DJI Avata 360 Review – See Everything from the Air

While I was reviewing the DJI Avata 360, I can’t help but remember the first time I saw a drone fly for the first time. That was ten years ago, when I helped the Unbox.ph team with their car shoot which required a drone for aerial shots. We used the DJI Phantom 4 which was huge and we took several videos of the car they’re reviewing in Tanay and Subic.

It’s interesting to see how the drones developed throughout the years. The DJI Neo was not only the smallest, but it was also the most affordable drone we’ve ever seen.

Now, have we ever thought that someday a 360 drone would become a reality too? I didn’t, but to my surprise DJI made it happen. They sent us a DJI Avata 360 drone for review and I can’t wait to see how it would work compared to the usual drones we have reviewed before.

The Unboxing

The box of the DJI AVATA 360 is quite big. I wondered what the size of the drone would be.

It turned out the sling bag was also included that housed all the goodies I was about to see.

Except for the replacement lens kit, everything else is included in the package sent to me. There’s the DJI AVATA 360, RC2, Type-C USB Cable, User Manuals, replacement propellers with tool, wiping cloth and a drone landing pad.

The Design

The DJI Avata 360 looks quite similar to the DJI Neo series with the cinewhoop design, but bigger than the Neo 2. It has propeller guards under the drone for safety especially during close-up or indoor shots. There’s none on top because it’s the least likely part of the drone to be to damaged in an accident. In case it does, there’s a repair kit available that can be used to change the propeller.

It has four propellers instead of three. There are pros and cons for this, with the former having more power and stability.

In between the AVATA 360’s cameras are LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors. Basically it’s used for low-light conditions and avoiding obstacles.

We don’t have information about its built quality, but based on what I’ve gathered, the drone is made of reinforced composite plastic and a ruggedized frame. We don’t have an official weight of the AVATA 360, but we reckon since it’s bigger than the AVATA 2 then it might be also has the same weight or greater than 377 grams.

ALSO READ: DJI Mini 5 Pro Review – Mini but Powerful Drone

The Cameras

Yes, Cameras. The DJI AVATA 360 has two ultra-wide 180° fisheye cameras located on top and bottom. With both cameras combined, it becomes a 360° view without the drone’s body being seen. It can deliver 8K@60fps HDR video, and its combined 120 Megapixel cameras can produce true spherical panoramic photos.

There are two ways to take photos: using its single lens or a 360 photo and crop it with the DJI Fly app. I opted for the second option as it was easier for me and if I want to see another angle of that location then I can go back to the photo and crop the photo again.

Here are the sample photos:

Videos taken by the AVATA 360 looked great during daytime. I found the details kinda perfect, though colors are somewhat saturated. Video recorded in the evening looked grainy. It looked better when we focused on the Araneta and EDSA areas. However, I noticed harsh lighting and glares from the buildings in the area.

Here’s a video sample of the DJI AVATA 360 which demonstrates various keyframes without any special maneuvering of the drone:

Here’s another sample video of the DJI AVATA 360 at night:

ActiveTrack 360 is also present in the DJI AVATA 360 which supports FPV-style automatic follow. This will be very usable for vloggers who can utilize the 360 degrees camera in post production.

My concern with the 360 cameras is if in case the drone encounters an accident and drops with the one of the cameras facing the ground. I have no information about the durability of the AVATA 360’s cameras and the bottom of the drone is not recessed to protect it. DJI’s answer is its replacement lens which can be purchased instead of sending it back for repairs.

The Performance

We recorded the movements of the DJI AVATA 360 in 3 different modes.

CINE MODE

NORMAL MODE

SPORTS MODE

Compared to the DJI Mini 5 Pro in Sports mode, the AVATA 360 is slower. This is quite understandable since the latter is bigger and heavier in size.

The drone was flown in an open field and we reached around 1.8km until the signal started to weaken.

The AVATA 360 uses an RC2 controller with a built-in display. Controlling the drone is the same as with other DJI drones we’ve reviewed, but we think it could be better since the AVATA 360 has a different camera setup. We wished the touchscreen display of the RC2 can be used to maneuver the 360 camera. It would be easier for the users rather than use the thumbsticks.

An inconvenience I’ve encountered was transferring a 360 video from the drone to my Android smartphone. I tried looking for the video, but for the life of me I couldn’t find it in any of my phone’s Turned out the file was hidden. I tried unhiding files in my phone’s Files but the 360 video still didn’t appear. Had to wait till I get home to transfer the video from my phone to my laptop.

While DJI claims that the AVATA 360’s LiDAR enables obstacle detection in pitch-black environments, it didn’t work for us when we flew the drone in an area where there was no ambient lighting. We received a warning that ambient lighting was too low and Obstacle Avoidance was unavailable.

The Battery Life

The battery of the DJI AVATA 360 is rated at 2700 mAh. It was advertised to have a flight time of 23 minutes. We recorded an 8K video with it and it already alarmed us after 10 minutes. That flight time was very short, and it would be a certainly an inconvenience if you only have 1 battery instead of a battery hub.

We estimated it to have an additional 3-5 minutes if it records on 4K. Based on our previous reviews, the Neo 2 can record 4K up to 18 minutes, while the Mini 5 Pro can go up to 30 minutes.

I think the reason for the short battery life is because it has 2 cameras running simultaneously while stitching 360 degree videos. I understand that you can already shoot now and frame later, but if you have more to shoot in 8K video, 10 minutes is not enough.

If users intend to use it more often, I strongly suggest to buy at least an extra battery. Or two.

DR’s CONCLUSION

The DJI AVATA 360 is the most interesting drone I’ve reviewed. It unlocked a new world of possibilities for creating videos and content for vloggers. The only hindrance I see here for anyone using the drone is its battery life, especially if they need to shoot more videos.

This is a good start for a 360 drone camera by DJI, and I do recommend to buy one if you want to have your videos with better footages then just a usual boring clip of an aerial view.

These are the prices of the DJI AVATA 360:

DJI AVATA 360 with RC2 – P38,290

DJI AVATA 360 Fly More Combo with RC 2

To know more about DJI AVATA 360, click here: https://www.dji.com/global/avata-360?site=brandsite&from=homepage