![skydio drone skydio drone](https://www.provideocoalition.com/wp-content/uploads/drones2020_skydio2.jpg)
The first thing you’ll do upon powering on the unit is connecting it to your phone via WiFi. In the meantime, I think for cycling I’m going to simply cement/epoxy/sticky a quarter-turn mount adapter to the back of mine when I get it in, and that way I can use it with any Garmin-compatible quarter-turn mount out there. Skydio says they’re working on something there. It also has a small lanyard on it, though, there’s no case or mounting system for it yet. Like everything here, it charges via USB-C as well: Here’s my Beacon, albeit after a bit of wear and tear (I electrical tapped it to my handlebars in a pinch one day, so it looks a bit…loved). The Beacon also allows you to change the view, and do some basic control to get it out of a tight spot. The Skydio R2 will seamlessly (well, mostly), switch back and forth between visual object tracking (non-Beacon) and GPS tracking (Beacon). This is essentially akin to what AirDog had back in the day, a small transmitter that you have that transmits your GPS location to the drone. The Beacon’s purpose in life is for sports tracking where you go out of visual range, but still want the drone to follow your signal.
![skydio drone skydio drone](https://atrrobotics.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/yy-768x506.jpg)
However the Skydio is loaded with special firmware, so you can’t mix and match.Īs for the Beacon – it’s not from Parrot. You can even buy that exact same controller on Amazon…though, it’ll also cost you the same $150. In fact, if you flip it over, you’ll see that it says quite plainly it’s just a Parrot Skycontroller 3: The controller is technically just a re-branded Parrot Skycontroller 3. The controller is if you want longer range control of the drone than the WiFi distance from your phone. You can use your phone to control it just fine, or the Beacon too. Now to be clear, you don’t need the controller. It’s not a perfect fit – but it fits just fine and dandy.Īs far as accessories go, the main three are: The controller ($150), the Beacon ($150), and extra batteries ($100). Note that the case can hold two batteries, the Beacon, the drone, and the USB-C charger pretty easily. For comparison, here it is next to the DJI Mavic Mini Case:Ĭrack open the case and you’ve got the drone sitting there looking at you:Īnd here’s a quick little gallery of all those parts, which are pretty self-explanatory based on the list above: It easily fits into any backpacks I use – even a GoPro backpack (or GoPro backpack knockoff) I often ride/ski/run/etc with (when going someplace cool). It’s roughly the size of a small laptop in width/length, and a slight bit chubbier. In any case, here’s the little carrying case. Of course, the extra battery bit isn’t terribly different than DJI – though almost all of their drones now come with controllers by default. Once you add in the Beacon, an extra battery, and maybe the controller – you’re not all that far away from the price of the R1. As you’ll probably soon realize, Skydio has essentially brought the base price down to $999 by excluding the cost of so many accessories (such as the controller or Beacon). Note that there’s the base Skydio R2 unit (everything shown in the case), and then there’s extra accessories you can buy. Unboxing:įirst up we’ll walk through what’s in the box. This media loaner will get shipped back to Skydio – complete with all the dirt, grass, tree branches, and other bits of adventure goodness you’ll see stuck to it. Once that opens up (today I think), then I’ll go ahead and convert that into a real order. Just watch the first 30 seconds or so of the video below to get a flavor for it.įinally, while this review was completed on a media loaner – note that I have already put down money for a pre-order reservation. Now – if you want to simply see what this drone is capable of, video is the best format. I put it through its paces, from road riding to mountain biking, trail running, and more. Of course – while it’s just started shipping today, I’ve been using it for a bit now in my rides and runs, trying to see how well it handles – and whether or not it’s a replacement for my seemingly ever-growing fleet of DJI drones. It does all this by using seven (yes, 7), cameras at 4K resolution each. Plus, they dramatically increased the image quality up to 4K60 HDR as well as introduced a new GPS beacon in cases where visual tracking isn’t possible (such as through dense trees), so it can keep following along (kinda like the old AirDog drones). The Skydio 2 (which I’m going to abbreviate R2, because that’s what’s stuck in my head) – is $999 and roughly the footprint of an iPad. I previously tested the R1 drone about two years ago, which did incredible things in terms of autonomous tracking, but also wasn’t practical from a price standpoint ($2,500) or a size standpoint (roughly like a pizza box).
![skydio drone skydio drone](https://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/skydio-2-drone-8-1.jpg)
It’s been just shy of two months since Skydio announced the Skydio 2 drone, which is virtually entirely dedicated to sports tracking (in the consumer realm anyway).