Customer Ratings & Reviews

DJI did not disappoint with this drone release. The camera is fantastic, the new goggles are awesome, and the motion controller is shockingly intuitive- I see the flight advantages to using a regular controller, but for sheer enjoyment and ease of use, I’m a huge fan- especially if you are relatively new to drones in general. I’ve found 3rd party stabilization software to be the way to go over the built in settings. FPV goggles screen quality is incredible, but clarity of signal is definitely effected when out of sight lines/objects inbetween. Battery life is incredible for the genre, but it may surprise cinematic/traditional drone users. I have two batteries and they charge very fast using a MacBook Pro charger. Also highly recommend getting a Velcro strap to better secure the battery in the event of a tumble. I have some ND filters on the way (3rd party, DJI doesn’t have stock) and will be looking into a regular controller for added functionality- or I may just keep working on my head tracking skills. All in all… blown away with the results of the final video product and all around feature set. I think DJI nailed it.

After watching lots of cool videos on YouTube that showed FPV drones doing amazing things and capturing incredible footage I decided that I wanted to give this a try. I started doing tons of research and initially decided to build my drone. I also started spending lots of time using simulators to try and get the hang of flying a drone without crashing it. I thought I would get the hang of it quickly since I’ve been gaming all my life but honestly, I am terrible on the 2-stick radio controllers. I then saw video reviews of the Avata and thought that this would be easier. I needed zero practice with the controller and on my first flight I flew easily and my recordings were incredible. The one handed controller doesn’t give you the precision that the 2-stick controller do but it’s SO easy to fly. I’m going to keep practicing in the simulators but for now I’m having a blast flying FPV and I have yet to crash my Avata.

When you fly the Avata, it’s best to be sitting down or leaning against something solid. Much like a game played with VR goggles, the Avata goggles make flying a drone a highly immersive experience. As you corner sharp and change altitude, you may find yourself falling over if standing. Seriously. It’s the closest experience to piloting an aircraft, flying like a bird or as a Superhero you can get from the safety of the ground. You can’t help but panic and tighten up when flying past a roof ledge, or when you crash the Avata. It feels so real. Despite the lack of the G Forces, your brain registers what it sees as if you are there in the drone. If you get motion sickness, these goggles may not be for you. Any drone that weighs more than 8.8 ounces (250 grams) requires registration with the FAA in the USA for outdoor flight. At over 14 ounces, the Avata like most every other drone out there must be registered at the FAA DroneZone. Currently this involves a basic knowledge "TRUST" test and a $5 registration fee/tax if you are flying for fun. If you plan to fly commercially to make money, the FAA has a more extensive test to receive certification for that. You must print out and carry the FAA certificate that you receive while flying your drone. Once registered, you must also label the drone with your FAA Registration number and your legal to go. You may also want to add a label with your contact info in case the drone crashes or fly’s out of range. You may be lucky to have a kind person let you know they found it. Odds are likely slim, but better than none if you make it easy. Also, once you have the drone, controller and goggles paired and connected to your smartphone via your phones charging/data cable, you need to install the DJI app so you can activate the Avata. Until you activate it, your range is extremely limited. Be sure to read each screen presented and not just click through them. There is some valuable information on a way to replace drones that are damaged or fly away. A firmware update may also be available. A phone or tablet is not needed to fly the drone. It is needed to update the firmware. You can also tether the phone to the goggles to show others what you are seeing in the goggles. The goggles are not heavy and do not stick out far like some others. No top strap is supplied for use over the head, and I did not feel the need for one. They are comfortable enough for a few flights. A softer fabric cushion as found on some VR headsets would be a desirable choice for those looking to pick up extra batteries to extend outings. Most eyeglasses will not fit in the headset, but for most there is no need with the built in and easy to use diopter adjustment. Letting others try the Avata gets old as you need to adjust the lenses for each person, and then back for yourself. But it’s also a good excuse for not sharing this expensive drone with new and casual users. If your vision cannot be corrected by this adjustment, you can get lenses made using the wo included lens frames. The Motion Controller works well. A virtual joystick to go with the VR like goggles, much like those on VR headsets or an old Wii console. The Motion Controller is very intuitive and precise. I could fly obstacle courses with no lag in response and slowly navigate up through a tree past some amazingly tight spots. The Motion Controller supports two of the three flight modes: Normal and Sport. However Manual Mode (AKA: ACRO Mode) is not supported. If you want to do flips or other ACRObatics, you will need to get the more traditional twin stick DJI FPV Controller 2 which allows Manual Mode on the Avata. I am skeptical how adept the Avata would be in acrobatics with its four props so close together. I hope to try this someday. On a very gusty day I managed to get the Avata flipped upside down in flight and the props all stopped. Not sure if this is a safety feature? Any chance of recovery as it tumbled to earth were dashed without power. Fortunately, a soft shrub broke the fall, and no damage was done. My attempts to flip it again all failed without manual mode. I do not have an FPV controller to use Manual mode. A front facing obstacle sensor is not included. I tried to be careful and avoid crashes at first. But while zipping through some obstacles, I did manage to hit a pole, a tree, barely missed a squirrel, then went on to hit a bird feeder, crash into and get tangled up in a bush, and then while skimming a corn field at top speed during the ‘Golder Hour” of light, the Avata augured in with summersault bouncing off the ground after hitting one particularly tall stalk. It felt so real and dramatic I braced myself! Finding a small grey drone in a corn field as the sun is setting was a challenge! I may add an air tag to it to help as a backup. Maybe some fluorescent orange stripes too. Throughout all these mishaps, the drone emerged dirty, grass stained, but otherwise unscathed. It’s one tough chassis! After each crash with no damage, I became braver flying faster and cornering harder. By the way, the prop guard works really well and is most welcome! Amazingly, I have not needed the two spare props the Avata came with, yet. Props and a new prop guard are available as spare parts for a reasonable price. I may get some spares to have on hand… Unfortunately, at the end of the day, the SD card would not read, it kept coming up that the SD card needed a format. Perhaps the shock of one of the crashes caused it to corrupt. Sadly, several flight recordings with no doubt spectacular slaloms and crashes were all lost. The Avata has 20GB of internal storage, enough space for one flight. The Avata also supports up to a 256GB microSDXC card. Be sure you get a fast “High Endurance” SD card capable of keeping up with the demands of 4K video. Cheap cards will fail to keep up and quickly wear out and fail. Shooting 4K video quickly uses up storage. A 256GB card should hold about two hours of the highest quality 4K video. Lowering the frame rate and other settings can help extend the time recorded, but you really won’t want to as the 60fps 4K video looks so good. You can easily toggle recording on/off with a button on the Motion Controller to avoid recording the trip out and back to save some minutes. I don’t see the 256GB limit as a real problem since in actual use the Avata can only fly for 10-12 minutes on a full charge with a new battery. Once the battery level drops to 20%, the Avata automatically heads to Home for a landing. I never saw more than 13 minutes flight time. But most of my flights include high altitude climbs, all out drag races, or exhilarating slaloms around trees. A 256GB card should be enough space for several complete flights. Swapping the SD card in the Avata is no easy task thanks to it being in the well of one of the propellers. It takes some careful positioning of the propellor to open the cover and swap the SD card without damaging the propellor. Next to the SD card is also the USB-C port. I hope I never need to use it. Be sure the cover is securely closed so it does not pop open and get in the prop’s way during flight. Otherwise, you may have a major in-flight failure bringing things toa sudden end. I don’t think DJI could have picked a worst place. After my crash in the cornfield, I opted to get another SD card to insert into the goggles. Now that I have two SD cards, I’ll use the one in the goggles as primary SD card since it’s much easier to swap out and consider the card in the drone as a backup should the signal get some interference or fail. The Avata can go from full speed to a full stop almost instantly. When viewing with the goggles, it seems like it has alien UFO technology, or air brakes. When stopping suddenly, the Avata does pitch its nose up dramatically. The gimble keeps the picture steady and level, but you will see the chassis come into view on each side of the screen on the default wide angle view during a hard stop. While I appreciate the protection the chassis supplies the gimble and camera, it would be nice if the chassis could be moved out more or the camara pushed forward some to see only the scenery when making such dramatic stops. The camera is slow to adjust when flying between sun and shade, such as under trees or into a garage. The picture gets washed out for a few seconds until the camera adjusts. Also, from high up the grass and bushes take on a strange texture and start to look fake. Considering this drone is aimed toward fast moving action cinema, these are not likely a big problem for most customers. Some of this may be able to be adjusted for with the many camera settings available or in post-production. The 4K camera captures fast action with no discernable blurring unless super wide angle is used, the picture and colors generally look clear and true to life. Of course, lighting changes with weather and time of day which can play a role here. Optional filters including a polarizing filter are available that snap on to the camera lenses which can help for serious cinematographers. A carrying case or backpack is not included. Transporting and safely storing the drone, goggles, controller, battery, and cables is a bit much with two small boxes. You’ll want a case or backpack designed for this or something with several compartments to keep the gear from banging into each other. I found a few practical uses for this sporty drone. With its down looking sensors, I could measure how tall trees are in my yard by hovering level with the tree and checking the height above take off point in the display (take off at the same height as the tree’s base), inspect trees for ‘widow makers’, check my roof’s condition after a windstorm, see if my gutters need a cleaning, really any inspection task that involves leaving the safety of the ground. While you may tell your significant other this drone allows you to do these mundane tasks from the safety of the ground, the re

Amazing drone. Package was perfectly wrapped. I was able to learn how to fly this drone through the simulator. I love the new controller but if yo I wanna get good, I would recommend buying the controller and more batteries

The best drone for FPV, very easy to use and the camera is perfect for this type of flying. More batteries are must and they are expensive but worth the price to fly longer

THE DJI AVATA is an excellent hybrid drone where we can combine stabilized and safe flights with manual or acro mode flight modes. It is the fpv drone with a safer return home today, a great long flight range and up to more than 15 minutes. flight with a camera mounted at 4k and wide angle of vision

The DJI Avata is an innovative, easy to fly drone which packs many unique features. Out of the box included is the drone itself, one intelligent flight battery, the motion controller, DJI goggles 2, and various cables and accessories. All components are fully assembled with batteries at half charge. First impressions of the Avata were its Cinewhoop design, a divergence from DJI’s traditional designs. Build quality is sturdy and Coupled with the included goggles and motion controller, aircraft is a blast to fly. Setup was simple after charging the three batteries. Instructions are clear and concise. Devices pair with one another and are activated through the DJI Fly mobile app. After a quick firmware update, the drone is almost ready to take flight. As this drone weighs 410 grams with battery, it must be registered with the FAA in the United States. Online registration requires the Flight Controller Serial Number located within the DJI Fly app and a $5 registration fee. Registration number must be made visible on the drone. The Recreational UAS Safety Test must also be completed online. I live near an airfield, therefore in an “authorization zone.” Usually, these zones can be unlocked through the DJI Fly app, but I was unable to within the goggles nor app. This prevented the drone from taking off. Had to unlock zone through the DJI FlySafe website and import the unlocking license to the aircraft within the DJI Fly app. A slight inconvenience which I believe will be fixed in a future software update. 2420 mAh battery is advertised to last 18 minutes and is easily swappable. I experienced a few minutes less in practice. As the battery run low, it initiates an automatic return to home which can be cancelled. At critical battery levels, the drone auto lands in place. Battery takes quite a while to fully charge and extra batteries will run you $129. Goggles battery is advertised to last 2 hours, 5 hours for motion controller. 4k/60fps camera is superb for capturing smooth, high quality action shots. Gimbal only tilts vertically, but “HorizonSteady” mode allows for recording of a level horizon. 155-degree FOV allows for wide angle shots with the ability to shoot at a normal field of view. Airframe is visible when camera is pointed directly down. Max image size for still images is 4000x3000. Video and images are recorded in MP4 and JPG formats respectively. I do not recommend flying at night as footage becomes grainy in low light. Avata has 20gb of internal storage and can house a microSD card up to 256gb. USB-C port and microSD slot on the drone are located awkwardly inside one of the propeller guards, making it challenging to reach. Care must be taken to fully close the cover, or the propeller will strike it. This is what happened on my maiden flight, albeit with only cosmetic damage to the cover and propeller. Goggles have a microSD card slot as well for viewing and offloading of footage. Motion controller is one of my favorite features of this package. It is in the form factor of a joystick and can ergonomically control all aspects of the drone. Tilting the joystick adjusts altitude and roll adjusts direction. Smooth trigger allows for precise throttle control. Large brake button stops and hovers the drone midair. Useful to avoid collisions and to take still photography. “Normal” and “sport” modes can be toggled through a button on the controller. Sport mode allows Avata to fly at higher speeds with the drawback of reduced battery life. Camera mode and gimbal tilt are also easily adjustable from the controller. DJI Goggles 2 are powered by an external battery connected to a coiled wire. With the battery in my front pocket, the wire doesn’t get in the way. Small USB Type C to female USB A cable allows for a cellphone to be connected to the goggles with a cable of choice. Touch controls on the right side of the goggles are intuitive. All menus and settings are accessed through the goggles. 1080p/100fps display and head tracking option allows for a highly immersive experience. Head tracking turns the drone and camera to match your head movement. High quality video stream from aircraft is robust and can cover very large distances in practice. Note that in the US visual line of sight is a requirement from the FAA, so a spotter may be necessary. Interpupillary distance adjustment is independent for each lens. IPD and focus adjustment system took some getting used to. Prescription inserts can also be made to fit the lenses. Goggles are lightweight and comfortable for extended flights due to rubber/silicone facial interface and large adjustable head strap. Lens cover is a useful feature as sunlight will cause irreparable damage to exposed lenses. FPV system coupled with the motion controller make this drone effortless to fly. My family member who has never flow a drone before was able to operate the Avata with ease. Ground sensors allows for high speed, ground hugging shots without fear of crashing, and built-in propeller guards add peace of mind especially indoors. Overall, the DJI Avata is the drone for enthusiast who wants an immersive, graceful high speed flight experience. This drone is a blast to fly!

Absolutely amazing easy to fly drone! The 4k camera is amazing and the motion controller is so simple to use my 5 year old daughter can fly it! Amd yes it does need registered with the FAA to legally fly.

DJI Avata The DJI Avata is what I would call a nice compact drone. There are two individual boxes in this combo set. One box contains the drone, the battery charger, the battery, extra propellers for the eventual crash landing, a USB-C to USB-C cable, an extra lens, a batter charger, and inserts. In the other box you get the FPV goggles, the motion controller, a USB-C to USB-A converter cable (for the phone attachment), a battery, a cable that connects the battery to the goggles, and inserts. Out of the box you pretty much get everything you’ll need to fly. EXCEPT for a smartphone. If for whatever reason you’re without a smartphone, then you’ll need one in order to update any firmware, and most importantly, fly the drone. Once you’ve unpacked everything and placed them neatly on a table, it’s time to start. You’ll first want to take a photo of the QR codes which are on the box. This will take you a DJI site where you can watch some videos, download the necessary apps, and such. Once you’ve downloaded the app, it’s time to connect everything to everything. First you’ll turn on your goggles by connecting the battery to the goggles via the cables. Once that’s done, turning it on is a single press on the battery power button followed by another hold-press for a few seconds. You’ll hear a beep. Then you do the same pressing sequence on the drone. You follow the same steps for the FPV motion remote and for the drone. Open the DJI app on your phone, create a login, account, then open it. If all the connections were done properly, you’ll see a “let’s fly” blue button on the bottom right. (I was prompted to download a new firmware my first time around) Once you’ve connected everything, you’ll try on the goggles for the first time for the initial setup. Here you’ll calibrate each lens for a focused view. You’ll also get an opportunity to set the language, and other settings such as video quality, etc. If you want to record video, you’re going to need a micro SD card. You insert the card into a compartment on the drone. It’s located on the inner housing of one of the propellers. The drone itself is quite light in weight. I like the fact that every propeller is housed in it’s own shielding. This prevents the drone from crashing down should it hit a wall of some type. The motion controller is very easy to use, quite intuitive. You have a small cross hair at the center point of your goggles, and use that to aim and maneuver your drone. You simply point the cross hair in the direction that you want to fly in, hold down the accelerator on the motion controller, and of you go. The sport mode is what allows you to fly faster. This is the mode that I preferred to fly in. The lock button on the controller works as both the take off and auto land button. This makes it easy to lift off on most surfaces, and land just as easy. While in flight you can press the record button on the motion controller. This will allow you get snapshots, as well as record video. (The recordings that I had had a lot of lag and stutter. I’ll have to record again to see if it was a one time thing, or maybe I had a bad connection) During my two flights, I think I bumped into one wall (Initial flight in my basement), and then a couple of leaves during my first outdoor flight. The drone turns quickly, and is very responsive. The motion controller is a bit laggy from time to time, but if you’re in an open enough space, you can recover pretty quickly. I am not someone who is prone to motion sickness, but it took me a few minutes to gather myself after my flight. I did not want to drive until I got my eyes focused again. The major cons with this drone is that the battery life on the drone is pretty short. I think I had a 15-20 minute flight in total. The video recording can be hit or miss from my experience, the micro SD slot, and USB-C location on the drone make it quite difficult to insert/remove the micro SD card, and plug in the USB-C connector, and finally the need for a smartphone. It’s not the fact that you need a smartphone, but the fact that you need to physically connect it to the goggles. I would have preferred if it used bluetooth. It was very cumbersome having two cables connected to the goggles. All in all it’s a great addition to the DJI drone family. Except for the couple of cons that I mentioned above, this is still one of the easiest FPV drones in the market. The drone itself moves quickly, and can be landed with ease. I would definitely recommend it to someone looking for a drone as a beginner or an intermediate user.

It's easy to get fully immersed in the experience of piloting the Avata, especially once it is out of your immediate area and you can no longer hear the whine of the propellers. Without the noise to let you know that what you're seeing is not actually a first-person view, but a perspective from somewhere else, you can forget that you're actually standing on the ground and not flying around among the trees - or zipping along just a couple of feet off the ground. Though it took a flight or two to get used to, the motion-sensitive controller is quite intuitive, and you can concentrate less on *how* you're controlling the flight and just get into the experience. Particularly with the head tracking enabled on the goggles, you can feel like you're actually looking around from the drone's perspective. Although it's not really 3D, the "screen" takes up so much of your field of vision, it almost feels like VR. And like VR, if you're not used to it, you can induce a touch of vertigo, particularly when banking hard. The controls are super responsive, and it feels like stopping on a dime when you release the acceleration trigger. Though there is a brake button, I never felt the need to use it. It's interesting to see the edge of the propeller guards tilt up into view during a fast stop while the camera itself remains steady as the drone cancels its forward momentum. I also flew it indoors, where the smaller size really helps, though the controls are a bit more awkward when moving slowly. There's still a remarkable degree of stability, though I did bump into a couple of walls. The sensitivity of the acceleration trigger is impressive in its ability to finely control the amount of forward motion. I was definitely appreciative of the built-in propeller guards while indoors. The picture is incredibly sharp, both in real-time in the goggles, and also later when viewing footage on a larger computer screen. There is about 20 GB of built-in storage, which is more than enough to record an entire 15-18 minute flight, though for some reason, it chopped my footage into smaller chunks of about 3:45. The USB port and microSD slot are kind of awkward to access, and you have to have the propeller positioned just right to pop that cover off. The headset uses a touchpad on the side to swipe around in menus and make selections, and there's a dedicated button on the controller to start and stop recording or take stills so you don't have to swipe around the touchpad during flight. I would consider this to be an ideal entry point for someone looking to get into drones but who might be intimidated by trying to manage traditional controls. This is super easy to figure out and takes very little time to feel like you're mastering the controls. Way better than trying to follow your flight on a phone screen or tablet screen. This feels like the way drone flight should have always been rather than some new evolution.

I have the FPV and that’s a fun and fast drone but this one serves a way different purpose the new remote is extremely fun to use and it makes you want to go thru small spaces. I ordered propellers from eBay and painted them.

I've flown first-person-view (FPV) drones before; however, those didn't have propeller guards and thus I felt more cautious flying them. DJI does a great job of making professional drones for the hobbyist, so I was excited to try this FPV drone. Connecting the drone and updating its firmware was a little more complicated compared to previous drones I've owned, but if you follow the directions carefully, you can easily complete it. The goggles were a challenge to set up - the picture was very clear, but it was difficult to compromise between being able to see the outside edges clearly, versus having seamless overlap between the right and left screens. A couple of things I noticed right away about this unit were the propeller guards and the rugged plastic. Immediately these gave me more confidence in flying the drone without wrecking it. I've never flown a drone with a motion controller, and I was unsure how successful I would be. I was pleasantly surprised at how shallow the learning curve was. The directional indicator was key for mastering this and maneuvering into tight spots that I wouldn't normally have attempted. As you can see in my attached photos, as I was traveling about 20 mph under a bridge, the clarity became fuzzy. Taking the photo at that speed also caused it to freeze, and I was unable to see where I was going. Thus, if you want a motion/action photo, I'd recommend clipping a frame from the video instead. One downside to this unit is that it appears to be more susceptible to wind, possibly due to the bulky propeller guards. I also had a couple of issues with the goggles. I could feel pressure on my nose due to the lack of top strap on the goggles, making them a bit uncomfortable, but not terrible. In addition, I was unable to see the various viewing options (rocksteady, horizonsteady, etc) through the goggles until after I pulled up the video on my computer. Finally, I recommend buying extra batteries, since one didn't seem to last long, especially while you're trying to build your familiarity with the area you're flying. Overall, this is an awesome FPV drone, and I would highly recommend it. The motion controller is a fantastic add-on and easily outpaces the traditional remote control. The picture quality is impressive for being a drone.

Amazing drone, best drone I have ever owned Best Buy has the best deals

Easy to fly for a newbie right out the box. It takes great video and is surprisingly durable.

Just cant get over the view its the closest you'll get to flying like a bird!

Excellent maneuverability with top notch controls and ultra high reception for sensors

Amazing. This drone made it easy for me to learn FPV and the goggles are really clear to see everything in HD. Bought the fly more package for 2 more batteries now I can fly for about an hour. Took great footage! I love it cant wait to take it on trips.

The Avata represents a new class of drone for the DJI family. While DJI has been dabbling in FPV drones for over a year now, this new model focuses on a versatile cinematic experience that you can use both in and outdoors. PROS - Incredible immersive flying experience with Goggles and Motion Controller - High repairability with spare parts available from DJI CONS - Battery life is poor at 18 minutes, so you will most likely want a couple spares. TIPS - FAA regulation requires that you have an observer when operating an FPV drone to maintain line of sight. - DJI has an app which lets you fly “virtually” to practice your piloting skills. - Manual mode requires using the FPV Remote Controller 2. - If you have an astigmatism, wearing contacts helped me reduce eyestrain. SUMMARY A small, fast cinewhoop style drone built for flying indoor and out with an immersive FPV experience. HARDWARE The first thing I noticed about the Avata is the size. Compared to the Mini 3 Pro, the Avata is absolutely tiny - a whopping 7 cm narrower and nearly 17 cm shorter. This size comes in handy when flying in tight quarters and inside. It also makes for a compact piece of kit to throw in your backpack and carry around, even with the Goggles and Motion Controller. The frame is plastic and very rigid and while I haven’t personally run it into anything yet, I’m confident that it could take some abuse. Even if you were to damage anything DJI has done a good job making spare parts available and the Avata is no exception. Online you can find spare props, guards, and frames which are all user replaceable. On the bottom there are downward facing cameras and a time-of-flight sensor for stable aircraft hovering and altitude measurements at lower heights. The Avata doesn’t have any other collision avoidance cameras or sensors, but with the small size and prop guards, this is definitely less of a concern. While the Avata is tiny, it weighs almost 410g which means you will still need to register the drone with the FAA when flying in the US as well as complete TRUST training before your first flight. The battery is a capable 2420 mAh unit, but with the smaller props and size, you’ll get a max of 18 minutes of flight time. Unlike other DJI drones, the battery snaps in securely to the skeleton like frame and sits right on top in the center of the drone, which I assume is an attempt to save weight and help balance the aircraft. Moving on to the Goggles 2 which are also incredibly compact and include some notable improvements over the Goggles V2, namely the higher resolution and built-in diopter and interpupillary distance adjustment. The unit is made with a hard plastic on the outside, which should survive any backpack, while the foam headband was firm enough to be both comfortable while, keeping the Goggles in place. Instead of the screw-on antennas, the Goggles 2 have two antennas that flip out reducing your setup time to fly. The Googles do have active cooling and you will hear the fans kick on when using them. To reduce weight, the battery is detached and connected via a power cable. The DC barrel for power and USB-C for connecting to your phone are on the right side of the goggles. Also on the right side is the touch pad for navigating the various menus and controls. Overall I found the touchpad was both large enough and sensitive enough to be useful and I had no trouble using it. On the left hand side is the SD-card and headphone jack – I didn’t have headphones to test this, but I assume this is for wireless streaming on the DJI headset – I have not been able to confirm if the Avata has a built-in microphone, but all my video has not had audio. Finally, the Motion Controller is not new to the Avata, but provides an intuitive way for both novices and professionals to fly. Overall, it’s ergonomic and comfortable with all the buttons you will primarily use accessible. Controls are straightforward, the built-in gyro provides position and the trigger will cause the drone to accelerate. The middle of the controller has the lock, mode, and a large break button that you can press at any time if you feel overwhelmed or just need to safely pause you flight to adjust settings. The tilt and record button are to the left, with the power button off to the right out of reach from being accidentally pressed. SETUP Setup was very straightforward. Pairing the controller with the googles. Then the goggles with the drone before having the plug your phone into the goggles with the include OTG cable to register the drone to your DJI account. Past the initial registration you will only need to have your phone plugged into the goggles when you are flying in an Authorization Zone around an airport or if you are making use of the DJI Virtual Flight app to practice your pilot skills. EXPERIENCE AND FLIGHT The Goggles 2 and Motion Controller were included in the bundle I got and are the secret sauce to the Avata. The Googles 2 offers a 51 degree field of view which is very similar to sitting in a movie theater and provides an incredibly immersive experience. The OLED 1080p screens are crisp, though my astigmatism causes some blurriness along the edges. I usually wear glasses, but for the best experience I would wear contacts if you have them to reduce eyestrain. The experience of flying the Avata is definitely something special. The control the aircraft felt instantaneous, and the frame rate made flying feel exceptionally smooth. In my backyard I was able to weave over the house, around trees, and under chairs with ease. Taking the Avata out to the lake gave me the opportunity to really test the range, flying under bridges and along the bank gave a truly cinematic appeal that wouldn’t be possible to capture as easily with other drones. I can’t wait to take this drone out more to capture different outdoor activities. The video and photos from these excursions is equally impressive – the super wide angle 4K 60fps is sharp and looks great. The RockSteady and HorizonSteady modes provided smooth and stable video, even when flying in moderate wind. While the Avata produces great video with the standard color profile it also has the D-Cinelike color profile found in the Phantom and Mavic drones which results in footage that does a good job preserving shadows and highlights for color grading. Overall, I was really impressed with quality of the video as well as the 12 MP photos. Some of the video I took was later in the day and the low light performance was good, thanks to the 1/1.7 CMOS sensor.

Over the years I’ve had tons of fun flying different DJI drones. I’ve loved seeing how they have evolved and the AVATA is something entirely new for me since it involves using goggles. Until this drone, I’ve only flown the drones that feature viewing through a mobile app. In general, I’ve found using the AVATA a very enjoyable experience. It is extremely lightweight with most of the weight existing in the battery pack. With that in mind, it’s much easier to navigate and fly the aircraft when there is little or no wind occurring in the environment. At the point when I was testing this flying machine it was the beginning of stormy weather season in my area. So, it was difficult to find a good time to give it a good test since there were frequent weather changes. That said, I was able to fly it around our neighborhood with little trouble and even my fiancé had a good time with it. GETTING STARTED When I was first unpacking the box I found a sticker that was joining the two halves of the box. It reads, “Linking is required before use.” There is a QR Code included that takes you to a video tutorial on how to link the two halves of the drone. I highly recommend giving this a watch before you launch for the first time. Even as an experienced drone pilot, I found it enlightening and helpful with getting started. This combo kit has the two halves separated into two boxes — the Motion Combo — which consists of the Goggles 2 and the Motion Controller — and the drone with its accessories. It’s recommended that you unpack all the contents to make sure you have everything. Once that is verified, charge the batteries (one for the drone and one for the Goggles) to 100%. Out of the box, the Goggles battery was only showing 1 LED and the drone’s battery showed 2 LEDs. Even with a little power, it’s a good idea to charge them both to 100% because you will have startup procedures and firmware updates before your first flight. Neither battery comes with a power adapter and it’s recommended that you use at least a 30W power adapter to charge the Drone’s battery. After the batteries are charged, connect each to their respective devices and begin the linking process. This is done using the DJI Fly app on your smartphone. This process links the two devices, activates them with DJI, and connects them to your DJI Account (if you don’t have one, you’ll need to create one). The next step is to update the firmware. This can be done through the DJI FLY app or the DJI Assistant app on your desktop computer. The drone comes with 20GB of internal storage, which can be expanded with the use of the Micro SD card slot. With the use of the Goggles, the user can set where they want photos and videos to be saved. The USB-C port located next to the Micro SD card slot is used for file transfer from the internal storage or to complete firmware updates. It’s important to note here that the connection between your DJI AVATA combo and smartphone (or computer) is made through a cable — not from a Bluetooth or other wireless protocol. FLYING THE DRONE The drone and the Goggles are powered on via their individual battery’s power button. The motion controller is rechargeable and doesn’t have an external battery to deal with. If you have ever used VR goggles like the Oculus Quest (or Meta Quest 2), you will understand how to use the Motion Controller. The movement is very similar to control the AVATA. One of the big things you have to get used to is understanding where the button controls are by feel since the Goggles completely block your view other than what the camera on the drone is showing you. One of the first times I took the AVATA outside, it was dark. I did capture some video from that flight as it was one of my first tests. As far as nighttime video goes, the AVATA did ok. I thought the camera did a good job of capturing images and adjusting for light and dark areas as I moved through both. As I mentioned above, it has been windy lately and this night it was particularly gusty. When I started my flight, it wasn’t too bad, but as I was attempting to land, a couple of very strong gusts blew through the area. I had the drone in a brake position so it was locked in its spot. It did a great job compensating for the wind while it was like that, but once the brake lock was taken off, the little drone had some trouble. I moved it down to a lower height and it did a much better job fighting the wind. I didn’t take the drone up to an extremely high level because our neighborhood is in an “Enhanced Warning Zone” for drone flights. We live within a certain distance from an airport so I had to make sure that I was keeping it at our tree-line or below. I was surprised how far I was able to see in the distance since it was dark out. RECOMMENDATIONS The AVATA is a great option for someone who wants a casual drone to fly around without the hassle of learning a drone controller. This is much less intimidating than a full size drone for beginners and it’s loads of fun to fly. The set up was pretty easy, but the one recommendation I would have is for a pouch or clip to be included for the Goggles battery pack. I plan on adding a small fanny pack for this drone kit so that I can keeping everything together when I take it out. It was a little awkward having to hold the battery pack in one hand and the motion controller in the other. The other recommendation is a little more advanced as it involves accommodations for people with astigmatism, which affects a large percentage of adults. I have astigmatism and my prescription glasses help compensate for that issue. If I don’t wear them and have to view things at a distance, certain elements in my field of view — especially words — appear blurry or distorted. Since the Goggles don’t provide enough clearance for someone to wear their prescription glasses, that part of my vision can’t be corrected. I worked for several minutes to adjust the diopters and I was able to get everything pretty clear — except for around the edges of my field of view, which I know is due to my astigmatism. If there was an option to help with that vision issue, my experience would be a lot more enjoyable.

This is the second drone that I've gotten form DJI.The first being the AIR 2S. This drone is a little bit different. This is the first time I've used goggles to navigate a drone and there is a bit of a learning curve. You can pay a lot less for something just to play around with it in the backyard, but if you really want something quality and some decent features DJI is the only way to go in my opinion. The model I have comes with the DJI goggles 2 and DJI Motion Controller, one battery with power adapters and some spare propellors. One of the things I really appreciate with this model is that the propellors are protected inside of the frame of the Avata. That makes them less likely to be damaged in flight or storage. If you've never used the motion controller before DJI has some tutorials on their website and within the app itself. I watched several of them and some videos on YouTube to help me quickly get up to speed with it. I found the motion controller to bed very responsive and once I learned to control the camera using head movements. This was a bit tricky to get used to initially, but by the time I had buy second flight, I was able to use that feature more effectively. Once I got everything charged and setup, it was time to take it to the park where I could have some flight time. One thing I would definitely recommend before you fly if you're new to drones is to download the FAA app B4UFLY. I use this app every time before I fly to make sure the airspace is clear and what the maximum flight height is. This is very helpful and could possibly keep you out of trouble if you are in a area where drones are not permitted to be flown. Once I had done that, I put the goggles on and commenced flight. Being new to goggles, this thing was pretty awesome overall. Having the drone up in the air and being able to look down above the treetops and in the surrounding areas was pretty surreal. The goggles were extremely clear after going through the setup steps and adjusting them to fit my eyes using the diapers on the goggles it was a lot of fun and looking back at the recording didn't do it justice after seeing the view firsthand from the goggles. I did use a high-speed microSD card for recording, but there is also roughly 20gb of internal storage as well. You can download the footage directly to your phone using the DJI app. I thoroughly enjoyed my first couple of flights with the Avata, but with a flight time of only 18 minutes or so, I need to order some spare batteries. 18 minutes is not enough time to really have a lot of fun with this drone and waiting for the batteries to recharge is a killjoy. The batteries can be ordered online through the DKI store and some other online retailers as well. My local Best Buy didn't have any unstuck at the time of this review, so I will kist have top order them from the DJIs website. I would also suffuse a travel case to store everything in as well. You don't really need anything fancy but having everything you need none easy to grab case makes it much easier to ensure you have everything you need of r you flight time. I took a could of comparison photos to show the size of the Avata compared to my Air 2S. The Avata is definitely smaller and easier to put in flight compared to the AIR 2S. I don't really want to compare the two, so I won't. I just wanted to show the size difference between the two. I truly can't give this thing high enough praise. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is looking to get into drones. This model comes in several different packages one of which included the FPV goggles instead of the DJI goggles 2 for a little less money, but I would definitely suggest getting the Fly More packages that gives you two extra batteries.