DJI Avata Review: Game-Changing FPV Flight For The Masses

I have always been a drone fan. There's just something compelling about putting a camera in the sky and seeing the world from a whole new perspective. It's pretty amazing to launch a 4K camera into the air and capture the Chicago skyline from 40 miles away, see what your neighborhood looks like from 400 feet, or soar over a carpet of trees in a nearby forest preserve.

But in all honesty, that novelty wears off after a while. So, I turn to YouTube and check out racing drone footage, or fun footage like when the Cubs recently did a "fly-through" of Wrigley Field. But now, I can make my own fly-through footage with the DJI Avata First-Person View (FPV) drone and it's insanely fun.

The DJI Avata isn't really for racing drone flyers. As fast as it is (and it is fast) it's not nearly fast enough for that. But flying in FPV mode gives you a whole new perspective on flying that up until now I had never experienced. It's also ridiculously easy to fly. I've spent about two weeks with a review sample unit of the drone provided by DJI, flying it nearly every day, and this is my full review.

While you can buy the DJI Avata by itself, I highly recommend you pick up the complete bundle that was sent to me which includes the DJI Goggles 2 and the DJI Motion Controller. Both of these accessories are smartly designed and make the flight experience amazing. The DJI Goggles 2 are rather like a tiny version of an Oculus Quest, but here DJI made a good call. The battery for the goggles is offloaded from the frame and attached with a spring cable so you can take the weight of the battery off your head.

On the inside, there are two independent screens, each with its own diopter adjustment and width adjustment. Basically, you can move the lenses side-to-side and focus each one individually for a sharp picture. The goggles have a strap that goes around the back of your head and keeps them tight. I'd like to see an over-the-head strap here too to help lift the weight off the bridge of the nose, but otherwise, I have no complaints.

Of course, drones are all about the camera, and this one is a good one. This is a 1/1.7-inch 48-megapixel CMOS sensor. It's capable of capturing footage at 4K resolution at 60 frames per second. The gimbal on the drone is super smooth, as we've come to expect from DJI.

When capturing video, the drone has onboard storage as mentioned, but also accepts microSD cards. The goggles also have a microSD slot and the main difference between video capture from the drone and the goggles comes in the form of resolution. While the Avata can capture footage at 4K, it transmits to the goggles in 1080p. So, if you capture footage on the drone, it's captured in 4K. If you capture using the goggles, it maxes out at 1080p. 

Plus, if you capture with the goggles, it's essentially a screen recording so you get the interface as well including the speed, the aiming reticle, and the like. That certainly can be useful for things like showing the interface to people reading the drone review you're writing.

This drone is magnificent for flying fast through tight spaces. Again, it's not fast enough to be a racing drone, and even after the two weeks I've been using it, I'm not good enough to fly through obstacles and anything much past five miles per hour. If I were to work at it, I think I could eventually get there.

I set up a sort of obstacle course in my backyard that includes a ladder, a few boxes, a bench with open arms, and a tree, and the Avata has no difficulty flying in, around, and over anything you put in its way. I even did a fly-through of my house because the control you get over the drone allows it. It's also really easy to fly.

When I had a few friends come by and fly the drone, I gave each of them about 30 seconds of instruction and then let them go. Soon they were all flying with ease through the trees, through ladders, under chairs, and more within minutes.

Of course, at this point, I should address the crashes I referenced earlier. If this drone is so easy to fly, why am I crashing it? That's exactly the point — this drone is so easy to fly, it's easy to get emboldened and start to take chances, always shooting for the tighter space or faster speed. In essence, this drone is its own worst enemy. Or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The software options inside the goggles are accessed by a touchpad located on the right side of the goggles. You can swipe from back to front to go to options, swipe up for manual camera controls, and down for headset controls like brightness, volume, etc. There are also a few cool software features that come in handy when you need them.

The first is called Turtle Mode. This hilariously named feature allows the drone to correct itself if it lands (read: crashes) upside down. Swipe into the menu and navigate to Turtle Mode and when you press it, the drone rights itself and re-lands, so you'll want to make sure the drone has clearance wherever it crashes.

Another neat feature is called "Camera View Before Loss" which is fairly ominous sounding. This feature saves the last 15 seconds of playback before the last time the drone and the goggles communicated. For example, if the drone crashed in deep grass, you can watch the video to get a better idea of where it landed.

This is the part where I need to tell you, after reading this section, be sure to check your local rules and regulations pertaining to drone flight. While the DJI Avata is small, it still has a takeoff weight of approximately 405 grams which exceeds the limit of recreational drones in the United States. That means this drone needs to be registered with the FAA. That's not a big deal, registration is easy and only costs five dollars for three years, but it's still a bit of paperwork and red tape you have to navigate. That's why typically 249g is the gold standard for small drones like the Mavic Mini.

Also, since this is an FPV drone, the FAA (in the U.S.) requires you to fly this drone alongside a visual observer. That is someone who can see the drone in flight and be able to warn the pilot of any obstructions, people, or other aircraft. Typically, when you're flying a drone recreationally, you need to keep an eye on the drone itself and you're not allowed to rely solely on the FPV imagery coming from the controller. That's especially true here since your vision is 100% obscured all the time by the goggles.

Of course, if you have the disposable income to pick one up, it doesn't get easier to fly and capture those really cool drone shots that have so far been limited to professionals flying racing drones. This is a drone that can fly just about anywhere into tight spaces you couldn't have dreamed about just a few years ago — unless you wanted to develop the skills and pay the money to literally build your own drone.

If DJI has done anything in the drone space, it has democratized drone flight. That's a big deal. Anyone can pick up this drone, goggles, and controller and within minutes be flying around just like that Wrigley Field video I referenced at the start of this review. I proved that with eight different people over the last two weeks including my wife who has never flown a drone in her life. It's tech like this that makes me excited to do what I do for a living because I get to see and play with technology that would have been considered out of bounds just a few years ago. The Avata changes the game and puts it in the hands of people like you and me. That's no small thing.

The price tag weighs this drone down though, and that's also why another drone company really needs to wedge into the space to keep DJI competitive. But that's a subject for another editorial. Right now, the Avata is a game-changer and it's so incredibly fun and easy to fly, I'm giddy that I got a chance to play with it. 

You can buy the DJI Avata separately or as reviewed with the Pro-view combo at DJI's website or at Amazon.