Skydio 2 is an amazing drone, just don’t use it in the dark
Skydio 2 is likely to come to Australia in 2020
Skydio 2 is one of the most exciting drones to launch to date, with its fully autonomous flight capabilities and a great camera, allowing users to stay in the moment. One thing, it’s not available in Australia. Skydio 2 is a promising drone with a unique feature set, and will surely be a competitor to DJI’s Mavic series.
Skydio COO: “Drones are the next generation of what cameras should be”
According to Skydio’s COO, Tom Moss “drones are the next generation of what cameras should be.” Moss, who previously worked in the smartphone business for Google, joined Skydio in 2018 after realizing that “phones have gotten kind of boring.”
Skydio 2’s first batch is now shipping and we see how it’s made
Finally, DJI is facing some serious competition from Autel Robotics and Skydio
With Skydio shipping the first orders of their autonomous Skydio 2 drone and yesterday’s news from Autel Robotics and their new Autel Evo 2 drone, it seems that DJI is finally facing some serious competition. According to a person familiar with the situation, the sudden and serious competition from Autel has hit the DJI consumer division “like an earthquake”. It left many DJI employees shaking their heads as they had no idea that the Autel Evo 2 was coming.
Your Skydio 2 is almost ready to ship! First batch is about to be delivered!
Your Skydio 2 is almost ready to ship! Ah… What a nice way to start the weekend! I (and many other lucky drone enthusiasts) just received an email from Skydio informing us that the first batch of Skydio 2 drones is being prepared to ship out. We’re super excited to get our hands on the second generation of fully autonomous flying drones from the American drone manufacturer. Here’s the email that Skydio just sent out.
Drone Nerds partners with Skydio to bring you the new Skydio 2 Pro Kit
Today, we have some exciting news for you from Drone Nerds. They are the largest enterprise drone dealer in the US and they just announced a new partnership with Skydio for the new and mind-blowing Skydio 2 drone. So, if you are thinking about getting the new Skydio 2 drone (And really you should. I ordered two myself) but you missed the boat at Skydio’s website. Make sure you check in with Drone Nerds in Florida as they may be able to help you out. And, if you are planning to go to Commercial UAV Expo this week, make sure that you go to the Drone Nerds booth 701 to see this new self-flying drone for yourself.
The Skydio 2 warranty: Read the fine print
The brand-new Skydio 2 drone that was announced a few weeks ago is supposed to have an amazing warranty. Unlike other drones companies, Skydio will replace or repair your drone for free if it crashes. But as always, there is some fine print. I read it, so you don’t have to. I also got in touch with Skydio to clarify some of the details. Let’s see just how good this warranty really is. Spoiler alert: Don’t sell your Mavic just yet!
These are the DJI Mavic 2 features that the new Skydio 2 is missing
The Skydio 2 is undoubtedly the most exciting and the most important consumer drone of the year. Despite its groundbreaking capabilities, there are two features that the Skydio 2 is missing that the DJI Mavic drones ($1439-$1729) have. These two features give DJI an advantage in the eyes of many consumers. In this post, I’ll tell you why the Skydio 2 does not have folding arms and why the Skydio 2 doesn’t have any landing gear.
Skydio 2 vs. DJI Mavic Camera Quality – Can Skydio compete?
There is no doubt the Skydio 2 is going to be an exciting drone. It is most certainly an improvement over the original Skydio drone. Its autonomous flight modes are undoubtedly better than any DJI drone to date. But how will the camera stack up against the Mavic 2 series or the Phantom 4 Pro ($2199)? With a 1/2.3-inch sensor it can’t likely compete, right? After all, size matters. Or does it?
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Skydio enters the commercial drone market with the Skydio 2 Dock
Skydio enters the commercial drone market with the Skydio 2 Dock, “a self-contained, weatherproof, charging base station for the Skydio 2 drone that enables truly persistent operations for enterprise applications.” Meaning, you can have this box sit outside at your construction lot, mining operation, or landfill and have the Skydio 2 fly autonomous missions regularly to map the location and update you on the progress of your building, your mining stockpiles, or the speed at which you’re filling up the landfill. Or at least in theory that would be possible. In reality, there are some regulatory hurdles that will need to be overcome first. Skydio’s announcement was made during the DroneDeploy Conference 2019 in San Francisco.
Skydio 2, the drone GoPro wished it created
Skydio launched its latest drone, Skydio 2 earlier this week after months of sharing teasers. Skydio 2 is the perfect filming sidekick for any adventure or a commercial operation. GoPro’s Karma was a flawed attempt at creating a drone, what if GoPro and Skydio joined forces?
First 2019 batch of Skydio 2s already sold out!
We just got an email from Skydio, and apparently, the first 2019 batch of Skydio 2s are already sold out. The initial batch is scheduled to be shipped well before the holidays. Congrats to those of you who reserved their Skydio 2 drone on time. For the ones who missed out, no worries. A second batch will be available to ship in January 2020. The new Skydio sells for $999 and can be bought with a Controller and a Skydio Beacon. Both sell for an additional $149 each.
Skydio’s obstacle avoidance and self-flying capability explained
If you have never experienced Skydio’s obstacle avoidance and self-flying capability, you’re in for a treat. The first time I hand-launched the original Skydio R1, I was blown away. The drone took off from my hand, flew about five feet away from me at a slightly higher elevation, turned around, “looked” at me, and simply followed my every move. It seemed eerily easy and natural for the unmanned aircraft to do so. This was with the R1, mind you, not the smaller, lighter, and much, much smarter Skydio 2 that launched earlier today. Let’s take a closer look at how the Skydio 2 drone is able to fly autonomously.
Skydio introduces all-new Skydio 2, first true DJI Mavic 2 Pro competitor?
Finally, it is here! The all-new and vastly improved Skydio 2 drone. The long-awaited successor to the ground-breaking Skydio R1 autonomously-flying drone that was introduced in early 2018. The new Skydio 2 is designed and built right here in the USA and it competes head-on with the DJI Mavic 2 Pro.
Skydio shares test photos taken by Skydio 2 drone
It seems that the new Skydio 2 drone will be released shortly. In an email from the American drone maker, the company shared a number of test photos to show off the drone’s photo-taking capabilities. Skydio says that they have an entirely new camera for the Skydio 2 and that we can expect incredible image and video-taking performance from it. In the text and the comments on Facebook, they seem to indicate that we can expect the drone to be released shortly.
Remote controller would turn Skydio 2 into DJI Mavic 2 Pro competitor
Maybe Skydio does it on purpose. Maybe not. Either way, the marketing team that releases the teaser videos for the new Skydio 2 drone always put a little easter egg in there somewhere. The first video showed the shade of the drone, which revealed to us that there will not be a metal band or casing around the entire drone as was the case with the Skydio R1. The latest video shows somebody who presumingly is flying the drone and he seems to be holding a remote controller for the Skydio 2 drone. More control over the unmanned aircraft with a dedicated remote controller might just turn the Skydio 2 into a true DJI Mavic 2 Pro competitor.
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This new Skydio 2 video shows incredible backwards flight
It is no secret that Skydio is getting ready to release a new drone this year. The Skydio 2 looks to be an incredibly impressive drone. Known for its ability to fly autonomously, the Skydio 2 looks to build on that with a mode that allows the pilot to fly freely in difficult situations without having to worry about crashing. The new Skydio 2 video shows the drone flying backward at full speed through various obstacles. It is an impressive video you will definitely want to check out.
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Looking to work in the drone industry? Check with Skydio
Are you looking to work in the drone industry, but maybe not as a commercial drone pilot? Well, check with Skydio. As you probably know, Skydio made its name in the drone world when they launched the autonomous Skydio R1 drone in early 2018. The California-based drone maker is about to launch the successor to the R1, which for now goes by the name Skydio 2, and they could use some extra hands. A quick look at their website shows that they have at least eleven open positions.
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New ‘frameless’ design for Skydio 2 drone shown in video
Apart from the amazing autonomous flying ability, one of the standout features of the Skydio R1 drone was the frame around the propellers and body of the unmanned aircraft. A few of our readers had pointed out that the shadow of the new Skydio drone in the video that the drone startup recently released shows us the new “frameless” design of the Skydio 2.
The world’s first glimpse from Skydio 2 [video]
The makers of the amazing R1 drone are getting ready for the launch of their successor drone. Today, Skydio shared with us the first footage from the Skydio 2. We’re expecting this new drone to be smaller, lighter, less expensive, and better than the original Skydio R1. The video shows us three short clips. The first one is some FPV-style action footage of the drone following a motorcyclist riding through a forest. The second part is a more revealing cinematic shot of a man running into the ocean. The last shot is of a mountain biker, but this time the drone flies in front of the subject, keeping her in the frame, while avoiding trees and bushes. The first and last sequence especially seem to show off the incredible obstacle-avoidance Skydio is getting ready to bring to market with their Skydio 2 drone that will be launched later this year. We don’t know if Skydio 2 will be the official name of the new autonomously flying unmanned aircraft. Stay tuned.
DJI drones banned by tech supplier to US law enforcement agencies in favor of Skydio
DJI drones banned by Cape, a drone software company that supplies US law enforcement agencies. It said that because of security concerns it will no longer work with DJI or other Chinese drone manufacturers. The tech company supplies dozens of public safety agencies as well as state and local law enforcement in the U.S and some other countries.
Skydio teases R1 drone successor coming this fall, could it be a DJI Mavic 2 Pro competitor?
Yesterday we reported that DJI is rumored to bring back the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 in mid-October. Today we’ve learned that Skydio will also bring a new drone to market around the same time. A successor to the Skydio R1 drone that we think might compete directly with the DJI Mavic 2 Pro. Let’s take a closer look at what we think Skydio might have in store for us and if it might indeed compete with the DJI Mavic 2 Pro.
Updated with message from Skydio
Skydio adds new features to their R1 drone – Flying over water, Hyperlapse…
Today, Skydio announces more new features for their fully autonomous R1 drone. As the company keeps improving their software, they are now adding the ability for the R1 to fly over large bodies of water. Previously you were restricted to flying over smaller ponds or streams. Not anymore. Skydio suggests that you can now use the R1 to obtain footage of yourself wakeboarding, fishing or even when you’re out on a jetski. That sounds really cool, but keep in mind this is one expensive drone to see going down in the drink. Another new feature that was added in the latest release is a Hyperlapse mode and improved Car Follow shots. Check out the video below to get an idea of the kind of footage you can now get with the SKydio R1 drone. You can get the Skydio R1 on Amazon for $1,999.
