Everything you need to know about DJI’s new FPV drone

That drip, drip, drip of leaks? It has not turned into a firehose. Pictures of the new “Motion Controller” – a handheld device for more intuitive control of an FPV machine (and a story we broke back in early January), are now out in the wild.

We now know pretty much everything there is to know about the new DJI FPV drone, except for how it flies. A new leak that’s splashed in Facebook has images, specifications, and confirms pretty much everything we’ve reported about this product in the past. Perhaps the most significant detail out now? A photo of the “Motion Controller” – a story we first broke.

Let’s dive in – there’s tons to see.

Motion Controller

This is the big one. The first photo that we’re aware of that shows the revolutionary motion controller. This will allow a pilot with limited stick experience (and those good with sticks but looking for something different) to fly the drone in a new, intuitive way. Think of it as a Wii controller for flying.

It will be an option sold separately from the drone combo. And here’s what it looks like:

DJI’s Motion Controller

You can see it has a trigger for throttle, as well as buttons that will allow you to switch between modes. We’ve been told it will also have a button or switch dedicated to putting the drone into a stable hover. This would be great news for a newer pilot whose flight might be going south. Stuff happens quickly in FPV, and having the ability to switch the drone into a mode that might prevent a crash would be awesome – and makes a lot of sense.

Specs

You want ’em? We got ’em.

Here’s what appears in the leak, which appears to have come from GetFPV and was then re-posted in the DJI FPV Drone Facebook group. Obviously, this group is not affiliated with DJI, which doesn’t even officially confirm the existence of new products prior to their release.

Here’s the deets from that post – along with a sprinkling of new images:

In the box

The DJI FPV Drone, DJI FPV Remote Controller 2, and DJI FPV Goggles V2. Drone ships with one battery, two sets of propellers, a gimbal protector and a spare top shell or canopy. The goggles come with a battery and USB-C power cable.

Case not included, but we like it…

Video

The camera has a 142° field of view and captures 4K 60 FPS at 120 Mbps.

That’s going to crash into its reflection in a nanosecond…

The goggles receive up to 810P at 60FPS in high-quality mode, or 120FPS in low-latency mode. 1080p video can be recorded by the drone at up to 120 FPS.

These goggles transmit over both 2.4GHz and 5.8Ghz, and it’s reported that the onboard recorder is higher quality than V1 of the goggles. Video is recorded in H.264 or H.265. Image stabilization is handled by RockSteady.

Controls

For those not yet into flying freestyle, “Acro” mode FPV, you’ve got the option of flying this machine in “Normal” mode, where it behaves politely like other DJI products. This also limits its flight speed to 33 mph and maximum attitude angle to about 25°. A perfect way for beginners to start the FPV experience with minimal risk of crashing.

Sport mode moves thins up a notch, increasing speed to 60 mph and doubling the ascent and descent rates.

And yes, of course, there’s a “manual” mode, which puts you in full control. But beware, you need to know how to fly fully manually before taking this on, or you will likely crash. Scratch that, you will crash unless you’re freakishly good at learning on the fly.

In fact, you have to jump through some hoops in the goggles to get to manual mode.

It’s getting closer….

The throttle is spring-centered, which will turn off some FPV pilots. But…you can override this with a screwdriver and about 30 seconds of your time.

The drone will have the Return to Home feature, low battery RTH and forward and downward obstacle detection. The menu is driven through the goggles.

Mayday button

This is very cool. The drone’s controller has a “panic button” that will allow you to recover from something hairy and put it into a stable hover. This will undoubtedly save countless drones – and a lot of swearing.

Why is this model so calm? Because the drone has an “panic button”

Motion Controller

We first broke this story back in early January: You’ll be able to purchase a separate, one-handed motion controller. Think of it as a Wii controller with a throttle: Point where you want to go, squeeze for speed, tilt forward or back for pitch and side to side for roll. Yaw will require you to rotate the controller. This will make freestyle flight far more intuitive for a beginner to grasp, and is really just a super cool idea.

Yes, we have to look at this again…

Speed?

Well. We’ve seen 60mph max speed in that post today, and also 90mph elsewhere. We’re going with the faster speed. Weight is just shy of 800 grams, and you’ll be able to get up to 20 minutes on a battery. That will depend, of course, on how fast you’re flying.

Safety

The DJI FPV Drone features AirSense, which picks up ADS-B signals from nearby manned aircraft. This will send an alert to the pilot, a great feature for enhanced situational awareness and a feature that should almost be mandatory for FPV flight. That’s because many pilots will likely fly solo – even though most regulations require that you have a visual observer for such flights. When you’re wearing goggles, you’re not going to see that low-flying Cessna or helicopter heading into your area.

Price

We’ve seen some numbers floating around on various posts and Amazon listings. We’re going to wait until we have a little more confidence in the numbers before publishing. If you’ve got a solid lead, please shoot me a note here.

DroneDJ’s Take

We’ve stated, from the very outset, that this machine would be a hybrid drone – intended not as a competitive FPV racer, but as an FPV drone that will provide that thrill while avoiding much of the technical learning that is such a barrier to entry for many interested in the FPV world. We also reported, in early January, that there would be an optional handheld controller like the one we’re seeing today – and we believe this will be a game-changer for some.

This is a new drone, for a new market sector. And we suspect this product is going to do very, very well – and introduce an entirely new group of pilots to the amazing experience of FPV.

Finally, a shout-out to Jasper Ellens, the Admin of the DJI FPV Drone group on Facebook. That’s where much of this content was posted.

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