Review of the DJI Inspire 2.

Professional-grade construction and performance at a professional pricing

The Inspire 2 is perhaps the best flagship-level drone available today, with market-leading safety features, outstanding build quality, excellent app functionality, and gorgeous optics – the latter of which can be updated over time to safeguard your initial investment. However, the primary impediment is the investment's cost.

When the DJI Inspire 1 released, it created quite an impression, boasting a slew of cutting-edge technologies including the ability to switch out the camera lens based on your shooting objectives. While it remains one of the greatest drones available, the industry is developing — which is where the Inspire 2 comes into play.

While it appears to be identical to the previous Inspire model, this new drone features a slew of improvements. It's even more adept at avoiding obstructions, and ships alongside Zenmuse's new X5S camera. Additionally, it features a twin battery arrangement for greater endurance.

While DJI's competitors have improved their game in recent years, the Inspire 2 is a completely different proposition, comfortably leading the manufacturer's range of flagship, professional-spec drones; the more frugal among you will be disappointed to learn that it costs significantly more than the company's more consumer-oriented Spark, Mavic, and Phantom lines.

The cost and the availability

The base device costs roughly £3,000 / $3,000 / AU$5,200, but if the newest Zenmuse X5S camera is included, the price will likely go to over £6,000 / $6,200 / AU$10,700, depending on the store and the additional things they choose to bundle.

Design

If you're familiar with the DJI Inspire 1, the Inspire 2 won't surprise you, at least in terms of appearance. It retains the quad-prop configuration of its predecessor and, like its predecessor, the arms are made of super-tough carbon fibre, lending the drone exceptional strength.

DJI has also updated the exterior; the old model's white plastic has been replaced with a quite attractive magnesium aluminium composite. Another significant alteration is the addition of a forward-facing FPV camera and obstacle avoidance system to the drone's front bar, as well as a dual-battery arrangement for greater endurance.

As a result, the Inspire 2 seems much more like something brought back in time by Skynet to assassinate John Connor than its predecessor did.

Although the drone does not come equipped with a camera, you may choose from DJI's choice of Zenmuse cameras (the one shipped with our review unit is the X5S). Because the camera can be swapped out to use the appropriate lens for the job, this is the ideal equipment for professional photographers and videographers that want total control over their shooting setup.

Construction and handling

The original Inspire 1 was constructed like a tank, but the Inspire 2's redesigned aluminium exterior makes it even harder. The carbon fibre arms ensure that bumps and bashes will not harm the device, with the only weak points being the plastic, quick-release propellers – which are readily replaceable if damaged – and the camera itself, which is also replaceable but at a considerably higher cost.

The build quality, on the other hand, is essentially inconsequential given the enormous amount of countermeasures incorporated in the Inspire 2. The FPV camera and obstacle avoidance system, as indicated before, track approaching things 30 metres ahead, while the upward-facing infrared sensors search for items five metres above the drone, which is useful when flying in enclosed places. Sensors for terrain sensing mounted on the bottom of the Inspire 2 complete the set.

The result of all this technology is a drone that is nearly impossible to crash; it is intelligent enough to avoid colliding with trees or smashing into the ground, though it's worth noting that with the full suite of object avoidance features enabled, you're limited to a top speed of 45mph – if you're confident enough, you can disable these to reach speeds of around 58mph.

If your excitement gets the better of you and you allow the drone to fly away from you, the'return to home' feature ensures that you do not accidentally flush your £6,000 investment down the toilet.

Despite these characteristics, it's worth mentioning that the Inspire 2 is one of the most agile drones we've tested. Not only is it lightning fast, but it also responds quickly to human input and is as rock-steady as they come in the air, even in moderate wind.

Performance

As with the Inspire 1, the Inspire 2 is operated by a specialised remote that communicates with the drone via a pair of strong antennae. Due to the lack of a screen, you must link your Android or iOS smartphone to the remote through a wired connection - you must also install DJI's GO 4 software, not the DJI GO app that came with the Inspire 1 and other prior DJI models.

Once within the app, you can conduct operations such as calibrating the camera, turning on and off novice mode (which restricts the drone's travel distance from its starting position), and much more. Additionally, you may access the drone's autonomous flight modes, one of which - Spotlight Pro – enables unnervingly precise tracking of moving objects.

While some drones have claimed this capability, Spotlight Pro is a true step above the competition. According to DJI, it uses "advanced visual tracking algorithms" to adhere to moving objects like glue, capturing images and footage that would normally require a second camera operator (which, incidentally, is also an option with the Inspire 2 – one remote controls the drone while a second'slave' remote controls the camera).

Spotlight Pro is available in the TapFly, Waypoint, and Point of Interest 'intelligent flight' modes and adds an incredible amount of functionality to the Inspire 2's already amazing feature set.

Battery life is always an issue with drones, and with all of the added technology crammed into the Inspire 2, you'd be excused for being concerned about the impact on endurance. However, DJI considered this and added a dual-battery option that increases flight time to around 25 minutes.

Naturally, this amount may vary depending on how hard you push the drone - we achieved more over 25 minutes during a moderate flight – but it's a good starting point. Charging both batteries concurrently is simple with the included charger - it features four charging ports in total, allowing you to purchase more batteries and keep them fully charged at all times.

Capture of video and photographs

DJI's Zenmuse line of cameras has expanded in tandem with its drone lineup, and the latest addition – the X5S – was created specifically for the Inspire 2. It's a Micro Four Thirds camera with a larger sensor than previous models, which results in better detail and brighter colours. It's as if you're flying a high-end professional stills camera, allowing you to capture some incredibly breathtaking static shots.

When it comes to video, the Inspire 2 – when combined with the X5S – delivers an enviable configuration for the majority of industry experts. While 4K may be the current standard for other drones, this bad boy can record in 5.2K at 30 frames per second. 4K at 60 frames per second is conceivable, and the film may be scaled down to 720p if desired - although why would you want to when the footage is this good?

We admired

The Inspire 2 is a delight to fly, with excellent responsiveness, remarkable speed (especially when the object avoidance algorithms are activated), and excellent endurance, owing to its dual battery design. The DJI GO 4 software is jam-packed with capabilities, including some fantastic automatic flying modes, and when combined with the Zenmuse X5S camera, the Inspire 2 becomes one of the best aerial picture and video capturing devices available.

We disapproved.

We complained a little about the Inspire 1's pricing, but the Inspire 2 is a whole new level of costly. You'll need to spend around £6,000 / $6,200 / AU$10,70 to get the setup we've reviewed here, and given that many people don't spend that much on a car, DJI's flagship offering is going to be completely out of reach for the majority of casual users, making it almost exclusively aimed at industry professionals who will see a return on their investment.

Verdict

While the original Inspire 1 was excellent, the Inspire 2 exceeds it in virtually every way. The design has been enhanced, with cheap-looking plastic replaced with aluminium composite bodywork, while the considerably greater object avoidance technology allows you to breathe a bit easier as your pricey investment soars to new heights.

A twin-battery configuration provides more than 25 minutes of flying duration, while the flexibility to switch camera lenses to fit your shooting objectives will appeal to serious photographers and video artists — it also helps future-proof the drone to some extent. Add a superb and fully-featured smartphone app and a dedicated remote control and you've got a genuinely awesome piece of gear – but the best package's price tag will put it out of reach of casual drone users.

If you're not concerned with the enhanced object avoidance technology or the 5.2K video recording, it may be prudent to consider the ageing (but still excellent) Inspire 1 or the DJI Phantom 4, both of which can be purchased for a fraction of the price without sacrificing too much essential functionality.