DJI is trying again to make palm-sized drones, and this one costs $199

In 2017, DJI introduced the Spark. With a palm-sized body, gesture controls, and a price tag of under $500, the system was clearly aimed at social media. Essentially, it was a selfie drone.

The small quadcopter has built up a fan base, but apparently it wasn’t big enough to justify its continued existence. DJI quietly stopped production of the device in 2019 and replaced it with the Mavic Mini, the smallest model in its hugely popular foldable consumer drone series.

This week at the IFA in Berlin, DJI is once again going small with the new Neo. As with the Spark before it, the drone’s ability to land in the palm of the user’s hand is a key selling point. This is in part a reference to Neo’s small footprint: at 135 grams (0.3 pounds), DJI says it is the “most compact and lightest” drone the company has ever produced.

In fact, it is significantly lighter than the Spark (300 grams) and the Mavic Mini (249 grams). Of course, a small footprint also brings disadvantages, most notably the battery life. The system has a stated flight time of 18 minutes per battery charge, which limits the drone’s possible uses.

This isn’t meant to directly replace the Mavic Mini. For one thing, the Mini 4 only came out a few months ago. Another key selling point, in addition to the ability to land in the palm of your hand, is remote-free control. This puts the system firmly in the social media/influencer camp that DJI was targeting with Spark. Another in that camp: Snap’s Pixy, which died its own fiery death earlier this year.

It remains to be seen how big the potential market we’re talking about here is. Hover offers the most compelling handheld drone to date, and the fact that DJI is competing in this category again is a testament in itself. The Shenzhen-based company practically dominates the drone market at the moment.

As with the Hover drones, DJI has chosen to fully protect the Neo’s rotor blades. This is a good thing for a drone that is positioned as a beginner drone. When the Spark came out, our video producer managed to cut her finger on the rotor blades. You have to really try hard for that to happen here.

Much of the system’s navigation relies on subject tracking and other AI features. DJI offers the following shooting modes:

• Dronie: The drone flies backwards and ascends with the camera pointed at the subject and records a video.
• Circle: The drone circles the subject.
• Rocket: The drone rises with the camera pointing downwards.
• Headlights: The drone rotates while keeping the object in the picture
• Helix: The drone takes off and circles the subject.
• Boomerang: The drone flies around the object in an oval trajectory, climbing as it flies away from the starting point and descending as it flies back. The aircraft’s starting point forms one end of the oval’s long axis, while the other end is on the opposite side of the object from the starting point.

It’s worth noting that the Neo will launch with limited availability. The drone is available for pre-order in the US starting today, but a delivery date is not yet known. It costs $199 in the base configuration and $289 with three additional batteries.