(slow pop music)
- Parrot just released its second attempt
at a drone tailored more towards
travelers and videographers, called Anafi.
Now, I have two units,
because the first one that I got wasn't working that well,
and the second unit that I got works
a little bit better than that one.
Anafi does introduce three features
that you can't find anywhere else,
but is it enough to rival DJI?
It is so close to being good,
but there are a lot of quirks that I just can't ignore.
Disregarding the software issues I had,
there were also design decisions
that I just don't agree with.
Let's start with the hardware.
When unfolded and ready to fly,
the carbon body with glass fiber is similar in size
to the Mavic Air, but when it packed up for travel,
the Anafi is just noticeably larger
and just harder to fit in a bag.
The SD card slot is placed under the battery
in a lockable tray that reminds me
of those old SIM trays you would find in Nokia phones.
Also, there's no way to check the battery level
once the battery's plugged into the drone,
but at least it lasts a little bit longer
than the Mavic Air does.
There's no internal storage in the drone,
so forgetting an SD card,
which happens more than any of us would like to admit to,
becomes an issue.
Although it's nice that there's
a 16 gigabyte SD card included in the box.
But the most important feature when it comes to drones
designed for videographers is the image quality.
And this is where Anafi shines.
Its 4K, 100 megabits per second,
bitrate footage looks great.
I also prefer Anafi's flat profile
better than the Mavic Air,
which kinda helps me in color correcting and post.
The ability to shoot HDR video is one of the three features
that you can't find anywhere else in the drones
in this price range.
But I'm just not happy with how that footage looks.
It's just a little bit too noisy,
a little over too saturated, and just looks unnatural.
The Anafi's second stand-up feature
is the ability to shoot upward,
so you can tilt the camera 180 degrees
and shoot up towards the sky.
It's nice, but I haven't really found
a lot of use out of it.
And the last unique feature, also my favorite,
is Anafi's ability to digitally zoom without losing quality.
While filming in 4K, you can zoom up to 1.3 times.
And if you're filming in 1080p, it goes up to 2.8.
Even though I can do similar things in post-processing
by shooting in 4K and downresing to 1080p,
I really like that feature, because it kind of puts you
in a mindset where you frame your shots differently,
and nowadays, drone footage is becoming very repetitive
and very recognizable.
Being able to change your aesthetic
without having to buy a more expensive drone
with interchangeable lenses is a welcoming change.
All right, let's go back to the things
I didn't like about this drone.
When left in a hover mode,
it was kinda drifting away from me,
which is just mildly scary.
When shooting HDR, which only works in 4K, by the way,
it was hard to tell when it was on or off,
and some of the settings that I chose
never got applied to the files.
And some of those files were also just gone.
A lot of issues that I just listed can be fixed
with a software update,
but it makes for a stressful piloting experience.
Every time I switch back to my Mavic Air,
piloting was fun again.
Anafi lacks that confidence, and with good reason.
One time when I was testing its sensor
at the bottom of the drone,
just by putting my hand underneath it,
the drone just went flying in circles.
Finally it crashed into a tree.
Luckily that wasn't the case with the new unit.
All right, let's talk about the remote controller you get.
It is massive.
It does feel good in your hands, however.
But be prepared for it to take up
a lot of space in your bag.
Ever since DJI introduced removable joysticks,
it's hard to get used to anything else.
The phone holder also doubles as an antenna,
and despite a few bad connections I initially had,
the wifi connection otherwise was stable throughout.
If you don't want to carry this big ol' remote,
you can fly your Anafi with your phone as well.
All right, now the battery.
It is a little bit better than what you get
with the Mavic Air.
It's 25 minutes, and I think that's really a good spot
for the drones that are meant
for travelers and people on the go.
And the fact that both battery and the remote
can be charged through USB-C means you can easily charge it
in your car or with an external battery pack.
So that definitely saved my ass a couple of times,
and you don't get that luxury with DJI drones,
where you gotta spend some money to get
all the add-on accessories with it.
Honestly, I had high hopes for this drone,
and I really want all these software issues
to get sorted out,
because this drone has a lot of potential,
and we do need another player in this space.
Competition is good.
It force you to get better,
and it force you to get more innovative.
In the world of drones, DJI is a clear market leader,
but with Anafi, Parrot has made
the best competitor for DJI in years.
Coupled with all the unique features,
this drone is actually gonna appeal to a lot of people.
But considering it's only $100 less,
is it worth taking that risk?
So there's a ton more detail in the written post,
so go check that out.
If you have any other questions,
just leave 'em in the comments and I'll get back to you.
- [Crew Member] Cool.
- Bye.
- [Crew Member] Bye.
- See ya.
It's cold.
- [Crew Member] Oh, you're cold?