DJI Neo 2 review: this super reliable selfie drone doesn’t need a controller

Introduction

When DJI released the Neo last year, it proved that even a cheap drone could perform to a decent level – assuming you wanted selfies and short clips rather than pro-quality aerial footage. Barely 12 months later the DJI Neo 2 is here, and while it might look nearly identical to its predecessor, the improvements run deeper than you’d expect for a second-gen product. The headline upgrade is omnidirectional obstacle avoidance, a potential game-changer for a drone with a propensity for flying autonomously into tree branches.

There’s more too: a new two-axis gimbal for smoother footage, 4K video at up to 100fps when paired with a controller, and almost 50GB of onboard storage. The Neo 2 still weighs well under 250g, so it sidesteps most registration requirements, and the starting price of £209 keeps it firmly in impulse-buy territory.

I’ve spent a week flying the Neo 2 in breezy British winter conditions, testing everything from palm launches to full controller flight to find out whether this pint-sized drone deserves a spot in your bag.

Design & build

The Neo 2 sticks with the non-folding design that made the original so distinctive. Four propeller guards form an integrated cage around the rotors, protecting both the props and your fingers from harm. At 160g with the Digital Transceiver attached (or 151g without), it’s light enough to chuck in a jacket pocket without thinking twice.

That Digital Transceiver is new for the Neo 2, bolted onto the back with a pair of rabbit-ear antennas poking out. It lets you pair the drone with DJI’s controllers and headsets for manual or FPV flight. Without it, you’re limited to smartphone control or completely autonomous flying. The version I tested came with it pre-installed, and I suspect this is the configuration most people will want.

Build quality is solid for such a lightweight bit of kit. The grey plastic doesn’t feel especially fragile, and I had no qualms about tossing it in my bag alongside camera gear and water bottles. DJI includes a camera cover to protect the lens, plus spare propeller guards in case you manage to mangle the originals.

The best design upgrade might be the smallest: a tiny display on the front replaces the original Neo’s confusing light-up icons. It clearly shows which flight mode you’re in, making controller-free operation less of a guessing game. Three physical buttons run along one side for mode selection and recording controls. Between the screen and the buttons, I found myself reaching for the DJI Fly app much less often than I did with the original Neo.

Storage has leapt from 22GB to 49GB internally, which translates to about 105 minutes of 4K 60fps footage or 175 minutes at 4K 30fps. There’s still no microSD slot, but given the generous built-in capacity and USB-C transfer speeds, I didn’t miss it. What I did miss was some sort of carrying case – the Fly More Combo I tested came with three batteries and a charging hub, but no bag to put them in.

Features & battery life

The Neo 2 is first and foremost a selfie drone, designed for capturing quick social media clips without faffing about with controllers or complicated settings. To that end, it packs a range of autonomous flight modes: Follow, Dronie, Helix, Rocket, Circle, Boomerang and more. Pick one, tap a button and the drone does its thing while you look heroic (or at least less wind-battered than usual).

Subject tracking is impressively capable. The Neo 2 ably followed me on foot and on my bike, maintaining a set distance and angle using nothing but its camera. It kept me in frame even when I changed direction or ducked behind obstacles. Tracking parameters can be adjusted via the DJI Fly app, which is definitely the easiest way to set things up, but the drone’s own screen and buttons will do the job in a pinch.

Beyond autonomous flight, the Neo 2 works with three control methods: palm take-off and landing (no phone required), touchscreen controls via the DJI Fly app on a smartphone, or full manual control using a DJI RC-N3 or similar controller. The app controls are basic but adequate for repositioning the drone for a shot. With a proper controller, flight becomes much more like piloting a standard DJI camera drone: agile, responsive and capable of higher speeds and recording frame rates than autonomous mode allows.

FPV flight is also possible if you’ve got compatible DJI Goggles and an RC Motion Controller, though I wasn’t able to test this setup personally.

The star feature, though, is the new omnidirectional obstacle avoidance system. The original Neo had essentially no crash protection, which made autonomous flights a bit of a gamble near trees, fences or buildings. The Neo 2 uses a combination of vision sensors and LiDAR to detect obstacles in all directions, and it works brilliantly. During testing, I watched it intelligently drop altitude to slip under tree branches and around fence railings rather than ploughing straight through them. It’s not infallible – no drone I’ve tested is – but it makes losing the Neo 2 to an accidental collision far less likely.

Battery life remains a weak spot. DJI claims 19 minutes in ideal conditions (and with the prop guards removed), but real-world use with moderate wind and frequent direction changes brought that down to around 10 minutes. That’s enough for a handful of QuickShots or a brief manual flight, but not much more. The Fly More Combo, with its three batteries and charging hub, suddenly looks like a sensible investment rather than an optional extra.

Flight performance

In calm conditions, the Neo 2 hovers rock-steady and responds crisply to inputs, whether they’re coming from the app or a controller. Wind resistance is decent for such a small, light drone, though anything above a moderate breeze will noticeably affect stability. I flew in gusts of around 20mph without major issues, but I wouldn’t fancy pushing much beyond that.

The automated QuickShots work smoothly and reliably, delivering the sort of swooping, circling footage that would require a fair bit of skill to capture manually. They’re pre-programmed, so there’s not much room for creativity, but that’s the point – press a button, let the drone do its thing, job done. The tracking modes are similarly fuss-free, following you around with minimal input required.

With a controller, the Neo 2 becomes a much more versatile tool. Flight is nimble and intuitive, and while it’s not as stable or powerful as a Mini or Mavic, it’s plenty capable for most situations. The higher frame rate options (up to 100fps at 4K) are only available in controller mode, which makes sense given the extra processing power required.

One thing worth noting: the Neo 2’s small size and light weight make it less suitable for windy coastal flying or high-altitude mountain work. It’s happiest in relatively sheltered environments where you can keep it close and in sight. That’s not a criticism, just a reality of physics – you can’t expect a 160g drone to punch through wind like a heftier aircraft.

Image quality

The Neo 2 uses what appears to be the same 12MP 1/2-inch sensor as the original Neo, paired with a new two-axis gimbal and electronic image stabilisation. The gimbal does a solid job of keeping the horizon level during flight, though it’s not as rock-solid as the three-axis systems on DJI’s more serious camera drones; in higher winds, there’s a touch of wobble.

The camera offers a 119.8º field of view with a full-frame equivalent focal length of 16.5mm. That’s wide without being distorted, and the fixed f/2.2 aperture (slightly faster than the Neo’s f/2.8) helps in lower light. ISO range now runs from 100 to 12,800 in most modes, which is an improvement, though image quality still drops off fairly quickly once the sun goes down.

Video maxes out at 4K 60fps in autonomous mode, or 4K 100fps when flying with a controller. Footage straight from the camera looks punchy and detailed in good light, with natural colours and smooth stabilisation. It’s not going to wow professional cinematographers, but it’s ideal for social media clips and holiday videos. There’s no log profile option for colour grading, and you can’t fit ND filters to the lens, so what you see is what you get.

Still photos are 12MP JPEGs only – there’s no RAW support. Again, it’s fine for Instagram and Facebook, but less so if you’re planning on printing large or doing heavy editing. The camera’s real party trick is how effortlessly it delivers usable results with zero fiddling. Point, shoot, done.

For a £209 selfie drone, the image quality punches well above its weight. It’s not a “serious” camera drone in the way a DJI Mini Pro, Air or Mavic is, but it’s not trying to be. The Neo 2 exists to make capturing aerial selfies and quick clips as simple and painless as possible, and on that front, it delivers.

DJI Neo 2 verdict

The Neo 2 takes everything that made the original Neo appealing – simplicity, affordability, versatility – and tightens it up. The obstacle avoidance alone is worth the modest price bump. Throw in better image stabilisation, more storage, and improved camera performance, and you’ve got a selfie drone that feels geniunely refined rather than merely functional.

It’s not perfect. Battery life is still stingy, there’s no RAW photo support, and wind resistance remains limited by physics. But for most users, these won’t be deal breakers. The Neo 2 is designed to slip into a bag, come out for quick shots and disappear again without fuss. It does that very well.

At £209 for the base kit or £289 for the Fly More Combo (which I’d strongly recommend), the Neo 2 represents exceptional value in the sub-250g drone category. It’s miles cheaper than a DJI Mini 5 Pro while still delivering impressive results, and its autonomous flight modes make it genuinely accessible to beginners. If you want a simple, small, capable drone that won’t break the bank, this is it.

DJI Neo 2 technical specifications

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