TechCamerasDronesDJI Avata review: a brilliant new ready-to-fly FPV drone for budding aerialistsThe new DJI Avata takes aerial drone cinematography to a whole new sphere – here’s our reviewWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: DJI)T3 VerdictIf you fancy the idea of FPV flying using goggles but haven’t a clue how to build an FPV drone yourself, DJI is here to help with a stunning ready-to-fly drone that swoops around like bird of prey. If you’ve had enough of standard aerial footage and are ready to lift your game to the next cinematic level, the DJI Avata is the drone for you.Reasons to buy+Ready to fly out of the box+Superb headset system+Brilliant motion controller+It shoots 4K video+Very fast indeedReasons to avoid-Just 18 minutes flight time-Takes a while to set it all upWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
TechCamerasDronesDJI Avata review: a brilliant new ready-to-fly FPV drone for budding aerialistsThe new DJI Avata takes aerial drone cinematography to a whole new sphere – here’s our reviewWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: DJI)T3 VerdictIf you fancy the idea of FPV flying using goggles but haven’t a clue how to build an FPV drone yourself, DJI is here to help with a stunning ready-to-fly drone that swoops around like bird of prey. If you’ve had enough of standard aerial footage and are ready to lift your game to the next cinematic level, the DJI Avata is the drone for you.Reasons to buy+Ready to fly out of the box+Superb headset system+Brilliant motion controller+It shoots 4K video+Very fast indeedReasons to avoid-Just 18 minutes flight time-Takes a while to set it all upWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
The new DJI Avata takes aerial drone cinematography to a whole new sphere – here’s our review
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: DJI)T3 VerdictIf you fancy the idea of FPV flying using goggles but haven’t a clue how to build an FPV drone yourself, DJI is here to help with a stunning ready-to-fly drone that swoops around like bird of prey. If you’ve had enough of standard aerial footage and are ready to lift your game to the next cinematic level, the DJI Avata is the drone for you.Reasons to buy+Ready to fly out of the box+Superb headset system+Brilliant motion controller+It shoots 4K video+Very fast indeedReasons to avoid-Just 18 minutes flight time-Takes a while to set it all up
(Image credit: DJI)
(Image credit: DJI)
T3 VerdictIf you fancy the idea of FPV flying using goggles but haven’t a clue how to build an FPV drone yourself, DJI is here to help with a stunning ready-to-fly drone that swoops around like bird of prey. If you’ve had enough of standard aerial footage and are ready to lift your game to the next cinematic level, the DJI Avata is the drone for you.Reasons to buy+Ready to fly out of the box+Superb headset system+Brilliant motion controller+It shoots 4K video+Very fast indeedReasons to avoid-Just 18 minutes flight time-Takes a while to set it all up
T3 VerdictIf you fancy the idea of FPV flying using goggles but haven’t a clue how to build an FPV drone yourself, DJI is here to help with a stunning ready-to-fly drone that swoops around like bird of prey. If you’ve had enough of standard aerial footage and are ready to lift your game to the next cinematic level, the DJI Avata is the drone for you.
T3 Verdict
If you fancy the idea of FPV flying using goggles but haven’t a clue how to build an FPV drone yourself, DJI is here to help with a stunning ready-to-fly drone that swoops around like bird of prey. If you’ve had enough of standard aerial footage and are ready to lift your game to the next cinematic level, the DJI Avata is the drone for you.
Reasons to buy+Ready to fly out of the box+Superb headset system+Brilliant motion controller+It shoots 4K video+Very fast indeedReasons to avoid-Just 18 minutes flight time-Takes a while to set it all up
Reasons to buy+Ready to fly out of the box+Superb headset system+Brilliant motion controller+It shoots 4K video+Very fast indeed
Ready to fly out of the box
Superb headset system
Brilliant motion controller
It shoots 4K video
Very fast indeed
Reasons to avoid-Just 18 minutes flight time-Takes a while to set it all up
Just 18 minutes flight time
Takes a while to set it all up
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Welcome to our review of the new DJI Avata, the first high-resolution FPV camera drone designed for the masses.
As you’re doubtless aware, Shenzhen-based DJI is famous for its range of cinematic drones designed for shooting smooth high-resolution aerial video and pin-sharp stills. You can see a lot of DJI examples in our guide to thebest camera drones.
Not being one to lose out on new trends, DJI recently branched out into first-person view territory with its ownDJI FPV drone, a ready-to-fly drone that is relatively easy to get a handle on, even for a beginner. However, as great as the DJI FPV is, it’s still a big, heavy thing that is incapable of shooting the kind of sensational footage a CineWhoop drone can achieve simply because it’s too large. So DJI went back to the drawing board and whipped up the cleverly-named Avata (is it pronounced Avatar or Avaata?), a mini ready-to-fly FPV CineWhoop-style drone that is easy enough for a monkey to fly.
DJI Avata review: price and release date
The Autel Evo Lite+ is available in three colours(Image credit: DJI)
The Autel Evo Lite+ is available in three colours
The Autel Evo Lite+ is available in three colours
(Image credit: DJI)
The DJI Avata is released on 25 August and is available in three main configurations: a stand-alone unit priced £499/$629 and two different combos – Pro-View Combo with DJI Goggles 2 (£1,229/$1,388) and the cheaper Fly Smart Combo with DJI FPV Goggles V2 (£989/$1,168).
DJI Avata review: what is FPV?
A screen grab from the DJI Avata 4K camera(Image credit: Future)
A screen grab from the DJI Avata 4K camera
A screen grab from the DJI Avata 4K camera
(Image credit: Future)
For the uninitiated, FPV stands for First Person View. Flying an FPV drone requires wearing a stereoscopic headset that relays the live image from a camera mounted on the nose of the aircraft straight to the eyes of the pilot. It is the closest experience to actually flying, only without your feet ever leaving the ground. To say it is immersive is an understatement. Imagine what it must be like to be a seagull gliding across the skies one second and swooping down to pick up a fish the next, and that’s FPV in a nutshell. The concept quite literally emulates the characteristics of a flying bird or aircraft, so when you turn left or right, the whole horizon banks in that direction.
At this point I should add that wearing goggles while flying a drone is a daunting experience for the beginner and often quite nauseating, too. This is because our brains aren’t geared towards seeing imagery constantly bank from side to side while the head is stationary. Hence you may find your head moves around a lot at first until you get used to it. You’re also advised to rest quite frequently and preferably sit down when flying to help prevent the onset of nausea.
DJI Avata review: what is a CineWhoop?
The humble Shendrone Squirt – the CineWhoop that started it all(Image credit: Paul Nurkkala)
The humble Shendrone Squirt – the CineWhoop that started it all
The humble Shendrone Squirt – the CineWhoop that started it all
(Image credit: Paul Nurkkala)
However, the trouble with the vast majority of CineWhoop drones is that they need to be assembled from scratch from multiple parts, and that’s a task that’s way beyond the scope of most wannabe FPV pilots who just want to take a drone out of a box and fly it. Enter the DJI Avata, a mini drone that brings CineWhoop-style flight characteristics to a much wider audience.
DJI Avata review: setting it up
(Image credit: DJI)
(Image credit: DJI)
Unlike a normal DJI drone that takes about five minutes to initially set up, this one’s a whole new ball game that involves linking the headset, drone, Motion Controller and a phone running the DJI Fly app. It took me about 15 minutes but thankfully it all worked first time, which is something I wasn’t expecting. Mind, soon after syncing all the parts together I then had to wait for a firmware update and then another series of updates for each of the three batteries it came with. This is quite a normal process with all new drones, mind, so patience is key.
Once the drone has been initialised, subsequent setup procedures are relatively straightforward but still not as fast as a normal DJI drone. This is because you need to plug a battery pack into the goggles via a curly cable (the pack is placed in your pocket), switch on the drone and turn on the hand controller. In my tests, all three units linked up every time after about 30 seconds but I’d say the whole process still took about five minutes from getting everything out of a bag to taking off.
DJI Avata review: design
(Image credit: DJI)
(Image credit: DJI)
The DJI Avata weighs 410 grams (considerably more than the DJI Mini 3’s 249g but much less than the Mavic 3’s 895g) and it’s about the size of a large outstretched hand (180×180×80mm). Despite its arms not being able to fold, it’s still eminently portable, even with the headset and Motion Controller in tow.
Like most CineWhoop drones, the Avata looks so ungainly and top heavy you wonder how it could possibly fly. But today’s flight controllers are so slick that they could probably make a dustbin take to the sky.
DJI Avata review: DJI headset
(Image credit: DJI)
(Image credit: DJI)
Although you can fly this drone line-of-sight without the goggles, it’s naturally much more immersive an experience wearing them. After all, it’s what it was designed for. The DJI goggles are amazingly comfortable and not too heavy on the head. Furthermore, the quality of the footage streaming live from the nose of the craft is astoundingly sharp and bright which makes flying it a confidence-inspiring breeze.
DJI Avata review: motion controller
(Image credit: DJI)
(Image credit: DJI)
This all sounds terribly complicated and we all know how awkward those gyroscopiciPhonegames are, but DJI has nailed the programming so well that it becomes second nature when flying. With practice you should be able to guide the drone through small obstacles and fly around your house without destroying everything.
However, there is one caveat when using the Motion Controller – you can’t fly backwards. According to the inter web, backwards flying is only achievable using the DJI FPV Controller 2 with the drone in manual mode.
DJI Avata review: camera performance
(Image credit: DJI)
(Image credit: DJI)
The Avata’s camera features a 1/1.7“ CMOS sensor capable of recording in 4K at 60fps and 2.7K at 120fps. Since this drone’s gimbal has only one axis, images are steadied using horizon-steady electronic image stabilisation. The camera’s field of view is a super wide 155˚.
Although the footage from the camera doesn’t look quite as sharp as DJI or Autel’s conventional drones (even their sub-249g models), it’s still brilliant enough for presentation on a 27-inch computer screen and more than ample enough for a tablet or phone.
DJI Avata review: flight performance
Although the Avata’s flight characteristics are similar to most standard drones (they all bank left and right when turning), the camera on this model stays straight. Hence, as it banks the horizon tilts, giving the sensation of being strapped to an aircraft wing.
That said, turns are softened considerably in the camera so the image in the goggles never suddenly jolts left or right. In fact everything is as smooth as a buzzard riding a thermal. However, I did notice that it’s not great to fly at an angle in stronger winds if you want straight footage because the drone tilts to one side to compensate and the footage ends up skew. It’s also much louder and higher pitched than other drones so bear that in mind if flying anywhere within earshot of other people.
If you like speed, you’ll love this model. In Normal mode it’s a shade under 18mph and in Sport mode it’s an ample 31mph. Believe me, 31mph is plenty fast enough when it’s scooting along just half a metre off the ground. Better still, if you use the optional FPV Controller 2 and select Manual mode, it hits a phenomenal 60mph! I hasten to add that I didn’t try Manual because I didn’t have the FPV Controller 2 controller to hand and even if I had, I wouldn’t have dreamt of flying in manual without several days of practice on DJI’s Flight Simulator app. Manual mode opens a whole can of worms but once you’ve mastered it, you’ll be able to pull off eye-popping manoeuvres that no other conventional drone is capable of performing.
For the record you get about 18 minutes of flight time with the Avata – about as much as you’ll be able to stand in any one session – and a maximum transmission range of six miles (10km).
DJI Avata review: verdict
The DJI Avata on a visit to the countryside(Image credit: Future)
The DJI Avata on a visit to the countryside
The DJI Avata on a visit to the countryside
(Image credit: Future)
I much preferred this drone to the DJI FPV model that preceded it. It’s a lot smaller and so easy to fly using the Motion Controller – simply point and squirt. So, if you fancy getting into FPV flying without the massive hassle of sourcing different parts and fitting your own flight controllers and a million other gubbins, I wholeheartedly recommend this little cracker. It will change the way you look at the world.
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