Camera drones have become an important tool for filmmakers and photographers. Most quality models, including our Editors’ Choice winner, the DJI Mavic Air 2, include obstacle detection systems to keep you out of trouble, but not to the same level of the Skydio 2 (starting at $1,349). Skydio’s made-in-the-USA drone can fly itself through tough environments, which is especially appealing for thrill seekers who want to record their adventures without hiring a cameraman. Its nearly crash-proof design earns the Skydio 2 our TechX award, even though we’re not as enthusiastic about its imaging chops.
Sized Down, Not Foldable
The engineers at Skydio went back to the drawing board for the second-generation drone. We were put off by the original Skydio R1’s big footprint, one that didn’t fit comfortably into backpacks. For version two, everything is smaller. The drone measures 1.7 by 10.8 by 8.8 inches (HWD) without the battery, and is a little taller when you snap the magnetic power pack to its undercarriage—about 2.9 inches.
It’s heavy enough to require FAA registration, about 1.7 pounds when ready to fly, so you’ll need to pay a registration fee and pass a knowledge test to fly it. If you’re a first-time drone buyer, you’ll want to get up to speed on the regulations for recreational use in the US. Skydio ships the basic edition of the drone in a slim carrying case, and includes a bigger Pelican case with Pro and Cinema kits.
The cases come in handy, as there are some accessories you’ll want to carry along with the drone. If you’re a weekend backpacker you’ll still be left carrying an extra piece—it’s easier to squeeze folding drones like the Parrot Anafi and DJI Mini 2 into a camera bag.
There are a few different configurations available for purchase. The Starter Kit comes in at $1,349 and includes the drone, a single battery, a basic USB-C charger, and the slim carrying case.
Next up is the Sports Kit at $1,799. It adds the Beacon accessory for more tenacious subject tracking, three batteries, a dual battery charger, and a 128GB microSD memory card.
We received the Cinema Kit for review. It’s priced at $2,199 and includes everything from the Sports Kit, plus a handheld remote control, a set of neutral density filters, and a waterproof carrying case.
Finally there’s the Pro Kit, for a monstrous $2,999. It adds a tablet adapter to the Cinema Kit, so you can use a big screen with the remote control, and an upgraded warranty, Skydio Premiere Support.
The beefier warranty covers the drone for two years (versus one), and offers advanced shipping of a replacement unit for warranty coverage—if the Skydio 2 is part of your business plan, you may find it worth the extra expense. It doesn’t cover accidental damage or flyaways, though, something you get with DJI’s Care Refresh extended warranty.
The configuration that suits you best really depends on how you plan to use the drone. If you’re all about the automated Follow mode and don’t care a fig about flying manually, you’ll want a kit with the Beacon (available separately for $219). Or if you want to take control of the drone and fly manually, you’ll want to get a kit with the remote, or buy it on its own for $179.
You can skip both and rely solely on your phone to run the drone. It’s compatible with Android and iOS devices—I tested it with an iPhone 8 Plus, but it works with models as old as the iPhone 6. Android devices running version 7.0 or later are supported, but Skydio recommends that you download the app from Google Play to make sure it works before buying the drone, and warns of a potential compatibility issue with Samsung Galaxy 8 handsets and the remote controller.
Always-On Obstacle Avoidance
Most drones with obstacle avoidance use the system selectively, and only a few models include sensors that cover every direction. The Skydio 2 takes a different approach. It uses six on-body cameras for full-time, all-around obstacle avoidance. The approach makes the drone almost impossible to crash—it can get tricked up by bare tree branches and thin wires—but it does limit where and when you can fly it.
The drone won’t take off in most indoor spaces—a reasonable safety feature—and it requires ample light to fly, so you can’t use it for shots after dusk or before dawn. I flew it during the summer months and had no problems with morning and afternoon flights. It worked fine under the shady canopy of a wooded path, too. If you try to fly in conditions that are too dim the drone won’t take off, and if the light goes away during flight the drone will land.
I can’t understate just how well the drone handles, too. The DJI Mavic Air 2 and Air 2S can navigate around larger objects when flying forward, but they do so by flying pretty slowly. The Skydio 2 zips around quickly—it can get up to 36mph if you push its throttle sensitivity all the way up—but it does slow down as it approaches obstacles. Still, acceleration is zippy, and flying with the remote is a lot of fun. On-screen controls work too if you want to fly with just your phone, but you miss out on the tactile flight experience.
Drone enthusiasts are sure to recognize the remote control. Instead of designing its own, Skydio is using a remote made by Parrot, the same one included with its Anafi drone. It’s pretty basic, with two control sticks, a cradle to hold a smartphone, a control rocker to tilt the camera, and a USB-C charging port. I had to remove my iPhone’s case for it to fit snugly in the cradle.
With the remote, the Skydio 2’s operating range is adequate for line of sight operation, but just barely. In our rural test spot, one without loads of crowded Wi-Fi networks, I noted a choppy video feed at around 750 feet.
Of course, one of the reasons to buy the Skydio instead of a traditional camera drone is its autonomous Follow capabilities. We’ve seen some other drones take a swing at the concept, but models like the AirDog II didn’t take off in the marketplace for a variety of reasons, and didn’t include any sort of obstacle detection or avoidance. With the Skydio, you can concentrate on what you’re doing and not worry about your drone crashing.
You can track subjects with the app alone, but the drone can’t track just anything. Skydio promises that it’s able to identify people and cars. In testing it had no problems identifying a sedan, pick-up truck, a crossover, and even a John Deere farm tractor. It’s not quite as versatile as the ActiveTrack system in DJI drones, one that lets you track on almost any subject.
I used the Follow function to identify myself during a walk along a wooded path. The branches were pretty low in places, so I turned off the drone’s Height Ceiling, a safety precaution that keeps it flying at least eight feet above the ground. The drone flew a little close to me at one point during the walk, while trying to navigate around a downed tree limb. I ducked out of the way by instinct, but don’t think the drone would have hit me had I not moved. Still, take care if you’re using the drone with the height ceiling disabled—there’s more potential for an accident.
If you’re more serious about using the Follow function, the Beacon is a worthwhile add-on. It’s a tiny remote with a simple monochrome text display and a few control buttons. It includes its own GPS, so the drone doesn’t have to rely on its camera to track you.
There are a few different camera moves available for tracking, all accessible via the Beacon or the smartphone app. You can set the drone to follow you from forward, back, the side, or in-between angles, or you can set the drone to orbit as it tracks.
There are also some one-off shot options for times when you’re steady—the drone does back-and-away Dronie and straight-up Rocket reveal shots, as well as corkscrew Vortex and Boomerang orbits. There’s also a Cable Cam option, one that moves the drone between two points in space.
All of the shot modes are easy to access via the app, and you can swap camera positions, engage orbits, set follow distance, and even maneuver the drone manually using the buttons on the Beacon.
Flight times are disappointingly short. We’ve grown accustomed to small drones that can stay aloft for close to half an hour. Skydio promises 23 minutes between charges, but we only got about 18 minutes of use in testing. If you want to use the drone for an afternoon, you’ll need to bring several batteries along, and you’ll definitely want a kit with the dual battery charger; without it, you’ll need to use the drone itself as a battery charger, via its USB-C port.
A Disappointing 4K Camera
While the Skydio 2 wows with its uncanny ability to dodge collisions, its video isn’t quite on the same level. The specs show the camera to be very capable—it captures 4K footage at a high bit rate, with your choice of HEVC or H.264 compression. The drone can record HDR for situations with tricky lighting at 30 or 60fps, and supports the cinematic 24fps frame rate without HDR, and 48fps for cinematic slow-motion.
But the promise of these video specs doesn’t pan out. The footage is overly sharp, so lawns have an unnatural shimmer, and everything looks just a little grainier than it should. There’s no way to tune the video profile—something you can do to get quality results from other drones that have bad default settings, like the Autel Evo Pro II. Here, what you get is what you get.
The drone is also missing any sort of color profile options. You get the default color look, and that’s it. You can’t switch to vivid for landscapes, black-and-white for artsy shots, or a flat profile for color grading.
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We also noted that, if set to automatic, the white balance shifts pretty noticeably depending on the content of the scene, even under steady, consistent daylight. It’s worth taking the time to set it manually to keep colors consistent for the duration of a flight.
It’s not all bad news. The camera itself is decent, with a 12MP smartphone-sized image sensor, f/2.8 aperture, and distortion-free optics. The three-axis gimbal does its job well, too—footage is smooth and level, and it keeps things looking good even when the drone is zipping around quickly. We also love the automatic recording feature, one that keeps footage rolling as long as you’re in video mode and flying.
In addition to video, the Skydio has a photo mode. It snaps 12MP shots in JPG or Adobe DNG format. If you just want to share photos without edits, JPG is the way to go—colors are natural, if a little cool, and shots are perfectly fine for Instagram. If you opt for DNG you can tune shots; I went for a warmer color tone and opened up the shadows for my take on the scene. You will need software to process Raw images—we recommend Adobe Lightroom Classic.
This just isn’t the drone to get if you care about camera quality above all. The Autel EVO Pro II and DJI Air 2S both include cameras with 1-inch sensors—a type with more surface area and resolution for photos and video with better clarity and dynamic range. More casual users will enjoy better results from the DJI Mavic Air 2 and Autel EVO II, as both offer 48MP Quad Bayer cameras, the same type as in high-end smartphones.
Fantastic Follow, With Limitations
Skydio has staked its name on always-on obstacle avoidance for crash-proof flights, and in that regard, the Skydio 2 lives up to the hype. It easily navigates around big obstacles—just point it forward and it goes. It’s really something to experience, and enough to earn our TechX award.
It makes the Skydio 2 an especially appealing choice for outdoor adventurers. If you want a drone that can follow and film you all on its own, in areas without broad, open skies, this is it. The basic kit is limited in what it can track—people and cars—but add the Beacon accessory and you’ll get solid, GPS-based follow.
But you pay for it. The basic kit is $1,349, and only gives you 18 minutes of airtime between charges. You’ll spend more if you want to get a kit with the Beacon, remote control, and (very necessary) extra batteries.
And then there’s the camera, one that’s just not that good. The video has an ugly, oversharpened look, with little to no room to tune settings, and photos are on the same level as starter drones like the DJI Mini 2. This isn’t a drone for landscape photographers or cinematographers—remember too that the drone only flies in daylight, so magic hour flights are out.
If you’re searching for a Follow drone that won’t crash, the Skydio 2 certainly fits the bill. It’s able to navigate through complex spaces, and has some automated shots for easy reveals and orbits. It’s a shame its camera doesn’t measure up.
