In October 2019 everyone was calling the Skydio 2 a "Mavic killer". An autonomous drone that can follow you through a forest is amazing technology. But is it really a drone for us creators? I didn't think so.
An intelligent drone
Imagine a drone that can follow you through a forest, weaving between trees, in places where even an FPV pilot would struggle. That's the promise of the Skydio 2. It's an American product, born from engineers who came from companies like Google and Tesla, with plenty of funding behind it. In a period when China and America were competing politically, I thought it could do really, really well.
Why no big YouTuber reviewed it
It had been out for nearly a month, and I wondered why creators like Casey Neistat, Peter McKinnon and the others I follow hadn't reviewed it. I think the reason is simple: it's not a drone for creators. It's for people who do sport, who ride bikes. Don't get me wrong, you can get beautiful images with it, and some creators will buy it.
The price was $999, and if you wanted the controller or the tracking remote, you bought them separately. So in practice, it's a selfie drone. And how often do I use a drone to track myself? Almost never. I did it when I was testing the Anafi and with the Mavic. I love shooting panoramas and buildings, wherever it's legal.
Rules and the "Mavic killer" label
I also didn't think the Skydio 2 could fly legally in Italy the way it's meant to. With the new EU rules coming in, you can't leave a drone to fly by itself, however reliable they claim it is. The only places it would really make sense are open fields or the open sea, and there the Mavic 2 Pro already does an amazing job.
So is it a Mavic killer? Not at all. It's a totally different product and I don't think it competes with DJI. It's a nice drone and good news for the market, because 2019 hadn't been as exciting for drones as 2018.
Would I buy it?
Would I play with it? Yes, I'd love to. Would I buy it? No. I'd rather wait for the Mavic Mini, which everyone was expecting at the end of that month for around $400. I hadn't made a video about it, because I'd learned that speculating on leaks isn't always a good idea.