DJI Mavic Mini - Drone FlyCam Quadcopter UAV with 2.7K Camera 3-Axis Gimbal GPS 30min Flight Time, less than 0.55lbs, Gray

I've always wanted a drone but never wanted to pay the big price for one. DJI has really made great strides in keeping their drones affordable over the years and more for hobbyists which I like. Anyways, I was extremely impressed with the DJI Mavic Mini. The night before, I had watched hours of videos about it and decided to purchase one as pretty much everybody had good things to say about it.Pros:- It's affordable compared to other models, DJI's least expensive drone.- It's SUPER lightweight, without the battery you can tell they put a lot of thought into keeping this thing lightweight.- It's really easy to fly, just be an an open field for your first flight.- It can go REALLY far (theoretically several miles away from you) depending on signal interference. If you want to go further, get yagi antennas for 5.8GHz.- It can fly for a really long time (20-30 mins), I was quite surprised considering how small and powerful it was.- It can withstand strong wind gusts (think 30mph) and remain relatively level.- It's intelligent, the stabilization of the aircraft and the gimbal is impressive to say the least.- It can return home with GPS, this is honestly one of the most amazing features. It's scary flying something miles away from you, but if you lose signal it'll return home to where it took off using GPS all on its own.Cons:- No waterproofing, although this is likely due to DJI trying to keep it under 250 grams. A lot of components are exposed (although guarded by some plastic) when you look at it closely. Do NOT fly it in the rain.- Can only land safely on a flat surface with no protruding objects (like grass). Easily solved with a landing pad though.- The controller takes a crazy amount of time to charge which is annoying. It seems to take 8 hours or so to get a full charge. Compared to the aircraft's battery charging it's much much slower. You can get maybe 2-4 flights with the controller's battery though.- The base package ($400) doesn't come with much and you'll probably want to get the $500 package. A carrying case is almost a must if you want to keep the drone safe. If you don't get extra batteries you'll end up wanting more too...- If you don't get the battery charger that charges 3 batteries, the battery is charged while inside the drone. This makes it a bit tedious if you have multiple batteries. I wish they would have included an external charger by default.- The base package ($400) doesn't come with a power brick. This was surprising as they recommend batteries get charged at 18W, which a lot of wall chargers DONT do. I'd recommend getting your own 18W or 24W charger instead of their more expensive (branded) one.Overall, the drone is amazing for the price. I really couldn't complain about much. Be sure to watch a lot of videos and reviews on YouTube before buying. This really is a serious aircraft, and it could hurt someone it you flew it recklessly. Be careful and fly safe!

DJI has the ideal product. Their product failure can always be blamed on the phone that helps run it. Just got my Mini today. Had purchased an LG G6 Phone JUST FOR this drone, as it is on the DJI's acceptable phones list (apparently ... NOT Accurate!). But... after hrs of trying 20plus solutions to get the phone to connect to drone ("RC not connected to mobile device"!!!)... I will try an Iphone 6 or 7 as this has been mentioned as a workable phone by various You Tubers??? After I get it, and if it still will not connect - then what????? Send the drone back too for a swap and try that? There are a few You Tube videos online ...KIND OF addressing this problem, but I only saw one video showing the problem I kept getting and a bunch of pretty UNhelpful responses - most saying it was the phone, even though that phone was on the list also. This was my biggest concern when researching a drone (this drone DJI Mavic Mini) and even sent a concern to DJI - but got nothing back from them. Nice. Sure seems to me if you spend $400 on this AND supply the correct phone from DJI's list, you should get a decent product. I will get back to this review after getting an iphone 6 or 7, but I'm not holding my breath!!! Got the replacement phone to connect with RC (more $$$!). But, if I keep this drone, as of today on Tue. Feb 4 2019... Batteries are very very scarce- even DJI is OUT. Not a good omen if spare parts are impossible to get??? Stay tuned, have not done a test flight yet as rain, rain, rain. Feb 9 - Now iI am being told my SN is not valid at the DJI Site? W H A T ??? Feb11- I am starting to see additional phones & TABLETS that supposedly work with the DJI Fly App?? Some are cheaper that the iphone 7 I had to purchase for this. W H A T ???? It's like going in circles... "you need this... well, this works without that". Does this or does this not need either a phone or tablet that is 802.11ac WiFi Capable??? Some are saying NO???? W H A T ???

I've spent quite some time (and too much money) trying to find a good drone to learn with. Trying to save money, I learned that the cheaper ones are actually quite difficult to handle - they don't hover steadily and they can be difficult to control the altitude and attitude.Not so with the Mavic Mini.On first takeoff, it rose to about three feet and hung there steadily, and didn't fly off all over while I tried out the controls. Within just a few minutes, I was able to control it well enough to fly around the house and land it on my (not very large) front porch just by referencing the video feed.I've flown it several times since then and it gets easier every time. I have several acres of property and a long private road, and I've been able to cover all of it and get a good view of everything. The Return-to-home feature makes me comfortable flying higher and farther out over the trees than I would otherwise be, since I know if I lose contact it will come back, so I won't have to try searching in the woods.Also, the controls are fine enough that you can even fly it indoors.I spent almost as much trying out others with horrible luck - I should have just started with this one. Highly recommended for beginners.Edit:I see a lot of complaints about not being able to fly the drone in certain places. To those people I suggest you take it up with the FAA and your local government - those no-fly zones are not determined by DJI. Like it or not, there are government regulations related to flying these things and you should probably learn about those regulations if you're thinking of getting one. At least the Mavic Mini is designed to be below the weight limit where you're required to REGISTER it.