It’s been a year now since the DJI Mini 2 got launched but I just got mine a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been wanting the DJI Mini 2 ever since it was released so a few weeks ago I got in touch with Xcite and asked them if I could get one to review. I’m not a drone expert so this review is directed at other people like me, beginners basically. The Mini 2 shoots in 4K, is pretty tiny, and it’s also really light weighing just 249g. If you want more detailed specs of the Mini 2 there are tons of videos on YouTube that do just that. Instead, I’m going to give you my opinion on why I think this is the best drone a beginner can get right now.
Full disclosure, I have a long-standing relationship with Xcite who provided me with this drone. They’ve been very supportive of the blog from the very early days and they’ve lent or given me a number of items over the years to review, as well as hooking me up with discounts. I’m a huge Xcite fan.
I’m not sure where to start this review since I’m really excited about the drone, and I wasn’t expecting to be. If you’ve never owned a drone before it can be a bit intimidating at first and even if you have had a drone before, maybe a basic one like the original Mini 1 or the Spark, then flying probably still intimidates because of certain limitations like the battery life and connection issues. At least those were the two things that kept me from flying my drone often and both those things no longer are an issue with the Mini 2.
The last drone I had was the DJI Spark which was pretty good but most of the time I’d have connection issues once it got to a certain height, distance or if I was flying in an area like Salmiya which caused a lot of interference. It was freaky because I didn’t want to lose the drone and it made me a lot more cautious whenever I wanted to take it out. The DJI Mini 2 on the other hand uses a different connection technology called OcuSync and I think this is my favorite new feature. I haven’t had a single situation, not even for a second where I had a connection problem. I’ve flown it out far and as high as it can get and haven’t had a signal drop or even a low signal warning. It’s made flying the drone so much more enjoyable and it’s given me much more confidence.
The other feature I’ve been loving on the Mini 2 is the battery life which now lasts up to 30 minutes. That’s a lot of time which is great cuz I always felt so rushed with the Spark which only had around 15 minutes of battery life. Last week I headed out to Sulaibikhat to film the flamingos and I actually spent a lot of time just hovering my drone low near the water just watching them on my screen. It would take around 5 minutes to reach them since I was parked pretty far from their location and another 5 minutes to get back but with that, I still had around 20 minutes left of just pure stalking time. It’s enough time to get completely immersed and zoned out, I literally spent all my time just watching flamingos catch their food and eat as if I had my own private National Geographic channel. Whenever the battery was going to die the drone would just let me know and then start flying back to me. Really easy.
OcuSync and the battery life together have made me want to take out the drone more often and not have to worry about anything which is why I think it’s the perfect beginner’s drone. I can just focus on shooting and not worry about the other things. When the weather was misty this past weekend I just parked next to the Kuwait Towers and casually took the drone out to see if I can capture the towers coming out through the fog. It’s such an easy thing to do now and it’s because I’m no longer worried about flying the drone. After reaching a height taller than the towers I realized the fog was too high and had completely engulfed it, so I decided instead to fly towards the city to see if I could capture Hamra Tower. I didn’t end up getting a good shot but just the fact that I was able to on a whim head into the city with my drone is something I’d never have done with the Spark.
The DJI Mini 2 is really everything I’ve wanted into a drone. Something small, light, have a long battery life, and no connection issues. It’s made me want to fly the drone much more and given me the confidence to do so. If you want to get into drone photography, this has to be the best drone to start off with. I got the DJI Mini 2 “Fly More Combo” pack which comes with three batteries, a charging hub, extra propellers, and even a nice carrying case. The price of the full package is 175KD and you can get one from Xcite.
26 replies on “Review: DJI Mini 2 Drone”
Great review. Do they also sell it without the combo pack?
Hmmm not sure, I’ve only ever seen the fly more combo pack in kuwait but I’m sure there should be a normal version.
That’s a really good deal! Good review Mark!
they don’t, i tried searching it on their website and it only comes in combo and combo plus
HI, Do you need a police license to fly it in Kuwait
Not that I’m aware of. But I did have to fill out a form that contains my civil ID.
Hi Mark,
Besides registering your drone with the Civil Aviation (which is what you do when you first buy it), you also need to get a permit to fly it from the Ministry of Interior. They give you about a 1 month period, and you have to specify where you want to fly it
Once the period is up, you need to do the process again
More info here: https://falcon.com.kw/index.php?route=module/iblog/post&post_id=12
3 questions boss:
1. Is the last picture yours? 😻
2. Do we still need an MOI permit for EVERY flight? 😢
3. Did you get hold of a G63 AMG 6×6 for us? 😁
1- yeah all of the pics and videos are mine
2- umm no don’t think so
3- still looking! lol
Wow thats incredible review…thank you..couple of question dear..
– I tried DJI tello it has a lot stability issue, connection issue..sometime it flies with wind, did you tried in windy desert and all.. cause I lost few times this tello 😛 is this mini way better then this?
– could you please also upload some video with flying over .. moving around.. since the one you upload is still..
–
– when i shot the city scene that day was fairly windy. I think when I got up to 540m height I got a wind warning message and then dropped back down to like 520m.
– I’ll check and see if I have any footage while moving, I mostly like hovering and watching 😅
Thank you dear.. its helps alot..
As far as I know, a permit is still required for every place you want to shoot including the date and time. I stopped flying drones after realizing how complicated it seems to get a license and it was not worth the hassle to get into trouble.
https://aabworld.com/drone-permit
dont think this is valid. the day of the fog kuwait towers was packed with people flying their drones. I can assure you none of them predicted 3 weeks earlier that there was going to be fog and applied for a drone permit for that specific day.
Those who are flying are hoping to get away by talking their way out of it (and they most likely will). However, if you see the link posted below, when it comes to photography, everything requires permission; even if it is classified as a toy.
You need to get a permit to fly it, I have one right now and it ends February 5
Sure a lot of people fly it without a permit, but why the risk?
Where do you submit it and how long does it usually take for approval? a step by step guide to the process is much appreciated.
https://falcon.com.kw/index.php?route=module/iblog/post&post_id=12
The details are here
Found this article on Drone Laws.
https://drone-traveller.com/drone-laws-kuwait/
Interesting, it’s actually why DJI needed the mini 2 to weigh under 250g. In kuwait a drone under 300g is considered a toy and exempt from a lot of things, in other countries it’s 250g. Makes the drone a lot more simpler to take with you when u travel since u don’t need a permit for it.
The flamingos photo is gold
thanks!
Love the first picture in the article. Could you please upload a Hi-Res so we all can (probably) use it as our wallpaper 😀 😛
here you go https://248am.com//images/2022/01/IMG_4398.jpg
Normally you used to post the price in Kuwait and outside. Do you have any idea in this case?
yeah i usually do when its cheaper to order online but it costs KD181 on Amazon without 8% tax and shipping cost to Kuwait. So over 200KD which means it’s cheaper to buy the drone in Kuwait which is why I didn’t recommend Amazon. Also not sure if you can even import drones.