This is the hot new Spark that gives your heart a spark from DJI.
It's almost like a mini Mavic pro.
Super portable, packed with tons of new smart features and it is the most affordable DJI drone ever built.
So, in this post, I'm going to dig deep into an in-depth review of the cute little DJI Spark.
Case
This kiddo comes in a minimal convenient pairing case, which is more than to fit the DJI Spark perfectly, including the propellers inside.
The first thing you'll probably notice when you open the case is the Spark drone's tiny size. It's impressive to see that DJI has packed so much new technology into this drone, which is this teeny that fits perfectly even on the palm of your hand.
The Spark is light in weight, only around 300 grams with even the battery and propellers installed!
Even at this cheaper price point, they didn't sacrifice building quality or materials to give life to this tiny little smart drone.
It looks and feels ultra-premium!
After unboxing the Spark from the box, you'll see the propellers have color indicators that make them comfortable and quicker to install. All you need to do is press them on the drone arm and turn them, and they will auto-lock in to place.
The propellers are also foldable, making it super easy and convenient to store and transport, especially if you are always on the go without any worries of breaking or bending them.
And they come with optional prop guards, which is clearly intended to save you and any minor from getting hit or cut by the propellers itself. And they are easy to attach as well. Rotate around the motor arm and close the clamps, and they'll lock into place.
Not only the propeller guards will save the propellers and you, but also will make sure it got some protection also even when flying the drone so that any innocent flying animals don't accidentally get to the hospital in an emergency vehicle as well.
The box included the 1480 mAh battery, and there's also a charging hub. Here you will be able to simultaneously charge up to 3 batteries, which is a very cool innovative design.
The Sparks battery is ergonomic; simply pull the side tabs to unlock the battery from the drone and slide it into a charging slot.
Like any typical DJI drone batteries, these also have LED lights to indicate the status and battery life.
Flight time on a single charge is as advertised, which holds up to 16 minutes of total flight time, which is impressive for a drone in this price point with this many features.
A vital feature of the Spark is the camera!
It features a two-axis mechanical gimbal, which is an incredible feature for a drone this tiny.
The camera's focal length is 25mm-fixed and has an aperture of f2.6.
Upfront is the obstacle avoidance sensors. These are convenient to have when flying with confidence, which gives your confidence a boost when you realize all possible crashes can be avoided when moving forward just with the equipped smart sensors.
The rear, hidden behind the Spark cover, is a micro USB port and the microSD card slot.
And the rubber pads embedded onto the bottom of the drone is also an incredible innovation that has been made to make sure that your drone doesn't slip out on a flat surface. You may even notice that slightly raises the drone a little off the ground, giving some clearance for the camera's gimbal and other included sensors.
It's honestly pretty difficult to explain how small this buddy is, but if you were in-person to see it, you would be surprised to see this drone's full size, which is pretty tiny.
And if you were to ask me to compare it to an object or any other drone, I would say it is even smaller than the iPhone 11 Pro.
Battery
In real-world examples, you can fly this drone for about 10 – 12 minutes continuously with the propeller guards on, which gives it some extra weight, which will, of course, make the motors to use some extra juice out of the battery to keep up with the flight.
And right around 10 minutes, the app will show you a notification to return home and land. But if you ignore that message, approximately 30 seconds later, it will warn you to land, saying battery power is critically low. And right around 11 minutes and 30 seconds, it will auto-land itself to make sure it doesn't crash directly to the ground destroying itself and everything below and saving your hard-earned money.
And according to the advertised 16 minutes of flight time, it could achieve that benchmark without the propeller guards attached.
Either way, 10 – 16 minutes of flight for a drone at this price range is impressive to see and is good.
To fully charge the battery, it will probably take around 45 minutes, so if you are expecting to have fun simultaneously for a more extended time, I would highly recommend you take some more extra batteries on the go. But, with that note, at the same time, I would highly recommend you not to fly to this drone for a longer time in higher temperatures cause it could weaken the life of your drone, the batteries, and all of the components inside that gave life to this kiddo.
But if you were to take extra batteries, make sure to take the charging hub with you so that you can charge them simultaneously, saving you time without the need to set the batteries once at a time.
So, if you were to take this drone on a hover test on windy days, you will be impressed to see how this drone keeps up with the winds to make sure you get all the fun you need, and BTW DJI Spark's precision hovering works excellent, especially when thinking about its smaller size.
Setting the Spark up for flying is easy, and it is perfect for beginners and those who never have used a drone before.
It takes less than 30 seconds to turn on and start flying.
One of the DJI Spark's main unique features is that you can fly the drone with just your phone or tablet. Sometimes it only makes sense cause you don't have to carry a dedicated controller for this tiny drone.
Which, if you do BTW, will make it bulkier when traveling, especially when thinking about its full size and portability, and lets you set up for a quick and comfortable flying experience.
All you need to pair the drone with your phone/tablet is turn on the Spark and connect it via wifi on your mobile device, launch the DJI Go app, and surprise, you are all set to fly.
Again, As I previously mentioned above, the Spark has front obstacle avoidance sensors, making sure it doesn't fly into any object that will cause it to crash.
Not going to lie; these sensors work pretty well and don't go too close to any object that will make it crash.
Especially if you are a beginner, I highly recommend you have this feature ON. It gives your confidence a boost and offers safety as long as you feel confident to fly and not crash your drone, making you lose all the money you put on this kiddo.
And another confidence booster is the Return-to-Home feature. With just a one-button swipe or even if the drone disconnects from your signal, it will automatically return home and land itself, which gives you peace of mind.
While flying the Spark with your phone over wifi, the max transmission range is 262-foot distance and a 104-foot height. But, if you choose to buy the dedicated DJI controller-sold separately, that range is upper extended, giving you up to 6500 feet, which is over a mile away.
Another thing to note is that the speed is limited to 6.5 miles per hour when flying with a mobile device but doesn't worry cause you can significantly increase that up to 31 miles per hour in Sport Mode with the dedicated controller.
Camera
As being the key feature of any drone, this comes with a 12-megapixel sensor that captures beautiful aerial photographs, and the 1080p 30 fps video that you get out of it looks fantastic!
The video bitrate is recorded at 24 megabits per second, the image quality looks excellent, and the gimbal stays very stable while giving you some smooth aerial shots.
And I'm sure that you will be impressed with the results you get out of this tiny drone!
Also, there is a Panorama mode, which you can select from the vertical or horizontal alignment. The Spark will automatically pan until the camera captures beautiful looking panoramas that are not overlapped, to give you a gorgeous looking dynamic wide-angle shot.
Overall the photos and video you can capture with the DJI Spark with such a small camera look amazing!
New Features
This drone also comes with some other pretty cool smart features as well like Active Track, Quick shots, Dronie, Helix Moves, and Rocket, which are pretty cool to look at the drone in action, and also then looking back at the footage as well that the drone has captured you feel so satisfying.
Another prominent feature that DJI has included in this drone is the Gesture Control, in which you can use your hand to make gestures and control the drone completely with just your hands.
To use it, you can palm launch the drone by facing the camera, pressing the power button twice, wait for the LEDs to turn Green, and the propellers will start to spin up. Then the drone will slightly take off out of your hands. It is enjoyable to use, especially if you love to have fun with a drone; not forget to try out this feature. It is a pretty useful feature, especially if you don't have a solid ground or maybe you are on a boat where the land is water which you cant use to launch the drone.
And another useful feature is Palm Land; the same idea here too, face the camera, put out your hand, and the drone will slowly land on to your palm.
You can also use your hand to control the drone-like moving or rotate your hand, and that will hold the drone according to the gesture you show up to the drone.
And wave for a couple of seconds, and the Spark will auto fly up in a way, and then it will auto-start following you.
Frame up your hands like a film director, and the Spark will flash the front LEDs and snap a selfie photo for you.
You can also hold up your arms in a V shape, and the Spark will auto come back to you.
But, I wish that camera could shoot up to 4K video like its bigger brothers, but the camera is still pretty good at 12 megapixels. Also, it would have been pretty handy if the arms were able to be folded in, to make sure that it easily fit in the pockets, but a future refreshed version will have a higher chance of having it.
So should you buy the DJI Spark in 2020?
Well, the DJI Spark is small, safe, and reliable. It's not just easy to use, but it is also fun to fly. It is packed with some crazy pretty innovative, impressive smart features and technology inside out.
Everyone would love to try out at a very affordable price point compared to other DJI products.
So, technically speaking, it's the perfect all-rounder drone for all of you who would love to feel the experience of a premium looking professional DJI drone at an incredibly affordable price. This drone will Spark your creativity, especially in kids, and offer you a whole new world of aerial photo and videography possibilities.
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