DJI Community is Absolutely Toxic

[gsrider]

With the government contracts Skydio has gotten, what are the chances they're bing subject to governmental or related pressures to get out of the consumer drone market?

 

[Ridefreak]

"Vince (Skydio)

May 4, 2023, 9:28 AM PDT

Hi Chris,

Thank you for taking the time to reach out.

Due to high demand, Skydio 2+ is currently out of stock in our online store and we do not have an estimated date for the inventory of Skydio 2+ to be replenished."

 

[BlueHeeler]

I don't know the support aspect of it but her comment was clear that they will not be selling their consumer drones except for the Enterprise level.

"Vince (Skydio)

May 4, 2023, 9:28 AM PDT

Hi Chris,

Thank you for taking the time to reach out.

Due to high demand, Skydio 2+ is currently out of stock in our online store and we do not have an estimated date for the inventory of Skydio 2+ to be replenished."

Thanks for the update, just have to take their word for it.

 

[Craig]

I just took a look at the website. They state that they are "out of stock". But, for the Enterprise they don't list that as out of stock. Probably because if you ordered that you would get priority over the other orders.

It could be exactly as they say, the demand is high enough that they cannot keep up with production. Or it could be that they have indeed wound down production till the new model comes out.

As a production manager myself, that is not what I would do. I would keep production matching demand regardless of whether the next model is soon out. If they have done things right, there supply of parts should be all "Just in time" and they should still be able to sell all of the S2's (maybe at a lower price) after the S3 comes out.

So that leads me to believe that the demand has gone up. (Mostly just my guess)

I have both the Skydio and the Mini pro 3. I find the pro 3 much more difficult to use. Too many options, buttons, settings for a beginner pilot like myself. I want to be able to launch it and have it film me. At times I also want to fly around the castle (possible where I live) and it does that just fine.

For an expert, maybe the mini pro does all that better but I have so many problems with it. Usually due to hitting a wrong button on the controller while I am handling the drone. I want auto exposure to work. I dont want to fiddle with color, light, apeture, frame rate and all of that jazz, I just want to get my shot before the battery runs out. So far I've been able to use something from every flight with the skydio.

With the mini I have not yet been satisfied. Either the exposure was completely wrong or in auto mode the picture is dull and the blues look like grey. The image sucks and now I would have to fix it with post editing. Or, I have also thought that I got the perfect shot in an incredible location only to realize when I got home that I did not hit the "Record" button.

So for me, I still would pick the Skydio over the DJI.

I ordered my Skydio 2+ via Amazon when Skydio was out of stock. Arrived 1-2 weeks later.

 

[Craig]

"Vince (Skydio)

May 4, 2023, 9:28 AM PDT

Hi Chris,

Thank you for taking the time to reach out.

Due to high demand, Skydio 2+ is currently out of stock in our online store and we do not have an estimated date for the inventory of Skydio 2+ to be replenished."

ordered my Skydio 2+ via Amazon when Skydio was out of stock. Arrived 1-2 weeks later

 

[Craig]

"Vince (Skydio)

May 4, 2023, 9:28 AM PDT

Hi Chris,

Thank you for taking the time to reach out.

Due to high demand, Skydio 2+ is currently out of stock in our online store and we do not have an estimated date for the inventory of Skydio 2+ to be replenished."

ordered my Skydio 2+ via Amazon when Skydio was out of stock. Arrived 1-2 weeks later

 

[BlueHeeler]

ordered my Skydio 2+ via Amazon when Skydio was out of stock. Arrived 1-2 weeks later

Nice. I know they have an Amazon Store, but I wonder if Amazon has an inventory of skydio kits and accessories, or they are drop shipping on a first come , first serve basis.

Congrats, Enjoy & Good Luck, please, please don't come back here with a crash story

 

[gsrider]

On the subject of demand, you don't have to think all that hard to figure out where there might be a big appetite for Skydio drones. It's a great product and quite capable aerial camera.

 

[Craig]

Nice. I know they have an Amazon Store, but I wonder if Amazon has an inventory of skydio kits and accessories, or they are drop shipping on a first come , first serve basis.

Congrats, Enjoy & Good Luck, please, please don't come back here with a crash story

Had one minor crash when landing. Other than no audio recording from phone. I'm getting the hang of all controllers. Hoping to feel comfortable enough to have it follow wife and I while on our waverunners in a couple of weeks.

 

[Redi3s]

"Vince (Skydio)

May 4, 2023, 9:28 AM PDT

Hi Chris,

Thank you for taking the time to reach out.

Due to high demand, Skydio 2+ is currently out of stock in our online store and we do not have an estimated date for the inventory of Skydio 2+ to be replenished."

Clearly their left hand doesn't know what their right hand is talking about...insane.

 

[Ridefreak]

Well I was shocked by the reply as much as you all are. It makes no sense but one never knows. I can't believe they would be completely out of stock for 3 out of the 4 versions of the SD2+ but there has to be a reason behind it. In a way, it'd be better for the reason to be they don't support them anymore rather than not being able to meet demand. These are drones not cars...it can't be that hard to make them and keep them in inventory. I don't like DJI at all and there are too many koolaid drinking fanboys who support it blindly for no particularly good reason. But SD has to do better than this if it wants to gain customers like me. I'm ready to dump my Mini 3 Pro...like yesterday...for an SD but not if I have to spend $5k for a drone. No thank you. I even wrote back to the rep saying that and nada...no response.

If you didn't order this drone when it first was available for order, (for like a 2 day period) you had to wait a year for it so limited availability is nothing new. I do know SD got allot of sales since the gov quit using DJI and quite a few of those are $10K drones to the military, They've also become very popular for large construction site inspections, I've seen 4 of them on different jobs. I wouldn't be surprised if that changed their priorities and/or overwhelmed their manufacturing output. The out of stock drones all use the same hardware, if supply is low for what ever reason which would you decide to sell? A commercial version nets about 3 or 4 times what the consumer version does and the primary difference is software. Unfortunate for consumers but not a surprising business decision if that's the case. I also wouldn't be surprised if this has to do with the upcoming reporting requirements for UAVs. No one has seen SDs version of a drone with that capability yet and despite the temporary reprieve in the rules they had to be preparing for that transition. For now I'm going to choose to believe what they've told me directly until I hear otherwise and since I already own it that's not really an issue. If you really want one and believe what they guy said then you should start looking online for someone selling one.

We won't answer this question here.

 

[gsrider]

If you didn't order this drone when it first was available for order, (for like a 2 day period) you had to wait a year for it so limited availability is nothing new. I do know SD got allot of sales since the gov quit using DJI and quite a few of those are $10K drones to the military, They've also become very popular for large construction site inspections, I've seen 4 of them on different jobs. I wouldn't be surprised if that changed their priorities and/or overwhelmed their manufacturing output. The out of stock drones all use the same hardware, if supply is low for what ever reason which would you decide to sell? A commercial version nets about 3 or 4 times what the consumer version does and the primary difference is software. Unfortunate for consumers but not a surprising business decision if that's the case. I also wouldn't be surprised if this has to do with the upcoming reporting requirements for UAVs. No one has seen SDs version of a drone with that capability yet and despite the temporary reprieve in the rules they had to be preparing for that transition. For now I'm going to choose to believe what they've told me directly until I hear otherwise and since I already own it that's not really an issue. If you really want one and believe what they guy said then you should start looking online for someone selling one.

We won't answer this question here.

For now, I would tend to believe that the demand for Skydio drones has outrun the supply and/or manufacturing capability, thus prompting an honest"out of stock" messaging. Add in the upcoming ID requirements and potential upgrades or new models and the company's message makes a lot of sense.

 

[CrazyReggie]

Hey folks,

I've a DJI Mini 3 Pro and unfortunately I bought into the DJI hype like many people do. At the end of the day, it's an Apple-esque product run by Apple-esque people who lock down every aspect of your drone's flying abilities, permissions to fly, etc. The DJI fanboys don't like to hear the negatives of this drone as it hurts their egos deeply.

My friend actually has a Skydio2 and it's made some fantastic videos with a certain ease that I can't seem to achieve with my Mini 3 Pro. He fusses a lot less over flights and seems to worry a lot less about what his drone will do.

The Mini 3 Pro is a toy for the glamour shot crowd in essence. That's about it. Yes it's light and quiet but so is my friend's SkyDio.

I'm now in the process of trying to sell it because of how crap the DJI community is and how crap the DJI support and service are. I'm now seriously considering purchasing a SkyDio 2 for mapping, 3D modeling, and more professional level work than just flying around a freaking castle all day and being pumped that I can post it on YouTube.

Any thoughts on the SkyDio 2 for my application?

Try flying your Skydio 2 at night!

Hey folks,

I've a DJI Mini 3 Pro and unfortunately I bought into the DJI hype like many people do. At the end of the day, it's an Apple-esque product run by Apple-esque people who lock down every aspect of your drone's flying abilities, permissions to fly, etc. The DJI fanboys don't like to hear the negatives of this drone as it hurts their egos deeply.

My friend actually has a Skydio2 and it's made some fantastic videos with a certain ease that I can't seem to achieve with my Mini 3 Pro. He fusses a lot less over flights and seems to worry a lot less about what his drone will do.

The Mini 3 Pro is a toy for the glamour shot crowd in essence. That's about it. Yes it's light and quiet but so is my friend's SkyDio.

I'm now in the process of trying to sell it because of how crap the DJI community is and how crap the DJI support and service are. I'm now seriously considering purchasing a SkyDio 2 for mapping, 3D modeling, and more professional level work than just flying around a freaking castle all day and being pumped that I can post it on YouTube.

Any thoughts on the SkyDio 2 for my application?

Try flying your Skydio 2 at night or zoom in on subjects at weddings!

Hey folks,

I've a DJI Mini 3 Pro and unfortunately I bought into the DJI hype like many people do. At the end of the day, it's an Apple-esque product run by Apple-esque people who lock down every aspect of your drone's flying abilities, permissions to fly, etc. The DJI fanboys don't like to hear the negatives of this drone as it hurts their egos deeply.

My friend actually has a Skydio2 and it's made some fantastic videos with a certain ease that I can't seem to achieve with my Mini 3 Pro. He fusses a lot less over flights and seems to worry a lot less about what his drone will do.

The Mini 3 Pro is a toy for the glamour shot crowd in essence. That's about it. Yes it's light and quiet but so is my friend's SkyDio.

I'm now in the process of trying to sell it because of how crap the DJI community is and how crap the DJI support and service are. I'm now seriously considering purchasing a SkyDio 2 for mapping, 3D modeling, and more professional level work than just flying around a freaking castle all day and being pumped that I can post it on YouTube.

Any thoughts on the SkyDio 2 for my application?

Let’s see if you can fly your Skydio 2 at Night or use an Optic Zoom to focus on subjects at Weddings! DJI had to come up with restrictions because of the Boneheads who like to fly in restricted airspaces and scare the straights! I have a Skydio 2 with all the bells and whistles but I use it primarily as an action-follow me purposes!

 

[Redi3s]

Like I said, if all you want to do is make glamour shots and videos, the DJI is a better drone. If you want to take professional level shots, videos, mapping, etc., I'd say the SD is a better drone. For one, the Mini 3 Pro doesn't even have official support for automated flight for mapping, photogrammetry, etc. Only JUST NOW are beta versions available and it's a hot mess.

 

[anthonydotcom]

I don't think it's fair to compare the Skydio to any other drone on the market. It's nowhere near as good as an Autel or DJI when it comes to straight up flying, photography, or videography. This bad boy is made for tracking plain and simple. I just downgraded my Autel evo2 pro for a Mini 3 pro and it was a great trade off. The biggest downside was now I have to worry about geofencing. But to me its size/weight and flight characteristics, and out of the box image quality with no editing were worth the trade off. The mini 3 is easier to fly than the Autel and and better than the skydio at everything with one huge exception; Tracking. If tracking is your #1 priority then nothing comes close to this. Also, as someone mentioned, you can't fly this drone in the dark. The Autel Evo (all flavors of it) are really good at mapping and they even have some cool built in mapping tools. All in all I love/hate this drone, as I'm sure many of you all do. Love it while it's showing off it's supernatural OA abilities, and cursing at the "beacon disconnected" moments.

 

[IronSKy1]

I have had about 30 DJI drones over the past 7 years and 2 Skydio drones. There is no way any similiar priced DJI drone can navagate at high speed through dense obsticals (at speed) or recover from a crash like the Skydio drones do. They are really built well. If you do a lot of serious follow me type flying or fly in tight quarters the Skydio is my choice. Low repair cost the worst damage I have had in 2 years is broken props. Its also one of the few USA made products out there.

They are serious products , well made and take a beating.

 

[gsrider]

I have had about 30 DJI drones over the past 7 years and 2 Skydio drones. There is no way any similiar priced DJI drone can navagate at high speed through dense obsticals (at speed) or recover from a crash like the Skydio drones do. They are really built well. If you do a lot of serious follow me type flying or fly in tight quarters the Skydio is my choice. Low repair cost the worst damage I have had in 2 years is broken props. Its also one of the few USA made products out there.

They are serious products , well made and take a beating.

Agree! My S2+ went into a small, high wire at speed and recovered enough not to crash into the ground., It landed hard but landed it did with no damage.

 

[Ridefreak]

I had mine drop out of the sky for no apparent reason from about 40' up, landed in the desert. I dusted it off, blew out the motors and it flew 3 more batteries that day. SD still replaced it free a year out of warranty. It's probably crashed 5 times over it's life, always flew after that.

Until someone else comes up with a drone that can do this reliably, I'm sticking with the SD2.

I wouldn't mind a mini for some long(er) distance scenery photography.

 

[anthonydotcom]

Subscribed! Yeah there's no other drone on the planet that would be able to keep up with you there. Skydio is untouchable when it comes to obstacle avoidance and tracking. This last weekend my buddy and I took our drones out and as soon as the trail started twisting he got on his walkie talkie and shouted "how is it not crashing". I had to tell him to keep his eyes on the road or he was going to crash. He's a DJI guy, and he's seen the Skydio in videos but never in real life.

 

[IronSKy1]

Yes that is were the Skydio shines and if you crash it just pick it up and dust off (maybe replace a prop) and go. I hate to tell you how many DJI minis i sent back on care replace.

Great product I hope they stay in there and keep making better hardware then DJI. DJI does have great cameras however, there airframes break real easy.