Skydio 2+ Drone Review: Pro Flyer

There will never be a perfect drone for everyone. There are many reasons to own a drone. Some like to race. Some like to shoot cinematic masterpieces and others like to follow fast-paced action. It's not always good for a drone to be good at one thing. The Skydio 2+ is close to perfect for speed and maneuverability.

It has some flaws, which I will get to below. The Skydio 2+ software is better than anything else I have used. Skydio wraps this sophistication in an easy to use flight control system.

New edition.

Skydio started out with the R1, a drone that was impressive in its feature set, but expensive and seemingly aimed more at the enterprise market. The Skydio 2 brought the price down and added more features for consumers.

The Skydio 2 could not stay aloft for more than 20 minutes, and many people had trouble keeping it connected to the internet at the farthest edges of its limited range. The Skydio 2+ hardware update addresses those two issues with a bigger, more powerful battery and two pop-up antennas, which increase the drone's range and provide a stronger signal.

Skydio has two hardware changes that are welcome, and the only other thing they have is the 2+. Don't worry if you bought the 2. The best of what's new in software will work for you, and on this drone, what's really impressive is the software.

Skydio should have improved the camera. The 1/2.3 inch sensor is capable of 4K footage at 60 frames per second, which is fine for the average user, but flying it next to the higher resolution camera in the Autel Evo lite+ really showed how last-generation was. If image quality is your main concern, you should get the DJI Air 2S. The Skydio 2+ produces great video results, but it is disappointing that the camera isn't ahead of the competition.

The white balance was less than stellar. There is no support for log video in the app. You can color-correct later in software if you shoot in log, which results in higher-dynamic-range video. If you don't plan to color grade your video in software, the lack of a log curve won't matter.

The Skydio would be a great option for pro photographers if the log curve hadn't been missing. If you can live without log, it still is. The Skydio has automated flight features that make it easy to get great shots.

There is a map key.

Skydio has an approach to obstacle avoidance that is key to its automated flight system. The Skydio 2 series uses six onboard navigation cameras to create a 3D map of its surroundings. This information is used to navigate its way through places that other drones cannot.

I tried to get the Skydio to crash into something while I followed him through some dense trees, but it wouldn't. It was impossible for me to have flown on my own. I had to remind myself not to try some of the things the Skydio can do with the other drones I was testing because the collision-avoidance system is so good. Skydio's collision-avoidance system is the best I have ever used.