Skydio 2 now, or wait?

[ufgatorvet]

Hi - Sorry if this has been covered, I couldn't see this discussed.

Have been sitting on the sidelines but wanting to upgrade from my Mavic Pro (OG) since Skydio 2 was announced years ago, and now that I have saved a few bucks, am considering jumping into the Skydio 2 world.

Are there any rumors of an updated Skydio model around the corner that would obsolete this purchase in a short period of time?

Thank you for any insight the collective community would have.

 

[Saladshooter]

No rumors at this point...... Skydio is concentrating on Enterprise drones currently. I love my Skydio 2 and its on sale right now so it would be the time to buy.

Its important to know that its not a long distance drone, I get about 1000 feet away down low and half a mile up high. It does have fantastic obstacle avoidance and is really good at tracking.

The costs add up.... you will want at least three batteries, the dual charger, the controller, and probably the beacon to complete the package so look at the bundles that Skydio offers.

 

[ufgatorvet]

No rumors at this point...... Skydio is concentrating on Enterprise drones currently. I love my Skydio 2 and its on sale right now so it would be the time to buy.

Its important to know that its not a long distance drone, I get about 1000 feet away down low and half a mile up high. It does have fantastic obstacle avoidance and is really good at tracking.

The costs add up.... you will want at least three batteries, the dual charger, the controller, and probably the beacon to complete the package so look at the bundles that Skydio offers.

Thanks for the tips and insight. Will probably jump in now as my Mavic Pro (OG) is a little long in the tooth.
Appreciate your time!

 

[baksideDisasterFlicks]

Thanks for the tips and insight. Will probably jump in now as my Mavic Pro (OG) is a little long in the tooth.
Appreciate your time!

What's your primary use cases? As user of both Skydio and Mavic Air 2 maybe I can give you additional perspective. Much like @Saladshooter noted range is awful. If you are hoping to fly 1km away to get nice long landscape shot good luck getting more than 1000ft away. Personally I try not to fly further than 600 feet at any time. Skydio will keep you honest with line of sight.

They controller is shite in my opinion as well. You'll miss those smooth buttery movements, fine tunning of your controller, and having to hold the boost button to go into 'sport' mode is more than inconvenient if you are trying to pan the gimbal and do tricky maneuvers at the same time.. personally I wouldn't buy a Skydio unless your primary use case is motion tracking, you have lots of open environments to fly in and can deal with the frustrations of frequent disconnects. If 90% for your use is motion tracking then fuhgeddaboudit, it's so awesome all the other transgressions are forgiven.

 

[ufgatorvet]

Thank you for your thoughts, very helpful.

Yes, my primary interest is tracking during biking, outdoor activities, etc. I supposed I can maintain the OG Mavic for those "vista" shots, but am drawn into the activity videos that people capture with the Skydio.

I live near the coast and have video'd dolphins off the coast and intracoastal waterways and herds of wild hogs that live on an isolated island near me, with the Mavic, but sounds like the Skydio won't be that kind of drone. I was not fully aware of that, so glad to know. Sounds like it WOULD be good for following a WaveRunner however... (?)

I am hoping that the drone will be as motivating for me to "get out there" as was getting my first Apple Watch was in its fitness tracking. Trying to outdo the "day before" and do things I may not otherwise do.

 

[ufgatorvet]

What's your primary use cases? As user of both Skydio and Mavic Air 2 maybe I can give you additional perspective. Much like @Saladshooter noted range is awful. If you are hoping to fly 1km away to get nice long landscape shot good luck getting more than 1000ft away. Personally I try not to fly further than 600 feet at any time. Skydio will keep you honest with line of sight.

They controller is shite in my opinion as well. You'll miss those smooth buttery movements, fine tunning of your controller, and having to hold the boost button to go into 'sport' mode is more than inconvenient if you are trying to pan the gimbal and do tricky maneuvers at the same time.. personally I wouldn't buy a Skydio unless your primary use case is motion tracking, you have lots of open environments to fly in and can deal with the frustrations of frequent disconnects. If 90% for your use is motion tracking then fuhgeddaboudit, it's so awesome all the other transgressions are forgiven.

PS: Is it even "worth it" to get the controller? Would just the beacon suffice to get the most of out what the Skydio is best at (activity tracking).

 

[Ridefreak]

PS: Is it even "worth it" to get the controller? Would just the beacon suffice to get the most of out what the Skydio is best at (activity tracking).

My use is almost all tracking, I have a controller but I don't use it and don't miss it. I think it was an afterthought on SDs part plus the stupid thing doesn't hold most phones correctly. I'll sell you one. lol.

 

[Saladshooter]

PS: Is it even "worth it" to get the controller? Would just the beacon suffice to get the most of out what the Skydio is best at (activity tracking).

I use the controller all the time for terrific flights through the trees and low angle video over the river. I don't do much tracking at all with mine other than to film my friends fishing which isn't demanding for the Skydio at all.

For me the controller is essential and despite it being lower quality than DJI's controller you can slow down its movements enough to get cinematic video. The Skydio controller really forces you to learn to be a better operator as sloppy movement will result in sloppy footage but I don't find it too challenging.

 

[Ridefreak]

I use the controller all the time for terrific flights through the trees and low angle video over the river. I don't do much tracking at all with mine other than to film my friends fishing which isn't demanding for the Skydio at all.

For me the controller is essential and despite it being lower quality than DJI's controller you can slow down its movements enough to get cinematic video. The Skydio controller really forces you to learn to be a better operator as sloppy movement will result in sloppy footage but I don't find it too challenging.

I get it, it's nice having a drone that you can manually fly and not worry about running into stuff. Before the SD I never flew a drone with a controller, with the SD I was easily able to fly with a controller around trees w/o crashing right out of the box

I do see the value of it, just don't use mine. To me it's phone grip is garbage.

 

[Saladshooter]

I get it, it's nice having a drone that you can manually fly and not worry about running into stuff. Before the SD I never flew a drone with a controller, with the SD I was easily able to fly with a controller around trees w/o crashing right out of the box

I do see the value of it, just don't use mine. To me it's phone grip is garbage.

I use a Tripltek tablet and the Parrot tablet mount...... plus a velcro strap. The original mount is not very good.

 

[CrazyReggie]

My long distance Drone is my Mavic Pro, it does a lot of the Heavy Lifting over here. I have a Mavic Pro Zoom 2 for long distance Shots like Weddings! I use the Skydio 2 for Videos like for Bike riding or follow me Videos! I keep my Mavic mini in the Car for opportunity shots! Those are my uses for my Collection!

 

[Ridefreak]

The original mount is not very good.

You're being kind but I'll qualify that with cell phones have grown a lot in size since that controller was designed.

 

[CrazyReggie]

My use is almost all tracking, I have a controller but I don't use it and don't miss it. I think it was an afterthought on SDs part plus the stupid thing doesn't hold most phones correctly. I'll sell you one. lol.

That Controller does Suck and my small iPhone fell off the Doggone thing!

 

[baksideDisasterFlicks]

That Controller does Suck and my small iPhone fell off the Doggone thing!

Check out this Dirty J adapter. I had to use it when I had larger phone, works well:

Large Smartphone adapter for Skydio 2

Large smartphone mount for the Skydio 2. This 3d printed adapter will hold large smartphones like the Iphone X, Pixel XL, and Samsung Plus. It is also deep enough to use with waterproof cases like the Lifeproof and Otterbox. Printed from nearly unbreakable black TPU material, this adapter has a...

www.dirtyjdesigns.com

 

[Ridefreak]

That's a nice piece, they're sure proud of it though. I've got their tablet adapter and handlebar remote and that little power adapter, back when I bought it all that together was about the same cost. The phone holding mechanism is my biggest complaint with the controller.
I may need to gen up something similar on the 3D printer, my filament costs are apparently much better than theirs.

 

[baksideDisasterFlicks]

That's a nice piece, they're sure proud of it though. I've got their tablet adapter and handlebar remote and that little power adapter, back when I bought it all that together was about the same cost. The phone holding mechanism is my biggest complaint with the controller.
I may need to gen up something similar on the 3D printer, my filament costs are apparently much better than theirs.

I had access to 3d printer at work for a while. I went a little nuts printing stuff from thingverse. Found this which is pretty interesting. Too bad it's horizontal. I have enough problems setting the angle I want in motion with it vertical. I'm always going left when I want to go right and vise versa.

Skydio 2 Beacon mount by TrailFeatures

Remixed v3bahumut's Skydio 2 Beacon mount to hold the beacon in the case more securely, also reinforced the mount point to provide more support for lateral movement.

www.thingiverse.com

 

[Ridefreak]

I had access to 3d printer at work for a while. I went a little nuts printing stuff from thingverse. Found this which is pretty interesting. Too bad it's horizontal. I have enough problems setting the angle I want in motion with it vertical. I'm always going left when I want to go right and vise versa.

Skydio 2 Beacon mount by TrailFeatures

Remixed v3bahumut's Skydio 2 Beacon mount to hold the beacon in the case more securely, also reinforced the mount point to provide more support for lateral movement.

www.thingiverse.com

I use thingiverse allot also, it's a great resource. I downloaded this and checked out the files, he's got two versions, vert and horiz. I agree, horiz isn't ideal. For me being able to get it out to wand is pretty important. I'd probably rip that off the bars on the 300

 

[baksideDisasterFlicks]

I use thingiverse allot also, it's a great resource. I downloaded this and checked out the files, he's got two versions, vert and horiz. I agree, horiz isn't ideal. For me being able to get it out to wand is pretty important. I'd probably rip that off the bars on the 300

Cool I didn't see the vert one. I've been using the dirty J on my bars, I actually like it better than my pocket for changing directions in motion, BUT it's a pain if you need to drag and drop to reposition.