Tiny DJI Neo Could Be The Biggest Drone Ever

The 5-ounce, self-flying DJI Neo may be the most popular drone ever.

The DJI Neo, launched this week, is a miniature quadcopter which, on the surface, lacks the novel features expected of new tech gadgets. There is nothing in there we have not seen before. However, the Neo’s simplicity and affordability – it retails for just $199 – could make it a breakthrough product.

Having pretty well saturated the drone enthusiast market, from professional filmmakers to hobbyists who just likes to fool around with geeky gadgets, DJI are now going after a much bigger and potentially more profitable market. The Neo is a drone for people who are not interested in drones but just want to shoot video or take pictures.

DJI, properly Da-Jiang Innovations of Shenzhen, completely dominate the consumer drone world with an estimated 70%+ of more of the global market. By producing at scale with close vertical integration with component makers, DJI have succeeded in building highly capable, good quality drones that few competitors can match, steamrollering the U.S. consumer drone industry in the process.

The DJI Phantom series evolved rapidly and the company rapidly dominated the consumer drone market.

With their first product, the Phantom 1 introduced in 2013, DJI succeeded in redefining drones. A simple, ready-to-fly quadcopter requiring virtually no pilot skill, the Phantom 1 enabled anyone to take aerial footage without a helicopter or a crane. The 10-minute flight time was a serious limitation, but by 2015 the Phantom 3 could fly 20 minutes and packed a 2.7K video camera.

In 2016 DJI introduce the Mavic series, portable drones which folded to the size of a water bottle but which featured a full stabilized, high-resolution camera and a 27-minites flight time.

DJI produced successively more compact drones for the consumer market, while also bringing out larger models capable of carrying professional-quality video cameras for the commercial and industrial sector.

Drones are now everywhere. A small revolution in the film and TV industry means that everything you watch – action movie, current affairs, reality show or coffee advert—probably has some drone shots giving panoramic aerial views, following someone in a car or just flying over a beach.

Even though quadcopters fly themselves, using one still requires a level of skill to avoid crashing and breaking propellers, or losing the drone altogether. Flying one means carrying around and setting up a certain amount of gear which also puts off casual users.

This left a hole in the market for a different type of quadcopter: the selfie drone.

The HoverAir X1 from ZeroZero Robotics (a much smaller Chinese outfit0 was launched last year as a ‘flying selfie camera’ or ‘flying action camera’ rather than a drone. The X1 is entirely self-flying, with no controller necessary. The user just selects a flight mode and presses a button. The X1 takes off from their palm, shoots video or photos and returns.

The X1 can zoom out, orbit the user, or fly upwards and takes ‘birds eye view’ video. Its real talent is displayed with the follow mode: after launch, it locks on to the user and follows them – walking, jogging, skating or skiing, like a personal camera crew. As well as following from behind, the X1 can do side follow and even ‘dolly track,’ flying in front of the user and flying backwards.

Stabilization and smart tracking give an impressively steady image. X1 video looks like it is sliding on rails, even in significant winds. Noise cancellation software allows the user to record sound via their smartphone with the rotor noise removed.

The 4.5 ounce X1 has an innovative folding design, fits easily in a pocket and can be carried anywhere. The shrouded rotors and tough casing mean that even it runs into an obstacle or crashes it is not damaged, not will it damage anyone who touches it, making it safe to fly indoors. The X1 can also be flown manually at short range using a smartphone as a controller.

Priced at $349 the HoverAir X1 drew rave reviews – “The first drone I want to use all the time” — and was popular with people who wanted drone footage without the hassle of a DJI drone.

The HoverAir X1 has blazed a trail into new territory. DJI plan to turn that trail into a superhighway filled with their traffic.

DJI are specifically targeting vloggers with the Neo. At present, shooting outdoors means either having an assistant with a camera, or using a selfie stick or head-mounted camera, none of which is ideal. There are something like 30 million content creators on YouTube and this is the market DJI are aiming at.

Like the Hover X1, the new DJI Neo is a compact drone weighing under 5 ounces with safe, shrouded rotors and pushbuttons for instant, controller-free flying, and a similar set of flight modes.

The battery life and camera quality appear to be better than the X1. The performance is unremarkable by DJI standards, but the big selling point is that $199 price. This is an affordable drone and significantly undercuts the X1.

The Neo also offers more of a traditional drone experience and can be flown like a standard quadcopter with a controller, or even as an FPV-type with goggles. These add complexity and the additional costs of extra hardware, but the Neo could act as training wheels for users interested in more serious drones.

The DJI Neo promises instant vlogging wherever you are

The promise of the Neo is that everyone will be able to spice up their videos with the impressive aerial shots we are used to seeing on television. Vloggers and social media influencers could use it to stand out from the competition, and others will follow. Sheer affordability will make it for more accessible than earlier models and ease of use will encourage uptake..

However, there are a couple of catches. One is that drones cannot be flown everywhere. For example, a blanket ban prohibits flying drones in U.S. National Parks. The other is that even where flying is legal, the Neo’s high-pitched rotor whine will attract attention, and many people are hostile to drones which they see as an invasion of their privacy. If millions of drones start invading the streets, parks and beaches, then expect to see more laws to prohibit them.

(In The U.S., DJI may face an ever bigger legal issue: the Countering CCP Drones Act. Included in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), this would likely prevent any further sales of DJI drones in the U.S., but would not prevent users from flying their existing drones. The Act is not yet law, but a draft bill which has not yet been passed. The argument is that the Chinese-made drones present an unacceptable national security threat.)

As well as being a gateway for beginners to get into drones, the Neo could be popular with people who are only interested in what it can do. This would parallel home computers, which initially only appealed to a small cadre of enthusiasts before new software opened up a much wider market.

The Neo might sell not just millions but tens of millions. A year after the initial launch, ZeroZero have just announced two upgraded versions of the X1, and DJI may similarly seek to create a consumer base interested in shopping for upgrades, accessories and other products. As a product, the Neo really could be the biggest drone ever.