DJI Mini 2 – Still A Good Choice in 2023?

 Good day, folks. Shawn here from Air Photography. So a lot of times, when I create videos for my channel, the ideas come directly from you guys. Sometimes I get requests to make specific videos, but a lot of times I look through the questions that I’ve been asked and the comments on videos to see if there are any repeating trends.

And one question that has popped up quite a bit over the last couple months is whether the DJI Mini 2 is still worth buying. Of course, the Mini 3 series has been out for about six months now, a little bit, and it was a little bit easier of a question to answer back then because there was quite a big price difference between the Mini 2 and if you went with something like the DJI Mini 3 Pro.

Note: Check out the DJI Mini 2 SE teaser そして specs that were shared earlier today. The DJI Mini 2 SE is expected to be launched on February 9th.

But just before Christmas, DJI released the regular Mini 3, which didn’t have some of the pro features, and the price difference between the Mini 2 and the Mini 3 really decreased. You’re looking at just a little over a hundred dollars difference, so that makes the decision a little bit harder.

DJI Mini 2 was released in 2020

Do you spend that extra money and go to something like the Mini 3, or do you pick up the Mini 2 if you can get a really good deal? Now, for me, the simple answer is yes. The many two is still quite relevant. Even in 2023, this drone is now about two and a half years old, but when DJI released it, they set the bar actually pretty high.

Even many new, mini drones that are released today still have a hard time competing with a two and a half year old drone. Of course, it doesn’t have some of the features of some of the newer drones, such as obstacle avoidance, and some intelligent flight modes like tracking. But for a lot of people, they don’t use those features, and they can be a little bit gimmicky.

The core functionality of the Mini 2 is excellent. It has great flight characteristics, and it has all the built-in safety features that you expect from a DJI drone. At the end of the day, it just flies beautifully, and the video that you can capture on it is quite good, even though the camera on the Mini 2 is not quite as good as something like the Mini 3.

について DJI Mini 2 still has a pretty good camera, and the images and videos that it can capture are quite good for the average drone flyer. If you’re just a hobbyist, the camera on the Mini 2 is more than sufficient. You’ll actually be quite pleased at what it can capture. Now with the Mini 2, you can actually get some pretty good deals on it.

I know Costco has a package you can purchase, but not only that, with the release of the Mini 3. There’s a lot of the Mini 2s that did pop up on marketplace. Some are in really good conditions, and some have barely been flown. So if you do some looking around, you can actually get a really good deal on a used, gently used Mini 2.

Now, in my opinion as well, this is probably the best drone that you can get for the lowest price if you’re ordering directly from DJI. Of course, they have the Mini SE, which is quite a bit cheaper. And again, that’s a great little drone. But with the Mini 2 here, you are getting 4K video and you are getting a much better video transmission system.

The Mini SE is only a Wifi connection, so you’re very limited with range and reliability of that range, especially when you’re flying in a place like a Wifi congested city. Whereas the Mini 2 has OcuSync 2.0. So you’re going get a good amount of range, and you’re going to get a better signal and image transmission, even if you are in a polluted WiFi area. And on top of that, you do have better penetration if you’re gonna be flying in and around a lot of buildings and trees.

Now if you live in the US, another reason you may want to consider something like the Mini 2 over the Mini 3 or the Mini 3 Pro is that it doesn’t have Remote ID built into it.

Now, I can’t speak too much about remote ID, as I’m Canadian, so it doesn’t really apply to me here. But for those of you who do live in the US, if you don’t want to worry too much about Remote ID, the hardware just is not built into the drone. So it’s something you don’t have to worry about. So for some people, that may be an appealing option as well.

I’ve had my Mini 2 now for about two and a half years. I got it right when it was first released. And I have a ton of flights on this little drone. I have taken it with me on many vacations and adventures, and it has never given me a single problem. It’s a pretty reliable drone, and that’s another nice, appealing thing about it is that it’s true, tried and tested. Most of the bugs were worked out long ago, so that’s not really something you have to worry about.

So that’s basically my opinion. If you are in the market for a drone and you come across a really good deal for a Mini 2, I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase it. It’s still a pretty solid drone in today’s market, and even when you compare it to something like the basic Mini 3, there’s really not a lot of difference between the two.

Of course, you are going to get a bit more flight time with the Mini 3. It’s got a slightly better camera, but mainly the other specs are very similar. They have the same flight speed. They can handle the same level five wind. They both have OcuSync 2.0 and many other similar attributes. It’s one nice thing about DJI drones: when you do purchase them, you know you’re going to get good longevity out of it.

Even buying a Mini 2 today, you know you’re gonna get several years usage out of it. On top of that, it does use the DJI Fly App, which is the app that all modern drones are still using from DJI. So you’re still getting some benefits from the app being updated, adding enhancements, and fine tuning it.

Well folks, that’s basically it for this video. Hopefully this helped you out. If you did have your eye on the Mini 2 and we’re wondering if it’s still worthwhile purchasing in 2023, give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. It’s always greatly appreciated, and we’ll see you in the next one.

Photos and video courtesy of Air Photography.