New leaks of rumored DJI Mini 2 SE add detail – and raise questions – about a new drone

That may have been the shortest span from an opening scene to the climax of the mystery apparently being solved in history. Just hours after the first leak of a purported DJI teaser for a February 9 unveiling of what looks to be a new Mini 2 SE drone, another sector sleuth turned up not just photos of the product but what’s thought to be a fairly complete spec sheet to boot.

The still progressing saga of the rumored Mini 2 SE began early this morning with reliable DJI leaker @DealsDrone posting what appears to be an official teaser for the product’s introduction on February 9. Two hours later, that was followed up with photos of the craft on sale “somewhere,” along with the basic specs on display.

Read: What could DJI release in 2023? Here’s a leaker’s guess

Just minutes after that, drone enthusiast and increasingly intrepid leaker Igor Bogdanov tweeted some fairly high-resolution photos of the alleged DJI Mini 2 SE, along with a computer-generated shot of the drone in flight. Then, an hour later, he outdid even that by cutting to the chase with a screen capture of what he was told were specs of the craft.

If correct, the product data attributed to a new Mini 2 SE drone suggests that ­– compared with DJI’s enduringly popular Mini 2 – it seems destined to become what leaker Jasper Ellens tweeted  to be “DJI’s new entrance level drone.” If so, however, questions still remains as to when, where, and to what end that will happen.

At first blush looks, the rumored Mini 2 SE looks a great deal, like the existing UAV, though contents of the purported spec sheet indicate it wouldn’t offer the same level of performance the Mini 2 does. (Compare details below.) 

It appears that both products sport the same kind of camera, but in several other ways – including top speed, ascent and descent rates, max bit rate, and latency – the purported Mini 2 SE pales in comparison. The Mini 2 SE spec sheet also indicates it will use enhanced WiFi as its video transmission system, rather than rather than Ocusync 2 or 3 in Mini 2s and even more advanced DJI drones.

In another post, Bogdanov asks for feedback on his suspicion that DJI may introduce the rumored Mini 2 SE priced somewhere in the $300-$400 range. Doing so would essentially make it a step-down option to the Mini 2, which goes for $449, but would also logically render the $299 Mini SE obsolete.

Read: DJI Mavic 3 vs. Mavic 3 Classic: Which drone should you get? 

That kind of tinkering with the product line using fairly moderate differences in onboard tech – all in the objective of lifting the entry level price by a maximum of $100 – doesn’t make a great deal of sense, given the effort involved. Unless, of course, DJI is planning on introducing a Mini 2 SE product in emerging drone markets where new consumers are only now able to consider paying more for their first UAV.

That possibility may have motivated the reply to the specs sheet by Raffaello Kwos, who raised the possibility in a tweet that the rumored new craft may not even be designed for a US release, as was initially the case with the Mini SE.

“[I]f this date is real why I can’t see any application request on the FCC website?” he asked, renewing some the mystery behind the rumor all over again.