The DJI Neo drone is all but official thanks to a succession of leaks over the past few weeks, but the reveals keep coming – and a new one gives us an idea of the kind of video quality we can expect, plus a taste of how it sounds in flight.
The reliable DJI leaker @JasperEllens shared the DJI Neo-shot video in an X (formerly Twitter) post, which you can also watch on YouTube below. It’s apparently shot at 4K resolution in an unedited form with no color corrections, giving us an idea of the out-of-camera quality.
While YouTube compression and the fact that it’s a leak means it’s too soon for any definitive conclusions, the quality looks decent considering it’s expected to be a tiny 135g drone that costs €199 (which converts to around $220 / £167 / AU$325).
The footage is quite crunchy and over-sharpened, but hopefully that’s something that can be tweaked in both the settings and editing. Realistically, it’s a drone that you’d only be able to fly in decent light (either indoors or outdoors), but it looks perfectly fine for social media or travel clips.
What we are quite keen to test is how loud the drone is in real life, because a separate leaked YouTube short suggests it won’t exactly be subtle. That clip shows it emitting a high-pitched and slightly ear-piercing scream, though this may be partly due to the footage being recorded on a smartphone.
If you have any questions about the DJI Neo, the full user manual has also seemingly leaked in a Reddit post. This means you can get a glimpse of the app experience (below) and also see the handy intelligent flight modes it’ll likely have, including FocusTrack and QuickShots like Dronie, Rocket, and Boomerang.
Neo or Air?
The DJI Neo is shaping up to be a rival to what is typically called ‘hover drones’ or ‘selfie drones’, like the HoverAir X1. This means it won’t offer the image quality we’ve seen on the best drones, but will be a relatively affordable and compact option for those who want to dabble in aerial videography.
Where DJI has typically held an advantage over rival drones is in its software, both in terms of its object-tracking and obstacle avoidance. The Neo doesn’t have any obstacle-sensing, according to its leaked manual, but we’re looking forward to testing its companion app and automated features to see if it manages to offer the slick experience that we’ve come to expect from DJI drones.
If you’re looking for a slightly more capable drone, it seems DJI will have something else en route to tempt you – a separate leak from @JasperEllens recently revealed what appears to be the box for the DJI Air 3S, which is expected to be its new mid-range model.
While it may only be a minor upgrade on the Air 3, previous Air 3S leaks have suggested that it’ll pair a 1-inch sensor with a 1/1.3-inch one for its medium telephoto. Both of those sensors are much bigger than the 1/2-inch on the DJI Neo, but that’s to be expected – the Neo will likely be vying for a spot in our best beginner drones guide, while the Air 3S could be one of the best DJI drones overall.
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mark.wilson@futurenet.com (Mark Wilson)
