DJI Mavic Mini vs Skydio 2 Camera Drone Comparison

Spec Comparison of the DJI Mavic Mini and the Skydio 2 Camera Drones

Two completely different drones, starting off with a price point of $499 for the Mavic Mini and $999 for the brand new for 2020 Skydio 2.

Both could be argued are aimed for new drone owners, the DJI Mavic Mini for those wishing to learn to fly and be an aerial photographer. Whilst the Skydio 2 for the thrill seekers and looking to document their adventures with it's incredible tracking capabilities.

The DJI Mavic Mini came out in 2019 at the end of the year whilst the Skydio 2 is just being released in mid 2020, so 6 months apart.

the DJI Mavic Mini is a folding drone and capable of being collapsed to a diagonal length of 213mm, whilst the Skydio 2 is not, and has a much wider diagonal size of 352mm when ready for take off, as it's arms are stuck facing out.

This means that the volume size of these two cameras is vastly different, with the Mavic Mini being a tiny 654cm³ and the Skydio 2 taking up almost 4 litres of space at 4505cm³. That is almost 8 times bigger, but this is down to it being unable to fold it's arms in.

It's weight is a more telling feature of its size, with the Mavic Mini coming in at 249grams and the Skydio 2 weighing 775 grams ready for take-off.

Performance wise the Skydio 2 is much faster and capable of speeds up to 58kmh, nearly 60kmh and the Mavic Mini is short of that by 12kmh and capable of speeds of up to 46kmh.

The Skydio 2 is also more accepting of higher winds and capable of flying in 40kmh winds, whilst the Mini can only handle 28kmh wind speeds.

There is a 1km shorter transmission distance on the Sydio 2, it is capable of 3km, but as a follow me drone, focusing on it's tracking this isn't really an issue in our opinion and is much bigger than we'd expect on this sort of camera drone.

The Mavic Mini is capable of 4km transmission distance.

Although the flight time is only 23 mins for the Skydio 2 and 30 mins for the DJI Mavic Mini, it can charge faster, which means that it has a better uptime than the Mini. If you are utilising just one battery, this could be important for you.

They can both cover approximately and theoretically 22-23km flying distance from their top speed and battery life.

The Skydio 2 is also a little bit more quiet when flying in the air, at 70 decibels and the Mavic Mini coming in at 74 db noise level.

Where the Skydio 2 sets things apart, is in terms of it's tracking options, it has some of the best of any camera drone on the market, there are some incredible footage being created by drone users and extreme sports enthusiasts where the Skydio 2 is following them. The Mavic Mini has zero tracking or obstacle avoidance so is on the losing side in this comparison, but to be honest, most drones would be in comparison.

Photo and Video Comparison of the DJI Mavic Mini and the Skydio 2

This is where things continue to get serious for the Skydio 2, in it's camera technology.

It uses the same size sensor as the Mavic Mini, at 1/2.3", which is a common sensor size for action camera and drones, but uses the high end Sony IMX 577 image sensor.

They are both capable of 12MP and that is where the similarities stop.

The Skydio 2 can do 4x slow motion at 1080p at 120fps were the Mini can only achieve 60fps at this frame rate.

It outputs RAW photos in DNG format as well as JPEG and also does both H.264 and H.265, so you have plenty of options in terms of file sizes and quality.

It also produces 4K video footage.

The Mini is a much simpler aerial photography camera, producing 2.7K video footage, which has a handful of manual options for ISO, shutter speed and white balance but thats about it.

It adds to its simple camera functions some auto shooting functions called QuickShots but doesn't have half as many features as the Skydio 2.

Summary

The Skydio 2 is aimed at those who wish to use a follow me tracking feature, but can be controlled with a regular drone controller as well, it has a few options there, so is a very versatile camera drone.

It also has some of the best tracking modes and software of any film making drone, check out the footage to see for yourself.

All topped with a very decent image sensor, this is a strong contender for drone of the year in 2020 as it comes in at under $999 too.

If you want something you can chuck in your pocket to maually create shots the Mavic Mini is a great choice, just don't expect the features of the Skydio 2.