DJI Flip

The DJI Flip is another one of those products that is hard to grasp unless you look very specifically at the manufacturer's line-up, only to realise that it fits perfectly in between two other products. It's cheaper than a Mini 4 Pro and twice as expensive as a Neo, so it would be relatively easy to realise that the functionality is also intentionally designed so that it doesn't do too much or too little.

That is, in broad terms, what the Flip is. Yes, there are some subtleties here that will hopefully pave the way for new design decisions that affect the rest of the manufacturer's line-up, but this really is the drone you buy if a Mini 4 Pro is too expensive but a Neo is too cheap.

But all the best DJI has to offer is also available here. The plastic chassis is light, just 249 grams, which is obviously a magic number in terms of the licences needed to fly one, but it feels rock solid in the hand. One of the big innovations here is that Flip has circular guards that protect the propellers, but these can be "flipped" so that they sit under the body of the drone, so to speak. This means that Flip can be incredibly compact, and because the propellers are in these turbines, they're not as wayward as you normally see on far more expensive drones. In fact, it can be so small that you'd be inclined to say it can fit in a jacket pocket.

Because Flip has guards, it is also far less likely to break in a collision, which is also necessary given the lack of multidirectional sensors that detect if you're about to bump into something from the side or top. There's only one sensor under the drone, but again, the Flip is designed to take a few knocks every now and then, just like the Neo. That said, there is an infrared sensor at the front that automatically avoids head-on collisions, and sudden braking actually works well.

As the propellers are not free-flying, the Flip is far more rigid than the Mini 4 Pro, which means that while it can be extremely stable in good weather, it's also quicker to lose balance when the wind picks up. However, it's far from a dealbreaker, and overall it's stable enough that we didn't notice any real problems during testing.

The camera itself is a 48 megapixel 1/1.3" QUad Bayer CMOS sensor, and it can shoot in 4K/60fps, or 4K/100fps in slow motion. The camera sits on the same responsive gimbal as on other DJI drones and can, of course, capture still images in RAW format up to 48 megapixels in resolution. And if it's more video you're after, there's HDR, D-Log M, HLG and other colour profiles. In fact, this is the exact same camera you'll find on the Mini 4 Pro, and that's almost the best thing about the Flip.

It can fly for 31 minutes on one battery, which is completely rechargeable, and thanks to the extra protection and the fact that it can take off from your hand like the Neo, this makes the Flip a more versatile drone than anything else DJI offers. Sure, it's designed a little too directly to fit into a crowded line-up, but that said, this is perhaps the easiest drone DJI makes to recommend to the average consumer. You get the protection, battery life, camera, and user experience, and if you're willing to forgo the extra sensors, this is actually far more than just "okay".