Hi all!
Last week I had a chance to spend some more time with my drone, and tagged along my cousin who wanted to fly his new drone – Zero-X Swift+. It was a good sunny afternoon in Brisbane with a slight breeze, weather conditions were perfect and we had a good time flying our drones. Did not realise how different drones can be until this session when I was able to compare the DJI with the Zero x in this seemingly pleasant weather.
Comparison
High level specs for both drones:
| Specs | DJI Air 2s | Zero-X Swift+ |
| Weight | 595 grams | 102 grams |
| Max flight time | 31 minutes (no wind) | 8 minutes |
| Max flight distance | 18.5 km (no wind) | 100 m |
| Dimensions | Folded: 180×97×77 mm Unfolded: 183×253×77 mm | 28 x 26 x 5.5 cm |
Real world flying experience
The first thing i noticed was how much easier the DJI was to fly than the Zero-X. Whilst the DJI was able to hover and fly with ease, the same process with the Zero-X was a challenge due to the “slight” breeze….. I honestly would not have even thought twice about the breeze had if it not been for playing with the Zero-X. The breeze was pushing it back and there was no way to make it go in the direction we wanted, it just did not have enough power to go against the breeze… So since we did not know how to use the drone, we had to press the emergency stop button on the controller, which literally dropped the drone without any safe landing mechanisms (lucky no one was under the drone!!!)
As the breeze died down, my cousin was finally able to fly the drone and control it – he was so happy about it. However, it could not fly very high compared to DJI, this could be because of the weather conditions or the lack of power in that drone.
Packing up the drones were the opposite, the Zero-X was super quick to be packed – only a few seconds for my cousin (and he is young!!), whilst the DJI took longer to pack up, the dissembling process is does require some attention to detail, as there are more parts to handle, such as the joystick, gimbal protector etc. Still I love the DJI!
Another issue or hassle with DJI that I need to be aware, is around the CASA drone rules because my DJI drone weighs more than 250g. Even though we were at a safe distance from other people and buildings, I still have to make sure my drone flys no higher than 150m as we were in a flight altitude zone 🙁. So far I have been too nervous to come near that height, have only gone to 75 meters high and that was far enough for my baby.
My thoughts
I feel that both of our drones serve different functions. In my opinion, the zero-x drones feels more like a toy which beginner users can definitely take anywhere, and capture a few quick shots. Whilst, I think the DJI drone is meant for those who want to take their photography or video creation to the next level….. this is why I chose the Air 2s drone, now I just hope I can take my skills to the next level.