Our first measurements of DJI’s new FPV drone

There’s been a ton of talk about the new DJI FPV drone. But one aspect has not been discussed much yet: Its dimensions. Let’s size it up.

DJI’s forthcoming FPV drone has an unusual look to it. It’s bulky and bulbous. And, at least to me, that makes it somehow look large. Not huge, mind you, but certainly larger than the modern crop of FPV drones. Now, we’ve already pointed out this is going to be a different type of drone, and not intended as a competitive FPV racer. But in the absence of any specs from DJI, we’re left with a fairly important question:

What size is it?

Everything is relative

Because we don’t have any dimensions to go with, we have to be a little more creative and do some sleuthing. Let’s review what we’ve seen so far.

This first image was so heavily pixelated you can barely tell where the dimensions of the drone end. And while we have someone’s hand for scale, the reality is that the size of different people’s hands can vary widely. Verdict? This doesn’t really tell us too much.

What other clues are there?

Luckily, there are some other clues. Recently, a photo leaked showing the combo package. And it’s important because it offers some relative perspective:

Look at the image on the left. In the box, the drone is conveniently nestled up against the goggles. And – you guessed it – we know the dimensions of the goggles.

Let’s do some calculating

We went looking for some info on DJI’s FPV goggles. The dimensions are 184×122×110 mm. That translates into 7.24″ wide. Eyeballing it, we’d add about an inch on either side for the motors, giving us a distance between motors of maybe 9″ and change.

Now, let’s see if we can confirm that. Are there any other images around?

Why yes. Yes, there are.

Zeroing in on DJI’s FPV drone dimensions

One other photo dropped that gives us the best idea yet. This one:

Whoever took this photo, either deliberately or unintentionally, placed it up against a standard keyboard (well, nearly all keyboards are standard). The front left motor is resting on what appears to be the F5 key while the right hand motor appears to be just adjacent to the Page Up key.

And what might that distance be?

Looks to be about 8-1/2″, give or take, since the front right foot appears to be resting just above the centre of the Page Up key. A colleague was kind enough to measure this for me since I’m working on a laptop. And if you look at where the measuring tape is on the Function key, it might have been even more precise if we’d measured from the top left corner of that F5 key. That would make the distance slightly larger, so let’s say another 1/4″ or so. That puts the distance between the motors at about 8-3/4″.

This method is more accurate than our eyeballing against the goggles (which resulted in an estimate of just over 9″).

So, we’ll say the distance between motors on this FPV quad is 8-3/4 to 9″. This gives us a pretty good idea of the overall dimensions.

It’s larger than many of the popular FPV racers these days, but its primary function will not be as a competitive racing drone.

What do you think of the size? Is it what you expected? Let us know in the comments!