DJI Lito and Lito X1 Beginner’s Guide: How to Fly Your New Drone

Good day folks, Shawn here from Air Photography. This is my beginner’s guide for the brand new Lito drone from DJI — both the standard Lito and the Lito X1. When new drones like this get released, I like to create beginner’s guides for those who are brand new to drones to help get them familiarized with the hardware, the software, and the basic functionality. These drones by DJI are extremely easy to fly, but there are a few things you should know about before you take your first flight.

In this guide, we’re going to talk about activating the drone, updating the firmware, charging the drone, and installing memory. We’re going to go over the DJI Fly app and all the different attributes of it. And then we’re going to head out for a quick test flight where I’ll demonstrate a few basic maneuvers. I’m going to be demonstrating with the Lito X1, but if you’re purchasing the standard Lito, you can still follow along, because the functionality is essentially the same. We’ll talk a little about the differences between the two as we go.

Two Drones: The Standard Lito and the Lito X1

I want to talk about the aircraft first, because there are two different Lito drones. We have the standard Lito and the Lito X1, which is what I have here in front of me. For the most part, they look identical, and all the core functionality is basically the same. You have the same intelligent flight features, and you have omnidirectional obstacle avoidance on both drones.

The main difference is that the Lito X1 has an extra layer of protection when it comes to obstacle avoidance. It has lidar on the front, whereas the standard Lito does not. The standard Lito has the regular obstacle avoidance at the top and at the bottom. The other main difference is video quality. The Lito X1 features a 1/1.3-inch sensor, whereas the standard Lito has a 1/2-inch sensor, so you’re going to get slightly better video and photo quality from the Lito X1. Other than that, they’re pretty well the same.

Choosing Your Controller: The RC 2 or the RC-N3

There are two different controllers you can buy with your Lito drone, and depending on the package you get, that will determine which controller you receive. This one here is the RC 2. It has a built-in screen, and there’s nothing else you need to do — the DJI Fly app is already pre-installed on it. You just power it on and everything is ready to go.

The other one is the RC-N3. With this one, you actually have to mount a smartphone on top, and you’ll have to download the DJI Fly app manually to your phone. The benefit is that it makes the package a little cheaper because it doesn’t have the built-in screen, but there are a few extra steps. If I can make a recommendation and you haven’t purchased one yet, if it’s in your budget to get the one with the built-in screen, I highly recommend it — it just makes the whole process a little more streamlined. That said, both controllers are excellent. One won’t enhance your flight experience over the other when it comes to reliability, signal strength, or the way they maneuver. They both function extremely well. I’m going to be demonstrating on the RC 2, but if you have the RC-N3, you can still follow along, because the Fly app functions the same either way.

Picking a Package: Standard Combo or Fly More Combo

Let’s go over the different packages you can get. There’s the standard combo, which is what I have here in front of me. You’re going to get the drone, one battery (which comes pre-installed in the drone), a controller (either the RC 2 or the RC-N3, depending on the package), some spare props, a screwdriver for changing the props, and a gimbal cover.

You can also purchase it as a Fly More combo, which gives you a few extra things. Just like before, you get the drone, gimbal cover, spare props, screwdriver, and controller, but in addition, you get two spare batteries for a total of three, plus a charging hub that makes it easier to charge multiple batteries. On top of that, you get a carrying case that holds everything inside.

Understanding the Batteries and the 249-Gram Rule

One last thing I want to point out on batteries: there is a Plus battery available. They have a standard battery, which is what these ones here are, and you know they’re the standard battery because they’re labeled 249 g. That’s really important, because when you’re using the standard battery, the drone comes in at 249 grams — a little bit under. That can be extremely important for a lot of countries and their regulations. For example, here in Canada, if it’s under 249 grams, we don’t have to register it with Transport Canada, and we don’t need a basic pilot certificate to fly it.

If you use the Plus battery that DJI offers, it’s going to increase the flight time slightly, but it will put the drone over 250 grams. For some people, that might not be an option, so it’s really important to research the regulations in your own country. For others, it’s not a big deal — they prefer the extra flight time and may opt for the Plus battery. You’ll know it’s the Plus battery because it won’t have that 249 g stamp on it.

A Closer Look at the Aircraft

Let’s take a closer look at the hardware, starting with the aircraft. When you get it, it’s going to have a gimbal guard on the front. This protects the gimbal, which can be very fragile, so make sure you put it on when the drone goes into a bag. To remove it, press down at the bottom and pull it forward. To unfold the drone, fold the front arms out first — they fold down and out — and then the back legs fold out.

One of the features of the Lito is that as soon as I unfolded it, it powered on. Yours may not power on right away because it’s brand new and might need to be activated first. Once that’s done, the drone will automatically power on when you unfold it, or you can manually power it on and off.

At the top is the power button. With a battery installed, a quick single press shows you the power in that battery — all four lights mean a full battery. At the back, there’s a USB-C port and a memory card slot. That USB-C port can be used to charge the battery while it’s in the aircraft, and it can also transfer data. The Lito has 42 GB of internal storage you can record to, but that might fill up quickly, so it’s a good idea to add a memory card — something like 128 GB or a little bigger.

The battery is also at the back. To remove it, press the tab on either side and pull it out. To install it again, slide it in until you hear it click. There’s an obstacle avoidance sensor at the top and another at the bottom, and if you have the Lito X1, you’ll also have lidar on the front, along with the camera.

Getting to Know the Controller

Now let’s look at the controller, the RC 2. When it’s brand new, the control sticks are stored at the back, so you just pull them out. They’re identical, so it doesn’t matter which side you attach them to — they just screw in. It’s a good idea to take the sticks off when the controller goes into a bag so you don’t damage the gimbals. On the RC-N3, the sticks are removable as well and are stored on the bottom.

There’s a power button on one side — a quick press shows how much power is in the controller. In the middle is the mode selector with three flight modes you’ll find on the Lito series and most DJI drones: C for cine, N for normal, and S for sport. Cine mode slows everything down for nice cinematic footage. Normal gives you a normal amount of speed. Sport mode gives you the most agile, fastest flight. The important thing to keep in mind is that in sport mode, obstacle avoidance is disabled, so you have to be extremely careful.

Beside that is a button that serves as both the return-to-home button and a pause button. Press and hold it to bring the drone back to the home point, or tap it to bring the drone to a complete stop if it’s running an intelligent flight mode and you need to stop quickly.

At the bottom is a USB-C port for charging the controller, plus another memory card slot. You don’t need to put a memory card in there — all your footage is stored on the drone’s internal memory or its memory card — but it’s there if you do a lot of screen recordings for things like YouTube tutorials. There’s also some internal memory, which is more than enough for most people.

On the back are the C1 and C2 buttons. They’re customizable in the software and can do things like angling the camera straight down or straight up, or enabling cruise control. At the top are the fold-out antennas. When flying, you want the flat part of the antenna facing the drone — not the edge pointing at it — for the best signal. There’s a record button to start video and a photo button to take a photo. Then there are two dials: one adjusts the pitch of the gimbal (pointing it down or up), and the other adjusts the zoom level, since these drones can do digital zoom.

Powering On and Off

Before we get into charging and memory, I want to go over how to power everything on, because DJI equipment requires a double press. It’s a quick single press, then a press and hold. So on the controller, a quick press and then a press and hold gives you a tone and powers it on. The drone is the same way. As mentioned, if you unfold it, it powers on, but if it’s off, do a quick press then a press and hold. To power them off, it’s the exact same thing — a quick press and then a press and hold — for both the controller and the drone.

Charging and Installing Memory

Now let’s go over charging and installing memory. I’m going to install a 128 GB card. A lot of cards are compatible — I really like SanDisk, either their Extreme or Extreme Pro. To install it, have the graphic side facing down and push it in until it clicks. To remove it, press it in and it pops right out. If you install memory in your controller, this time the graphic side faces up, and again you slide it in until it clicks.

One thing you’ll notice did not come with the drone is a charger. You have to provide your own, but most of us have these laying around from smartphones and tablets. If you do need to buy one, there are many available — DJI sells one, and this one here is by Anker. Both are 65-watt chargers. You just want it to be USB-C and at least 45 watts.

How you charge depends on your package. With the drone-only package, you charge the battery inside the drone — just plug the USB-C cable into the back, and the lights flash while charging and stay solid when full. With the Fly More combo, you get the battery charging hub for your spare batteries, which is a convenient way to charge them all at once. If you bought the basic combo, you can add the charging hub later as a separate accessory.

In the hub, the batteries charge one at a time and then move on to the next; to charge three batteries concurrently, you need the 65-watt charger. You can charge a single battery, two, or all three. At any time, you can press the button on the back to see how much power is in each battery, and the hub can act as a power bank — you can plug in your smartphone or an action camera and charge it from the batteries.

One important note: when everything is brand new, you might press the battery button and nothing happens. That’s because the batteries ship in a hibernation state. You have to wake them up first, which simply means plugging them in to charge for the first time. To charge the controller, use that same cable into the USB-C port — it’s the same whether you have the RC 2 or the RC-N3 — and the lights up top flash while charging.

Activating Your Drone and Updating the Firmware

Before you can fly the drone for the first time, the aircraft and controller need to be activated, and there will be firmware to update. Updating the firmware is extremely important to make sure you have all the latest features and that any problems are fixed. My aircraft is already activated, so I can’t demonstrate it, but I’ll walk you through what happens. It works about the same whether you’re using the RC 2 with the built-in screen or the controller with your smartphone mounted.

You’ll power on the aircraft and the controller, and it will ask you a series of questions, including connecting to your Wi-Fi so it can download the firmware and activate the aircraft. It will ask which country you live in, ask you to set your time zone, and at some point ask you to log in with your DJI account. If you don’t have one, there’s an option to create one. Once you’re logged in, it activates the equipment and confirms when that’s done successfully.

After activation, it should pop up right away that there’s firmware to update. Just follow the on-screen instructions — it usually takes 5 to 10 minutes, though if DJI’s servers are busy it can take longer. I’ve had it take up to 20 minutes. The equipment may restart a few times, and you’ll get a message when the firmware has updated successfully.

One thing to point out: these batteries have firmware updates too, as they’re considered intelligent flight batteries. Whatever battery is installed while you’re updating will get updated automatically, but your spare batteries won’t. You’ll have to update them manually afterward — just power everything off, insert the new battery, power back on, and if there’s firmware available, you’ll get a message and it will update.

Navigating the DJI Fly App

Now let’s take a closer look at the Fly app, the software you’ll use while flying. It’s the same whether you’re on the RC 2 or the RC-N3 with your smartphone attached. I’ll power on the controller and the aircraft — for the most part it doesn’t matter which order you power them on, they’ll connect either way.

Assuming you’ve already activated the aircraft and updated the firmware, powering on brings you to the flight preview screen. It may also open to the homepage, which you can get back to by tapping the little house icon at the top. From the homepage, you can adjust your profile settings, get service for the drone, and access the flight simulator (the controller icon at the top). The simulator is a great way to practice before your first flight to get comfortable with how the drone maneuvers — just note that the aircraft has to be powered off to use it. To get into the flight preview, tap the “Go Fly” button.

On the flight preview screen, the controls are along the left-hand side. The first button is waypoint missions, which let you set points on a map for a pre-planned flight the drone can fly autonomously over and over — a powerful feature that’s included with your Lito. Next is FocusTrack, a set of tools that includes ActiveTrack, Point of Interest, and Spotlight. Below that is the takeoff and landing button; once you’re in the air, it gives you return-to-home and landing options.

In the bottom left is your telemetry data — altitude, distance, and flight speed — which it’s really important to keep an eye on. There’s also a map icon you can expand to full screen; right now it shows a generic view because we’re not connected to satellites, but with GPS it zooms in on your exact location. Swiping on it turns it into a compass that shows the drone’s angle and position relative to the controller, which some people prefer to display. There’s also Vision Assist, which I’ll demonstrate once we’re flying — it uses the obstacle avoidance cameras to show a rough, grainy black-and-white preview of whatever direction the drone is heading.

The camera settings change depending on whether you’re in video or photo mode, and you can tap to adjust them. Beside that is your storage, where you can see how much space is on the memory card versus the internal memory and switch between the two. In the bottom right, “Auto” means the camera is in full auto and you don’t have to do anything. If you like to set your own white balance, shutter speed, and ISO, you can switch to Pro mode — but these drones do a really good job in auto, so don’t feel you need to.

The button in the middle of the right side is the shutter or record button, depending on your mode. Below that is a play button that brings up a low-resolution preview of what you’ve captured. Above it is where you switch modes — photo, video, MasterShots, QuickShots, and Hyperlapse. Each mode has a sub-mode; for example, video lets you choose normal or slow motion, and photo lets you take a single, bracketed, burst, or timed shot. I’m keeping things basic here to get you flying, but I’ll be making more advanced tutorials on these specific modes.

The three dots at the top right take you deeper into the drone’s settings, with sub-menus along the top. Along the top right you’ll also find important status indicators. The first is satellites — it says “no signal” with a zero because we’re indoors, but outdoors it usually connects to 20 to 30 within about 30 seconds. A good satellite connection is really important, because the drone relies on satellites for intelligent flight features like return to home and to stay locked in position in the air. With a good lock, if you let go of the sticks, the drone just stays put and won’t drift.

Next is the obstacle avoidance indicator, which is red right now because we’re not in the air; red means obstacle avoidance is off, which is also the case in sport mode. Beside that is RC signal strength, which weakens the farther you fly or if obstacles get between the aircraft and the controller — it turns orange, then red as it approaches disconnection. If you do get disconnected, the drone will automatically return to the home point. The last two icons show your remaining flight time and battery percentage, and tapping the flight-time icon gives more detail on when the drone will automatically return home, when it will force a landing, and when the battery is fully depleted.

Before we head out, let’s quickly look at a few settings. The first tab is the safety tab, where you can set the return-to-home altitude and flight distance, and find the compass calibration tools if you get a calibration error. Right below that, you can choose whether the drone powers on when you unfold the arms (and powers off when you fold them in) — that’s personal preference. Also under safety is obstacle avoidance behavior: by default it’s set to “brake,” so the drone stops when it encounters an obstacle. You can change it to “bypass,” where it uses its sensors to find a safe route around or over the obstacle — that’s how I usually have mine set. You can disable obstacle avoidance entirely, but as a new pilot, that’s not something I recommend. There are also control settings for customizing the buttons and camera options like adding grids to help line up shots.

Preparing for Your First Flight

Now we’re out for a quick test flight to show some basic maneuvers and a few things to consider beforehand. As mentioned, hop on the simulator for a while to get comfortable with the maneuvers. It’s also a good idea to research the laws in your country, since drone regulations vary, so you fully understand them before your first flight and don’t accidentally break any rules.

I’d also recommend picking a nice, wide-open area like a park without a lot of obstacles or people. Where I am right now isn’t ideal for a first flight because there are a lot of obstacles and distractions. You may also want to pick up a landing pad. If you’re taking off from hard surfaces like concrete, you don’t really need one, but on grass — especially if it’s wet or marshy — or on sand or snow, a landing pad is a must. A lot of people like to hand-launch and hand-catch these mini drones, but as a beginner, that’s not something I recommend. Landing pads are inexpensive, maybe $10 to $15 online, and you can even make your own out of cardboard or a small piece of wood.

Before we put the drone up, I want to mention that your very first flight can come with some anxiety. You might be a little nervous, which is to be expected if you’ve never flown a drone before. You may not be sure how it will behave in the air, or what happens if it gets disconnected. But these DJI drones are extremely safe, with a lot of safety features built in, and they’re made to be very easy to use. That anxiety goes away once you’ve done a few flights and built some trust in the hardware.

Taking Off and Learning the Sticks

Before your first flight, make sure you’re connected to satellites — right now I’m connected to 21 or 22, which is important so the intelligent flight features work correctly, the drone holds position while hovering, and return to home functions properly. You also want a home point set. If you bring up the map in the bottom right, the big yellow circle (with the “H”) is your home point, the blue dot is you and the controller, and the blue triangle is the drone out in front of us. When that yellow “H” is there, a home point has been set and the drone always knows where to return to.

To take off, tap the takeoff button and a box pops up — just press and hold. The drone starts up, flies out, and hovers in front of you, held in place by GPS. It might drift a few inches or a foot in the wind, but for the most part it hovers exactly where it is. That takeoff button now becomes a landing button. Right now it just says “land” because we’re hovering close to where we took off; if we were out around 300 meters, we’d have both “land” and “return to home” options. I’ll tap “land” and the drone sets back down.

There’s another way to take off — pressing both sticks down and inward to start the motors, then raising the left stick — but as a beginner, you should just use the takeoff button. Now for the basic maneuvers. Push the right stick forward and the drone moves forward; pull it back and it goes in reverse. The right stick also controls side-to-side: push right and the drone moves right, push left and it moves left. As soon as you take your hand off the stick, the drone comes to a complete stop and hovers. That’s really good to know for your first flight — if you start to panic or get too close to something, just let go of the sticks, and the drone stops right where it is so you can gain your composure and assess the situation.

The left stick has two maneuvers. Push up and the drone rises; pull down and it lowers. The left stick also handles rotation — press right and the drone turns right, press left and it turns left. The technical term for that spinning is yaw. One thing to be cautious of as a beginner is that the drone’s orientation affects your inputs. When the drone is facing away from you, pulling right moves it right. But when it’s facing toward you, the controls are reversed — pulling the stick right actually moves the drone left, and vice versa. That can be confusing at first, so it’s always something to be aware of.

From here it’s just a matter of getting comfortable on the sticks and practicing, which is where the flight simulator really comes in handy. As you get comfortable, you’ll be able to combine both sticks for interesting shots — rotations, up-and-away shots, and more. A lot of that comes with practice.

Keeping an Eye on Battery and Flight Time

If we look at the battery information, I have a total of about 16 minutes of flight time, but about 12 minutes until the drone automatically comes home by itself — that’s the low-battery return to home. The drone constantly calculates how much power it needs to get back safely, and that number changes with distance. If you’re out a mile, the number will be lower because it needs more power to get home; if you’re hovering right above yourself, it’ll be larger. It’s a good idea to keep an eye on that for a rough sense of how much flight time you have left.

Return to Home: Your Safety Net

Return to home is a great feature, and there are three types. The first is the low-battery return to home, where the drone comes back when power gets too low. The second is failsafe return to home: if you get disconnected from the controller, the drone automatically turns around and lands at the home point — though it will usually reconnect before it lands, so you can retake control. The third is when you manually initiate it.

To demonstrate, I’ve flown out about 290 meters. You can initiate return to home two ways: press and hold the return-to-home button on the controller, or use the landing button on screen, which now shows both “land” and “return to home.” We don’t want to land where the drone is, so I’ll press and hold return to home. The drone turns around and comes back, drawing a virtual green line of the path it will take, so keep an eye on it for any problems. If you need to cancel, tap the red “X” on screen or press the pause button on the controller. Right now it’s coming back slowly because it’s fighting a significant wind, but it comes right overhead, descends, and lands — for the most part exactly where it took off, give or take a few inches or feet. It’s a great feature, especially for new pilots: if you lose your orientation and aren’t sure where the drone is, just tap return to home and it comes right back.

Using Vision Assist

One last thing I want to show is Vision Assist. I’ll put the drone back up and get above the trees, then swipe on the compass to bring up Vision Assist. It’s black and white and not very high quality, and you can make it bigger by tapping it to go full screen. When flying forward, you can already see what’s coming up on the main camera. But when flying in reverse, you normally can’t see what’s behind you — that’s where Vision Assist helps, because it always shows the direction you’re flying. Fly forward and it shows a forward view; pull back and it shows what’s behind you; go sideways and it shows a side view; go down and it shows what’s beneath you. Even with it full screen while recording, the drone still records the nice high-quality footage from the main camera, so it’s a really handy way to preview your direction of travel and avoid obstacles. Then I’ll bring the drone home again with another return to home — this time it doesn’t have far to come.

Final Thoughts for New Pilots

So that’s my beginner’s guide for the DJI Lito. This is just one of those things that takes a little practice. You may be a little nervous for your first flight, but that will go away and it’ll become a lot of fun. Practice on the simulator — it gives you a good feel for how the drone maneuvers, and you can try intelligent flight features like return to home there to see how they function.

If this is your very first drone and you’re buying the Lito (or already have), stay tuned, because I’ll have more advanced tutorials, different flight techniques, and deeper dives into the intelligent flight features and demonstrations on the Lito series. Hopefully you found this guide valuable. Thanks a lot, and I’ll see you in the next one.

You can watch the full walkthrough and find more of my tutorials, reviews, and gear comparisons on the Air Photography YouTube channel, and you can read more of my articles right here on my DroneXL author page.