DJI Spark – Compact drone with obstacle detection
With the DJI Spark, the Chinese drone manufacturer expands its range with an extremely compact drone with integrated camera and innovative gesture control. The DJI Spark is ideal for on the go and convinces with numerous flight and camera modes. The high-quality mini drone is available in different versions. In addition to the standard version, in which the drone is controlled via smartphone, there is also a version with a physical controller.
The most important at a glance
The DJI Spark looks like the DJI Mavic Pro and could easily be a little sister of the high-end drone. Weighing just 300 grams and measuring 14.3 x 14.3 x 5.5 centimeters, the camera drone is easy to transport. By the way, the propellers are foldable and can be attached and removed quickly and easily. Only completely foldable drones are even more compact.
In addition to the copter, the scope of delivery also includes so-called prop guards (propeller protectors) for the rotors, a multi-charger including charging cable, a microUSB cable and a 16 GB memory card.
Flight time is about 16 minutes thanks to the DJI Spark’s 1480 mAh battery. When controlled via a smartphone, the range is about 262 feet (80 meters) horizontally and about 164 feet (50 meters) vertically. With an optional flight controller, the radius increases to 1.24 miles or a full 2000 meters. Even in moderate wind, the DJI Spark is stable in the air and reaches top speeds of about 31 mph (50 km/h).
DJI Spark – latest sensor technology on board
For safe and comfortable control, the DJI Spark is equipped with all kinds of latest technology. Sensors for obstacle detection and position determination provide excellent flight stability and enable numerous interesting shooting modes and flight maneuvers.
Control and flight modes
The DJI Spark offers a wide range of different flight modes and control options. In addition to control via the DJI GO 4 app, the drone can also be operated with the help of the optionally available flight controller or via gesture control.
DJI’s pride and joy is currently the so-called “Visual Intelligence”, which is also included in the new DJI Spark. With the help of gesture control, the small quadcopter executes commands precisely and accurately with the bare hand. All it takes is a movement with the palm of your hand to trigger a selfie or change the drone’s altitude or distance. You can even have the drone take off and land on your own hand.
TapFly and ActiveTrack
With the help of the DJI Go 4 app, you can perform certain flight maneuvers via TapFly function. As the first drone from DJI, the DJI Spark also masters the two new modes TapFly Coordinate and TapFly Direction. Simply tapping the screen is enough to send the drone directly to a selected target. Video mode can also be conveniently set with a simple tap on the screen.
Thanks to the ActiveTrack function, the quadcopter easily follows objects or people and makes impressive camera shots.
Conclusion
The DJI Spark is an extremely compact camera drone with great features, light weight and a variety of flight and shooting modes. This quadcopter allows you to take great photos and videos from interesting perspectives. Features like obstacle detection, TapFly and gesture control as well as intuitive controls make the DJI Spark highly interesting for beginners as well as professionals.
Those who value long range should go for the version with flight controller. The standard version of the Spark mini-drone is the best choice for those who are primarily interested in intuitive operation and a wide range of functions. Only the 16-minute flight time could be a bit longer, otherwise the DJI Spark is an absolute enrichment in the segment of compact drones with cameras and convinces with excellent quality and equipment.