DJI Spark Review – Best For Videography

DJI Spark is the smalled drone to date. It is quite affordable, as well. It is a good alternative if you want to upgrade to something bigger than your phone. You can call it a potential second camera. It is aimed at beginners and is not recommended for professional use. It is a tiny and budget-friendly gadget.

In this article, we will talk about DJI Spark. After reading this, you will know if this drone is a perfect buy for you or not. It might not be a perfect gadget, but, surely, it will be the most fun device you will ever use.

Our Verdict

The DJI Spark is ideal for you if you want a drone for causal photography and an amateur. It is not recommended for you if you are really serious about photography or videography. It is small in size and is very affordable. You won’t need a remote to fly this drone.

It can take off and land automatically with its gesture sensors. You need to wave your hands in the desired direction or do a particular action to get your work done. Using this model is quite easy, and you don’t have to worry about crashes because the obstacle sensors are quite active.

Design

The DJI Spark has the size of a soda can. You can stuff it inside your backpack or your purse without any problem. The 143 X 143 X 55mm drone weighs 300 grams or 10.6 ounces. It is minimal and light. The body can fit in the palm of your hand. Its weight is less than half of the DJI Mavic Pro. But unlike Mavic Pro, it doesn’t have foldable legs.

This makes it less portable, but it works just fine if you put it in its case. Basically, it is meant for casual users. Users who want to capture some panoramic pictures or shoot a basic video from the sky. It is available in red, green, blue, yellow, and white colour options. It is exceptionally well made. It comes in a small foam box, which is as big as a headphone case.

The case that comes along the box has 4 compartments for replaceable propellers. It has 2 more compartments for extra batteries. It can be called a shrunken Mavic Pro. It has a similar body along with a camera underneath the front sensor array. Despite the unfoldable legs, you can fold the propellers. Folding the propellers makes it smaller. This way, the legs get locked into the flight position when they start spinning.

The camera is well stabilized along with a two-axis gimbal, but there is no helmet to protect them. They are not delicate, but at the same time, having a helmet would provide confidence. This may increase the chances of a collision. You can even send a live stream using GPS and Wi-Fi in the drone. The only limitation of the drone is that it can’t record 4K, and that is, battery life is concise. Hence, despite everything, it is a drone you will be comfortable with.

Flight

Flying the DJI Spark is not a complicated task. You won’t even need a phone or a remote to fly this device. All you need are some hand gestures, which the drone can read and act accordingly. The drone can take off, and it can land directly from your hand. Just by using your hands, you can control this whole device. So, anyone can use this drone.

The built-in sensors will follow the motion of your hands when you will move them left or right. When made a square with fingers, the drone will start capturing pictures. And, when you will wave your hands, it will start flying backwards 15 feet. After that, you can raise your hands in the sky, and the drone will start flying back to you. Make sure that sometimes it might need a few more attempts to be able to register the gestures.

The best part is that you won’t need an extra device to control this drone. It is all about the game of hand gestures. When turned on, the facial recognition technology will automatically sense your face. Once it senses your face, it will take off and fly on its own. When placed the hand right below the device, it lands and turn-offs. It is a straightforward task.

Now, if you want, you can use a smartphone to control the drone. If you don’t mind paying a few extra bucks, you should consider buying a remote to control the drone. When using a smartphone, you can select visible on the screen, and the drone will follow them and capture them. Some new flight tricks are a few clicks away while using a smartphone.

Click the power button twice, and face recognition will scan your face. It will do it to know who is controlling the drone. If it is a registered face, then it can easily take off from your palm. The drone will enter into gesture mode when you move your arm forward while facing out. Now you can move your arm in the direction you want the drone to follow.

The gesture control might not work on the first few tries, but you will learn with time. The latest updates will make gesture recognition more accurate. While using the DJI GO 4 comparison app, you can see the view through the drone’s eyes on your screen. You can use the control sticks as well. Two virtual sticks can control the movement of the drone.

If you don’t want to use the control sticks, you can try the TapFly mode instead. Under this model, you can tap on the image replaying on your phone, and the drone will go to that location. The ActiveTrack enables the drone’s computer vision to follow the selected subject. This also lets the drone fly itself.  This mode prevents the drone from collisions.

Under the QuickShot mode, the DJI Spark can fly vertically at its highest speed. It can then spiral out to capture the view of the surrounding. Or, it can even fly in a circle to capture you.

Camera Quality

The DJI Spark has a 12-megapixel camera.    To stabilize the drone while flying, the camera is mounted on the gimbal. The pictures captured by this 12-megapixel camera won’t be a big deal for a professional photographer. However, it will be a big deal for an amateur. The pictures captured are basically well detailed and vibrant. The drone can capture a 1080p video. This video quality works great during the afternoon.

The camera quality and features are not as good as the ones offered by more expensive models. The device will stay stable even in strong winds. You won’t get any shaky video or picture. A 2-axis gimbal ensures it. DJI Spark has a wide-angle lens of f/2.6. This lens captures even the small details on the ground. The final picture has unmatched clarity.

The camera is equipped to capture amazing videos at 1080p and pictures at 12MP. The 1/2.3 inch CMOS sensor gets the credit for this. You should take note that this camera is not for serious photographers. It is ideal for casual use. It is a bit better than the iPhone 7. You can say that it is perfect for family selfies or casual use. It is perfect for you if you are an amateur.

You can either shoot on Pano mode or ShallowFocus mode in DJI Spark. Pano mode is used for landscape photography. And ShallowFocus mode is used for close-ups where you can blur the background. This makes the device somewhat versatile. The HD Wi-Fi technology allows the drone to capture 720p videos from 1.2 to 2 km away. If you are looking for high-quality footage, then you can try the DJI Mavic Pro. It provides 4k videos.

Battery

The DJI Spark doesn’t provide a good time with this model. The DJI Spark’s battery can work for 16 minutes when fully charged. The time might get further reduced according to the wind. The battery takes 45 minutes to charge back to 100%. The time gets further affected when connected to Wi-Fi. It might be reduced to 10 minutes.

A charging cradle or a Micro USB charging port can be used to charge the drone. Charging the battery takes time, so it is better to invest in extra batteries. But it will make the product expensive. So, it totally depends on you. You will definitely find the battery to be a hindrance.

Storage

The drone has no internal memory. You will have to install an SD card into the device. The installed SD card will show up when you connect the drone to the computer using a USB cable. The cached files are stored on the paired smartphone. You can limit the size of the cache in the DJI Go app.

What Comes Inside The Box?

You get the following stuff inside the DJI Spark package:-

• Battery
• Charger
• USB charging cable
• Adapter
• Drone
• Propellers ( 1 pair)
• Storage box

Pros And Cons

Final Thoughts

DJI Spark is an amazing entry-level drone for people who want to take their skills to the next level. Once you get better at flying the drone, you can shift from automatic settings to manual settings. This can be another step up for you. It is a great option if you want a drone to get casual pictures with friends and family. It is budget-friendly, small, and effortless to use.

It doesn’t even need a remote. You can fly it using some specific gestures of your hands. The battery is the most disappointing feature. You only get 10 to 15 minutes of fly time. The battery takes almost 45 minutes to charge. Despite everything, this is a great drone and really fun to use. The gesture controls are amazing, and you will have a great time capturing memories with this drone.