ALLERLEI

A few months ago (early November 2024) I came across online mention of DJI’s latest drone, the NEO. The NEO is DJI’s smallest drone yet, and also least expensive at just US$199. I read up on it and, almost needless to say, had to get one. In this post I’ll present my impressions and provide a brief overview.

The NEO is tiny. Much smaller even than the already small DJI Mini drones. While the Mini slips just under the 250 gram (8.8 ounce) cut-off that exempts recreational drones from a variety of regulations, the little NEO is much lighter yet, just 135 grams (4.76 ounces). The NEO also looks very different. It doesn’t have the characteristic quad-copter arms; instead, its little propellers are integrated in the design and thus fully protected. Which is a good thing, as the NEO doesn’t have any collision control cameras.

And the NEO doesn’t have a controller either. That’s right, no controller. It does its roster of tricks by selecting them via tiny buttons on its body. You can also talk to it and use voice commands. Used that way, it is — and DJO specifically describes it as such — a tiny flying selfies camera. How does it do that without collision control cameras? The NEO does use its still/video camera to know where its owner is. 

As fun as that is, it’d make the NEO too much of a one-trick pony even at its low price. So you can also use the ubiquitous DJI Fly app with it. No controller needed here either — the phone itself is the controller. Flying the NEO that way is like playing an action game on a phone. In this mode, the NEO uses WiFi between itself and the phone. Which means its range is limited by WiFi range, i.e. under 200 feet. 

But there’s more. One can also pair the NEO with some of the newer DJI controllers, the one that you mount your phone onto. That makes for much better drone control, and theoretically extends the reach to up to about six miles. 

And there’s yet more. You can also control the NEO with DJI goggles for FPV — first person view flight! That’s advanced stuff, and I’ve actually never done it. 

But let’s move on to the NEO’s practical aspects, capabilities, as well as limitations. 

First, the NEO is the first drone I’ve used that one can easily fly indoors. It can still blow away papers and other small items if you get too close, but way less than any of the larger drones. With the NEO, you can fly through a home or office. Which opens up new applications, like virtual walk throughs, exploring inaccessible areas, etc.

Outdoors, the NEO flies just like any other DJI (or other) drone, just slower, considerably slower. And while it’s stable in the air, it’s nowhere near “like on a tripod” stable that DJI’s larger drones are. It also doesn’t stop on the proverbial dime. And without collision control, avoiding accidents is up to you. That said, with its enclosed props, collision doesn’t inevitably result in a crash, as it almost always does with open-prop drones.

The NEO is very small, and that means its battery is, too. While DJI’s larger drones get 30 to 45 minutes of flight time on a charge, the NEO gets more like 15 minutes. Which means that even with an advanced controller, flight distance is limited not by communications technology, but by battery. So having multiple batteries is almost a must. DJI sells the NEO in a $299 pack that comes with three batteries and a 3-battery charger. Money very well spent.

Still, that still leaves the NEO with a lot of bang for not many bucks. Where did DJI cut costs? There’s the camera. It does have a 12 megapixel camera that can record at up to 4k video at 30 frames per second. But it only has a single-axis gimble, and not the 3-axis that the more expensive drones have. Single axis means up and down, and nothing else. And it also means electronic image stabilization rather than what is possible with a much smoother 3-axis mechanical gimble.