The drones can be quite a sizable investment to make, especially if you’re looking to spend on expensive drones such as Phantom 4 Pro. Of course, you can buy a cheap drone at a reasonable price. But most of the time, they’re more than just that… a toy. If you truly want to find a drone that has decent flight time and good camera quality. There are plenty of great drones that you can find from the world-class leading drone industry, DJI. But that means you’ll have to be prepared to fork over some serious money.
So, what if I told you that DJI created a brand new drone called the Tello? That feature-rich, compact, and incredibly capable $99 quadcopter. That’s correct, DJI just released a high-quality drone for under $100!? Impressive!
It’s a joint venture between DJI and Ryze but with DJI backing it and the rising talents at Ryze. It’s rather a great partnership opportunity for Ryze to demonstrate what their little bird can do. Don’t think for a second because you’re paying at a rock bottom price that you have to compromise on the drone quality. The DJI Tello will impress you and give a lot more than what you can expect out of it.
Without further ado, we’re going to dive into the DJI Tello review and share information with you. At the end of the drone review, you’ll be able to make an informed decision on whether to shop DJI Tello or not. Let’s find out if it is a perfect match for you!
Impressive Flight Time
Normally, we’ll expect a drone within the price range to have a flight time between 5 to 7 minutes. However, since DJI Tello was introduced to the market. It has a flight time up to 13 minutes which is quite impressive and competes well with other popular drones such as Spark. The DJI Tello also competes with recently released modern drones like the X12 and IN 1802 that are priced cheaper and have a flight time of 10 to 11 minutes.
High-Quality Camera and Video
The quality of the camera that’s built-in the drone is remarkably good. Especially in the price range. The DJI Tello features a powerful 5MP camera that has an 82.6-degree field of view. Furthermore, it can shoot 720p video at 30 frames per second. This miniature quadcopter also comes with electronic image stabilization for smoother images and better footage on the move. Its advanced 14-core Intel processor helps keep the footage quality great.
And if these aren’t enough for you. The drone comes with “EZ shots” that make capturing pictures easier and funnier with flight modes such as Up & Away, Circle, and 360. Even more so, the drone will stream live video to your smartphone, tablet, or VR headset. It’s a great opportunity to experience an amazing first-person view with the DJI Tello drone.
DJI Tello Features
Be prepared to face a lot of features that DJI Tello has in the store for you. For a small drone that’s packed with features, it’s a ground breakthrough. Beginners and STEM students who want to learn how to program and code drone will benefit from this drone. With a price tag under $100, you’ll find out if it’s worth investing in owning a DJI Tello drone. Starting with the features this little bird has.
Pressure Sensor Altitude Hold Function
This is one of the key features that’s lacking in the majority of toy-grade drones. Fortunately, the DJI Tello drone is equipped with this beginner-friendly feature. Whether you’re flying the drone for fun or recording footage. The altitude hold function lets you focus more on movement without having to think about maintaining the altitude. It’s incredibly handy for pilots with a particular value to beginners as it is one less thing to think about when piloting the drone. Because the DJI Tello comes with a built-in pressure sensor, it’ll adjust automatically to keep its height accurate as possible.
One-Touch Takeoff and Landing
Another beginner-friendly feature that makes the Tello drone so super easy to fly is one-touch take-off and landing. All you have to do is press the button to start flying. When you’re done with the drone, simply press the button again to land. This makes the whole flight operations a breeze and simple. And, one more cool feature, you can perform Throw and Go which does exactly what it says. Just throw the drone and it will start flying.
Omnidirectional Flips
Mini drones are well known for their speed and agility. But you’ll rarely see any drone that nimble as the DJI Tello. With a simple swipe on the controller, you can command the drone to flip in any of these 8 directions with ease. It’s perfect for impressing bystanders with your piloting skill and will guarantee to win you new friends!
Bounce Mode
This feature lets the DJI Tello bounce up and down repeatedly from your hand or any other type of surface with a range between 1.6 and 3.9 feet. The feature is safe as its built-in sensors will automatically detect the distance to the surface. Pretty cool, right!?
Vision Positioning System
The vision positioning system lets you fly the drone with precision and ease over the selected target.
Perfect for STEM and People Who Wants to Learn
The DJI and Ryze created the Tello which features MIT-created coding systems to teach STEM students how to code their flight paths and tricks. These can be done using the Tello SDK (Software Development Kit). However, beginners and adults can still buy this drone and learn how to code too. It isn’t just limited to only STEM students! This feature allows even more flexibility and creative ideas.
Adaptable Controller
The DJI Tello comes with an adaptable controller that can be controlled remotely over a maximum distance of 100 meters. Beginners and STEM students also will have the option to pilot the drone using either a tablet or a smartphone. The dedicated remote controller looks like a PlayStation 4 controller which should come naturally to those who are experienced with gaming consoles:
Comparison: DJI Tello vs Spark
DJI Tello can be bought for less than four times the price of Spark. While it’s obvious that you’ll get way more out of the DJI Spark than Tello. But, that depends on your requirements and preferences. The difference between Tello and Spark, however, isn’t that major. Appearance-wise, they do look very similar to Spark weighing more and is slightly bigger than Tello.
But, I know what you’re thinking right now.
DJI Spark has superior camera quality featuring 12MP mounted on a 2-axis gimbal system. But you still can get really good footage on the DJI Tello for a majority of the application.
Furthermore, the DJI Tello comes with sensors that the Spark has a built-in proper obstacle avoidance technology. It’s still quite an impressive feat for a toy-grade drone to feature proximity sensors to improve flight navigation safety. The range is where DJI Spark largely outperformed Tello with a range of 2000 meters compared to measly 100 meters.
Even though the difference can be quite substantial. If you do compare the price, it’s completely understandable. In some cases, people will prefer to have a drone with a superior camera and obstacle avoidance will want to buy the DJI Spark. But if you have a fair amount of money or only want to buy a high-quality drone just to learn how to code and pilot, DJI Tello is your best pick. So far, no other drones at the same price have beaten DJI Tello, so that’s something to be said about it.
My Conclusions on DJI Tello
The DJI Tello isn’t something that you can call a toy-grade drone. It’s way much more than you think. Because it is well built, priced well, and comes with custom coding that gives so much flexibility. So, it’s not all about learning how to fly a drone. But, you’ll get to learn how to program and code that can be an incredible application skill in the real world. Once again, DJI does a great job of shaking up the market with its latest debut.