DJI’s Avata 2 drone adds more flight tricks, better video, and enhanced safety

DJI’s original Avata drone brought first-person perspective flights to the UAV giant, but the second generation of the FPV series adds aerial acrobatics at the push of a button. Announced on April 11, the DJI Avata 2 gives the drone a larger imaging sensor and longer battery life, while simultaneously updating the goggles and controller. Despite the changes, the new drone is more affordable than its predecessor, with package options starting at $999.

The drone itself comes with a 1/1.7-inch sensor instead of a 1/1.3-inch, a slight size increase that should boost low light capture. The upgraded sensor doesn’t offer more resolution, however. It sits at 12-megapixel stills and 4K video capture at up to 60 frames per second. Still, the upgrade should put video quality from the FPV drone on par with the similarly-speced DJI Mini 4.

The maximum hoover time jumps up from 18 minutes to 21. Despite the longer battery life, the weight drops some with the second version. That’s thanks to the lighter propeller guards that add a layer of safety and the overall design updates to the quadcopter. Unlike pricier drones, however, obstacle detection is limited to just downward and backward sensors.

New flight tricks

Like its predecessor, the Avata 2 uses DJI’s Motion series of controls that more closely resemble a joystick than a video game controller. The DJI RC Motion 3 uses the same ability to control and maneuver with a flick of the wrist but adds buttons for pre-programmed stunts, including a flip, roll, and 180-degree drift. A Turtle Mode can also flip a drone that lands upside down. As a drone designed for content creators and newer drone pilots rather than pros, those one-touch footage tricks bring some of the appeal of the pre-programmed cinematic flight patterns from DJI’s non-FPV drones to the Avata series.

The bundled DJI Goggles 3 also includes a key safety update — picture-in-picture. This allows pilots to both see that first-person perspective from the drone while also observing their surroundings with the goggles still in place. A new fisheye view option also helps pilots see obstacles in narrow spaces through the micro-OLED goggles for indoor flights.

An upgraded video transmission to O4 allows for flights up to around 8 miles (13km) from the controller. While regulations in many areas require maintaining a line of sight, the enhanced transmission range can help prevent a loss of connection in areas of high interference.

The Avata 2 has 46GB of storage built in, allowing for recording up to 90 minutes of video without adding a microSD card. Wi-Fi connection allows for live footage from a nearby smartphone, as well as editing with the LightCut app without offloading the memory card, which includes One-Tap editing features.

But perhaps one of the biggest features content creators can get excited about is a price drop. The DJI Avata 2 sits nearly $400 less than the original for the package that includes the Goggles 3 and Motion 3 controller. (The price has since dropped on the original Avata, now sitting at $829 with the older controllers and goggles bundled.) The combo with three batteries sits at $1,119, while those who already have a controller and goggles can pick up just the drone alone for $489.