DJI Mini 2 SE, Lightweight and Foldable Mini Camera Drone

When the price for the Mini 2 SE was announced, I knew I could finally enter the world of drones. The only thing this drone is missing from my wish-list is obstacle avoidance, but the cost to upgrade to the Mini 3 is an absolute deal breaker. The little Mini 2 SE is in the ultra-light drone category, which means you can fly it with just a Civil Aviation Authority Operators Number, which takes no more than ten minutes to obtain and costs 10.33 per year. Being in the ultra-light category actually allows you to fly in more places than the larger drones. Another huge advantage is that this drone is quiet, very! quiet. If you need it for something like land surveying, I doubt anyone will even know it is above them. Like all other reviewers, the advertised flight time of 31 minutes is utter fantasy. You need to be landing after 20 minutes max. I purchased the basic drone and added another battery later. The best place I found for additional batteries is my local Argos (50), although the DJI official online store sells then for the same price. Although the Mini 2 SE does not have forward/backwards obstacle avoidance, it does have sensors in the belly, to allow automatic take-off and landing. This takes away all the stress of launching and landing the drone, you just position the drone over your intended landing area and press the ‘land’ button. When using the automatic take-off feature, the drone will lift off and hover at 1.5M above the launch area. I use a folding picnic table and landing pad and the drone never gets confused when landing. For anyone new to drones, the Mini 2 SE uses the ‘proper’ DJI OcuSync 2 transmission system, which means a rock solid video connection to the drone, and was one of the most important features on my wish-list. There are too many features to list, a few hours on YouTube will do a better job of showing you what this little drone can do, but some of the headlines are that it has level 5 wind resistance, which means that it can cope with wind speeds up to 24 mph, which is incredibly impressive for such a tiny aircraft. It also has built in panoramas and ‘quick-shots’. One of the panorama shots is a 360 sphere panorama, which is incredible if you want to capture an entire holiday destination panorama that you can spin and interact with when you get home. The Mini 2 SE films in 2.7K (2704 x 1520), rather than 4K, which I actual prefer, as 4K fills the memory card up stupidly fast for (in my opinion) no significant benefit. The camera stills are 12MP and look amazing. The DJI Fly app takes care of all the firmware updates for the drone and controller. The only advice I would give is to connect the app to the drone at home before your first flight, as there is a registration and drone activation process to complete before the app will allow take-off. There is a short tutorial to complete on your first flight, just the basic controls. Once you complete that, you are free to ‘play’. Any nerves about flying a drone evaporated on the first flight, it is so! easy to use, and if you lose sight of the drone (which is very easy), you have the safety net of the Return To Home feature. Just make sure to watch a few YouTube videos about how to set the return-to-home flight height. It is also worth learning the app menus from the comfort of your armchair, such as how to calibrate the compass and understand the various information on the app screen. The other recommendation is to add a couple of drone assistance apps, such as Drone Buddy, as these will help you with weather forecasts and the various no fly zones around the UK and abroad. Hopefully the Mini 3 will fall in price in the next few years, at which point I will upgrade. But for now, the Mini 2 SE is about as much fun as you can have with your pants on. Highly recommended.