Skydio 2 - pre-orders open at $999 US Only so far

[Waldo Pepper]

Although the performance is impressive I am just wondering about their design. Why at hell did they place the front propellers at the bottom? Too near to the ground during takeoff and landing and also dangerous for hand-catching...

Probably because if the propellers were on front top will interfere with one of the cameras vision, they designed the Skydio to avoid obstacles. Pretty sure they put a lot of thought on the design, remarkable piece of equipment.

Paul

 

[Multi-Rotor Pilot812]

Cleary, the intent is to remove all pilot control and pilot error, and still reap the rewards. It's all about the video sharing for the selfie crowd on FB and YT for likes and views and additional subscribers. Not that there is anything wrong with the stellar video that is created autonomously!

Different strokes for different folks as they say I guess. No autopilot will ever out think or out respond me and adapt as quickly to a fluid and dynamic flying environment, not yet at least lol. It’s all good fun though. I realize that a lot of people in the multi-rotor segment of this hobby and profession are more about the “shot” than they are about the flying and that’s great too, I’m just a pilot at heart.

 

[BlackWing1800]

I would love to show this to them !!!

(I think that's what it was ?)

They can send me any drone, and I would test it for them!!

 

[kwilliams6045]

No hate here, but it is still lacking.

I use the M2P as a tool, not (as you say) a toy. I don't care about speed or distance or action -- I use it for variety of video/photography, and this device falls far short of what I already have.

Also, I don't want autonomous shooting (at least, not something I didn't program the flightpath in myself). I want control.

So those of you that want an automated GoPro like video shoot for action, go for it. I don't shoot that stuff. There's no way this would be a reasonable replacement for my M2P.

Chris

I’m not replacing any of my toys which I use to shoot video and photos. Some of my videos and photos I do sell but it doesn’t change the fact that the m2p is like a toy. Many ppl fly them as toys. Many ppl like yourself may look at these as “serious “ aircraft but in reality, they’re built just like a toy. Not trying to offend you but unless your flying a UAS which is over 55lbs, it’s more or less a toy which you can make a little money with. Lol. Don’t get offended. I’m buying this thing to add to my toy collection. I doubt I’ll make any money with it but I can let my grandkids fly this toy if it does avoid obstacles like it says. Ppl need to lighten up bc if you think you’re going to make a living flying a m2p then you’re one of the few...about like getting drafted into the NFL. lol. Like I said earlier...nobody will confiscate your current toy and make you replace it with the Skydio toy!!!

 

[kwilliams6045]

Let's review this again - first there was much hype and then the collapse of 3D Robotics, then Lily ("The Theranos of the drone market"), followed by GoPro's Karma, Airware, and a few others. DJI has a great lead and large market share so Skydio has a lot of work ahead of them to convince the market they have a viable product.

Ppl probably said the same things when vehicles were evolving. Lol. This thing might be awesome so I ordered one up to see. It’s only $1300 with both controllers pretty much with a warranty to replace or repair if it crashes during normal flight. Plus it’s AMERICAN made!!!

 

[FlyingGary]

Flying selfie cam. Not a bad idea, and the GPS tracking is nice. I don’t think I’d find it useful, but I know people who would love it.
That said, it would be nice if DJI came out with something like the Beacon controller for the M2P so we could get (almost?) the same kind of use without spending yet another $1000.

 

[FlyingGary]

Ermm. Nah. Starts the video by crashing a competitors drone. Maybe should’ve used Mavic Air or Mavic 2 with APAS on.
I would expect DJI engineers to get one of those and try to break one too while testing their software.
Not sure about not being able to take control and relying solely on AI. Software is everything in this scenario and you want to make sure there’s no bugs.
So far, from observation, artificial intelligence is still no match for natural stupidity. As smart an AI you can make it, people can still find ways to crash it.
I am sure there’ll be people buying it, but I doubt a lot of them would trade an M2P for it. Seems like a bit of downgrade, camera, flight time, range, etc.

Yep, thought the same thing about crashing the Phantom. It makes the Skydio look like it’s designed for incompetent pilots.

 

[leenanj]

Although the performance is impressive I am just wondering about their design. Why at hell did they place the front propellers at the bottom? Too near to the ground during takeoff and landing and also dangerous for hand-catching...

That was my concerns also. It is probably a better design as far as air lift and battery life but when I see someone hand catch this thing man those blades are right there!
I wonder if they will make a blade guard for it, maybe an aftermarket.

 

[GerdS]

And what's also missing is the folding feature of the Mavics...

 

[agchenry]

And what's also missing is the folding feature of the Mavics...

Apparently they need the rigidity of the body so the spatial awareness cameras can be as precise as they are. (Read that from Skidoo’s faq)

 

[AntDX316]

no - removing threads is petty.

The right "business way" would be for a manager to post something like "We are happy about the extra competition - but please keep comments sober"

That would have shown DJI is not scared.. But now they just look like they really fear Skydio's competition.

IHMO - DJI makes (some) great stuff - but they make their products like they are $200-800,- android phones.

1. Ship buggy Product 1
2. correct (many/most) bugs-
3. Forget features promised for Product 1 at launch
4. Ship buggy Product 2 with the features promised for Product 1
5. then completely forget Product 1.

This happens all the time but instead Product is what where the workers go because they got offered more money such as Test Drive Unlimited 2 developers most likely going to Microsoft to make Forza Horizon. Mercenaries.

 

[AntDX316]

The DJIs need computer upgrades. HDR processing is extremely important which the Skydio 2 can do 13 stops of. To get that kind of quality is like going from T&L to Shaders to RT Cores on NVidia. It has 6x 45MP 200° cameras that talk to each with an NVidia AI GPU well developed for OA, 4K60 14 stop camera processing system, etc. State-of-the-art technology made by MIT engineers and others. To get this kind of researching engineering done right should be Massive money and intelligence. The amount of work alone is worth the price they are asking for and more imho. I'm part of first batch as I need a drone to follow me. I got into the Spark for that reason then eventually have 5 DJI drones and the Skydio 2. I'm part of 1st batch as I was contemplating hard of it's worth but I knew if it got preordered hard and I eventually had the money, I would have to wait super long for it which now it is in Batch 3 after 5 days of opening for preorders. Drones are going to lead the way for human development. Flying manual is cool outside and a bit for indoors but aren't totally safe. I bought an Inspire 1 Pro with X3 camera for fun as I want to fly in 3rd person. They will become more safe and crazy utilized with the Skydio 2. We will just see what kind of failures will occur. The batches are going to iron out the Professionals and top amatuers from the novices ruining the project and having the FAA step in.

 

[Shaggy505]

I placed the deposit for New Skydio mainly because it promises to 'deliver' when in follow mode. All current DJI models come short in this respect. I'm not very concern about camera, it has one which is better than camera in my Mavic Pro. In my opinion we are looking at new category of drone, action drone. The same like action camera (GoPro Hero's, etc.) there are people which would like to capture footage while skiing down the slop or while riding MTB, snowmobile, dirt bike, etc. I'm not professional videographer nor I have any desire to become one. My videos are mainly for myself and sometime for friends. The easiest way to share my 'production' is to use YT and this will affect the quality of footage no matter how good it originally was.

Same here, just sold my MP and hope the skydio camera and video as good as MP and the obstacle avoidance is as good as they say.

 

[Shaggy505]

The controller looks exactly like the Parrot Anafi controller.

It is but with skydio software not compatible with each other

 

[Shaggy505]

Absolutely agree -- that is, by far, the most compelling thing about this drone. If obstacle avoidance works in reality as well as it appears to in the promos, I'll definitely buy one.

Their warranty backs the product on paper so time will tell, and no cost to the warranty.

 

[drakkor]

it looks pretty interesting!
But I am not brave enough to be their unpaid tester...

Skydio 2: the self-flying future of drones starts at $999

It’s the drone a three-year-old could fly.

www.theverge.com

Well, their web site state that they will repair your drone for free if it crashes. So I don't think we loose anything by being their beta tester. Especially being DJI tester for a while now, and have to pay extra for the repair insurance.

 

[Joegolf]

FYI
I just put in my preorder. Sat on my *** too long (24 hours, lol). I’m in group 3 which is expected for the 2nd quarter of 2020. Either this is a major success or they built too few. We’ll see how many preorders fall through after hands on reviews hit YouTube. Hopefully this is a success leading to even bigger and better drones, and a decent remote controller. If so, I’d love to see DJI get some pressure leading to them to better listening to their customers. DJI runs things just like Commies can be expected. They have their heels on our necks with NFZ rules leading to dumping drones in lakes or fighting people who want to hack software and use their drones as if they own them. DJI is in China’s and wants to oversee our every flight, control our every flight etc. just maybe an American company will listen to its users base. Probably not, but I can dream.

 

[AntDX316]

The camera and drone alone w/ no autonomy imo is worth at least $1k. They can get 13 HDR stops with a 1 2/3 sensor?? A Zenmuse X5 does 7 stops with 1".

 

[Skywatcher2001]

I'm not even sure this is relevant but should we even take into consideration where the two are built (USA vs China). If Skydio built the Mavic 2 Pro (with M2P's current technology) how much would it cost? 3k, 4k because of the high cost of labor here in the states?

And what of the inverse . . .

What if DJI built the Skydio 2 (with Skydio 2's current technology) how much would it cost? $300, maybe? The labor pool is a big factor in price. It kinda puts this into perspective (what you are actually getting).

Markup is also a factor but that even acerbates the point even more.

 

[AntDX316]

I'm not even sure this is relevant but should we even take into consideration where the two are built (USA vs China). If Skydio built the Mavic 2 Pro (with M2P's current technology) how much would it cost? 3k, 4k because of the high cost of labor here in the states?

And what of the inverse . . .

What if DJI built the Skydio 2 (with Skydio 2's current technology) how much would it cost? $300, maybe? The labor pool is a big factor in price. It kinda puts this into perspective (what you are actually getting).

Markup is also a factor but that even acerbates the point even more.

If DJI brings a minimum of 13 HDR stops to every new drone, that would be a game-changer. DJI knows 100% how to make reliable drones today but the HDR stops are garbage if it's not the M2P.