Road Testing the Parrot Bebop 2 FPV Drone

A drone is the hottest travel accessory to have in your arsenal at the moment, particularly when it comes to content creators. For us, it’s not just about having a play with a cool new toy, it’s about creating mind-blowing stories for our audience, and a drone is the key to elevating your visuals to the next level. So, when we were offered the Parrot Bebop 2 FPV to road test, we couldn’t get our hands on it fast enough. 

Skye Gilkeson

 

What We Loved about the Parrot Bebop 2 FPV

 

The Price Makes it a Great Entry-Level Drone

The Parrot Bebop 2 is a leisure drone making it was a great entry level drone in terms of size, price and complexity. We didn’t feel like we were at risk of losing thousands of dollars if we made an error piloting it for the first time. A lot of the bigger drones on the market are priced much higher making both the investment and the risk greater too. The Bebop 2 comes at a fraction of the cost, making it suitable for everyone from families wanting to use a drone to explore, farmers who need an extra pair of eyes in the paddock or digital content creators who are starting to dabble in drone footage and photography.

It’s Super Light and Compact

At just 500 grams, we could carry it in a single hand, effortlessly. When you are carrying a backpack full of other cameras, accessories and devices, that is a big bonus. It also means you are more likely to take it out for a shoot, rather than leaving it at home, as can often happen with heavier equipment when you just want to run off to explore. The Skycontroller, feels a little like a sophisticated gaming controller and is super lightweight. The pilot plugs their phone in to the unit and it then becomes the view finder, with video streamed live from the drone’s camera through the controller and on to the phone, via the FreeFlight Pro app.

It’s Stronger Than It Looks

The Bebop 2 has been designed to fly at bursts of 60km/h horizontally and 21 km/h vertically and can withstand winds up to 63km/h so i  It can reach maximum speed in 14 seconds and stop in under five seconds. We took the Bebop 2 out during a couple of extremely windy days. I watched as The Hubby’s hands shook while he held the controller, terrified the drone might be carried off by the wind. But it withstood the weather and we were able to get quite a bit of height, despite the heavy gusts. If you are flying it in the wind, my advice would be to take off and watch to see whether it begins to be swept away, take it up and keep returning to ensure it’s safe. It’s is much more robust than it looks.

The Image Quality was Impressive

We were pretty impressed with the stability of the picture the drone captured, even in the wind. It was much more stable than I had imagined it would be. The forward facing camera features a 14 megapixel fish-eye lens and shoots full HD so it’s a lovely wide image that really shows off a beautiful sweeping landscape well. The video is then easily transferred from the controller to your phone using the Parrot app and then you can transfer the clips on to a computer for editing.

It Offers an Immersive Flying Experience

The unique cockpit glasses take you directly into the picture, helping to block out any distractions and focus within the frame. You slip your smartphone into the glasses, so it becomes both your screen and view finder, displaying the flight data with the image for a full FPV (first-person view) experience.

 

What we Didn’t Love about the Parrot Bebop 2

• We didn’t love the FPV. This was mostly because the Bebop 2 was our first drone experience, we were flying it near a tree line and over water. No doubt, over time you would get used to piloting with just the glasses and it would definitely help create smoother, more cohesive sequences of video, but we didn’t quite get there in the short time with had the drone.
• The joystick was very sensitive, no doubt owing to the fact that the compact Bebop 2 is so responsive. This would also be something you would get used to over time, just like you do with a new car.
• We wished the Bebop 2 was a little easier to carry. While it was lightweight, we carried it mostly in hand. That too is easily resolved by buying the Parrot Bebop 2 FPV Backpack.
• While the video was pretty good quality, particularly when it was closer to the subject, when we were filming at a higher elevation it really lost sharpness and image quality. This is something that likely wouldn’t effect the leisure drone user. For those hoping to use it professionally, you may find it to be a problem.

 

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