Parrot - Bebop 2 Quadcopter with Skycontroller 2 and Cockpit FPV Glasses - White

I've looked into buying a better quality drone since getting my son what was basically a toy 2 years ago & found that if there's anything more than heavy breathing it was impossible to fly. I drooled over the DJi Phantom 3 but it was just too expensive until the recent price drop & couldn't justify the expense. The original Bebop didn't impress me & neither did the Bebop 2 at its original price. BUT, the price drop for the Bebop 2 FPV made this the ideal drone for what I wanted it for. Not nearly as big as the Phantom 3 but having pretty good video & picture taking while having a long lasting battery the Bebop 2 also has an excellent software package with the option of purchasing Follow Me & FlightPlan features for an additional $20 each (kind of offsets the price drop but well worth the additional expense). In just the couple of days I've had this I've now used it with my IPad, my Samsung S6 Edge+, my son's IPhone & the Skycontroller and I have to say that flying was never easier or more fun! Out of the box the BB2 was limited to a maximum height of 30' but once I connected my phone or IPad to the Skycontroller I was able to change numerous parameters to better suit my needs & have had this drone up high enough to make you dizzy looking around. While using my phone or IPad, I won't go much above the house (large 2 story) as 1 time I went to about 75 or 80' and it lost contact with the drone! While initially in a panic, I had set the drone to return home within 20 seconds without getting a signal from my controller & the drone just hovered there without budging an inch before it started to return home but once it came to about 40' I was able to reconnect to my phone & haven't had any issues since. I haven't yet been able to test the distance capabilities as I want to bring it to an open area first. Follow me works amazing as long as you follow instructions & set it up properly. They give you a 15 day trial for each add on but I'll be buying them soon. The Bebop 2 is very easy to fly--I've never flown a drone before and haven't had any problems flying this, it takes off & lands with the press of a button & the controls are very smooth without jerking the drone rapidly out of control & you can set the parameters to be as sensitive as you like. Some reviews around the web have knocked the BB2 for poor picture quality but I've watched images & videos on my 60" tv & they looked quite impressive & I'm a very discerning videophile. While other drones may have better image quality according to their users, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the image quality from this--even flying at night the image didn't get pixelated or filled with 'noise'. Even my wife was impressed and that's just not easy to do with electronics! If you're considering this, I would wholeheartedly recommend it. IMHO, the only con is that recordings are limited to 8gb as the drone only has onboard system memory & doesn't have the option to add any external memory. I had 1 flight today of about 13 minutes and used 1.3 go or so on the 'Standard' mode. I haven't even tried high quality yet as I wanted to see how the image looked in just the standard mode first. The drone is rated for 25 minutes of fight & I've gotten at least that on every charge, which takes about 55 minutes for an empty battery using the included charger.

Let me first apologize for the length of this review, but I hope to help others make an informed purchasing decision based on my experience. I have now purchased two Parrot Bebop 2 drones (more on that in a moment). I purchased the first one in November 2017 as a Christmas gift for my father who had recently sufferred a heart attack which required a triple bypass. While the only hobby my father knew was farming and hard work, that was not an option anymore and the family hoped he would take an interest in a new techie device and... IT WORKED! The "boys" in the family spent time training him how to use it, download the videos and play them back on his TV. Mission accomplished! In July 2018, my dad offered to help film footage of his church's dragon boat race and solicited my husband to help as he had helped my dad learn to pilot the drone. As any 70 something would do, he made several practice runs to make sure everything would run smooth for the big day. During the practice runs my father noticed some issues with the drones lack of response while over the pond where the race was to occur. He contacted Parrot and was given some update instructions. My father did all of the required updates and again was ready to go. The day of the event, my husband and father arrived and videoed the construction of the boats. As the initial races began, they piloted the drone to a position to see the action.... over the water. Then, without warning, the drone "landed" itself right in the water. Without warning to the console and despite my husband's (who was piloting) attempts to increase elevation or "return home." Since my husband was piloting when it went down... off to Best Buy I go to immediate replace it. (Hence purchase number two). That would have been the end of the story if I hadn't done some research to see what happened in an attempt to avoid a repeat situation. That is when I found out there is a known issue with "water dives" and the Parrot Bebop 2!!! Here is a link to a blog on the Bebop site that discusses multiple experiences identical to my fathers. https://community.parrot.com/t5/Bebop-2/Bebop-2-lost-control-and-flew-into-the-Water/td-p/125852 That began our discussions with Bebop's customer service, or lack therof. My father contacted them with the details of his specific story. As expected of any company, they requested receipts for purchase and additional details available from the last flight (coordinates, elevation, battery life, etc.) All of these were reasonable requests. The first reason they denied the claim was because we could not provide an "appropriate" receipt from Best Buy. This is where I will give Best Buy a shout out.... the original Bebop was an internet purchase that was delivered to my home. Clearly, I did not receive a traditional register receipt. I was able to obtain my receipt online from Best Buy and the UPS delivery confirmation and we submitted that to Bebop. When those were unacceptable proofs of purchase I called Best Buy who told me that is the only receipt available for an internet order, but they would be more than happy to talk to Bebop and tell them that. Go Best Buy! So... now Parrot moves on to deny the claim because there was approximately 53% battery power left. However, the drone has a built in function to "return home" when the battery life is critically low. The drone was 50 feet from the pond's shore and approximately 150 feet from "home" (a/k/a the pilot) when it gently landed itself in the pond. Clearly we believe Parrot is simply trying to avoid standing behind its product after issues arose from a known flaw. The drone was amazing over land. The videos were amazing and it was very responsive to pilot directions. HOWEVER, if you plan to pilot this drone over a body of water of any kind, you want to attach some water wings! Do your research! The Parrot Bebop 2 has an issue with flights over water. Your investment, like mine, could sink like a rock!

I would have given the Parrot Bebop 2 a 5 star rating, however it has too many problems with it. First off I would like to say that the drone it's self is well made and sturdy. With that said this is what is wrong with the " Package ". 1. The battery in the Skycontroller 2 or the controller it's self is either a discontinued version or they don't make parts for it any more. In example: After multiple emails back and forth proving I do indeed have a " paid for " with receipt Skycontroller, I told them that the battery in the controller was bad. After more emails back and forth they sent me a " replacement " battery.... the wrong size and voltage. Then after more emails back and forth they told me that they would replace the Skycontroller 2 " after " I sent them the one I had. I sent them the controller and was " suppose " to have gotten a new one 10 days later. After more emails back and forth wanting to know where my replacement Skycontroller 2 was, they never sent it. I am still waiting... 2. The Bebop 2 altitude problems - When using their FreeFlight Pro-Flight plan app the drone does indeed fly the flight plan even if you lose WiFi connection with the drone, and it will return home after completing the flight plan. The problem is if you fly the drone into any type of elevation increase during the completion of the flight plan and you programed it to fly at a altitude lower than the elevation it is flying into the drone " will not correct " it's altitude according to elevation changes. 3. WiFi Smartphone link to Bebop 2 - The link between the Bebop 2 and the smart phone has very limited range. I live in the desert and the best range I have gotten thus far is about 250 feet. Why Parrot or any drone manufacturer uses the Smart Phone WiFi frequencies for flight is beyond my understanding. Parrot advertises a maximum range of 1.2 miles for the Bebop 2. I would like to know how they did it when you lose WiFi link with the drone in just a few hindered feet. 4. The drone battery charger - if you have a Bebop 2 may I suggest that you invest in a " balanced " charger for the battery because the charger that comes with it does not balance the battery and thus shortens the battery life. Bottom line: It is sad that Parrot made a great little drone but ruined it by using WiFi and Smartphone links, as well as the " altitude " vs fight app problems. They could do a lot better.

I just wanted to give you an amazing account of my Bebop 2 experience. This is a true story and I have video footage to prove it. 6 months ago (August 2017), I was using follow me and I accidentally crashed my drone into a pine tree over 30 meters high. I tried everything to get it down, but it was stuck too high up and too deep in the tree branches. I even called the local fire department and they could not get it down. So I gave up and went home thinking I lost my drone forever. Since August 2017, we had storms from hurricanes, heat waves, snow and all kinds of bad weather that normally would destroy any delicate electronics left outside. I imagined that my drone was probably already rusted from all the abuse from the elements. On January 4, 2018, our town was hit by a massive blizzard with 100km/hr winds. This storm lasted a full day and brought over 1ft of snow. On January 16, 2018, I received a call from someone that they had found a drone on their property. I immediately went to check. It turned out that it was my Bebop 2 that I crashed 6 months ago. They had found it next to the base of the tall pine tree. The drone was in good shape. Not even a single propeller was broken! Yes, there was some wearing of the wires at the bottom, but other than that the drone was perfectly fine. We concluded that the drone must have survived 6 months in the tree and when the blizzard came, the snow weighted down the tree branches and the winds knocked it off the tree into a deep pile of snow on the ground, saving the drone from serious damage. I took the drone home and set it next to a heater for several days to dry it out. Today, January 20, 2018, I took my drone outside for a test flight. I am proud to say that it flies like new! All the camera, video and flight functions work. The drone flies incredibly stable. Even the battery which has been exposed to so much rain and snow lasts for over 20 minutes! Parrot, you have truly set a great example of creating a top quality product for consumers. Keep up the great work and l look forward to your future drones!

I purchased my Parrot Bebop 2 FPV pack from Bestbuy (amazing price). Tons of technology in this compact drone. I use my drone for security at my church. With an "Eagles eye view" I can see between vehicles, in truck beds ect. that from ground level you can't see. I also used my bebop 2 to inspect my roof on my warehouse and found a bullet hole where a bullet that was fired into the air came down into my roof. I would have paid more than 300 to have a roofer to inspect. I have had issues with my controller and Parrot tech support replaced the unit for free. Parrot has great support. The Bebop 2 has in app purchase for "follow me, way point flight) I love way point flying. I preset the bebop 2 to fly a certain pattern over the area I'm securing and at the touch of a button it will fly flawlessly to every way point and video, change altitude, fly different speeds, turn camera angles during flight, and more. I flew 1.1 miles away using the sky controller 2 until it lost connection. The drone automatically goes into "return to home" feature. The bebop 2 came back to where its tarted and hovered at 6' high until I regained control over the drone. The bebop2 does 4 different flips when you just want to play around. It does way more than I'm mentioning in this review. The next closest drone with this type technology will set you back 799.00. That's more than double the price of my Bebop 2. Like I said, it can't be beat period. It is "the Parrot that flies like an Eagle"!!!

For the money this drone is very good. After 20 or so flights I feel I can somewhat give a fair evaluation of this drone. The good: - Drone has a solid quality feel -Very easy to fly, controls are easy even for beginners -Has some nice features for the price point, button controlled auto take off and landing. Will hover in place nicely. When you let off the controls there is little to no drift. -Flight plan in the APP is awesome in that it will follow a waypoint track even with no signal from the controller. -Decent battery capacity and extra batteries are affordable compared to other manufacturers. -Drone app is easy to use with Sky controller 2. -Video quality is good not great, for not being gimbal mounted it's really good in not showing the side to side roll of the craft. -From the factory you are limited to 492ft altitude. -The app has a lot of nice features for controlling many aspects of flight and video/photo controls. -Flight app also has GPS flight plan and Follow me features, each feature will cost the user $20.00, so you will spend $40 to have these features. The bad: - Range is okay at best, you WILL NOT get anywhere near the manufacturers advertised range. In an open field I lost reception at 1100ft. If there are trees its more like 800ft. Flying higher helped but not much. This was not a big deal to me because I normally don't fly further than 600-800ft away anyways. If I want to go further I just use the flight plan part of the app. -Battery capacity has averaged 16-18min. -You cannot land the drone manually, you must push the land button, I really wish the drone would allow me to get lower to the ground because it kinda plops on the ground after you press the land button. -The drone will not tell you how long the battery will last nor will it automatically return when the battery is low, you must watch the battery level. -No hazard avoidance in any direction except to keep it from landing. Overall I feel this drone is solid for the price, the app extra costs are a real bummer. So far, Overall I would recommend this drone.

This is an EXCELLENT FPV Quadcopter (or drone) for beginners!!! Parrot has been making high quality quads for years, but this one is bundled with a controller (Some parrots are controlled by WiFi and the controller is an extra cost) PLUS it includes FPV goggles which work AMAZING!! The FPV feels like you are actually in the pilots seat of the drone and the video quality in the goggles is OUTSTANDING. Please note that you WILL need either an Android or IOS device to use the FPV goggles, but that isn't an issue for most! Lastly, this is an EXCELLENT value as it includes the FPV kit!! Pros 1.) GPS - One review says this DOES NOT have GPS but that isn't true.. This quad DOES have GPS which helps a lot with stable flight!! This helps the quad return to home on its own and allows for very accurate flying.. The GPS actually works VERY WELL with this quad!! 2.) Good Range - Range is dependant on weather you are flying with your Mobile Device or the included controller.. Range for mobile device should be around 200 - 250 FT but if you use the included controller, I have gotten close to 1000FT range!! Very VERY VERY GOOD Range!! 3.) HD Video Quality - 1080P HD video quality is excellent with built in software stabilization 4.) Easy to Fly - With the included GPS and other safety features, this quad is very easy to fly, even for new pilots.. 5.) Excellent Safety Features - If you are flying using your mobile device via WiFi and lose connection, the quad will return to home.. It will also return to home when its battery is about dead.. Also, if you just get scared press return to home and it will come home..

Does everything as advertised although I'm not getting the range expected. Even in a remote area, the real-time video gets choppy and lags. This is an issue (happens on a buddies Phantom 3 too FYI) because while it may still technically be in my control, there is no way to spot it with my eyes at a certain range. I need the video to fly the thing back. Return to Home has worked every time tho. It would also be nice if the navigation point and follow-me software was not an extra cost. Video footage is decent but not comparable to a DJI Phantom. On the plus side, this drone is very portable for its size. The BIGGEST problem is the under-body WILL stress fracture and break. While every piece of this drone is user-replaceable, the under-body cross bar is nowhere to be found online. It is sold out or unavailable on the Parrot site and any other re-seller. I would say this is a huge problem and it may have altered my buying decision had I known this beforehand. If you are new to flying drones, there is a big risk of breaking this thing. I was able to glue mine back with plastic epoxy cement but I would love to just replace the part. Finally, keep in mind that anywhere you fly this thing is probably against a state or city code. Despite the FAA flying rules which require the Parrot to be registered and following their flight guidelines, most city/state open space areas are probably off limits. Then stack on the restricted 3-5 mile radius around airports and heli-pads which require you to get prior approval from airport managers just to fly...DO YOUR RESEARCH FOR YOUR AREA. Where I live in Northern Colorado, there is literally no where to legally fly with all the overlapping restrictions. There are several apps such as BE4UFLY but they DO NOT reflect local and state restrictions. Other than the overly draconian city/state anti-drone regulations, the Parrot Bebop 2 flies very well and I would recommend this to anyone with vast tracts of private unregulated land to fly above.