0:17 Overrated obstacle avoidance? 2:43 Erratic behaviour 3:15 You may have to buy a new phone 3:45 Rapid inaccurate aperture changes 4:15 Customer support 4:41 Poor manual flight 5:19 What we like FURTHER NOTES! Some Skydio owners are upset by negative comments about the drone in some situations. Watch the whole vid! Yes, Skydio is curently the best drone for autonomous flight and obstacle avoidance. Yes it should perform well in open spaces with a minimum of trees or other obstacles around with suitable care taken. You will see we are getting better performance from the Skydio by avoiding trees as much as possible. But we believe some of Skydio's earlier promotions ( and 'reviews' by influencers) overestimated its current abilities, especially when there are trees around! Many Skydio owners agree. Early ads showed the drone weaving seamlessly through multiple trees. They have now dropped those thankfully. Unfortunately many of us bought the drone thinking it would work well in forests. Mine now has a damaged gimbal from flying into a large leafy branch - precisely what Skydio says it will avoid (they do state power lines and thin bare branches are something to avoid). Buying one? Read as many reviews as possible. Be sceptical of the rave reviews that don't mention any negative points. Be sceptical of this review too of course! Get a balanced perspective. See more comments below... Further comments on video quality: Detailed reviews point out that the video quality is not as good as other drones. I am gradually discovering this is the case. It is frequently good, but at other times the colours are inaccurate and colour correction cannot fix it. I suspect that Skydio has a default position that applies contrast, sharpness and saturation to try and make the footage look good. This can work for complete amateurs, but there should be a 'flat' or neutral high quality setting which allows us to do our own post-production. 😢 I have spoken with other Skydio users who agree. We need a neutral setting so we can have more chance of fixing the footage when the results aren't great. ILLEGAL TO FLY AUTONOMOUSLY??? Check to see if you can legally fly an autonomous drone in your country! In the USA, you may contravene FAA regulations. See this post for more info... bit.ly/3tMDL5U MORE COMMENTS FROM OWNERS "Skydio was always great at avoiding things and today it decided enough is enough and decided to avoid me alltogether, at some point it refused all controls and flew away into ocean horizon. Good bye old friend. A great promising technology but it's just not there yet." Mike Zed "Great attitude but an expensive error in technology. I tell people the Skydio2 is the best drone for tracking but has suicidal tendencies. MY last Skydio ran into the only tree (with leaves) in an 88 acre field..." Brett Tkacs" "The video has an ugly, oversharpened look, with little to no room to tune settings, and photos are on the same level as starter drones like the DJI Mini 2. This isn't a drone for landscape photographers or cinematographers-remember too that the drone only flies in daylight, so magic hour flights are out. If you're searching for a Follow drone that won't crash, the Skydio 2 certainly fits the bill. It's able to navigate through complex spaces, and has some automated shots for easy reveals and orbits. It's a shame its camera doesn't measure up." PCmag.com I was trying to beacon track on my dirt bike and it found itself hovering in trees until I found it (many times). It never could do that job... I've really tried to make it work... so far It has never crashed, but broke some props doing a case landing which I stopped doing because of that. I ended up buying another drone to get the vids I wanted." Jim Bacus "Mine lost connection and just hovered out of reach for 20 minutes while I tried to reconnect. Then it landed. That's when I knew I had something special on my hands." JS McCuin "People who get the drone and go out and just 'send it' thinking it’s going to avoid everything after watching the promotional videos are taking a big risk and in for a rude awakening when it crashes and Skydio won’t warranty it." Brian Reynolds "Skydio over-sells, under-delivers and couldn’t care less about FAA rules it seems... I’m trying to clear up the smoke and mirrors that Skydio uses to promote and sell their drones... Skydio promotes flying drones in a manner that is not allowed under the current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 107 rules. dronexl.co/2020/10/16/skydio-over-sells-under-delivers-faa-rules/
Our pleasure! Unfortunately many of the so-called reviews are by influencers who just endlessly say 'It's the best!' with no critical angle at all. This is actually a good drone if you keep it away from obstacles and keep the speed down, but I think most reviews, and Skydio's original marketing claims, were way too optimistic... at least for motorbike riders or fast MTB riders!
I agree. My Skydio crashed into a tree at about 15mph and is now damaged. It has found the only tree in a field and just stopped in front of it, until I went back and rescued it. You should only use this drone in wide open spaces with no obstacles at all if you want hassle-free flying. I fell for their earlier claims of it being crash-proof.
Thankfully they seem to have made more modest claims recently, compared to the earlier promotions about it being virtually crashproof. But quite a few of we earlier buyers have been disappointed.
For those that don't know, Barry doesn't take bribes for products on his channel. He gives great and honest reviews. I was wanting one of these but I'm out. Cheers mate.
If you don't fly around trees it generally performs really well, Jeff. But it just ain't as good as their marketing has claimed in this respect... in our opinion.
You seemed to skip all of the good features! Like how you calibrate it. Show a DJI user how a skydio is calibrated each flight ;) The waypoint mode is amazing. I think a lot of people have completely unrealistic expectations and/or ignore the basic limitations... what knuckle head flew it in the dark when is uses visual sensors? Haha Also, Ive never noticed any apature changes like your footage.... did you crash it? Maybe it is damaged?
Never crashed. Apparently the aperture changes are due to auto balance... it's obviously something Skydio doesn't have working quite right yet. Discussed in another comment.
I own a skydio 2+ and a dji inspire 2. I use them for work for 3D scanning and modelling. I love my skydio because it’s quick set ip, easy to use and faster scanner than my inspire. I use my dji for certain functions I don’t want to have to pay extra for plus it can fly in heavier winds. The skydio care was pretty good at replacing my drone from start to finish 2 weeks. I live in canada. As for customer service also no complaints there and I contacted them multiple times to chat. I trust the autonomy of my skydio way more than my dji. That helps when I want to not worry about hitting things while I’m scanning. It’s good autonomy but it just can’t perform too many tricks at the same time.
Great to hear it's working for you, Cory! I am getting some decent shots, I must admit. But I'm just avoiding trees like the plague... which is a shame as all their marketing hype led me to believe it would work really well in that context. Another friend is extremely disappointed with his too.
Our understanding is that the collision avoidance hasn't changed, Roy. But the 2+ does have extra battery life and extended range with the beacon etc. I also see that Skydio has removed all their early promotional stuff about flying around trees which is good to see... quite a few of us felt misled by their earlier claims.
Very glad I saw your video - was looking into this drone and as a viewer I was surprised to see your channel pop up. Can’t wait til we get good, portable drones for riding!
Thanks for this review, I have a mavic air 2 and was dissapointed I was not able to get the Skydio in Aus. But the Mavic has performed well enough for me so far
So far, I like my Skydio2 drone. I had it follow me while I was on my electric scooter without any issues going under trees and small pathways with building structures on each side. The only difference is that I use the beacon instead of my smartphone.
I’ve been using the Skydio2 for over a year fot adv riding. I’ve flown it in Australian bush and the forests of Idaho and the tree country in Texas. I paid full price for my drone and I don’t get any kickbacks or have any affiliation with Skydio, so my opinions are not bought. Skydio or any drone is not perfect, but omg there is nothing that comes close for adv riding. I’ve had DJI and sold them. They are superior drones for manual flying but still can’t come close to skydio for autonomous flying. There are definitely techniques for making the drone more reliable when it’s following you. I have seen a few aperture and colour shifts, but that is not a big deal in my opinion. For me the incredible perspective that the skydio givrs of adv riding FAR outweighs the limitations. GoPro footage is good, but when you mix it with aerials then it is so much richer. I still choose when to fly the skydio, and I won’t fly it through tight bush tracks. You are just asking to much to dodge branches etc while flying at 60kmph. I’m off for a 9 day solo trip to the Flinders and I’m pretty confident the skydio is going to create amazing images. It’s not perfect… but it is the best solution right now for adv riding.
Thanks Brent, I've watched your videos! I agree nothing comes close for autonomous flight. And we've had some great shots when we stay away from trees. But I do think the marketing crew and some of the so-called 'reviews' have painted a false picture of what it can do in forests etc.
@@crosstrainingadventure You don't expect me to believe that marketing people "over exaggerate" claims do you????? :-). I always laugh when I see the marketing shots of people flying through the air on a GS. I've tried that and it is like landing a mini-van! But with the Skydio, 2 things that will help it track you through tight bush. 1) Disable floor height. Let the Skydio drop down lower to get around branches. 2) Bring it in close to you at the 6'Oclock position. If you swing it out wide it will have a much tougher time. As mentioned previously. Trees aren't a problem for the Skydio, it will dodge them, but thick bush/trees is asking too much.
Cheers Brent, I haven't tried disabling floor height yet but will on the next flight. I know six oclock will make for easier tracking but I really want to see the drone up front at this early stage until I trust it more! You'll love the Flinders, have you seen Torimoto's Skydio footage there? ua-cam.com/video/8EeP-YtjbmY/v-deo.html
@@crosstrainingadventure Yes, I've seen Tori's skydio footage of Skytrek and Mt Gill. Looks amazing. As for Skydio in bush, flying skydio up front is by far the hardest way of flying it in the bush... you have the lowest probability of it tracking you that way... It is the hardest orientation for the drone to follow you because everytime you do a slight turn of the bars, it has to do a big reposition. This looks great when you are out in open sky... it creates really dynamic tracking shots, but there is no way it is going to work in trees or bush. If you have the beacon, it will start beeping loudly if it loses the drone, and the drone will sit in a hover. This has happened to me a few times, and I"ve just done a u-turn and the drone has found me again. Anyway, enjoy the experimentation. And yes... I can't WAIT for the Flinders trip :-)
@@crosstrainingadventure Nice to have Brent chime in, as you know he's done some great stuff with his Skydio. Thanks for your review as this drone is definitely on my list when I can actually get one in AU :-\ Anyway, a couple of videos that maybe of interest. This guy uses his drone for MTB'ing stuff, but after lot's a mucking around with Skydio support it came down to where the beacon was and it having clear view to the drone ua-cam.com/video/lfm5S-Zr3sw/v-deo.html Also interesting is this Skydio 2 vs 2+ review - evening using a new 2+ beacon produces more reliable tracking results ua-cam.com/video/9cTtQXx3JXc/v-deo.html Looking forward to see if you start getting more confidence with your Skydio and what footage you get!
I believe you would do better to preplan the shots using the keyframing feature. I was planning to buy this drone so I'd like to hear some more reviews on the key framing if anyone out there has tried it
Definitely, Marto. However it takes time to set up and I really needed the autonomous feature so I am not disrupting our rides too much with setting up the drone. I am getting decent results by only flying it in more open areas and keeping it above any trees.
Cheers Alekss. I must admit the autonomous flying is great and I'm getting good results if I stay in open areas or keep it above trees. See our recent vids. But I think the initial claims from Skydio were overstated and they seem to have delete a lot of that... I suspect because they've had lots of reports about crashed drones etc. But those insanely positive reviews from social media influencers were driving me crazy. 😂
Thanks for posting a real world review of this drone. I’m no fan of the DJI drones we use at work due to their geofencing and other nonsense. I’ve been wanting a non-Chinese drone but after my bad experience with a Parrot ANAFI, I learned the hard way the DJI has a far more reliable and stable control interface. Hopefully some US company can come out with a drone that is on par with DJI. I’m bummed that the Skydio had so many issues but I’m glad to hear about it. Their ads looked amazing, too bad they couldn’t live up to them.
It's a very mixed bag... in more open terrain it really is exceptional. And if it goes a bit crazy you'll still be able to see it. But with lots of trees around? We just don't think it matches the claims.
@@ST19859 we got a loaner ANAFI Thermal for testing at work and it was glitchy and disconnected itself numerous times from the controller and had to be brought back using return to home. I contacted the company several times and they offered no real explanation but would “look into it”. The loaner drone was in rough shape so I reasoned away it’s issues to being limited to that drone in particular. We ended up buying a standard model ANAFI as I liked many of its features and that it didn’t suffer from DJI’s geofencing bullshit. That new ANAFI exhibited the same disconnecting issues and glitches. Finally on one spring day it again lost contact with the controller, my screen went black and despite many attempts at hitting the return to home button it didn’t come back and we lost it. The company wouldn’t replace the drone even after I sent them the flight logs. I’m not a hobbyist, I’m Part 107 certified and was flying it for work. I told Parrot we’d have to exclude them from our potential vendors as we were in the process of making a large purchase of multiple drones and they didn’t care. Long story short we are still using different DJI drones and while I dislike the company and all their geofencing and lock down bull shit, they’ve proved to be a much more reliable platform with a superior control link to the drone. That’s too bad as I really liked many features of the ANAFI but it just wasn’t reliable enough to use for our missions.
Another bloody excellent, bloody honest review. I agree a massive plus, despite it’s shortcomings is it’s not made in China. Yes most of it’s components probably are, but at least it means some of the cash is creating manufacturing jobs outside Chine, unlike DJI..
I was looking for new drone and skydio is one of the drone I was thinking to buy. After watching this, I think Im gonna reconsider my choices. Thank you!
It does do well in open spaces though, or if you keep it above trees. We'll footage coming up in vids soon where we are in that sort of terrain. If an autonomous drone suits your needs, then this is the best drone... but you just need to know it has limitations.
Skydio has a protective bubble around it in software that limits how close you can get to objects, I wish there was a software update to be able to change the distance and how "aggressive" it is
I'm holding off for a drone that includes a helmet with a full digital overlay inside my visor with terrain maps, hazard maps, "see around corners and through crests etc function", night vision, thermal imaging, live updates from the drone on changes, audible warnings and autonomous emergency braking. Oh and cool video and 12 hour flight time. Plus a few things I probably left out.
This is a tricky one. I had a dji air 2, and 2s, and I currently have an Autel evo 2 pro (also made in the USA I believe). The Autel is much better than the Dji's in terms of obstacle avoidance, but each of them have their limits. From what I've seen the Skydio should be able to handle obstacles much better than both Autel and DJI. I think if you set your expectations accordingly in terms what it can actually do then you'll be happy with the Skydio. I know it has it's faults, and is inferior to Autel and DJI in most regards, but those specs/features aren't why you buy this. I've crashed my Autel into a tree, and my friend crashed his DJI into a parked car. In both cases I know the Skydio would have not. For auto tracking there isn't anything that comes close currently to a Skydio 2.
Also note, I've had repair claims with both Autel and DJI. Both were just okay. DJI seems to want to gouge you for every dime, and Autel sent me a drone with a defective camera module straight out of the box. Autel will sell you a replacement gimbal/camera module with no questions asked, while DJI will deny you the ability to swap that out unless you send it into an authorized repair center. I wonder how Skydio is in that regard.
Hi Anthony, I agree that the Skydio has the best avoidance abilities, and I think I stated this in the video. My assessment was based on the earlier claims from Skydio about how well it would work, and I have seen that their current promotional material appears to be more realistic about its autonomous flight abilities. I simply stick to open spaces now, and if there are trees then keep the drone above them. On my last ride, there was only one tree in a huge paddock but somehow the drone found the tree and I had to go back and rescue it lol.
@@crosstrainingadventure I've been watching many videos on the Skydio 2 and 2+.... Apparently turning off the height floor when flying through trees will allow it to go under the branches. Billy Kyle and DC Rainmaker did some really good videos explaining the system....
We will probably try this first with the dirt bikes offroad. The big problem with doing this on adventure bikes is being on public roads... the drone could fly into cars or other riders as the Skydio usually won't avoid moving objects.
I've finished experimenting with turning off height floor. It can help a bit, but it's dangerous too! The drone can't really avoid moving targets and it almost flew into a rider moving slowly. The drone can behave quite erratically and I find the chances of hitting spectators or other riders too high.
Thanks. If you think Skydio is bad, try DJI. I have the mavic air 2 and it doesnt even follow properly on an empty road. Can only follow from the back, not front.
As per the vid, we think Skydio's tracking and autonomous flight are the best available. But we were disappointed when earlier promotions overstated the drone's abilities.
@@crosstrainingadventure @Cross Training Adventure advertising is never the same as reality my friend. Sad but true. Can you tell me do we need the beacon or the controller or both? Can the phone do tracking?
Completely depends on how you want to use the drone... the controller is for manual flight. If you only use your phone, the range is a lot more limited as per the specs in the vid.
Great Info Barry! I recently purchased a DJI Air 2s and have not used it yet. It has some obstacle avoidance also. Lots of trees and very little open area here where I live so it could get very interesting very quickly. I am hoping I did not spend a bunch of money for a future "Tree Ornament". Great info on the Skydio! CHeers!
@@crosstrainingadventure I purchased Skydio 2 first and then DJI Air 2S. I have to say DJI Air 2S can do following very well and could be better than Skydio 2 in open area. Skydio 2 is just too overratted and promoted.
this is a good drone just plan ahead first, where you are going and how the drone should fit in the place you want to capture. its not like skydio 9000, where it is just a box in your hand and you throw it up and it follows you around while levitating, and you can even voice command it not just that it also replies back to you. check Destiny 2 reference
I agree. You'll see in recent videos I'm getting some good footage with the drone with minimal risk of crashing or losing it nowadays. But the critical nature of this review was due to the very bold claims by Skydio in their earlier promotions. Unfortunately I didn't take screen shots of these and they have toned down their claims nowadays which is good to see.
Valid video, thanks. After implementation of the most current firmware, my Skydio2 now gets stuck between gaps in trees, unlike before firmware update.
From what I've read, the main change is a stronger signal for increased range and a longer lasting battery, Ray. Other than the that the technology appears to remain the same?
It will hit a twig hanging off a tree. But it won't slam into a stop sign, like a DJI. Suffice it to say. The industry as a whole has a ways to go, for true autonomous flight. Nice video Thanks.
The good thing is Skydio did say very early on it wouldn't avoid objects as narrow as twigs. But I think they did overstate their claims about flying between trees in earlier promotions.
Thanks for the vid. I am really torn as have an Air 2 and its follow mode is rubbish for a motorcycle (even going slow). I know one famous videographer that uses the same drone, while on his motorcycle, is actually in some vids flying the drone and driving at the same time. The Skydio seems be the business and watching guys like Brent Pearson fly theirs, they are not in tight areas.
I guess it all depends on what you want to use the drone for, Charles. If you use this drone in places like deserts with minimal trees and obstacles you will love it. But the rest of us? I'm getting good results now, which you will see in coming vids. But I fly it in more open areas where I can keep an eye on the drone. I try to fly it above trees. I never fly it over water. But the earlier promotions led me to believe I'd be able to fly it in forests and film our dirt bikes and I can see that will be very risky. I'll try it one day, but I want to get plenty of 'safe' footage first as the chances of damaging the drone will increase dramatically, I suspect.
@@crosstrainingadventure true. I am ok with no drone shots in the deep woods as I can fly above and look down. At the end of the day, the Air 2 is useless for following and the Skydio while not perfect, is still very good. However can you manually fly Skydio as have not seen that and there are times where it would be good?
See other people's reviews, Charles. The general consensus is manual flight is doable but poor. Ideally you'd need to buy the controller which is just an adaptation of the cheap budget Parrot controller. It really is designed for autonomous flight only.
Good video. Don't use auto for white balance and the brightness changes will stop. Set to 5500. More on that below. The controller is garbage. If you tell it to follow but don't move, it starts slowly circling you, getting into all kinds of messes. Best to launch, stop follow, move it to where you want it following from, and hover there until you move, then set follow. It hates it when you make changes in direction. Flying under things usually means the deck height needs adjusting first. Never fly with your phone. Connect the beacon to the drone, then connect your phone to the beacon. Still playing with settings. Set to 4K, 60fps, not HDR, automatic record, H.264. Do NOT use auto for white balance. It causes what you call aperture changes. Use 4500-5500K for bright sunlight-drone in sunlight, 6500-7500 bright sunlight-drone in shade, and the darker the day is, the lower the setting as a general rule. Please look up white balance on the web for what different settings would do. Final effect is aperture changes stop. A lot of the problems people have is because they don't read the manual. The "It goes crazy" is usually because the operator didn't wait for the GPS to load up completely. A lot of the positioning problems are just that. Drag and drop doesn't work while auto-tracking. Riding a motorcycle one handed while trying to position a drone and switching between menu bits is not a good idea. Use the buttons on the beacon to position while following. Get a mount for beacon. Set the phone up so you can see it during flight. You should be the thing the drone is centered on. If not, there is a problem. Haven't posted more than the one with the drone because I've been exploring bits and pieces of areas, stitching routes together and I don't see a drone flying for 15 minutes as integral to that. I will use it to look ahead, if a track is vanishing.
Thanks for the tips. The auto balance still sounds like a glitch to me though... Gopro doesn't result in that issue. Mavic drones don't seem to either. 😢 GPS had connected in each case, the 'crazy' bits were well into the flight, not at the start. Admittedly I've only done a few flights but this also based on the experiences of two friends with a lot more experience than me.
@@crosstrainingadventureDon't have a lot of money, buying that drone set the plan to buy a new DR650 back two years, and cannot just go buy another drone, so have to work around the limitations as we do for everything in life. I share the mitigations to those things fueling buyer's remorse. I think the GoPro (at least the Heo's 6 and 7 Black) ramps on its white balance changes, but I think it's just a too aggressive algorithm on the SkyDio. SkyDio, if you are reading, how about giving two choices for Auto white balance, slow and the already aggressive one? Setting a Home Point, Return Behavior, and setting a wait to return time can help when you lose tracking. Some of the "crazy" behaviors are because people don't know what the defaults are, or what the drone will do when it loses signal and left it on default. The default return height is 32ft. If the trees are 50 ft, you just made the drone fly thru where branches are and now it has to avoid everything while trying to stay at 32ft. And if drone look away makes the video look like the drone is flying backwards. I prefer Toward Return, so I get video of what the drone was avoiding on its way home. A tip an old DVI guy gave me was to take the drone to the end of your shot, launch it there, set that to home point, set it to land when back, then set the return height to above trees, have the drone follow you to the start of what you want, and then record your ride back to the launch point. You lose half your flight time, but, if the drone loses you, it will fly where you are headed anyway. I cannot verify yet if the drone will resume tracking if it's after the 20 second search and has already started the Return Home behavior and sees the target again.
I think I'll just play it safe and only fly in wide open areas with minimal trees... that's the conclusion of my two friends who bought them too. One does a lot of work with GPS technology and reckons the drone is often too weighted to GPS corrections instead of staying with the beacon...
The thing is the marketing videos are shot manually. A pro drone photographer is there doing his best work and they make consumers believe that's how the product behaves autonomously. I know it's quite dishonest but that's a classic. It's the same with GoPro footage commercial, they aren't shit with GoPro cameras they are shot with more advanced professional camera systems that have nothing to do with the product it promotes. I think people owe to be aware of this marketing tricks. Cheers
Every vlogger I've seen get one never uses it after the first or second go. I have a manual drone I hardly ever use... they're more of a pain than anything. Good for shots you can't get to, but other than that...meh.
Oh my lawd. Mine just crashed for the 3rd time. In a wide open space I had it set to follow on my left because of power lines on the right. Well it decided to move to the right and ran into the dern power lines🤬🤬🤬 The second crash cost me $550. This time it better not cost anything, but it will be the last time. Going back to DJI if it happens again
I've been experiencing similar issues, Dave. The drone usually responds to the commands from the beacon and it will also decide on a whim to just go the opposite way for no clear reason. I try to avoid trees, it flies toward them. I try to keep it from flying over water. It heads for the water. I'm trying to be incredibly careful as I know it's only a matter of time before it crashes and dies. Last ride I was only doing 25kmh and it flew straight into a tree then crashed into sand. I still have the footage, absolutely no avoidance kicked in at all. 😢
@@crosstrainingadventure So that would explain the, “ we are experiencing a higher than normal call volume”, message 🤣. I feel your pain and many others do as well apparently. I really want this to work because in theory, it’s awesome. I think they need to get out and visit random customers to get a real idea of what’s happening.
Yes but then there's even more video editing involved due to the varying terrain. It could be a solution though where the colour/brightness of the terrain doesn't change much.
I think the most succesfull robot is the Roomba. The same people that made that have started Turtle - a fully autonomous weed-eater for the garden. Robots that behave like disobedient pets generally aren't as succesfull. Maybe someone will make a flying dog.
I have had the skydio 2 for a couple years and use it for motorcycle travel videos. I will say that my experience is different from yours. The drone has gotten stuck very occasionally but not nearly as often as shown in this video and the trails have been narrower and more densely wooded than shown here. Also, Locking the ISO and exposure, you can avoid the sudden aperture shift. It definitely not a perfect drone. Overall video quality is not competitive with DJI and other makers especially in low light. Interface is clunky. Stability could be better. Range is shorter than advertised even with the beacon. The drone, and especially the accessories, are absurdly expensive. Still, I find it to be up to the task of getting amazing shots for my riding videos.
Great to hear, Dan. It would be good for others if our drone simply isn't that good at tracking along tree-lined roads. But two other owners I've spoken with have confirmed my experience. I think the solution is just avoid trees as much as possible and fly higher. I'm getting good results then....
For an example of what I consider to be pretty impressive tracking in the threes, take a looks at 2:30, 3:25 in this video. ua-cam.com/video/T1eFoLDeDo4/v-deo.html To me this suggests the drone is in fact quite capable in trees situation. Not perfect -there were one or two stalls when it got confused I had to manually pilot it out but thats over about 30 min of shooting in dense trees. I consider this pretty good though maybe my standards are lower. No axe to grind but thought it could be helpful to folks researching this drone.
Great vid, Dan. You should be getting way more viewers! A great mix of drone and helmet cam footage. Good choice of music. Great narration. I'm subscribed. Have you thought about uploading to Facebook too? In my experience, UA-cam is starting to flag now and Facebook is gaining when it comes to videos (a shame as I don't like Facebook's business model). Those short bits in the trees suggest you are having more luck than three of us with separate drones. I am definitely encouraging viewers to watch as many reviews as possible. Mine is intentionally more critical than usual to balance out what I feel are many fake reviews from influencers. I am getting good footage when I stay away from tree-lined roads and I'll post some soon, and link to it from this review video too.
@@crosstrainingadventure Thanks for checking out the vid and the kind words and the sub. Thanks also for the tip about FB. I I am not on FB and hand never though of it as a video sharing platform. But a bit of googling shows that this was a big oversight. I will definitely look into setting up a page.
SKYDIO NO LONGER SELLS CONSUMER DRONES They will continue selling professional drones. It seems that is where the big money is. We assume they'll continue continue support for the consumer drones for years though. "Unfortunately, we have shifted away from our consumer drone operations. Ryan Dougherty | Skydio July 2023. POTENTIONALLY POOR GPS COVERAGE OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA? I tried filming in Vietnam recently the Skydio would regularly go berserk and kept disappearing. It was simply too risky to continue. 😒 I suspect the problem could be Skydio only uses GPS and GLONASS systems which cover the American continent very well. But Skydio DOESN"T include the Beidou satellite coverage provided by Chinese satellites which most other drone brands do use. This can mean poor GPS links in Asian countries and elsewhere. For example, this link shows 139 countries where Beidou has more satellite coverage. rntfnd.org/2019/08/22/more-beidou-than-gps-in-130-of-195-countries/ Flying a Skydio outside of north America? Use this app on your phone to see the various satellite constellations in your area: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cache.wind.gps&gl=US SKYIO CRASH COMPILATION Learn the limitations of your Skydio drone. Below are examples of some crashes. Some don't really have any apparent cause. Others are the obstacles that Skydio now provide warnings about E.g. Avoid power lines, thin branches, low light conditions. Skydio crashed in first 90 seconds ua-cam.com/video/yft4v2p7PuA/v-deo.html Skydio crashed in first 8 minutes ua-cam.com/video/Px_fXp4GJKI/v-deo.html Skydio crashed in first 15 minutes ua-cam.com/video/WRbL8ElbFQk/v-deo.html Skydio crashes into pond on first flight ua-cam.com/video/qSwdgZtWLGY/v-deo.html Skydio crashes into tree 2nd flight ua-cam.com/video/gVLpSLwBmzU/v-deo.html Skydio crashed on second day ua-cam.com/video/VxMnyjOkUAw/v-deo.html Skydio crash analysis ua-cam.com/video/_T1mHla0GzQ/v-deo.html Skydio crashed into tree ua-cam.com/video/gvxxOVW2eCU/v-deo.html Skydio crashed into thin branch ua-cam.com/video/VodFsiR7XCw/v-deo.html Skydio crashed into power line ua-cam.com/video/YAEqvtCvj9M/v-deo.html Skydio dives into water ua-cam.com/video/EspuKPWvfk4/v-deo.html Skydio almost crashes into water ua-cam.com/video/Y2y0IYCxksQ/v-deo.html Skydio drops out of sky ua-cam.com/video/nhDsQeLaWOA/v-deo.html Skydio crashed into thin branches ua-cam.com/video/_T1mHla0GzQ/v-deo.html Skydio crashed into lake ua-cam.com/video/aO8OBlw8Z4A/v-deo.html Skydio crashed into tree during winter: ua-cam.com/video/8qaeAHELHxw/v-deo.html Skydio crashed in low light ua-cam.com/video/ZsUQTrRS02k/v-deo.html Skydio flies into fence ua-cam.com/video/tbUwk3YkD3k/v-deo.html Skydio crashed into tree ua-cam.com/video/7WYhWdhc59o/v-deo.html Skydio hits power line and crashes ua-cam.com/video/GU-QhYlK8Yo/v-deo.html Skydio flies into tree without leaves ua-cam.com/video/dmT50xR2W2A/v-deo.html Skydio files into thin branches ua-cam.com/video/Vs1pWk_IFEA/v-deo.html Skydio files into thin branches ua-cam.com/video/fEznVMcapBI/v-deo.html Skydio files into thin branches ua-cam.com/video/r84rka5MjKU/v-deo.html Skydio files into thin branches ua-cam.com/video/kZ6BfdkwFcQ/v-deo.html Skydio files into thin branches ua-cam.com/video/0qIbUUOizPA/v-deo.html Skydio crash compilation ua-cam.com/video/yd-TUY7FDU0/v-deo.html
I watched Brent Pearson review and fully trust him- but still...I will not buy the drone or electric motorcycle and wait until the technology matures and ready.
I now have brents drone. He upgraded to the 2+. The drone is amazing. I feel like this review has concentrated on people who dont know how to fly and have unrealistic expectations.
Some of Skydio's earlier marketing showed the drone navigating smoothly between a pile of trees... I'm just pointing out those claims seem to be unrealistic. And two other owners have confirmed this. You get much better results staying away from trees and flying higher.
My Skydio collided with an electricity tower at full speed…hopefully the company replaced my drone after investigation and lots of conversations…conclusion: nice autonomous drone for open air and little obstacles.
@@crosstrainingadventure Skydio was shooting me rolling at about 55 km/h when I changed the drone position from the nearest to the farthest and instead of increasing height to fly over the electricity lines it collided with the electricity tower probably due to around to max speed as it tried to avoid it but it couldn’t manage. The investigation and our conversation with the company lasted for about a month, analyzing the logs and my video provided and I posted what was left from the drone as I was overseas, but fortunately Skydio accepted my arguments and replaced the drone.
Great news, glad the support is there. On my last flight the Skydio flew into a tree and crashed. I haven't flown it since but I'm hoping it's all okay.
@@crosstrainingadventure by the way, two hints from my experience: 1) there are powerbanks up to 30,000 mAh with Power Delivery chip for 100Watt charging - they can charge your batteries on the go for about an hour per battery but due to voltage transforming (3,7V to 12V) one 30,000 mAh powerbank can charge only two Skydio batteries. 2) there are Chinese amplifiers for Parrot Anafi controller that fits Skydio too (expensive option for manual control though possible if needed), just search ALIENTECH PRO 2.4G or 5G Antenna Signal Booster Range Extender with amplifier for Parrot Anafi drone.
Bummer. What sort of issues? Just hitting trees etc? I actually bought mine mainly for enduro filming but rapidly realised it just couldn't handle the trees. It would work well in deserts, but those are 18 hours drive away. So annoying when the earlier Skydio promotions said it navigated between trees really well.
Humm, I think Mike Zed quoted in the video says something interesting…”But if you consistently using a drone in the environment where you should not, you are asking for trouble” if your KNOW you should not use a drone in an area, maybe you should consider not using a drone in that area?
I could be wrong but I don't think he's talking about illegal areas... I thought he was saying trying to fly around trees and other obstacles will always be tricky and the Skydio isn't really that well equipped yet... despite their marketing suggesting it is capable?
@@crosstrainingadventure We are on the same page I think. I thought his comment was about If your consistently flying in areas that the skydio may have trouble in, your asking for trouble, if you consistently fly in those areas. I don’t believe my comment refers to illegal areas, but clearly I was unclear, lol, as you seem to get that from my comment, sorry about that!
Gotcha! It's interesting to note that part of Skydio's earlier promotions was a graphic showing it flying a very smooth path through all these obstacles (I think they were trees) which is partly why I bought it... and a friend did too. And then we realised the troubles it has flying down a tree-lined road. That graphic seems to have disappeared now.
It works very well in open spaces or if you keep it flying above trees though. You'll see the results in recent vids. But even one tree can be an issue at times lol. There was only one tree in this big field and somehow the Skydio just stopped behind it and wouldn't move, I had to go back and fly it out.
@@crosstrainingadventure thank you, I am afraid about sunset = too dark = not working . Also the switch from bright shots to dark shots in one second . Did they fix it with new update ?
I don't know if there's been a new update in the past month or so... but I updated it then. Experienced users tell me the only solution is turn off the auto setting, but then of course the footage will keep going from dark to light more.
Personally I don't care about drone footage but it's quite sad that you spend all that money for a product that perform significantly below your expectation.
If we keep it well away from trees we'll get good results. It's just a shame it will be next to useless for our enduro channel as we always ride in forests.
Yes, if you want to regularly fly through them e.g. a tree-lined road or in a forest. They are much less of a problem if you fly the drone above trees, of course. Or if there is only the occasional tree and you aim to use the drone in more open spaces. Although it was interesting on my last ride that the drone somehow got stuck behind the only tree in a huge field lol.
I have been VERY suspicious of the glowing Skydio reviews, primarily because they are sending free drones to reviewers. Some reviewers disclose this, but others don't. I would love to buy an American made drone as instead of my DJI, but I won't subsidize junk just to make a patriotic gesture. The poor customer support is inexcusable.
Overall I'm still glad I bought it, Mike... just! I only use it to film the adventure bikes in wide open terrain, and I'm very careful with how I operate it. But I am very disappointed that it's been useless for filming the dirt bikes because we are always riding near trees. As mentioned, I was suckered in by their early promotions about it threading its way through trees seamlessly. Thankfully they don't push that anymore. Sometimes owneres rave about the support, others have nightmares. It seems to vary a lot.
I've given up on youtube "reviews." They really are nothing more than commercials made by some guy just to get free stuff. Oh, and they all claim "yes they sent me this for free but I'm going to be really honest" ....riiiiight
Expecting perfection in thickly wooded trails riding swift dirt bikes? I think this review seems skewed, tilted against, perhaps paid-for by Chinese agents! There are too many positive reviews about the American-made blue bird to diss and dismiss it.
Not perfection, Glen... but their earlier promotions did feature a Skydio winding its way smoothly around obstacles like trees. They seem to have deleted that graphic now though! If you think I'm paid by a Chinese drone maker you obviously haven't seen my 'don't buy Chinese!' videos. And I've refused all sponsorship over the years to stay objective. All I can say is see how many of the rave 'reviews' are from influencers, and dig a little deeper to get a more accurate idea of where this drone excels, and where it doesn't.
@@crosstrainingadventure Really sorry, Cross. My statements get kind of punchy at times, and I especially don’t like my cheap shot about you allegedly being a Chinese agent! Please forgive me. I don’t know why Skydio scaled back on their obstacle avoidance demos. Still, I am seeing a little unfair fare in some review videos that seem to fault the blue bird for hitting twig while trying to follow someone at Formula One speeds. You know though, I am really hoping that we see a Skydio 3 with a 1-inch sensor camera and improved controller. Thanks for using restraint with my complaint! Cheers, brother. 💛🙏🏼
No problems, Glen! It's important I am held to account, I'm always saying no one should automatically trust reviews, including my own. I think it's good Skydio pulled some of their earlier promotions about how good it was at threading its way through trees. I am actually getting good shots with it as long as I don't use it along tree-lined roads... or fly it well above the trees. But it was disappointing to spend so much then realise I couldn't really use it in the forests for the enduro channel. 😢 I will try this eventually at low speed, but once I've got a fair bit of use with the drone and it won't matter so much if it's destroyed. A friend bought one to film dirt bikes on his property and was massively disappointed for the same reasons as me. He's barely used it as it keeps crashing and he knows he'll wreck it. I also spoke with Tori from the Torimoto channel and she's had the same troubles the moment she is near trees.
Do you just mean poor quality footage, Ari? E.g. artefacts? It shouldn't be actually pixelising if you are filming in 4k. Detailed reviews point out that the video quality is not as good as other drones. I am gradually discovering this is the case. It is frequently good, but at other times the colours are inaccurate and colour correction cannot fix it. I suspect that Skydio has a default position that applies contrast, sharpness and saturation to try and make the footage look good. This can work for complete amateurs, but there should be a 'flat' or neutral high quality setting which allows us to do our own post-production. I have spoken with other Skydio users who agree. We need a neutral setting so we can have more chance of fixing the footage when the results aren't great.
Si no sabes dónde están los límites de uso de una herramienta, no la uses. Por supuesto que Skydio no es perfecto, su capacidad para determinar de forma fluida cómo debe evitar un obstáculo aún necesita mejorar, esto propicia que muchas de las tomas de vídeo durante el vuelo autónomo no sean tan cinematográficas como quisiéremos. Además, es cierto, si una rama o un cable es demasiado fino, Skydio no puede detectarla y existe el peligro de colisión (como para cualquier Drone). A parte de esto, (cosa que es igual o peor para todos los drones) no hay ningún otro Drone en el mercado que pueda seguirte con el nivel de fiabilidad que lo hace Skydio. Me parece presumiblemente erróneo y de mal gusto que afirmes que en la casi totalidad de los casos, lo que ocurre con la inmensa mayoría de las reviews de muchos y muchos otros UA-camrs es que, tal como tú dices, lo han probado una vez, han tenido suerte y han colgado la review.. all of them? Camon !. Me temo, amigo mío, que lo que tú querías es comprar una tecnología que todavía no existe actualmente, y el problema de ello no lo tiene Skydio, el problema es tu falta de objetividad y realismo para con la tecnología de seguimiento basado en inteligencia artificial que a día de hoy puede pagarse por ese importe. Seguramente, para aplicaciones militares existen cosas más avanzadas, pero en primer lugar, su uso está restringido, y en segundo lugar, posiblemente no podrías pagar esa tecnología. Creo que lo tuyo es una pura falta de objetividad y realismo en la relación que existe con la tecnología actual entre sus prestaciones y su coste. Por supuesto te doy un voto negativo, ya es hora de que alguien lo haga.
0:17 Overrated obstacle avoidance?
2:43 Erratic behaviour
3:15 You may have to buy a new phone
3:45 Rapid inaccurate aperture changes
4:15 Customer support
4:41 Poor manual flight
5:19 What we like
FURTHER NOTES! Some Skydio owners are upset by negative comments about the drone in some situations. Watch the whole vid! Yes, Skydio is curently the best drone for autonomous flight and obstacle avoidance. Yes it should perform well in open spaces with a minimum of trees or other obstacles around with suitable care taken. You will see we are getting better performance from the Skydio by avoiding trees as much as possible.
But we believe some of Skydio's earlier promotions ( and 'reviews' by influencers) overestimated its current abilities, especially when there are trees around! Many Skydio owners agree. Early ads showed the drone weaving seamlessly through multiple trees. They have now dropped those thankfully. Unfortunately many of us bought the drone thinking it would work well in forests. Mine now has a damaged gimbal from flying into a large leafy branch - precisely what Skydio says it will avoid (they do state power lines and thin bare branches are something to avoid).
Buying one? Read as many reviews as possible. Be sceptical of the rave reviews that don't mention any negative points. Be sceptical of this review too of course! Get a balanced perspective. See more comments below...
Further comments on video quality: Detailed reviews point out that the video quality is not as good as other drones. I am gradually discovering this is the case. It is frequently good, but at other times the colours are inaccurate and colour correction cannot fix it. I suspect that Skydio has a default position that applies contrast, sharpness and saturation to try and make the footage look good. This can work for complete amateurs, but there should be a 'flat' or neutral high quality setting which allows us to do our own post-production. 😢 I have spoken with other Skydio users who agree. We need a neutral setting so we can have more chance of fixing the footage when the results aren't great.
ILLEGAL TO FLY AUTONOMOUSLY??? Check to see if you can legally fly an autonomous drone in your country! In the USA, you may contravene FAA regulations. See this post for more info... bit.ly/3tMDL5U
MORE COMMENTS FROM OWNERS
"Skydio was always great at avoiding things and today it decided enough is enough and decided to avoid me alltogether, at some point it refused all controls and flew away into ocean horizon. Good bye old friend. A great promising technology but it's just not there yet." Mike Zed
"Great attitude but an expensive error in technology. I tell people the Skydio2 is the best drone for tracking but has suicidal tendencies. MY last Skydio ran into the only tree (with leaves) in an 88 acre field..." Brett Tkacs"
"The video has an ugly, oversharpened look, with little to no room to tune settings, and photos are on the same level as starter drones like the DJI Mini 2. This isn't a drone for landscape photographers or cinematographers-remember too that the drone only flies in daylight, so magic hour flights are out. If you're searching for a Follow drone that won't crash, the Skydio 2 certainly fits the bill. It's able to navigate through complex spaces, and has some automated shots for easy reveals and orbits. It's a shame its camera doesn't measure up." PCmag.com
I was trying to beacon track on my dirt bike and it found itself hovering in trees until I found it (many times). It never could do that job... I've really tried to make it work... so far It has never crashed, but broke some props doing a case landing which I stopped doing because of that. I ended up buying another drone to get the vids I wanted." Jim Bacus
"Mine lost connection and just hovered out of reach for 20 minutes while I tried to reconnect. Then it landed. That's when I knew I had something special on my hands." JS McCuin
"People who get the drone and go out and just 'send it' thinking it’s going to avoid everything after watching the promotional videos are taking a big risk and in for a rude awakening when it crashes and Skydio won’t warranty it." Brian Reynolds
"Skydio over-sells, under-delivers and couldn’t care less about FAA rules it seems... I’m trying to clear up the smoke and mirrors that Skydio uses to promote and sell their drones... Skydio promotes flying drones in a manner that is not allowed under the current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 107 rules.
dronexl.co/2020/10/16/skydio-over-sells-under-delivers-faa-rules/
Has there been any firmware updates since your review that improved performance or otherwise?
It’s great to see honest reviews with real world issues. Thank you!
Our pleasure! Unfortunately many of the so-called reviews are by influencers who just endlessly say 'It's the best!' with no critical angle at all. This is actually a good drone if you keep it away from obstacles and keep the speed down, but I think most reviews, and Skydio's original marketing claims, were way too optimistic... at least for motorbike riders or fast MTB riders!
I agree. My Skydio crashed into a tree at about 15mph and is now damaged. It has found the only tree in a field and just stopped in front of it, until I went back and rescued it. You should only use this drone in wide open spaces with no obstacles at all if you want hassle-free flying. I fell for their earlier claims of it being crash-proof.
Thankfully they seem to have made more modest claims recently, compared to the earlier promotions about it being virtually crashproof. But quite a few of we earlier buyers have been disappointed.
For those that don't know, Barry doesn't take bribes for products on his channel. He gives great and honest reviews. I was wanting one of these but I'm out. Cheers mate.
If you don't fly around trees it generally performs really well, Jeff. But it just ain't as good as their marketing has claimed in this respect... in our opinion.
You seemed to skip all of the good features! Like how you calibrate it. Show a DJI user how a skydio is calibrated each flight ;)
The waypoint mode is amazing.
I think a lot of people have completely unrealistic expectations and/or ignore the basic limitations... what knuckle head flew it in the dark when is uses visual sensors? Haha
Also, Ive never noticed any apature changes like your footage.... did you crash it? Maybe it is damaged?
Never crashed. Apparently the aperture changes are due to auto balance... it's obviously something Skydio doesn't have working quite right yet. Discussed in another comment.
I own a skydio 2+ and a dji inspire 2. I use them for work for 3D scanning and modelling. I love my skydio because it’s quick set ip, easy to use and faster scanner than my inspire. I use my dji for certain functions I don’t want to have to pay extra for plus it can fly in heavier winds. The skydio care was pretty good at replacing my drone from start to finish 2 weeks. I live in canada. As for customer service also no complaints there and I contacted them multiple times to chat. I trust the autonomy of my skydio way more than my dji. That helps when I want to not worry about hitting things while I’m scanning. It’s good autonomy but it just can’t perform too many tricks at the same time.
Great to hear it's working for you, Cory! I am getting some decent shots, I must admit. But I'm just avoiding trees like the plague... which is a shame as all their marketing hype led me to believe it would work really well in that context. Another friend is extremely disappointed with his too.
@@crosstrainingadventure I don't think it's a fair comparison. You are reviewing the skydio 2 and Cory here is talking about skydio 2+
Our understanding is that the collision avoidance hasn't changed, Roy. But the 2+ does have extra battery life and extended range with the beacon etc. I also see that Skydio has removed all their early promotional stuff about flying around trees which is good to see... quite a few of us felt misled by their earlier claims.
Very glad I saw your video - was looking into this drone and as a viewer I was surprised to see your channel pop up. Can’t wait til we get good, portable drones for riding!
Thanks for this review, I have a mavic air 2 and was dissapointed I was not able to get the Skydio in Aus. But the Mavic has performed well enough for me so far
So far, I like my Skydio2 drone. I had it follow me while I was on my electric scooter without any issues going under trees and small pathways with building structures on each side. The only difference is that I use the beacon instead of my smartphone.
Yes you definitely want both the phone and beacon connected... I won't fly mine without the beacon.
I’ve been using the Skydio2 for over a year fot adv riding. I’ve flown it in Australian bush and the forests of Idaho and the tree country in Texas. I paid full price for my drone and I don’t get any kickbacks or have any affiliation with Skydio, so my opinions are not bought.
Skydio or any drone is not perfect, but omg there is nothing that comes close for adv riding. I’ve had DJI and sold them. They are superior drones for manual flying but still can’t come close to skydio for autonomous flying.
There are definitely techniques for making the drone more reliable when it’s following you.
I have seen a few aperture and colour shifts, but that is not a big deal in my opinion.
For me the incredible perspective that the skydio givrs of adv riding FAR outweighs the limitations. GoPro footage is good, but when you mix it with aerials then it is so much richer.
I still choose when to fly the skydio, and I won’t fly it through tight bush tracks. You are just asking to much to dodge branches etc while flying at 60kmph.
I’m off for a 9 day solo trip to the Flinders and I’m pretty confident the skydio is going to create amazing images.
It’s not perfect… but it is the best solution right now for adv riding.
Thanks Brent, I've watched your videos! I agree nothing comes close for autonomous flight. And we've had some great shots when we stay away from trees. But I do think the marketing crew and some of the so-called 'reviews' have painted a false picture of what it can do in forests etc.
@@crosstrainingadventure You don't expect me to believe that marketing people "over exaggerate" claims do you????? :-). I always laugh when I see the marketing shots of people flying through the air on a GS. I've tried that and it is like landing a mini-van! But with the Skydio, 2 things that will help it track you through tight bush.
1) Disable floor height. Let the Skydio drop down lower to get around branches.
2) Bring it in close to you at the 6'Oclock position. If you swing it out wide it will have a much tougher time.
As mentioned previously. Trees aren't a problem for the Skydio, it will dodge them, but thick bush/trees is asking too much.
Cheers Brent, I haven't tried disabling floor height yet but will on the next flight. I know six oclock will make for easier tracking but I really want to see the drone up front at this early stage until I trust it more! You'll love the Flinders, have you seen Torimoto's Skydio footage there? ua-cam.com/video/8EeP-YtjbmY/v-deo.html
@@crosstrainingadventure Yes, I've seen Tori's skydio footage of Skytrek and Mt Gill. Looks amazing. As for Skydio in bush, flying skydio up front is by far the hardest way of flying it in the bush... you have the lowest probability of it tracking you that way... It is the hardest orientation for the drone to follow you because everytime you do a slight turn of the bars, it has to do a big reposition. This looks great when you are out in open sky... it creates really dynamic tracking shots, but there is no way it is going to work in trees or bush. If you have the beacon, it will start beeping loudly if it loses the drone, and the drone will sit in a hover. This has happened to me a few times, and I"ve just done a u-turn and the drone has found me again. Anyway, enjoy the experimentation. And yes... I can't WAIT for the Flinders trip :-)
@@crosstrainingadventure Nice to have Brent chime in, as you know he's done some great stuff with his Skydio. Thanks for your review as this drone is definitely on my list when I can actually get one in AU :-\ Anyway, a couple of videos that maybe of interest. This guy uses his drone for MTB'ing stuff, but after lot's a mucking around with Skydio support it came down to where the beacon was and it having clear view to the drone ua-cam.com/video/lfm5S-Zr3sw/v-deo.html Also interesting is this Skydio 2 vs 2+ review - evening using a new 2+ beacon produces more reliable tracking results ua-cam.com/video/9cTtQXx3JXc/v-deo.html Looking forward to see if you start getting more confidence with your Skydio and what footage you get!
I believe you would do better to preplan the shots using the keyframing feature. I was planning to buy this drone so I'd like to hear some more reviews on the key framing if anyone out there has tried it
Definitely, Marto. However it takes time to set up and I really needed the autonomous feature so I am not disrupting our rides too much with setting up the drone. I am getting decent results by only flying it in more open areas and keeping it above any trees.
Coming here from hyped up video about the drone. Thanks for the in depth real life review👍
Cheers Alekss. I must admit the autonomous flying is great and I'm getting good results if I stay in open areas or keep it above trees. See our recent vids. But I think the initial claims from Skydio were overstated and they seem to have delete a lot of that... I suspect because they've had lots of reports about crashed drones etc. But those insanely positive reviews from social media influencers were driving me crazy. 😂
Thanks for posting a real world review of this drone. I’m no fan of the DJI drones we use at work due to their geofencing and other nonsense. I’ve been wanting a non-Chinese drone but after my bad experience with a Parrot ANAFI, I learned the hard way the DJI has a far more reliable and stable control interface. Hopefully some US company can come out with a drone that is on par with DJI. I’m bummed that the Skydio had so many issues but I’m glad to hear about it. Their ads looked amazing, too bad they couldn’t live up to them.
It's a very mixed bag... in more open terrain it really is exceptional. And if it goes a bit crazy you'll still be able to see it. But with lots of trees around? We just don't think it matches the claims.
Curious what your issue with the Anafi was ?? I ve had mine 3 years, its always worked perfect
@@ST19859 we got a loaner ANAFI Thermal for testing at work and it was glitchy and disconnected itself numerous times from the controller and had to be brought back using return to home. I contacted the company several times and they offered no real explanation but would “look into it”. The loaner drone was in rough shape so I reasoned away it’s issues to being limited to that drone in particular. We ended up buying a standard model ANAFI as I liked many of its features and that it didn’t suffer from DJI’s geofencing bullshit.
That new ANAFI exhibited the same disconnecting issues and glitches. Finally on one spring day it again lost contact with the controller, my screen went black and despite many attempts at hitting the return to home button it didn’t come back and we lost it. The company wouldn’t replace the drone even after I sent them the flight logs. I’m not a hobbyist, I’m Part 107 certified and was flying it for work. I told Parrot we’d have to exclude them from our potential vendors as we were in the process of making a large purchase of multiple drones and they didn’t care.
Long story short we are still using different DJI drones and while I dislike the company and all their geofencing and lock down bull shit, they’ve proved to be a much more reliable platform with a superior control link to the drone. That’s too bad as I really liked many features of the ANAFI but it just wasn’t reliable enough to use for our missions.
Another bloody excellent, bloody honest review. I agree a massive plus, despite it’s shortcomings is it’s not made in China. Yes most of it’s components probably are, but at least it means some of the cash is creating manufacturing jobs outside Chine, unlike DJI..
I was looking for new drone and skydio is one of the drone I was thinking to buy. After watching this, I think Im gonna reconsider my choices. Thank you!
It does do well in open spaces though, or if you keep it above trees. We'll footage coming up in vids soon where we are in that sort of terrain. If an autonomous drone suits your needs, then this is the best drone... but you just need to know it has limitations.
Thank you for your honest review!
My pleasure!
Skydio has a protective bubble around it in software that limits how close you can get to objects, I wish there was a software update to be able to change the distance and how "aggressive" it is
I'm holding off for a drone that includes a helmet with a full digital overlay inside my visor with terrain maps, hazard maps, "see around corners and through crests etc function", night vision, thermal imaging, live updates from the drone on changes, audible warnings and autonomous emergency braking. Oh and cool video and 12 hour flight time. Plus a few things I probably left out.
You've been "holding off" for a while to know all of this 😂
That would be amazing!
Check out the DJI Enterprise Matrice 30.... You'll never look at a consumer drone the same again....
This is a tricky one. I had a dji air 2, and 2s, and I currently have an Autel evo 2 pro (also made in the USA I believe). The Autel is much better than the Dji's in terms of obstacle avoidance, but each of them have their limits. From what I've seen the Skydio should be able to handle obstacles much better than both Autel and DJI. I think if you set your expectations accordingly in terms what it can actually do then you'll be happy with the Skydio. I know it has it's faults, and is inferior to Autel and DJI in most regards, but those specs/features aren't why you buy this. I've crashed my Autel into a tree, and my friend crashed his DJI into a parked car. In both cases I know the Skydio would have not. For auto tracking there isn't anything that comes close currently to a Skydio 2.
Also note, I've had repair claims with both Autel and DJI. Both were just okay. DJI seems to want to gouge you for every dime, and Autel sent me a drone with a defective camera module straight out of the box. Autel will sell you a replacement gimbal/camera module with no questions asked, while DJI will deny you the ability to swap that out unless you send it into an authorized repair center. I wonder how Skydio is in that regard.
Hi Anthony, I agree that the Skydio has the best avoidance abilities, and I think I stated this in the video. My assessment was based on the earlier claims from Skydio about how well it would work, and I have seen that their current promotional material appears to be more realistic about its autonomous flight abilities. I simply stick to open spaces now, and if there are trees then keep the drone above them. On my last ride, there was only one tree in a huge paddock but somehow the drone found the tree and I had to go back and rescue it lol.
Did you turn off the height floor? And exactly what compatible phone did you purchase?
Experimenting very carefully with height floor off at the moment. Not sure on the phone model, it's a Nokia.
@@crosstrainingadventure I've been watching many videos on the Skydio 2 and 2+.... Apparently turning off the height floor when flying through trees will allow it to go under the branches. Billy Kyle and DC Rainmaker did some really good videos explaining the system....
We will probably try this first with the dirt bikes offroad. The big problem with doing this on adventure bikes is being on public roads... the drone could fly into cars or other riders as the Skydio usually won't avoid moving objects.
I've finished experimenting with turning off height floor. It can help a bit, but it's dangerous too! The drone can't really avoid moving targets and it almost flew into a rider moving slowly. The drone can behave quite erratically and I find the chances of hitting spectators or other riders too high.
Thanks. If you think Skydio is bad, try DJI. I have the mavic air 2 and it doesnt even follow properly on an empty road. Can only follow from the back, not front.
As per the vid, we think Skydio's tracking and autonomous flight are the best available. But we were disappointed when earlier promotions overstated the drone's abilities.
@@crosstrainingadventure @Cross Training Adventure advertising is never the same as reality my friend. Sad but true. Can you tell me do we need the beacon or the controller or both? Can the phone do tracking?
Completely depends on how you want to use the drone... the controller is for manual flight. If you only use your phone, the range is a lot more limited as per the specs in the vid.
Great Info Barry! I recently purchased a DJI Air 2s and have not used it yet. It has some obstacle avoidance also. Lots of trees and very little open area here where I live so it could get very interesting very quickly. I am hoping I did not spend a bunch of money for a future "Tree Ornament". Great info on the Skydio!
CHeers!
The Skyio definitely has the best tracking and avoidance features to date... I'd be very careful with the DJI in that respect!
@@crosstrainingadventure I purchased Skydio 2 first and then DJI Air 2S. I have to say DJI Air 2S can do following very well and could be better than Skydio 2 in open area.
Skydio 2 is just too overratted and promoted.
Skydio marketing team is going to flood the comments with "I have one and it's great, nothing like you experienced" - just wait and see.
Possibly... 😁 It's definitely a huge step forward but I think their marketing team and many 'reviews' overstate its abilities at the moment.
Thanks Mate. I am more interested on the route you riding on this video. Can you please share the location ?
Sorry, any tracks near houses we don't publicise due to so many riders have loud bikes. But we've posted most of our routes to Trans Australia Trails.
this is a good drone just plan ahead first, where you are going and how the drone should fit in the place you want to capture. its not like skydio 9000, where it is just a box in your hand and you throw it up and it follows you around while levitating, and you can even voice command it not just that it also replies back to you. check Destiny 2 reference
I agree. You'll see in recent videos I'm getting some good footage with the drone with minimal risk of crashing or losing it nowadays. But the critical nature of this review was due to the very bold claims by Skydio in their earlier promotions. Unfortunately I didn't take screen shots of these and they have toned down their claims nowadays which is good to see.
Valid video, thanks. After implementation of the most current firmware, my Skydio2 now gets stuck between gaps in trees, unlike before firmware update.
Bad news, Russell. Is that a very recent update? E.g. in the last few weeks? I updated mine in February this year but haven't checked since then.
The reason to buy the Skydio 2+ for better/ updated technology.
From what I've read, the main change is a stronger signal for increased range and a longer lasting battery, Ray. Other than the that the technology appears to remain the same?
It will hit a twig hanging off a tree. But it won't slam into a stop sign, like a DJI. Suffice it to say. The industry as a whole has a ways to go, for true autonomous flight. Nice video Thanks.
The good thing is Skydio did say very early on it wouldn't avoid objects as narrow as twigs. But I think they did overstate their claims about flying between trees in earlier promotions.
I hope your sensors were all cleaned off real good before those flights
Yep, I check and wipe them down before each flight as recommended by Skydio.
Thanks for the vid. I am really torn as have an Air 2 and its follow mode is rubbish for a motorcycle (even going slow). I know one famous videographer that uses the same drone, while on his motorcycle, is actually in some vids flying the drone and driving at the same time. The Skydio seems be the business and watching guys like Brent Pearson fly theirs, they are not in tight areas.
I guess it all depends on what you want to use the drone for, Charles. If you use this drone in places like deserts with minimal trees and obstacles you will love it. But the rest of us? I'm getting good results now, which you will see in coming vids. But I fly it in more open areas where I can keep an eye on the drone. I try to fly it above trees. I never fly it over water. But the earlier promotions led me to believe I'd be able to fly it in forests and film our dirt bikes and I can see that will be very risky. I'll try it one day, but I want to get plenty of 'safe' footage first as the chances of damaging the drone will increase dramatically, I suspect.
@@crosstrainingadventure true. I am ok with no drone shots in the deep woods as I can fly above and look down. At the end of the day, the Air 2 is useless for following and the Skydio while not perfect, is still very good. However can you manually fly Skydio as have not seen that and there are times where it would be good?
See other people's reviews, Charles. The general consensus is manual flight is doable but poor. Ideally you'd need to buy the controller which is just an adaptation of the cheap budget Parrot controller. It really is designed for autonomous flight only.
@@crosstrainingadventure yes thats what it seems. Many thanks!
Good video. Don't use auto for white balance and the brightness changes will stop. Set to 5500. More on that below.
The controller is garbage.
If you tell it to follow but don't move, it starts slowly circling you, getting into all kinds of messes.
Best to launch, stop follow, move it to where you want it following from, and hover there until you move, then set follow.
It hates it when you make changes in direction.
Flying under things usually means the deck height needs adjusting first.
Never fly with your phone. Connect the beacon to the drone, then connect your phone to the beacon.
Still playing with settings. Set to 4K, 60fps, not HDR, automatic record, H.264.
Do NOT use auto for white balance. It causes what you call aperture changes.
Use 4500-5500K for bright sunlight-drone in sunlight, 6500-7500 bright sunlight-drone in shade, and the darker the day is, the lower the setting as a general rule.
Please look up white balance on the web for what different settings would do. Final effect is aperture changes stop.
A lot of the problems people have is because they don't read the manual. The "It goes crazy" is usually because the operator didn't wait for the GPS to load up completely.
A lot of the positioning problems are just that. Drag and drop doesn't work while auto-tracking. Riding a motorcycle one handed while trying to position a drone and switching between menu bits is not a good idea. Use the buttons on the beacon to position while following. Get a mount for beacon.
Set the phone up so you can see it during flight. You should be the thing the drone is centered on. If not, there is a problem.
Haven't posted more than the one with the drone because I've been exploring bits and pieces of areas, stitching routes together and I don't see a drone flying for 15 minutes as integral to that. I will use it to look ahead, if a track is vanishing.
Thanks for the tips. The auto balance still sounds like a glitch to me though... Gopro doesn't result in that issue. Mavic drones don't seem to either. 😢 GPS had connected in each case, the 'crazy' bits were well into the flight, not at the start. Admittedly I've only done a few flights but this also based on the experiences of two friends with a lot more experience than me.
@@crosstrainingadventureDon't have a lot of money, buying that drone set the plan to buy a new DR650 back two years, and cannot just go buy another drone, so have to work around the limitations as we do for everything in life. I share the mitigations to those things fueling buyer's remorse. I think the GoPro (at least the Heo's 6 and 7 Black) ramps on its white balance changes, but I think it's just a too aggressive algorithm on the SkyDio. SkyDio, if you are reading, how about giving two choices for Auto white balance, slow and the already aggressive one?
Setting a Home Point, Return Behavior, and setting a wait to return time can help when you lose tracking. Some of the "crazy" behaviors are because people don't know what the defaults are, or what the drone will do when it loses signal and left it on default. The default return height is 32ft. If the trees are 50 ft, you just made the drone fly thru where branches are and now it has to avoid everything while trying to stay at 32ft. And if drone look away makes the video look like the drone is flying backwards. I prefer Toward Return, so I get video of what the drone was avoiding on its way home. A tip an old DVI guy gave me was to take the drone to the end of your shot, launch it there, set that to home point, set it to land when back, then set the return height to above trees, have the drone follow you to the start of what you want, and then record your ride back to the launch point. You lose half your flight time, but, if the drone loses you, it will fly where you are headed anyway. I cannot verify yet if the drone will resume tracking if it's after the 20 second search and has already started the Return Home behavior and sees the target again.
I think I'll just play it safe and only fly in wide open areas with minimal trees... that's the conclusion of my two friends who bought them too. One does a lot of work with GPS technology and reckons the drone is often too weighted to GPS corrections instead of staying with the beacon...
The thing is the marketing videos are shot manually. A pro drone photographer is there doing his best work and they make consumers believe that's how the product behaves autonomously. I know it's quite dishonest but that's a classic. It's the same with GoPro footage commercial, they aren't shit with GoPro cameras they are shot with more advanced professional camera systems that have nothing to do with the product it promotes. I think people owe to be aware of this marketing tricks. Cheers
Every vlogger I've seen get one never uses it after the first or second go. I have a manual drone I hardly ever use... they're more of a pain than anything. Good for shots you can't get to, but other than that...meh.
Oh my lawd. Mine just crashed for the 3rd time. In a wide open space I had it set to follow on my left because of power lines on the right. Well it decided to move to the right and ran into the dern power lines🤬🤬🤬
The second crash cost me $550. This time it better not cost anything, but it will be the last time. Going back to DJI if it happens again
I've been experiencing similar issues, Dave. The drone usually responds to the commands from the beacon and it will also decide on a whim to just go the opposite way for no clear reason. I try to avoid trees, it flies toward them. I try to keep it from flying over water. It heads for the water. I'm trying to be incredibly careful as I know it's only a matter of time before it crashes and dies. Last ride I was only doing 25kmh and it flew straight into a tree then crashed into sand. I still have the footage, absolutely no avoidance kicked in at all. 😢
@@crosstrainingadventure So that would explain the, “ we are experiencing a higher than normal call volume”, message 🤣. I feel your pain and many others do as well apparently. I really want this to work because in theory, it’s awesome. I think they need to get out and visit random customers to get a real idea of what’s happening.
Was it with Beacon or without Beacon?
I always fly it with the beacon and phone connected
Well, why you have maximum distance setup ? Isn’t it wrong settings / use rather than problem with skydio ?
There are three distance setups. I used all three.
I'm in the desert, few trees. I bet it would work much better around here.
Absolutely... you'll love it in those conditions!
you cant lock white balance?
Yes but then there's even more video editing involved due to the varying terrain. It could be a solution though where the colour/brightness of the terrain doesn't change much.
I think the most succesfull robot is the Roomba. The same people that made that have started Turtle - a fully autonomous weed-eater for the garden. Robots that behave like disobedient pets generally aren't as succesfull. Maybe someone will make a flying dog.
eyup bazza another one to avoid 🤘🤘👍👍👍👍👍
It’s crazy this drone is so bad when it’s highest enterprise feature cost right at $5k. And, 27mph is very slow.
Place a AirTag on the drone!
I have had the skydio 2 for a couple years and use it for motorcycle travel videos. I will say that my experience is different from yours. The drone has gotten stuck very occasionally but not nearly as often as shown in this video and the trails have been narrower and more densely wooded than shown here. Also, Locking the ISO and exposure, you can avoid the sudden aperture shift. It definitely not a perfect drone. Overall video quality is not competitive with DJI and other makers especially in low light. Interface is clunky. Stability could be better. Range is shorter than advertised even with the beacon. The drone, and especially the accessories, are absurdly expensive. Still, I find it to be up to the task of getting amazing shots for my riding videos.
Great to hear, Dan. It would be good for others if our drone simply isn't that good at tracking along tree-lined roads. But two other owners I've spoken with have confirmed my experience. I think the solution is just avoid trees as much as possible and fly higher. I'm getting good results then....
For an example of what I consider to be pretty impressive tracking in the threes, take a looks at 2:30, 3:25 in this video. ua-cam.com/video/T1eFoLDeDo4/v-deo.html
To me this suggests the drone is in fact quite capable in trees situation. Not perfect -there were one or two stalls when it got confused I had to manually pilot it out but thats over about 30 min of shooting in dense trees. I consider this pretty good though maybe my standards are lower. No axe to grind but thought it could be helpful to folks researching this drone.
Great vid, Dan. You should be getting way more viewers! A great mix of drone and helmet cam footage. Good choice of music. Great narration. I'm subscribed. Have you thought about uploading to Facebook too? In my experience, UA-cam is starting to flag now and Facebook is gaining when it comes to videos (a shame as I don't like Facebook's business model).
Those short bits in the trees suggest you are having more luck than three of us with separate drones. I am definitely encouraging viewers to watch as many reviews as possible. Mine is intentionally more critical than usual to balance out what I feel are many fake reviews from influencers. I am getting good footage when I stay away from tree-lined roads and I'll post some soon, and link to it from this review video too.
@@crosstrainingadventure Thanks for checking out the vid and the kind words and the sub. Thanks also for the tip about FB. I I am not on FB and hand never though of it as a video sharing platform. But a bit of googling shows that this was a big oversight. I will definitely look into setting up a page.
SKYDIO NO LONGER SELLS CONSUMER DRONES They will continue selling professional drones. It seems that is where the big money is. We assume they'll continue continue support for the consumer drones for years though. "Unfortunately, we have shifted away from our consumer drone operations. Ryan Dougherty | Skydio July 2023.
POTENTIONALLY POOR GPS COVERAGE OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA? I tried filming in Vietnam recently the Skydio would regularly go berserk and kept disappearing. It was simply too risky to continue. 😒 I suspect the problem could be Skydio only uses GPS and GLONASS systems which cover the American continent very well. But Skydio DOESN"T include the Beidou satellite coverage provided by Chinese satellites which most other drone brands do use. This can mean poor GPS links in Asian countries and elsewhere. For example, this link shows 139 countries where Beidou has more satellite coverage. rntfnd.org/2019/08/22/more-beidou-than-gps-in-130-of-195-countries/
Flying a Skydio outside of north America? Use this app on your phone to see the various satellite constellations in your area: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cache.wind.gps&gl=US
SKYIO CRASH COMPILATION Learn the limitations of your Skydio drone. Below are examples of some crashes. Some don't really have any apparent cause. Others are the obstacles that Skydio now provide warnings about E.g. Avoid power lines, thin branches, low light conditions.
Skydio crashed in first 90 seconds ua-cam.com/video/yft4v2p7PuA/v-deo.html
Skydio crashed in first 8 minutes ua-cam.com/video/Px_fXp4GJKI/v-deo.html
Skydio crashed in first 15 minutes ua-cam.com/video/WRbL8ElbFQk/v-deo.html
Skydio crashes into pond on first flight ua-cam.com/video/qSwdgZtWLGY/v-deo.html
Skydio crashes into tree 2nd flight ua-cam.com/video/gVLpSLwBmzU/v-deo.html
Skydio crashed on second day ua-cam.com/video/VxMnyjOkUAw/v-deo.html
Skydio crash analysis ua-cam.com/video/_T1mHla0GzQ/v-deo.html
Skydio crashed into tree ua-cam.com/video/gvxxOVW2eCU/v-deo.html
Skydio crashed into thin branch ua-cam.com/video/VodFsiR7XCw/v-deo.html
Skydio crashed into power line ua-cam.com/video/YAEqvtCvj9M/v-deo.html
Skydio dives into water ua-cam.com/video/EspuKPWvfk4/v-deo.html
Skydio almost crashes into water ua-cam.com/video/Y2y0IYCxksQ/v-deo.html
Skydio drops out of sky ua-cam.com/video/nhDsQeLaWOA/v-deo.html
Skydio crashed into thin branches ua-cam.com/video/_T1mHla0GzQ/v-deo.html
Skydio crashed into lake ua-cam.com/video/aO8OBlw8Z4A/v-deo.html
Skydio crashed into tree during winter: ua-cam.com/video/8qaeAHELHxw/v-deo.html
Skydio crashed in low light ua-cam.com/video/ZsUQTrRS02k/v-deo.html
Skydio flies into fence ua-cam.com/video/tbUwk3YkD3k/v-deo.html
Skydio crashed into tree ua-cam.com/video/7WYhWdhc59o/v-deo.html
Skydio hits power line and crashes ua-cam.com/video/GU-QhYlK8Yo/v-deo.html
Skydio flies into tree without leaves ua-cam.com/video/dmT50xR2W2A/v-deo.html
Skydio files into thin branches ua-cam.com/video/Vs1pWk_IFEA/v-deo.html
Skydio files into thin branches ua-cam.com/video/fEznVMcapBI/v-deo.html
Skydio files into thin branches ua-cam.com/video/r84rka5MjKU/v-deo.html
Skydio files into thin branches ua-cam.com/video/kZ6BfdkwFcQ/v-deo.html
Skydio files into thin branches ua-cam.com/video/0qIbUUOizPA/v-deo.html
Skydio crash compilation ua-cam.com/video/yd-TUY7FDU0/v-deo.html
Almost sounds like a scam company . Thanks for posting this I have been thinking about this drone. ""RIDE ON""
It actually works really well as long as you aren't near any trees lining the road.
I watched Brent Pearson review and fully trust him- but still...I will not buy the drone or electric motorcycle and wait until the technology matures and ready.
Brent's drone footage looks amazing
@@mandyandmaxbird2780 He likes that drone
I now have brents drone. He upgraded to the 2+. The drone is amazing. I feel like this review has concentrated on people who dont know how to fly and have unrealistic expectations.
I watched Brent's vids too during our research phase.
Some of Skydio's earlier marketing showed the drone navigating smoothly between a pile of trees... I'm just pointing out those claims seem to be unrealistic. And two other owners have confirmed this. You get much better results staying away from trees and flying higher.
My Skydio collided with an electricity tower at full speed…hopefully the company replaced my drone after investigation and lots of conversations…conclusion: nice autonomous drone for open air and little obstacles.
Let me know what happens, Dmytro. Some owners are definitely unhappy with Skydio when it comes to warranty claims.... others say the support is great.
@@crosstrainingadventure Skydio was shooting me rolling at about 55 km/h when I changed the drone position from the nearest to the farthest and instead of increasing height to fly over the electricity lines it collided with the electricity tower probably due to around to max speed as it tried to avoid it but it couldn’t manage. The investigation and our conversation with the company lasted for about a month, analyzing the logs and my video provided and I posted what was left from the drone as I was overseas, but fortunately Skydio accepted my arguments and replaced the drone.
Great news, glad the support is there. On my last flight the Skydio flew into a tree and crashed. I haven't flown it since but I'm hoping it's all okay.
@@crosstrainingadventure by the way, two hints from my experience: 1) there are powerbanks up to 30,000 mAh with Power Delivery chip for 100Watt charging - they can charge your batteries on the go for about an hour per battery but due to voltage transforming (3,7V to 12V) one 30,000 mAh powerbank can charge only two Skydio batteries.
2) there are Chinese amplifiers for Parrot Anafi controller that fits Skydio too (expensive option for manual control though possible if needed), just search ALIENTECH PRO 2.4G or 5G Antenna Signal Booster Range Extender with amplifier for Parrot Anafi drone.
My skydio ai sucks for enduro. I’ve replaced my skydio 2 3x. I’ve stopped having it follow me
Bummer. What sort of issues? Just hitting trees etc? I actually bought mine mainly for enduro filming but rapidly realised it just couldn't handle the trees. It would work well in deserts, but those are 18 hours drive away. So annoying when the earlier Skydio promotions said it navigated between trees really well.
Humm, I think Mike Zed quoted in the video says something interesting…”But if you consistently using a drone in the environment where you should not, you are asking for trouble” if your KNOW you should not use a drone in an area, maybe you should consider not using a drone in that area?
I could be wrong but I don't think he's talking about illegal areas... I thought he was saying trying to fly around trees and other obstacles will always be tricky and the Skydio isn't really that well equipped yet... despite their marketing suggesting it is capable?
@@crosstrainingadventure We are on the same page I think. I thought his comment was about If your consistently flying in areas that the skydio may have trouble in, your asking for trouble, if you consistently fly in those areas. I don’t believe my comment refers to illegal areas, but clearly I was unclear, lol, as you seem to get that from my comment, sorry about that!
Gotcha! It's interesting to note that part of Skydio's earlier promotions was a graphic showing it flying a very smooth path through all these obstacles (I think they were trees) which is partly why I bought it... and a friend did too. And then we realised the troubles it has flying down a tree-lined road. That graphic seems to have disappeared now.
thank you for making this video. i would do a dji, but i hate the thought the chinese spying on me.
I wish I saw this before buying mine nothing but problems
Bummer, what sort of issues in your case, Kristina?
But but, in the skydio video they said it's awesome... You must be using it wrong 🤣
😂
I think you are going to fast my friend.. correct me if im wrong
We deliberately rode slowly e.g. the fastest we went was 30kmh... half the maximum speed of the Skydio.
@@crosstrainingadventure thanks for the info. Im glad i didnt buy yet
It works very well in open spaces or if you keep it flying above trees though. You'll see the results in recent vids. But even one tree can be an issue at times lol. There was only one tree in this big field and somehow the Skydio just stopped behind it and wouldn't move, I had to go back and fly it out.
Lol Baz! If you put your name address and phone number on a drone in the uk n lose it you'll arrive home to a stripped out house....!
Damn , I almost bought it …
The drone will work well in many cases. E.g. if you are walking or cycling slowly around trees the avoidance system will definitely work better.
@@crosstrainingadventure thank you, I am afraid about sunset = too dark = not working . Also the switch from bright shots to dark shots in one second . Did they fix it with new update ?
I don't know if there's been a new update in the past month or so... but I updated it then. Experienced users tell me the only solution is turn off the auto setting, but then of course the footage will keep going from dark to light more.
No telemetry?? Yes there is
Another wonderful reason NOT to become a UA-cam Content Creator. Blessings to those of you who do this for the rest of us!
Personally I don't care about drone footage but it's quite sad that you spend all that money for a product that perform significantly below your expectation.
If we keep it well away from trees we'll get good results. It's just a shame it will be next to useless for our enduro channel as we always ride in forests.
So Trees are the problem
Yes, if you want to regularly fly through them e.g. a tree-lined road or in a forest. They are much less of a problem if you fly the drone above trees, of course. Or if there is only the occasional tree and you aim to use the drone in more open spaces. Although it was interesting on my last ride that the drone somehow got stuck behind the only tree in a huge field lol.
I have been VERY suspicious of the glowing Skydio reviews, primarily because they are sending free drones to reviewers. Some reviewers disclose this, but others don't. I would love to buy an American made drone as instead of my DJI, but I won't subsidize junk just to make a patriotic gesture. The poor customer support is inexcusable.
Overall I'm still glad I bought it, Mike... just! I only use it to film the adventure bikes in wide open terrain, and I'm very careful with how I operate it. But I am very disappointed that it's been useless for filming the dirt bikes because we are always riding near trees. As mentioned, I was suckered in by their early promotions about it threading its way through trees seamlessly. Thankfully they don't push that anymore. Sometimes owneres rave about the support, others have nightmares. It seems to vary a lot.
I've given up on youtube "reviews." They really are nothing more than commercials made by some guy just to get free stuff. Oh, and they all claim "yes they sent me this for free but I'm going to be really honest" ....riiiiight
Which is why I paid $3000 for this drone. So the review is honest.
Expecting perfection in thickly wooded trails riding swift dirt bikes? I think this review seems skewed, tilted against, perhaps paid-for by Chinese agents! There are too many positive reviews about the American-made blue bird to diss and dismiss it.
Not perfection, Glen... but their earlier promotions did feature a Skydio winding its way smoothly around obstacles like trees. They seem to have deleted that graphic now though! If you think I'm paid by a Chinese drone maker you obviously haven't seen my 'don't buy Chinese!' videos. And I've refused all sponsorship over the years to stay objective. All I can say is see how many of the rave 'reviews' are from influencers, and dig a little deeper to get a more accurate idea of where this drone excels, and where it doesn't.
@@crosstrainingadventure Really sorry, Cross. My statements get kind of punchy at times, and I especially don’t like my cheap shot about you allegedly being a Chinese agent! Please forgive me.
I don’t know why Skydio scaled back on their obstacle avoidance demos. Still, I am seeing a little unfair fare in some review videos that seem to fault the blue bird for hitting twig while trying to follow someone at Formula One speeds.
You know though, I am really hoping that we see a Skydio 3 with a 1-inch sensor camera and improved controller.
Thanks for using restraint with my complaint! Cheers, brother. 💛🙏🏼
No problems, Glen! It's important I am held to account, I'm always saying no one should automatically trust reviews, including my own. I think it's good Skydio pulled some of their earlier promotions about how good it was at threading its way through trees. I am actually getting good shots with it as long as I don't use it along tree-lined roads... or fly it well above the trees. But it was disappointing to spend so much then realise I couldn't really use it in the forests for the enduro channel. 😢 I will try this eventually at low speed, but once I've got a fair bit of use with the drone and it won't matter so much if it's destroyed. A friend bought one to film dirt bikes on his property and was massively disappointed for the same reasons as me. He's barely used it as it keeps crashing and he knows he'll wreck it. I also spoke with Tori from the Torimoto channel and she's had the same troubles the moment she is near trees.
skydio camera footage just awful. so pixelized. reason number one do not buy it
Do you just mean poor quality footage, Ari? E.g. artefacts? It shouldn't be actually pixelising if you are filming in 4k. Detailed reviews point out that the video quality is not as good as other drones. I am gradually discovering this is the case. It is frequently good, but at other times the colours are inaccurate and colour correction cannot fix it. I suspect that Skydio has a default position that applies contrast, sharpness and saturation to try and make the footage look good. This can work for complete amateurs, but there should be a 'flat' or neutral high quality setting which allows us to do our own post-production. I have spoken with other Skydio users who agree. We need a neutral setting so we can have more chance of fixing the footage when the results aren't great.
Yet they are clear that thin lines and thin trees aren’t the best of circumstances. The mavic is even worse… so the review really is null.
Si no sabes dónde están los límites de uso de una herramienta, no la uses. Por supuesto que Skydio no es perfecto, su capacidad para determinar de forma fluida cómo debe evitar un obstáculo aún necesita mejorar, esto propicia que muchas de las tomas de vídeo durante el vuelo autónomo no sean tan cinematográficas como quisiéremos. Además, es cierto, si una rama o un cable es demasiado fino, Skydio no puede detectarla y existe el peligro de colisión (como para cualquier Drone). A parte de esto, (cosa que es igual o peor para todos los drones) no hay ningún otro Drone en el mercado que pueda seguirte con el nivel de fiabilidad que lo hace Skydio. Me parece presumiblemente erróneo y de mal gusto que afirmes que en la casi totalidad de los casos, lo que ocurre con la inmensa mayoría de las reviews de muchos y muchos otros UA-camrs es que, tal como tú dices, lo han probado una vez, han tenido suerte y han colgado la review.. all of them? Camon !. Me temo, amigo mío, que lo que tú querías es comprar una tecnología que todavía no existe actualmente, y el problema de ello no lo tiene Skydio, el problema es tu falta de objetividad y realismo para con la tecnología de seguimiento basado en inteligencia artificial que a día de hoy puede pagarse por ese importe. Seguramente, para aplicaciones militares existen cosas más avanzadas, pero en primer lugar, su uso está restringido, y en segundo lugar, posiblemente no podrías pagar esa tecnología. Creo que lo tuyo es una pura falta de objetividad y realismo en la relación que existe con la tecnología actual entre sus prestaciones y su coste. Por supuesto te doy un voto negativo, ya es hora de que alguien lo haga.