DJI Neo Review - A Disappointing Start With A Hopeful Future

[@alexcooper11]

Fantastic review! I'm just a beginner in the drone world, and Neo is my very first drone . I'm loving it 🤩! It's incredibly entertaining. Right now, I'm deep-diving into all kinds of tutorial videos, trying to learn the ins and outs of adjusting the clarity and shooting some awesome videos. I'm super pleased with this little flyer! Any pro-tips are much appreciated as I navigate this high-flying hobby!

[@grauraum]

And again an honest unbiased review. Love your work! Keep on, please!

[@Localtraveler2376]

Thanks for the honest review. I think a lot of the reviewers are scared to give an honest review and ruin their relationship. Seems like they should have worked in it a bit longer before releasing it. Strange for DJI to release a product before it’s ready.

[@uptowndisco2]

They will be keeping that for the next new model like DJI always do 🤣

[@Localtraveler2376]

@@uptowndisco2 yeah. DJI products are usually pretty good on delivering what they promise. The mode where it was flying backwards in front of him was embarrassing. Looks like something insta 360 would have put out. 😂

[@markknight2768]

If you have a DJI controller you can adjust the video quality settings. Sharpness set to -2 and Noise reduction set to 0 seems to give a much better image. If you do not have a DJI controller you can not adjust these setting but hopefully DJI will add them to the mobile app.

[@redcook102]

Nice video I ordered my neo last week. This will be my first dji and for the price nothing comes close for a fun selfie drone and first fpv drone to get into the game , can't wait

[@RadianXL2023]

Right on coment, I Also have this dron, Best regards

[@Wholiganify]

Love the honesty in your videos, and this one in particular, backed up by solid evidence. Good job! Sorry about Nutmeg ❤

[@wkwong80]

Spot on review. I have both the Neo & X1 and feel the same way.

[@pmfilmsUK]

I returned mine exactly for this reason. Just have to wait for a Neo with a 10bit Log, then it will have my attention.

[@staffordlynn7819]

Dude you title got me worked up but then after watching it I was less worked up that said I am a DJI User and have an arsenal of FPV drones range ing from tiny whoops upto long range 10” drones doing 20k flights and to be honest this small drone has impressed me way more than any of my other drones it’s so versatile and the value for money is insane what other drone on the market offers so much it can be flown with absolutely no experience at all and can then be turned into a proper FPV drone using the Goggles 3 and remote 3 ok they are expensive but a lot of FPV People will have the DJI AVATA 2 and if so then for £169 you have a DJI product capable of flying proper Acro in the correct conditions and again that said I’d a good friend and fellow KZbinr Ben Toogood fly it the other day in extremely windy conditions and his comments were flip I don’t know why people are are being so hard on it he was more than impressed as am I what it can do for £169 is unreal and your review was very good and honest too

[@Roos-Reviews]

Yeah the value for money is really great. People are just disappointed with the video quality and it really doesn't perform that well as a manual FPV drone. And as a follow-me drone, it has a lot of problems still. I think that's the reason for the disappointment. It does a lot of things, but it doesn't do very many of them well. DJI might be able to address some of these with firmware in the future. It is just a pity they released an unfinished product again.

[@RonaldBrown59]

You make a lot of great points in this video. Thanks for an honest review of the Neo.

[@JeffSibelius]

Love nonfanboy reviews! Keep up the good work!

[@張德銘-x4h]

Good job! Best review among all I’ve watched recently. Looking forward to your next video. Subscribed! 😄

[@TripleU-E]

great review. After a few flights, I will return my NEO. When connected to the remote-control, I could pimp the videos at least a bit, but using the Neo just as a stand alone drone, the video footage is far too bad. you are the first, who mentioned lens flares! Maybe DJI will improve certain things in a new firmware, but I will not wait.

[@aimlessdk]

Thanks for the good and honest review. I just picked up one the other day as my first ever drone. Great fun and I don't mind most of the limitations. However, given the fact that it sits well below the 250g weight limit of C0 drones, I really wished they would have made an option to buy a bigger battery. Hopefully it will be available at some point, as it would be so much better with a larger battery (maybe even LifePO4 instead of Lithium) and some added firmware updates to enhance the camera settings and follow limitations.

[@RayRay-zc2ed]

Honesty. I believe we were hoping for an mini avata 2

[@RubberontheroadIndonesia]

I watched your video on my 42 inch TV and it looks fine.

[@markshirley01]

Thanks, very good review as usual. I was going to buy a Neo. I just wanted a small drone that I could use with my phone, for a 2-3 second video clip of bars and cafes, as I shoot social media content. I shoot 100% vertical, I'm still not sure if it's a waste of money or will do the job, I just need to get up to a certain height then push in for 2-3 seconds. I have owned a Mavic but sold it because it took to long to set up, and I was anxious when using it, so it stayed in my bag.

[@striff]

Thans, appreciate honest review. Saw another youtuber say the footage was great, yet he was looking washed out and no features of himself. I still bought one because of the price, purely to follow me on trail runs. Well, that's the intention.

[@hellohogo]

excellent perspective. i'll probably keep my air 3 for now. My hope is that they migrate some of the tracking features to the avata 2 at some point

[@ricarmig]

Nice test, liked a lot what you did. I watched on my phone but it seems that Neo’s 4K is worse than older models’ 2.7K!!! That is a disappointment…. If I had to guess, it seems a 1080p resized to 4K! I hope next firmware updates can fix that. I expect Mavic Air’s quality

[@ReallyGoodBadBoy]

I own several drones, and my plans for the Neo is my novelty trick drone that I let other people fly when they beg me to put my $1,000 drones at risk. 😂

[@eXo173]

Finally an honest review- Subscribed. Would be great if you could do some more testing around the limitations: for example even in manual control via the phone I have experienced the drone to auto-land in dim light (not low light) conditions because it apparently couldn’t see the floor. Some say this is also an issue when flying over water or drop-offs. I haven’t dared to test this myself, but I would be really interested in testing the automated shots over a drop-off.

[@WeWillNomad]

Great review. We just got one, but expectations are low for the way we will use it automated. That said, I really like being able to use it with a RC. RIP Nutmeg.

[@gelmancortes]

Such a well made review I subscribed to this channel at 4:30 into the video.

[@T86k35]

Nice review!

[@AbeyantHero]

It needs to have proximity sensors to lock in a decent avoidance assistance. The price as you said is the most compelling feature of it. Does it have a return to user feature if it flies a bit far off & losing track of it in higher elevations?

[@WillofDion]

All of the criticism are true, but my wife and i just uploads on tiktok and facebook. we are pretty satisfied with the price to performance, plus the ai modes are good for non pro users like us.

[@humphuk]

I am a newbie with this - tempted in due to the price point. Some of the issues you mention are baked in, and some may be addressed through firmware update. As for the user - have been directed to reducing the sharpness and maybe noise reduction - but if the video quality is not so good, is it better to record at 1080 - and save some space?

[@raywu6787]

Great tile!

[@_manojbhandari_]

That was a perfect place for review of a drone; nothing even accidentally illegal. You go through most of what a buyer needs/wants to know while being thoroughly unbiased. I just wanted to know what happens if I’m walking with a group or if other people come into the shot, will it still follow me? Thank Roo very much for the review.

[@Roos-Reviews]

I would like to do that test for my viewers, but flying a drone over other people poses potential legal issues.

[@uptowndisco2]

I watched another review where they went behind a tree and had a different person appear from the other side of the tree , Neo never tracked the new person but once the original person appeared Neo continued following , I dont know if it was coincidence or if Neo clever with its Ai

[@carlosamat]

thank you for your review...

[@IanTed]

For the money and its intended use it’s fine, I have the remote which allows better tuning of the video quality. It’s an entry level to drones, if I use it regularly I’ll trade it in for a better sub 250g drone. I honestly think many of the issues will be fixed with a firmware update in the near future.

[@ironian24]

you must be rich then, because for the money it is not fine at all, you will be suckered in to buying a controller to fly it properly at £300 odd, then youll be suckered into buying more batteries at £33 each, then the charger at £35 i think, now your up to near proper drone money, so why on earth would you consider this toy.

[@airbnbphotography]

yes its crazy that DJI lies about quality is 4k ! Do you think it can be fixed with software update ?

[@budget_nomad]

The footage looks better than other reviews I've seen. DJI is good at upgrades and improving products with time. Remember the OSMO ACTION 1 went from bad to great in 3 years.

[@moonsdonut5188]

finally an honest review, i was gonna buy it but my mini 2se video is better , buying the neo and a controllr total amout for that video image its not a good idea, if you want fun then yes but cant use this for my business.

[@garymason7]

Can always depend on Roo for the brutal honesty. If it was made by a new tech start up I would be more forgiving but this is DJI and by their standards it's appalling. Especially seeing as they are competing with something already on the market. Perhaps they know it's sh*t which is why they priced it so low.

[@Ozpeter]

Excellent objective review (of course, from you!). When I first saw video from it in other reviews I thought it looked odd. My amateur analysis was that it was over sharpened. And I'm someone who likes sharpness! Your comparison shots were very revealing even viewed on a phone. As for its ability to fly backwards in front of you, although I have not watched many other reviews, I don't recall other reports of the problems you had. I do wonder whether it was getting confused by your sunglasses (yes I'm serious).

[@Ozpeter]

And I am very sorry about Nutmeg. Hopefully the many great pics and videos which I suspect you have of Nutmeg will eventually be a comfort.

[@Roos-Reviews]

Thanks, Peter. It's a good suggestion about the sunglasses, but I don't think that's the culprit. Your words on the sharpness are in agreement with quite a lot of other people. I wonder if the Neo will follow the Action 2's story in that it had an underwhelming launch, but will improve through updates and become a gem some months from now. Nutmeg was a kitten I found on the side of the road. She was with me for too short a time and it's a tragic story that I don't think I will ever fully get over.

[@Ozpeter]

@@Roos-Reviews Pets can be as unforgettable as people. I'm sad for you.

[@eprohoda]

How are things?~ love it! so outstanding edition~ 🤞

[@marcioslsouza]

If you do not have a drone, which one would you recommend? Neo or the 2s?

[@Roos-Reviews]

Do you want to film quick shots of yourself doing stuff or do you mainly want to film high quality shots of your environment?

[@Dro9291]

Question is why are you zooming drone footage?

[@Roos-Reviews]

Because most people watch KZbin on small phone screens. Cropping in allows viewers to see the actual differences in quality and clarity between two cameras.

[@evadef8746]

Thanks for the honest review! You should be doing ASMR videos with that voice 🙂

[@evilakuma015]

I totally agree with you. I own a lot of DJI drones and other products. I love all of them but NEO.... I am not sure. I didn't expect much but my 5 years old Mini 1 has better video quality.

[@simistef]

My favourite KZbin reviewer is Roo ! Sad about Nutmeg … 😢

[@kennyadvocat]

I thought DJI drones were banned.

[@AntonisK]

lack of gimbal i believe the quality is bad due to only digital stabilisation

[@YOKokob]

1:35 neo looks like a cctv camera 😂😂😂

[@MSdroneguy]

I dunno. What did you expect? They could have made a $1000 drone but this is not for that. I think you need a mini 4 pro for your purposes, no?

[@Roos-Reviews]

Sorry, I'm not clear on exactly what it is that you want to know.

[@BikeLife154]

At last some honesty! So many shills out there.

[@thewebstylist]

This the first review that showcase poor vid quality! This breaks my considering so will stick w my Mini2 though was looking forward to auto flights w no remote etc. Damn

[@pasky7777]

I may be canceling this for the Hoover.

[@homeskateco.538]

I think it's way too sharp

[@zeronehundred]

cheap 4K not good good 4K not cheap 🤭🤭

[@TechInspected]

I do have the Neo and the Hover X1 and I agree on all points. The Hover takes better 2.7k video than the Neo's 4k. The Neo tracking could use some work. When doing circle maneuvers it often puts you out of center while the X1 keeps you in the center. Many of the quick shots do not have enough options. The circle has no height option. The rocket and dronie have no option to continously record both the way out and way in. It cuts a clip that does not stitch together. You can't change any quick shot options on the drone itself. You have to start the app. With The Hover, pressing and holding the mode button changes distance for each mode. One time, I started spotlight mode on my porch, and it flew backwards crashing into a tree and nearly falling into my pond. Spotlight mode is supposed to hover in place on my porch, not fly off. Those are the ones I can think of right now.

[@Roos-Reviews]

I experienced all of the same points you just mentioned, apart from spotlight flying backwards.

[@PixelSheep]

Thank you so much for this! I made a video about the NEO on my German Tech-Channel and got quite a lot of hate - apparently I am paid by HoverAir and just don't understand drones at all :D Had no chance to fly the drone yet but opted to make the video to remind my viewers to not just buy everything that is in hype and really think about whether they actually need this drone - espeically when the video quality is so bad that I don't really see much use for it if you want to do anything else than posting on social media. Damn did I get some hate :D Very glad I can link to this video now to get my point across - especially when comparing to older DJI Drones :D So yeah - thanks man! Like a lot! Really a sign that I'm not losing my mind yet :D EDIT: Damn the Nutmeg photo at the end really got me - wishing you all the best man!

[@BlackPrimeMinister]

This is garbage. Worse, it's dangerous. The X1 is good enough to give children to play, because follow-me is so accurate. The Neo is not even worth it at the price.

[@Everyonehasanopinion]

Thanks for being honest… great review as you always provide. I have yet to see a single video that showed quality that was deserving of the DJI branding on it. I returned my flymore kit after using it only once; having to use the remote to reduce the sharpness is a total fail for me because the whole point (for me) was not needing to being a remote with me. The only reason I got the kit with remote was because it was the only option available where I live. This is the first DJI product that has disappointed me… even my old Spark outperforms this. Last time I rush out as an early adopter; I thought I could because I had confidence in DJI. I’ll wait for better options. Thank you again for the video!