Hands-On with DJI's Inspire 1 Quadcopter!

[@tested]

For the latest DJI products, go here: www.dji.com/

[@Lorenzo_Velasquez]

Just bought a DJI inspire 1, customer care was amazing. They followed me trough the process of set it up. 15 years after, this is still a great drone!!

[@FrederickDunn]

I've been watching these for a long time... I'm really impressed with the improvements made here, specifically regarding the lack of lens distortion... THAT is a great selling point, along with the ability for the camera to descend below the rig in flight... absolutely headed in the right direction.. thank you for sharing. Very informative... A+

[@drackar]

I want one. I also really like that the negative comparisons he made was to other products by his company....instead of using it as an opportunity to trash talk competitors. That's a classy way to handle it.

[@JurassicCollectables]

Been following DJI's work, they continue to impress and inspire me. Truly amazing

[@foto-video-tips]

Very NICE Hands on. We love the DJI Inspire 1 ! Will test it as soon as possible

[@rol1353]

Of all the "Inspire" preview videos I've seen this is by far the best, most informative. Love the information provided.

[@WhoaNellyJake]

Can't even describe in words how much I would love to have one of these.

[@34Floaty]

I like this guys workspace, no-face from spirited away, rocket raccoon, r2d2, terminator with a straw hat, and a bunch of other cool shit.

[@pid_zero]

18 minutes is a very short period of time for such awesomeness

[@jspr2k5]

18 minutes is long enough. Rarely any film maker shoots a shot that's 18 minutes long. Instead they do consecutive small shots. For that, this device is fine.

[@RayHay1000]

Quadcopters and gopro cameras or equivalent are a unity made in heaven. The perfect match. The quad is the best platform to best display the ability of this HD camera technology. Its advancement using GPS, HD, and quadcopters is giving the world footage that was impossible a few years back. I love this technology and what is giving to Aerial Imaging. We all benefit.

[@andrewbright4932]

this quad is absolutely amazing would love to have one someday

[@ctskifreaks]

The very end was awesome - Adam "jacking" it, and then it flying away like a couple dozen yards in about half a second.

[@CarsnStuff]

This thing is amazing !! you guys should try to find the guys that did the quad copter that actually can follow you on its own with out any radio ! just uses a wrist band to the owner or who ever you want to film and you turn it on and go have fun and it will follow you and let you know when the battery is low. Would love to see some detail on it !

[@Nailbunny889]

I did some work with a Phantom 2 this summer, I really hope I can get my hands on one of these eventually. Looks fantastic, and I love the idea of being able to hand camera controls off to another person.

[@TravellerYT]

Fantastic looking aircraft with some awesome features!!

[@CorneliusSneedley]

Technologically amazing. Aesthetically, the white "fuselage" is brilliant. It pleases the kid in me. ;)

[@SkyCamCertified1]

possibly the greatest review on my favourite drone!

[@TheAegisClaw]

Great to hear a bit more detail. Definitely considering one of these, but I'll wait until a few consumers report back on them.

[@ansonchan1550]

The lights totally add to the effect.

[@pandapandabamboo]

the drone is amazing but... those guys are standing in the most awesome room ever >.>

[@shiesty90]

I was on the fence about the Inspire 1 before this video. Eric Cheng is the DJI Master. I have a Phantom II and can totally justify spending 3k on the Inspire 1. I think the s800 and s1000 are great if you have a GH4 or 5D MIII but the complexity and expense are just not practical for most DJI Pilots. I love the sonar (Optical Flow Technology) ground tracking feature so you can fly in a more fragile environment. I could fly this down the interior of a small jet or in a yacht with ease.

[@MrAbehringer]

I love this drone. It is changing everything. it is so easy to set up and go compared to my custom builds.

[@stephenkrall7609]

This is a beautiful quad. I wish I could afford it. It is a beautiful design.

[@joeyjacildone4500]

yes u can , go online eBay buy it used there getting cheaper for $500.

[@smudgepost]

Excellent piece of kit! Was going for a Phantom 2, not now!!

[@tylereswien5136]

Being part of a large RC pilot group keeps me in the loop on new product reviews. Of late many members of our multirotor pilots are in constant debate regarding the DJI Inspire 1. This is a diverse group, so one might take production videos of sporting events with gimbals and cameras while another might be inspecting his corn fields using preprogrammed flight plans with goggles and long distance video feed. Just as the initial excitement is waning this past 2 weeks, many serious problems started surfacing. There is now an overwhelming consensus that the Inspire 1 design is inherently flawed, that there are multiple vibration related structural and mechanical elements that can not be fixed without a major overhaul. The signature "T" shaped lifting arms that inspired the initial praise has turn into a curse. While engineers place the blame on compounded torque form two motors on opposite ends of a "T", multirotor integrators agreed that lifting mechanism (usually reserved for skids) should not have found its way to hold up right angled arms with a high speed motor at each end. By the end of last week all have cancelled or called off their Inspired commitments ..... for now.

[@mattweber2607]

As I look closely at many of the Inspire One videos, the quad is constantly struggling to find equilibrium. Quadcopter rotors are suppose to maintain perpendicular alignment that's firmly anchored to the main frame. The Inspire One's "T" arm design is neither, resulting in a front and back rocking motion that wreak havoc to sensors responsible for stabilization.

[@brianboyd2392]

My local hobby shop hangout is heavily discounting the first Inspire 1 shipment that's coming in. "No returns" is the caveat. Even if they can get rid of them, the service and complaints is going to be a horrendous headache. Looks like the step motors for lifting the arms are too flimsy to handle the tremendous force and vibration of the rotors.

[@tomlee45]

This is straight baller mode right here.

[@gavejoke]

this is insanely great i loved it soooooooooooooooo much

[@daviswing]

Looks like something straight out of Portal 2. I love it

[@pietpiloot5600]

woah!! just woah!! awesome product. best of the best so far

[@basicallybangbang]

I am as excited as I am scared of this technology!

[@gustavoguillermohelfer9626]

excelente la tecnologia del inspire!! felicitaciones!! pero igualmente tengo mis criticas, espero no se tomen a mal, noto que el cardan gimbal es desproporcionadamente muy largo, con lo cual la palanca transmite mucha oscilacion,(min 0:48 , 2:13 )y no esta en el centro de los ejes como deberia.ademas el tren retractil ( es una maravilla tecnologica) pero pone en riesgo la camara en caso de aterrizaje de emergencia y los niveles, equilibrios de los motores es una de las partes mas sensibles en multirrotores como para estar subiendo y bajando continuamente.igualmente es una maravilla. un abrazo.

[@gentlegiantJGC]

I kind of want to see the footage from that shot at the end from the perspective of the quadcopter

[@tullochgorum6323]

The Poles used one of these to film a ski descent of K2 - second highest mountain in the world. Now that's impressive - it's above the operating range of most commercial helicopters.

[@alnoose6494]

An absolutely brilliant quad well done guys ;)

[@nicholasfrascone]

I want this Drone so bad , I'll keep saving for it

[@LogicalNiko]

Drool....Thats what I call a really nice Christmas gift

[@aortizc82]

Most amazing drone in the market today :D

[@ManofWater]

need to get my hands on this one way or another

[@syfriamedia]

Love flying my phantom 2

[@PaulHodgeProductions]

I have been a DJI phantom 2 user and I know how dangerous the rotating blades are when not enclosed with rotor guards. Also the guards do help to protect the drone and the blades from damage in cases of awkward landings that tilt the drone on its side. So my next question is with the Inspire the blades are not guarded and will cause some serious physical wounding to a persons face and exposed limbs. Also, if in the unfortunate situation arises when the Inspire comes in contact with say tree branches or a solid structure I hate to think what will happen to the blades and the motors. Lets look at the landing gear: The Phantom 2 has its under-carriage always safeguarding your camera (say the Go Pro and gimbal). Now in the case of the Inspire 1 if and when you have a emergency landing or even worst a collision with the ground I cannot see the under-carriage coming down in time to save the 4K camera and attachments. What do others have to say?

[@roybarlow1352]

PHP:I was reading the inputs from others, came across yours. I feel you have made good points.

[@PaulHodgeProductions]

BlenderLager I hope you are right and I am wrong. The pilot is responsible for his/her own safety and the safety of others. However flying any quad in an environment that the pilot has no control over errors will be made. I think the safest way yo fly the Inspire isto have dual controls. Solo beginner pilots need to fly smaller quads and clock several hours of flying.

[@jamaha268]

Well The Inspire 1 will be one mother f#$% head ache.DJI are a little out of thier minds The camera wobbles like crazy and when the people start complainings snd wanting service,It will be a compete failure.Dji can barely keep up with the phantoms........thx

[@EyeBallGamers]

dat last bit doe... it was like the double rainbow thingy

[@seriousCADninja]

It looks awesome!!!

[@keithfulkerson]

It would be cool if they could have a head mounted display and the ability to control the camera with head tracking. It's an amazing piece of gear, though.

[@javipena93]

Imagine using an oculus rift to view and move the camera..

[@tested]

Jose J P The latency for that is such that you'd probably do some vomiting, even with a fast gimbals.

[@javipena93]

Tested I have hope for the future!

[@ZoderZahlenAbis]

Jose J P Even with Timewarp and other software tricks you are gonna have a bad time with wireless signal transmission. There is currently no live camera system (even wired!) that is suitable for VR. Also remember that you want a very high frame rate; 75hz for DK2 and probably 90+ for the first Consumer Kit. But you could create a 3d computer environment from the data you get and just interact with the drone virtually. But thats probably a few years out, as it need much better hardware and software.

[@ZeusLT]

***** oh god I was about to write about the same idea without reading your comment, it seems very plausible but needs right people to share same idea and work together

[@TheSaint802]

Oh my god I saw the myth busters and I'm watching them right now!

[@HiHai]

This video is very great.

[@MatMabee]

The real question is whether or not they used a 27 axis gyroscopic sensor instead of a typical ≈9 axis gyroscope. Usually it makes a huge difference with the stability control.

[@46449771]

Does this mean that you guys are no longer scared to put quadcopter videos on youtube? I'd love to see more :)

[@esaedvik]

Such a gorgeous quad and awesome feature set. Still, I personally don't want a pre-built carebear quadcopter, because I want to learn what makes them tick. So I got a David Windestål Tricopter V3 and a Red20RC H220 racing quad projects to build over the winter :)

[@ScorpioDeal]

I want one of these! No, I really want one of these!

[@bishoppearce-killian8776]

wow this is really cool! i actually have plans on building my first quadcopter here soon ^.^

[@Cccgreenskeeper]

I just got mine and I love it

[@MrVERMONVILE]

This is AWESOME!

[@NatureinOsterreich]

Very cool, how fast can it fly?? does it have an optical zoom??

[@peteroregan7786]

Great review - thanks! does Inspire 1 flight controller support windows tablet, or only iOS and Android? Thanks.

[@swsephy]

That's really nice!

[@MichaelBrown1776]

Would you say customer support from DJI is much better for Inspire customers then the Phantom series?

[@rifted]

I hate you guys... great you showed us the Inspire 1, tested talk and play with it... now I want one but don't have the money! ha! Guess will keep building mine till I save enough to buy one! thanks guys! Nice to see Adam and Will both like a little boy`s enjoying the tech in this machine! Ed

[@rifted]

***** Well I like to spend $2,899.00 in other stuff. Not only one a single quad. You can buy as many as you want with your own money! So GOOD FOR YOU! Enjoy life pal! Ed

[@NagaTen]

rifted Well, the Canon 5D Mk.III went into the market with a $3500 retail price for the camera body alone, so really... This being a product for professional use, it actually has a pretty competitive price i'd say.

[@BLThackrey]

NagaTen Just a high end off the shelf all in one, great for rich kids with no technical background , You can get better for the money if you build your own from parts . the 4k camera included is nothing special . It is a good price / spec for some professional use. I doubt Michael Bay would be using these though

[@rifted]

Yes it could be a high end off the shelf as you say, but it is a nice design and Tested where able to get a review before it sells on the shelf's! lol Also if you are into building your own stuff it might not end looking as this one but HEY! Every one is proud of each creations right? :-)

[@rifted]

NagaTen yea! it is pretty competitive to be true! plus its out of the box nice design and probably in the near future the price will drop... (when there is a newer one lol)

[@orca7053]

Is it just me or does that camera look like an eye, im getting the feel that that thing has a mind of its own :D

[@U2GuitarTutorials]

If you are in a moving vehicle (car or boat), can you set it to follow you at a set distance and height away from the moving vehicle, so you don't have to worry about steering it?

[@RyanMonroe0910]

BlenderLager my app has a feature that says follow, havent tried it yet

[@ExploreForYou]

If you don't like the curves on the gopro video pic....you can use the medium mode!

[@GLORYTOGODFOREVER]

Great review guys :-)

[@TheUnDeRGRouNDHoBo]

be pretty epic watching 1 of them doing the DJI Fly Away

[@robertola3]

looks like a flying turret from portal :D love it!

[@nerdglider]

really cool stuff here

[@4boston]

These things are amazing. Sad thing is that no one is going to be able to use them in the US soon once the FAA have their way.

[@d.hansel854]

I wonder if this has the "return to home' feature that the DJI Phantom 2 has? I would like to see a longer flight time. Also I would like to see the landing arms come down in an event of you having to land it without damaging the camera. Note this unit does not have WiFi or Blue Tooth as the DJI has.

[@mattweber2607]

DJI engineers screwed up by putting 2 motors on the same arm. On top of that both of these unstable arms are mounted on retractable servo hinges. Basically combining 2 fatal errors in one design and there is no way to fix it. The resulting vibration is especially bad for videos when there is any moderate velocity or wind. DJI must have waited for the perfect day to fly, cut out 90% of the bad video and post edited for days to get a few seconds of usable footage.

[@MollydogRadar]

I was told that you have to do computer up grades from time to time with the Inspire. Which means if the state you live in decides to make quads illegal to fly, DJI can disable your Inspire. Any thought on this. I would hate to fork out 3000+, only to find out it has been disabled.

[@drkastenbrot]

***** ^we all now the internet. give those people 1 week and they come up with an manual software hack which enables it again

[@martinsoendergaard-jensen9602]

Although the state might say drones are illegal, unless DJI made that EVERYONE was blocked, it would be illegal for them.

[@masB3n]

I want one too. Hope to come fast in Europe.

[@TonySilvia]

Those mics you're using sound great, what are they?

[@thebrucewayneishere6106]

Lol Adam savage at the end taking the drone

[@TNPviewer]

Does this come stock with the flip of death technology built in or is it a firmware upgrade?

[@okeanos467]

Very interested in this quad. but my biggest concern is those firmware upgrades... how often have to do this? I'm traveling the world and often without internet. this could be very inconvienient... also flight time... kinda on the short side... my next choice probably is Matrix from Turbo Ace. no upgrades and 47 minutes flight time... Thank you.

[@ucheucheuche]

0:48 Why does the camera gimbal shake so much while transforming? Being able to have straight horizons is a big plus. 16:03 I love this zipping-shot. Give it a name. Make it happen. :)

[@jspr2k5]

It's calibrating the brushless gimbal just after lift off..

[@jdiez6830]

Impressive, the DJI inspire has every you need to fly. What will happen if you fly out of range, no body has talk about auto return to home?

[@geetarwanabe]

7:15 " if you're shitting stills" I hope not

[@MishaVargas]

Eric Cheng: "It also drops the center of gravity below the props; it's a little bit more stable that way." That seems like a version of the "pendulum rocket fallacy". The only ways it seems like this might actually help stabilize the quadcopter is by increasing the moment of inertia (and sorta damping out fluctuations) or by changing the center of pressure. But there shouldn't be any magic stability added from moving the CoM down. (Caution: I am not an engineer.)

[@protogenxl]

I fly Quads and I am building a Tricopter. I think any benefit gained by a lower center of gravity is wasted on the extra weight added to run this system.

[@alonzochiongbian5882]

I know it's outdated and it's not the best but you should check out where dji came from the phantom 1 or fc40

[@klienstudio3591]

There's been a lot of complaint with Inspire's 18 minute flight time because many professional applications require at least 30 minutes for extended inspection and longer distance missions. Another issue is that you are stuck with the built-in camera that comes with this Chinese drone. In contrast, the U.S. developed Matrix-i I'm currently flying offers over 50 minutes flight time with a small hard mounted camera (If I added a 3-axis gimbal plus either the Hero4 or the TAU 2 thermal imaging camera, the Matrix flight time drops to about 47 minutes.) not bad for a mid-sized foldable drone that uses either a 16,000mah or a 22,000mah 6S LiPo. The key is weight, Matrix's extra rigid frame and 15" propellers is forged entirely from carbon fiber and aluminum leaving lots of payload to support huge batteries.

[@pFaVT0kNN42WZYWYzSDXI1lmDfRuG]

Holy shit that looks so cool

[@gmonkey808]

Damn them not only have they got a super drone they have the arc of the covenant in the cupboard!

[@scshekar]

Got to get my hands on this baby!

[@ravebrave8866]

still dreaming..

[@svampefett]

You should definetly boost the battery, there are small powerbanks 1/3 of the size of this battery and their packing 12 000 mah batteries, compared to four thousand on this one. 18 minutes of battery time is enough when filming short shots. But just think about the posibilities with longer battery time. Filming events or following a boat / car over time. Amazing product, but you should REALLY boost the battery!

[@ALTN8NRG]

This is bad ass. I want one. :)

[@immodrones3467]

Great product !!! I have one also with some video to show you how it fly.

[@y2kmadd]

I like it, but i'm not sure about the legs. Maybe move the camera up and down instead? It does look like it lowers the center of gravity though probably resulting in more stable flight.

[@kdanagger6894]

Looks very cool. But from an engineering standpoint, I have serious concerns about a lack of stiffness in a frame with two articulated single booms. There is no way that frame does not have a substantial amount of torsional flex or slop. You've got bearing clearances and CF tube couplers all working against you here. It seems far better to keep the motor/prop plane as rigid as possible, and just articulate the landing gear. Form follows function - not the other way around. I suspect that DJI has ignored that rule.

[@Hoverbot1TV]

Someone needs to hack the DJI code and make it open source or 3DR may just design a better FC than Pixhawk and win on the usability of the inspire. 3DR has sonar and optical flow too which contributed to DJI's "new" functions. The canted outwards motors are interesting.

[@zimmy1958]

now that was cool ! thanks for the video. would love to have one but to pricey for the noncommercial market

[@MwRYum]

The first time I heard about these drones was when a DJI Phantom was captured in Syria. Don't know when we'd find one of these flew in the skies of some civil war region, doing recon or artillery spotting.

[@CrazyCopter]

I'd love to see some raw video from Inspire 1? Have you got some?

[@Neomax25]

This looks *AWESOME* though I dare'nt look into how much it is!

[@fenf777]

Having this i1 in this year. Feels like not much

[@BartenderX]

Can I just have that camera for the DJI Phantom 2+? Makes me wonder what the camera specs would on the next model of the DJI Phantom series. I just want to use this system for aerial still shots for landscape work. Would the image quality be worth the money?

[@discgolfer78]

great video to fall asleep too..... goodnight

[@Granite]

18 minutes flight time with the "special DJI" battery is not impressive at all and is a big downfall of this machine. The camera being used is pretty nice with the 3 axis gimbals. Although being nice, it definitely isn't nice enough for the price. You could scratch build a machine which is way better for far less money.

[@zaplocked]

Only maybe if you dropped the lightbridge for hd fpv - thats worth about $1400 by itself. Otherwise, I think its pretty competitively priced for the features you get (the proprietary battery is unfortunate of course)

[@IDKOKIDK]

Zapf Granite How long of a flight can you kids get with the weight of a reasonable sized camera? I had thought 18mins is good, not bad. Maybe you just don't like current battery technology, rather than think this has a horrible fly time in relations to others

[@esaedvik]

Granite Not to to mention the 5700 mAh battery is 200 bucks! That's insane. I've always said that DJI is the Apple of drones, crazy profit margins and both generally make people dumber in the long run, as they don't know what their device does or how, at all, "it just works". It's both a blessing and a curse IMO.

[@IDKOKIDK]

a damning conclusion Esa Edvik & likely correct .

[@esaedvik]

***** And bout the flight time; cut weight, get large, efficient props and efficient motors (specs detail lift in grams per watt), and a big battery to boot and you'll have a really nice flight time. It's a real race against physics. Examples of 2hour flight times with a 4kg quad with 100kv motors, 28inch props and 24Ah batteries are abundant :) people have even made their own li-ion packs from 18650 cells off laptop batteries. Really cheap.

[@radiantjet418]

So they put the parrot stabilization system on here? I really like! Maybe one day I will own it. The cost for this is over $2500. But the cost will go down. But for right now I am just going to buy the Parrot BeeBop. I am also flying my Parrot AR drone 2.0 with a goPro mount.

[@universalderpo1361]

Poor people....

[@carloscanhoto]

estes Drones, são a descoberta deste século! seriam utéis para muitas aplicações, para pessoas desaparecidas, ou até para controle nas guerras etc..........

[@Bullfrogerwytsch]

Do you think it would be difficult to use it to 3d scan people with it?

[@dphotos007]

You never addressed the FAA issues. Many have bought these quads and fly them above 400 feet into commercial air space. The FAA took note and is making laws against fly these and RC planes. There has been two reported near misses both in New York and in Florida with a commercial passenger jet and yes these will damage a jet turbine if sucked into the blades. The Lipo battery will explode. Film productions can now fly them but the pilot must get a license, have liability insurance and be trained. I think Testedcom should of asked this guy about the FAA issues. Buyers should know and keep in touch with FAA rulings and always fly safe with these aircraft.

[@MylkyD]

There were two reports, but zero evidence. The fact that the FAA nor the government had any hard and fast rules and laws in place to deal with these, it wouldn't take too much to draw up some fear in citizens to warrant putting some in place. Whenever governmental bodies want to erode freedoms, they use fear against its citizens to enact new legislation. Let's wait for the proof before buying what they're trying to sell us.