for 16 minutes of flight time and it takes 80 minutes to
charge they would just get disappointed.
In comparison, the DJI Phantom 3 is good for 27 minutes of flight time.
But heres the thing, you can charge the DJI Spark with a micro USB cable making it super
easy.
With the Phantom, you have to take out the battery, whip out the proprietary charging
cable and charge it that way.
Chances are if you're watching this awesome video its cause you're looking into your first
drone.
So you might be wondering which one it easier to fly.
Without a doubt the DJI Spark is super easy to control, its perfect for any beginner.
You have multiple ways to control it.
First you can use gestures where it'll hover in front of you and you can use your hand
to adjust its position.
you can even wave at it and It’ll fly back and up to get a birds eye view of you.
and you can tell it to take a picture of you by making a frame with your fingers.
You can also use your phone to manually fly it and you'll get a live feed of what your
drone sees.
Just keep in mind the controls feel a little dull but its good for beginners.
You can also use tap to fly, and even highlight people and objects and the drone will automatically
follow.
The Phantom 3 on the other hand comes included with a controller.
A controller thats the same size of the DJI Spark’s Carrying case.
But with this controller you get much better control of your drone and you can fly the
Phantom much more aggressively than the Spark.
You still have to pair your phone so you can get a live feed of what your drone sees as
well.
The controller also lets you fly the DJI Phantom much higher and farther than the DJI Spark.
Since you have a dedicated radio in the controller of the Phantom 3 you can fly the drone to
a max range of 1000 meters or .62 miles.
Where as if you're flying the DJI Spark with your phone you're reliant on your phone’s
Wifi signal strength.
And that will give your Spark a range of 100 meters or 300 feet.
If you where to spring for the $150 controller the DJI Spark’s range will get bumped up
to 1.2 kilometers or .75 miles.
The controls also get much sharper and you’ll be able to fly the DJI Spark at a max speed
of 31 miles per hour.
But just remember, you still have to keep the controller for the DJI Phantom Charged.
A full charge is good for 2 hours and half and it charges via micro usb cable.
and it take two hours to charge from zero.
Now lets talk about the camera and gimbal systems on these drones.
The DJI Spark has a 12 mega pixel camera and it can capture video at 1080P 30 frames per
second.
I would have liked it could do 60 frames per second instead.
The DJI Phantom also has a 12 mega pixel camera and it can capture video at 2.7K at 30 frames
per second.
which means more detail.
you can also do 1080P at 30 frames per second or 720p at 60 frames per second.
basically you get more options and better video quality from the Phantom 3.
The DJI Spark houses its camera in a two axis gimbal.
it can compensate for pitch and roll, but not yaw.
The Phantom 3 has a 3 axis gimbal that can compensate for every direction.
This means the video quality on the Phantom 3 is also much smoother.
Don't get me wrong, the DJI Spark has smooth video quality as well, but you will notice
a little shakiness from time to time.
Concerning sensors, the DJI Spark has a 3D Sensing system on the front of the device.
This sensor detects objects, tells you how far things are in the live Feed and it'll
even automatically stop the spark from crashing into something if things get too close.
When i first started flying this system save my butt multiple times.
Theres also another sensor on the belly of the spark that help it detect objects below
it.
Crashing the DJI Spark is hard unless you're flying from side to side.
Having the 3D Sensing system is like having a co Pilot with you.
The Phantom 3 unfortunately has no such sensors so it all comes down to you.
Its not going to save you from close calls like the DJI Spark can.
The DJI Spark’s small size combined with it 3D Sensing System makes it super easy to
fly even when indoors.
On the other hand, i wouldn't dare fly the Phantom 3 indoors.
Both of these drones connects to DJI’s GO App.
Both of these apps do relatively the same thing.
you start the app up when you're going to fly and you get a live feed of what the drone
sees.
You can toggle settings active different flight modes and features and even get live GPS positioning
if you lose sight of your drone while flying.
You can also manage your video recordings and pictures taken with your drone.
you can even use the Auto edit feature to create a 30 second video on the fly to share
on social media with clips you select.
I really don't have any complaints on DJI’s Apps.
So for $500 dollars both of these drones are very capable and they perform better in certain
situations than the other.
The DJI Spark is great if you want a small drone you can take with you anywhere and fly
indoors and outdoors.
If you want to get videos and selfies of yourself and loved ones at this years cook out or at
the beach to share on social media then the spark is the way to go.
you do lose out on battery life and range but the spark is better suited for personal
use.
You're better off getting the DJI Phantom 3 if you want to fly your drone long distances,
if you want to get epic landscape shots or if you're trying to produce higher quality
video content.
you get much more range, a long battery life, and a much more capable camera and gimbal
system but you don’t get the connivance the Spark has to offer.
And even though the Spark is small, don't under estimate its capabilities.
if you decide to upgrade to the $150 controller you get to fly the Spark much more aggressively
and you get more range out of it.
I really don't think one drone is better than the other, it comes down to what
your needs are.