DJI Flip: foldable drone with propeller guard

DJI's new small drone is called "Flip" and looks quite unusual. It has fixed protective cages for its propellers, similar to the DJI Neo. Unlike the latter, however, the Flip can still be folded up. Its arms fold downwards, where the propellers stack on top of each other.

Drone

New

EUR649,–

DJI Flip

31 min, 249 g, 48 Mpx

Drone

New

EUR809,–

DJI Flip ( RC 2)

31 min, 249 g, 48 Mpx

Drone

New

EUR1069,–

DJI Flip Fly More Combo (RC 2)

31 min, 249 g, 48 Mpx

New

Drone

EUR649,–

DJI Flip

31 min, 249 g, 48 Mpx

New

Drone

EUR809,–

DJI Flip ( RC 2)

31 min, 249 g, 48 Mpx

New

Drone

EUR1069,–

DJI Flip Fly More Combo (RC 2)

31 min, 249 g, 48 Mpx

With a weight of 249 grams, the Flip falls into drone class C0 and is therefore less restricted than heavier aircraft. Judging by the specifications, the new drone ranks slightly below the Mini 4 Pro within DJI's range.

Different - but not necessarily better

A look at the dimensions of the DJI Flip shows: when folded, it is no more compact than the Mini series, but actually a few centimetres larger. Its advantage lies in the protected propellers. This makes the Flip more suitable for beginners, as it is more likely to survive any collisions undamaged and is less dangerous for people.

The Flip can take off from the hand and land on it again. It can be controlled by voice command without a controller. This allows you to start recordings, quickshots or the follow function - just like with the DJI Neo, which our colleague Lorenz Keller tested last autumn.

With its 1/1.3-inch sensor, the Flip's camera should offer the same image quality as the Mini 4 Pro. Photos have a resolution of 48 megapixels, videos can be recorded in 4K with up to 100 frames per second. For vertical moving images, the Flip does not rotate its camera by 90 degrees, but simply saves a portrait format section in 2.7K.

When it comes to obstacle detection, the Flip makes concessions. It only sees objects in front of and below the drone, while the Mini 4 Pro's sensors look in all directions. The flight time is three minutes less than that of its more expensive sister. Nevertheless, the O4 transmission system is the same. It offers a stable connection and more than enough range.

Overall, the Flip's folding concept is fresh, but not necessarily revolutionary. It also makes DJI's line-up even more confusing than it already is. The new drone doesn't appear to make any technical advances, but instead mainly throws together familiar components in a new way. It is too expensive for a pure toy and the Mini 4 Pro is likely to remain the better option for many other scenarios.