DJI Neo 2 review | The perfect drone for motorcycle adventures

Date reviewed: October 2025 | Tested by: John Milbank | Price: From £152 | www.dji.com/uk

In the past I’ve bought a DJI Mini 3 Pro then sold it to buy a DJI Flip, but the new DJI Neo 2 beats both of them hands-down as the (almost) perfect drone for motorcycle riders looking for a quick and easy way to get some epic photos and videos of their touring and adventure rides.

I’ve been using the DJI Neo 2 while riding my BMW R1250GS and a Triumph Scrambler 400XC, and this is why I think it’s the very best choice for anyone more interested in enjoying their trips and holidays than faffing about with controllers and image settings…

For the purpose of a clear review, ALL of the footage shown here is exactly as it came out of the DJI Neo 2, with no exposure adjustment or colour correction.

Pros & Cons

Why you can trust this review

No manufacturers or distributors ever have any influence on the reviews I write or film, I won’t ever do any paid reviews, and I’ll never agree to affiliate links. All products are tested fairly and equally, and if anything changes over time, I will update the written reviews.

Your purchasing choices should always be your own – Bennetts BikeSocial is just here to help ensure they’re informed choices.

Easy shots from the palm of your hand

Some of the automatic palm-launch modes, set to maximum distance where applicable.

You can launch the DJI Neo 2 from your bike

Without even taking your gloves or helmet off it’s possible – no, scratch that… it’s EASY – to pop the DJI Neo 2 out of your bike’s tank bag, whip off the camera’s protective cover, turn it on and launch it from the palm of your hand. When you’re finished, hold your hand out and it’ll land there, then you can pack it away again safely before riding off.

This isn’t an exaggeration or something I’ve had to learn a technique for – it really is that simple. You can even scroll through all the modes and make setting changes on the drone using the buttons on the side and the brilliant little screen on the front.

Some shots – like ‘Rocket’ only go up 20m, which isn’t that much really, but other shots will do a better job of showing the scenery around you (like ‘Circle’). Others don’t always offer the best framing in my experience, but you can always use manual control if you want to do something more specific. The best bet is to keep playing with it and find the modes you like best.

You can set the drone off to film any of the ‘Quick Shot’ video modes, and it’ll either come back to you when it’s finished or wait until you hold out your hand for it to land. Or it’ll land itself if the battery gets too low.

The palm-launch modes tend to keep the camera reasonably close to you, so if it does land itself it will usually be quite nearby. It’s still important to be cautious, but the status LED on the front turns red when the battery’s low and flashes when the drone is landing itself.

When you get the Neo 2 it will have a limited number of shooting modes accessible from the tiny screen, but you can add the others that are in the app, take some away and reorder them. Once you’ve done this, there aren’t many reasons to use the drone with a controller at all.

A full battery of tracking

From full to empty, this is an honest demonstration of the DJI Neo 2’s tracking ability

The DJI Neo 2’s gesture control is incredibly good

When using the palm-launch modes, the Neo 2 will position itself at the setting you choose; for instance a height of 20m for a ‘rocket’ launch. If you’re in the tracking modes you might see ‘far’ to the ‘front left’, but this is where the gesture controls can be an incredible advantage.

With the Neo 2 in the air, when you raise your palm (even in gloves and a helmet) the status light on the front flicks to blue. Then when you move your palm to the left or right the drone will move itself in that direction. If you want it further away or closer, hold up both hands and move them apart or bring them together. When you’re done, make a fist and the Neo 2 continues tracking from its new position. If you want the drone to track someone else while in flight, just get them to hold their palm up and it’ll move to them.

This might sound like a gimmick but it’s far from it – while testing the Neo’s tracking ability I had it flying in front of me and to the left. I was approaching a couple walking their dogs, so pulled up, moved the drone well over to the right by just holding up my palm, then carried on riding and the DJI kept well out of the way.

Tracking through trees

Impressive performance from this little drone

The DJI Neo 2’s tracking is phenomenal. But…

The DJI Neo 2 can track a subject like many other drones, but this is – by far – the best implementation of the tech that I’ve ever tried.

It should go without saying that you must NOT use it on a public road with other vehicles around, but it is incredibly capable. It also won’t work with cars, but if your on a bike (or skiing), it works great.

The Neo 2 is claimed to have a tracking speed of up to 12m/s, which is a shade under 27mph (just over 43km/h). In my testing, where there was a fairly strong side wind, using the cycle tracking mode the Neo 2 was able to keep with me at up to about 25mph, which is outstanding for a drone of this size and price.

What’s truly incredible though – and something I couldn’t achieve with the Mini 3 Pro or the Flip – is that it will track you at these speeds whether it’s behind you, to the side or even in front.

You can select front, front left, left, rear left, rear, rear right, right and front right positions when tracking, which makes for some brilliant video clips.

In my testing the drone would sometimes struggle to keep up if I pulled away too fast, and it would switch sides sometimes, but this appears to have been influenced by me starting filming while I’m seated, then standing up. It wasn’t always consistent, and sometimes the Neo 2 would move a surprising distance away and to the side despite me setting a front view, but the footage genuinely blew my mind, especially as this was all with a palm-launched device and no controller or even my phone connected. At times it would unexpectedly switch sides, but the footage it got was often all the better for it.

The Neo 2’s collision detection is impressive, but you can’t rely on it

The DJI Neo 2 is claimed to have omni-direction collision detection thanks to cameras on the rear top and bottom, an infrared sensor on the underside and LiDAR on the front, but it does require what DJI describes as ‘adequate’ lighting or 5 lux (which is equivalent to street lighting at night), on surfaces with ‘discernible patterns’ for the forward, backward, left, right and upwards collision detection.

Downwards requires the same, but also surfaces with a reflectivity of more than 20%. This includes walls, trees and people… and even my black leather gloves.

However, though the Neo 2 can track at up to 12m/s, the collision detection only works at up to 8m/s, which is just under 18mph (a little less than 29km/h). Still impressive, but keep in mind that if you’re travelling at more than that, your drone might not ‘see’ something.

I torture-tested the Neo 2 by asking it to track me in a shaded wood while I rode a Triumph Scrambler 400XC (badly). Speed wasn’t an issue due to my appalling level of off-road riding skill and the Metzeler Karoo Street tyres struggling for grip in the mud.

When I had the Neo 2 following me from behind it dealt well the overhanging trees, and managed to fly through the few dangling brambles it didn’t ‘see’. Impressive. But when I set it to fly in front of me it crashed several times…

DJI Neo 2: All the crashes

Despite some dodgy flying, the Neo 2 lives on

The DJI Neo 2 crashes very well

While not totally indestructible, the propellor guards on the Neo 2 – and its light weight – don’t just make it safer, they also mean that it’s surprisingly resilient.

I accidentally flew it into the corner of a wall, which must have hit the gimbal, but it was fine. Those crashes while riding through the trees? No problem… even when it smacked into a sign post.

The most it got was a little dirty, with a bit of damp on the outer case from the wet grass. The DJI Neo 2 mustn’t be flown in rain or mist, and you need to avoid puddles, but dropping into some damp grass is no problem.

Video quality is more than adequate on the DJI Neo 2

Describing the Neo 2’s video quality as ‘more than adequate’ might appear to be damning it with faint praise, but it’s true that there’s no 10bit D-Log M video profile for the best post-processing, the image sensor is a relatively small 1/2 inch, the white balance can be a little inconsistent in the auto modes and when light levels get low some noise becomes evident. This isn’t a pro cinematic device, but it’s actually more capable in many ways that my DJI Flip.

Full manual exposure control is available when using the RC-N3 controller, as is up to 4K 100fps. But it’s the palm launching modes and when using the smartphone app that things get more interesting as while DJI hasn’t added a 25fps frame rate, the drone does support 30fps, 50fps and 60fps in ALL shooting modes.

This is a huge deal for me as I combine my drone footage with other content I’ve shot, and I always use a 25fps timeline as the UK and Europe uses a 50hz mains frequency. If you’re shooting indoors it’s important to use a frame rate that ‘fits’ this to avoid strobing of most mains-powered artificial lighting. While 50fps makes for a less cinematic look due to sharper movement (think 28 Days Later’s zombies), I still prefer this to the horrible stuttering movement that can occur when trying to force something filmed at 30fps into a 25fps timeline.

Of course, I can also slow the Neo 2’s 50fps footage down by half and not lose any quality, and the 100fps rate is perfect for quarter speed if I use the RC-N3. The lack of 120fps will annoy people who edit on a 30fps timeline though…

You can record audio from the app

Unsurprisingly, the DJI Neo 2 doesn’t have its own microphone, but you can have the app record audio via your phone or a remote mic when using it for control. This is recorded as a separate file onto the drone’s internal storage, so if you’re editing outside of the DJI app (for instance in Premiere Pro), you’ll need to drop the .m4a onto the timeline, but it’s easy as they’re exactly the same length and it’s saved in the same folder with the same filename.

I’d recommend buying the Fly More Combo with the two spare batteries and charging dock

Battery life is limited on the DJI Neo 2

DJI claims a battery life of up to 17 minutes with the propellor guards fitted (the uppers are removable), but this will depend on the wind level.

When testing the Neo 2 on the open Fenland track, the wind was reported to be 14mph with gusts of up to 28mph. The drone was certainly getting tossed about and in some of the footage you could see it shifting and even occasionally got itself in the frame, but the two-axis gimbal does an impressive job, especially for the price.

In these conditions, one battery was able to let me do all of the palm launch modes – each with an individual take-off and landing – as well as manually send it out for a photo.

Tracking on a fresh battery while riding between 15 and 25mph, the Neo 2 ran for ten minutes and 48 seconds before it stopped recording then landed itself automatically.

Using the RC-N3 controller I flew the Neo 2 for eight minutes before it tried to return to home. I cancelled this and flew it back nearer me, then kept ignoring the advice to return. At 10 minutes I got a ‘critical battery’ alert, then at 11 minutes it said it was automatically landing wherever it was. I was able to keep it in the air by constantly nudging the stick upwards, then at 12 minutes and 55 seconds the drone ignored all inputs and landed itself rather than fall out of the air.

The battery life will vary depending on how you fly the Neo 2, but I found it’s more than enough for the relatively short clips I want to shoot. I was also able to keep the battery charger that comes with the Fly More combos plugged into my power-bank, which kept the two spare batteries fully charged.

Note that you can only charge the batteries when they’re plugged into the drone or into the battery charging unit as they don’t have a charging port.

Choosing the best DJI Neo 2 bundle

You could just buy the DJI Neo 2 on its own, but due to the battery life I’d strongly recommend the Fly More Combo. If you want the greater range and easier manual control then opt for the RC-N3 bundle that I’ve reviewed, but honestly, this drone is going to spend most of its time sitting in my bike’s tank bag with just the spare batteries.

If you’re feeling flush I’d go for the FPV kit, which includes the RC Motion 3 controller (like a free-floating joystick) instead of the RC-N3, and the Goggles N3. If you fly this way you need to have someone standing with you to act as a spotter for safety, but you could still use the smartphone app for more limited manual control when out on a ride.

If you want to add the Goggles N3 later you can at a cost of £229, but you’ll also have to buy the RC Motion 3 controller for £79, or the FPV Remote Controller 3 for £139 as the RC-N3 isn’t compatible with the googles. I’ve not been able to review this set-up yet, but will update the review in future if I can – it certainly appears to be a great fun way to fly the Neo 2.

You don’t really need the RC-N3 controller with the Neo 2

The DJI Neo 2 is available bundled with the RC-N3 controller, which holds your phone in a secure bracket to act as the screen and gives access to much great range and control. The full manual exposure control could be useful (30fps is still the lowest frame rate), but it’s the great range that some might appreciate.

You need to attach the supplied digital transceiver to the back of the drone for it to work with the RC-N3. This plugs in securely, but it also has four small screws (retained so they can’t get lost – nice one DJI) that you need to fasten to ensure it doesn’t fall out while the drone’s in flight. The screwdriver supplied to replace the propellors fits these screws too. You can leave this permanently attached, but it does take up a little more space.

Controlling the drone with the thumbsticks is a lot nicer – and more fun – experience than using the virtual sticks when operating it with the DJI Fly app on your smartphone, but that, the range and the manual control is the only reason I’ve found to run with the controller. You do also get to manually control the Neo 2 at its full 12m/s speed with the RC-N3 – with the app you’re limited to 8m/s, but I tend to use the app most for positioning the drone where I want it.

Without the digital transceiver attached, the Neo 2 takes up less space and it doesn’t have the flexible-but-still-vulnerable-feeling pair of antenna sticking out of the top. And it does everything I want it to.

You can get a huge amount of great content using just the palm launch modes, but sometimes you’ll want to fly the drone a bit further away or to a specific position to capture some footage or a photo. The thing is, the range when using just the mobile phone app is surprisingly good.

The manual control option on the app is surprisingly capable, though you are limited to 8m/s

In ideal conditions the DJI Neo 2 can potentially transmit up to 500m from the drone to your smartphone, but it will depend on your phone. With my Google Pixel 7 Pro I was able to get the Neo 2 out to a range that gave me plenty of scope for some really wide shots, which took in plenty of scenery. With it staying close to the ground it reached just over 100m before losing connection, and with it about 20m up in the air I was able to get it 175m before the image started to stutter. That’s a LOT better than my Flip used to manage, but the point is that I was small in the frame and able to get some great views of the world around me. Or at least I would be if I was somewhere more scenic!

The transmission was starting to stutter at this range, but I was just using the DJI Fly app on my smartphone

It’s important to ensure that the home point has updated before flying a drone, and in this mode if connection is lost to the phone it will wait a few seconds before coming back to you. If it’s particularly windy it might warn you that it can’t return, so don’t fly too far away if you’re not able to move yourself closer to the drone should it go out of range. For instance, don’t fly it off the edge of a cliff or out to sea unless return to home is operating correctly.

I deliberately flew the Neo 2 out of range of my phone, and also quit the app while flying – in both cases the drone returned safely to me after a few seconds waiting for a reconnection.

The DJI Neo 2 does not offer external storage

There’s no microSD card slot on the DJI Neo 2, so you either need to download the clips to your phone or plug it into your computer where it shows up as a removable device. The 49GB of internal storage (my computer says it’s actually 52.65GB) is more than enough for most uses – a 4K 50fps clip of ten minutes 48 seconds takes up 5.13GB, so realistically I can shoot more than an hour and a half of footage before having to make space.

The Neo 2 doesn’t have the high-speed USB-C transfer rate of the new Osmo 360 though – 20.93GB of footage took eight minutes and 58 seconds to copy to an SSD on my computer.

Being sub-250g makes life easier

If you’re going to buy any drone it’s very important to understand the law around their use. As rules change over time, I’d also recommend keeping an eye on channels like Geeksvana for updates, and the video below is a valuable insight:

Geeksvana’s guide to drone rules

Current UK laws (as of May 2025)

I strongly recommend a membership to FPVUK, which costs just £24.99 and includes £5,000,000 public liability insurance and optional automatic registration with the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority), along with other useful benefits. You can also get lots of advice here through the DroneHub forum. FPVUK also lobbies government for fair consumer drone rules, so is well worth supporting.

THe DJI Neo 2 is classed as UK0, which means it can be flown pretty much anywhere including over people, but you MUST have an Operator ID, and that number must be stuck somewhere on the drone. I have it under the battery as it’s fine to put it somewhere that’s easily accessible without tools. This costs £11.79 per year and it’s worth setting it up to automatically renew through FPVUK. You don’t have to have a Flyer ID, but again, I’d strongly recommend it. It’s free, but you must take an online course to get it, which isn’t a chore and it helps you understand the laws and limitations.

Having a drone with a take-off weight of under 250g means there are fewer restrictions to where you can fly it, but you still must NOT fly in restricted airspace. For that reason it’s vital to also download the Drone Assist app on Android and on iOS, to understand where other aircraft may be flying, and where there are restrictions to airspace like prisons etc.

If you’re considering buying a drone I’d suggest first downloading the Drone Assist app as it’s free and gives you an idea of where you can and can’t fly in your local area.

Drones are fantastic tools and great fun to fly, but regardless of what size they are you can’t treat them as just a toy: it’s vitally important that you understand how and where to fly, as you could face prosecution for breaking the law.

If you’re planning to fly your drone in Europe, you need to register in the relevant country as the UK is no longer a member of the EU. Drone flights in Europe are governed by EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency), and you can register as a drone pilot in Europe at the EASA website here.

Does the DJI Neo 2 support Remote ID?

From 1 January 2028, ALL drones weighing over 100g with a camera will require Remote ID, which transmits a unique identity and location information of it and the pilot when in flight.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority’s website here, this will apply regardless of how old the drone is. It’s possible that some drones might need a module attaching (which will add to the weight and could take them over the limit of their category), or might simply require a firmware update.

DJI has confirmed to me that Remote ID is supported on the DJI Neo 2.

You have to sideload the Android DJI Fly app

It’s disappointing that, while the DJI Fly app is available from the Apple iOS app store, all of DJI’s applications have to be sideloaded on Android devices. This isn’t difficult, but it does mean turning off some security on your device while downloading the apps direct from the DJI website. I use several DJI devices and am pretty comfortable with this, but it’s not clear why it happens, and DJI still just stands by its official statement from back in January 2023:

"The compatibility between DJI apps and Google Play Store is changing. Therefore, you currently cannot download or update the Android versions of our apps using Google Play. DJI now provides the most current versions of its Android apps on DJI's website. To install or update the most recent Android version of a DJI app such as DJI Fly or DJI Mimo, users can visit dji.com/downloads and select the app they'd like to install. This is an easy-to-use and comfortable solution, and ensures that our customers can enjoy the full functionality and benefits of our Android app versions. Thank you for your understanding."

Note that there are scam DJI apps on the Google Play store that try to charge for features while masquerading as official DJI software. DJI apps DO NOT charge for features. There are no DJI apps available on the Play store for Android, so don’t download any dodgy ones from there by mistake.

Should you buy DJI Care refresh?

DJI’s Care Refresh programme offers a replacement drone (at a reduced price) if it flys away and gets lost, or if it’s damaged in a collision or by water.

The one year plan allows you to claim for up to two replacements in that period, or the two-year plan allows up to four in those 24 months. It costs £14 for a year’s cover, or £24 for two years, but you need to buy it within 48 hours of first activating a brand-new drone, or later by applying online with video verification of the condition of the drone, which you can do here.

You get up to two replacements of damaged drones and one replacement of a drone that’s flown away and got lost. If you have the broken device, sending it back will see it replaced for £28. If you’ve lost the drone altogether, it costs £88 for another one.

This is potentially good value, especially if you’re new to drones, though the Neo 2 is very hard to damage, and unlikely to get lost. You can buy the drone on its own, so you have you’ll need to weigh up the cost of the Care Refresh package against how clumsy / unlucky you’re likely to be.

Compared to the DJI Flip, the Neo 2 might look a similar size from the top, but it’s a lot more compact

Three alternatives to the DJI Neo 2

I spent a long time researching what to buy before investing in the DJI Flip, and I’m generally very happy with my choice, but here are some others to consider…

• DJI Flip (249g), from £369 | I bought the DJI Flip as I wanted a compact, easy to use drone that would give great video quality at a relatively affordable price. The footage is superb, but I was frustrated to find that the palm-launch Quick Shots modes don’t offer any frame rates that work on a 25fps timeline, resulting in choppy footage. It folds up small and is easy to use, but the Neo 2 is so much more convenient and capable. And the footage isn’t significantly worse. Read the full review of the DJI Flip here.

• DJI Mini 5 Pro (249g), estimated from £689 | It appears that the existing Mini 4 Pro will be superseded very soon, but it’s a very high-quality drone as it is with outstanding omnidirectional obstacle sensing and great tracking abilities. The Mini 4 Pro has a top speed of 36mph, and I’d expect the Mini 5 Pro to be the same. It’ll be interesting to see what features the new device has… Find out more about the DJI Mini 4 Pro here.

• Hover Air X1 Pro (192g), from £459 | It’s hard to know just how suitable the 8K Hover Air X1 Pro (or the Pro Max) is for motorcycle adventures. On paper its compact form and simple operation could make it ideal, and the optional beacon and joystick seem to have real potential, but ultimately I couldn’t find anything that convinced me it was the best option for motorcycling. Find out more about the Hover Air X1 Pro and Pro Max here.

These are just three of many alternatives – you can find all the action cameras and other tech we've tested here and be sure to regularly check for any discounts available through Bikesocial membership.

DJI Neo 2 review: Verdict

I honestly can’t stress enough how impressed I am with the DJI Neo 2. The image quality isn’t up there with the best drones but it’s still very good, and the automatic ‘Quick Shot’ modes are a great way to capture moments.

Manual control with the smartphone app is surprisingly capable, and the tracking is phenomenal. To have something at this price point that can track you from a variety of angles at up to around 25mph is brilliant.

The automation and gesture controls almost give the DJI Neo 2 a personality – I often found myself talking to it… “Well done,” “Come on, over here a bit,” and “Great job!” And of course the odd “Oh dear, why did you do that?”

The DJI Neo 2 is incredibly easy to use and extremely resilient, but it’s not a toy – even drones this small are governed by very specific rules and regulations. However, it’s not hard to make sure that you keep yourself out of trouble and a tiny drone like this can be far less offensive to other people than the larger, more professional devices.

I’ll be selling my Flip because the DJI Neo 2 is, I believe, the perfect drone to take on your motorcycle tours and adventures…