DJISpark, Mini Drone, Lava Red

** Full disclosure - no one has given me any equipment or freebies to do this review. All equipment I own and purchased myself. **DJI did a nice job on this smaller quad. Flies well with Controller and not bad with the phone alone - though not as well with the controller.A couple of things you should be aware of and frustrated me when I got it:1) Controller wifi password is DIFFERENT and on the back of the CONTROLLER - not to be confused with the wifi password on the drone (under battery) which is different.2) The drone has to be switched between phone only and controller modes with the power button.3) As usual manuals really aren't very clear. I ended up watching a few youtube videos to get me going right & quick.4) Just assume there is a new release of the software/firmware when you open the box. Go ahead and connect everything together and apply it.5) Assume your going to need to practice ( a while) to get the hand gesture features to work. Its not trivial, but once you get it down they work about 80% of the time. Good enough for a quick selfie.Quality of photos is very good and on par with my Iphone 6s or better. Video is great too - prefer 4k but will live until DJI does a firmware upgrade on these to 4k. Love that they put Sport Mode as a switch! That is a blast and works surprisingly well (Phantom 1 days in equivalent of "sport mode" was just plain scary.. DJI has made this extremely useful now. )Compared to Dobby and S4 Quads - hands down no question DJI is 200% better and more stable. BETTER PRODUCT, BETTER COMPONENTS ETC..I tried both of the others out and they just don't fly well and they require constant tuning while flying. DJI - no such issues.Lastly - but a good one - THANKS DJI for the BAG (fly more package) not only is it designed to fit the Spark but it ALSO fits the Mavic! Seriously a great detail and one I will personally use a lot. I don't take both at the same time so the bag is a great featureFUTURE ITEMS:1) 4k video firmware - should be easy to do and won't compete with Mavic.2) Still think DJI should have a LOUD audible ping every 10 seconds if it is powered on for over 10 mins but not connected to controller or phone. This would be a HUGE HIT for those who have lost a drone and are attempting to find it. No hardware needed, just use the speaker - crank it to full and ping noise every 10 seconds until the battery dies or something connects. You could also do a disable of this feature too. Probably get a month of pings! More than long enough to find your lost toy...I've got (or had and lost..) every consumer quad DJI has built. Phantoms 1-4 (pro) Vision, Mavic and now the Spark. Why would I own the Spark? Its really about use cases; I wanted something small (tiny) with a great camera that I can take photos/videos while traveling. Mavic is close - but it is big unfolded and it garners a lot of attention where as the Spark is pretty discrete. I can take that out and fly it and not get a bunch of attention.The Mavic I use for distance - especially out on the ice (lake freezes over) or out in the field. Phantom 4 doesn't get much air time these days though arguably a better camera than the Mavic. I use the 4 for when I want pro quality shots. Similar story w/ my 2 with a Gimbal and Gopro. I still have my Phantom 1 which I use as a trainer for my kids and as well for my friends who want to try a DJI out before they buy. I've tried just about every quad manufacturer and returned them all.. DJI is just a better quad maker. They leverage their Professional equipment (Remember DJI's been a pro Quad company MANY years before ever selling a consumer drone.) and put it into their consumer lines - just can't beat that.

This drone is by no means going to be like a Phantom, Inspire, or even a Mavic. It has a lower battery life than other DJI drones, it shoots in 1080p 30fps, has only two-axis gimbal, might (?) have otg support if your phone is compatible and you download a certain version of the app. Its not what you would consider to be a drone that anyone would use professionally and would be used more to make vlogs or selfies. Thats what I thought. Now I know better.I will put this out there, no I am not paid to write this review, (though if DJI is interested in having me review some of their products, I am down), nor am I a fanboy of this company as the only product I have really heavliy used is this one.I love this drone for what it is. It might not be the most professional, but it is a good step up. It provides a lot of features for every type of user. It's fast when you just want to have fun. It takes some really impressive videos and photos, with the "Tiny planet" option being my favorite to use. Its stable to a substantial amount of wind, though don't hand launch as it might cause it to crash. This was amazing as I was able to fly up a vertical rock face in about 15-20 mph winds with gusts close to 25 and snap a few photos of my buddies. Thats insane for such a small drone. All of these features are getting me hooked to the point I am considering grabbing a Mavic air in addition because of its 4k capabilities. DJI does make mistakes sometimes, with one of my complaints being the wifi connection as it doesnt seem to allow me to change channels manually or even see the levels of interference. Occusync and OTG on board the Mavic pro would have made this more stable and DJI claims they are currently trying to get it to work, but we dont know how long that will take. The app is somewhat of a limitiing factor in this equeation as it tends to be more of a problem than the acutal drone itself.With that all being said, is it perfect? not really. Would it be a good beginner drone for those interested in photography, videography or drones in general? By all means, I would say yes. Just understand what your getting with the amount your spending and you'll be pretty happy with this drone.