Parrot Bebop 2 test

The Parrot Bebop 2 is a high-end drone with surprising capabilities! This drone is the main competitor of the DJI Phantom 3. We tested for you the different features of this drone!

Before being able to fly the drone it is first necessary to update the firmware. This is done simply by downloading the Freeflight application and updating the internal program. Once this step is done, it will be necessary to parameterize the magnetometer of the drone. Simply follow the instructions and orient the drone in the different positions indicated by the setting screen of the Freeflight 3 application.

Once this stage is completed you are on track to take off your Parrot Bebop 2! Once the drone is on the ground, a simple button will take off.

Piloting the Parrot Bebop 2

This drone is childlike simplicity, take-off and landing are assisted by the embedded electronics and the drone is particularly stable and pleasant to fly. The flight controls respond quickly and during our tests we did not feel latency between the controller and the drone movement, so it’s a very good point!

The Parrot Bebop 2 also has a very nice feature of automated looping! Indeed by pressing a simple button on the smartphone, the drone is able to realize a figure of 360 degrees which will impress your friends. This function is a bit “bluffing” because even if the figure appears complex all this maneuver is managed electronically, observers will be impressed even if you do not do much.

In flight, the drone is very aggressive but despite its record acceleration and its high speed it is extremely maneuverable and finally very nice to drive even for a beginner pilot. This drone will be suitable for all persons starting the piloting of quadcopters.

Parrot Bebop 2 Features

One of the exciting features of the Parrot Bebop 2 is of course the “route” functionality that will enable you to program a specific path that the drone will traverse! Indeed the drone Bebop 2 being equipped with a GPS chip, it is able to locate in the space and therefore to follow predefined paths! Moreover, thanks to the management interface, the programming of this route is extremely simplified. Simply click on the different points of stops on a map so that the drone starts to make the course. At each stopping point the orientation of the HD camera is also defined to record an aerial shot of the hair! A view of the route and the recorded points of sight you can go about your activities while being assured that the drone will carry out the task that you have recorded. It’s just the perfect feature to shoot you in action and to keep timeless memories!

Conclusion

The Parrot Bebop 2 isn’t going to match more capable drones on performance, features, or video quality. But if you are happy with a quadcopter that can comfortably tool around your backyard at a modest maximum altitude, the Bebop is worth a look. If you want a model that can fly further, higher, offers better video quality, and is absolutely steady in the air, consider instead one of the DJI Phantom 3 models.

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Parrot bebop vs DJI Phantom 3 comparison of my experience with both

Since I now have both, a Parrot bebop 2 and a DJI Phantom 3(advanced) i thought it might interest some to read a quick comparison of my experience with both.

Flight characteristic/stability/speed

In fairness, I think both are impressive. The Phantom 3 is heavier, has more inertia and you feel that, but on the other hand, its more stable too. It can descend much faster and without wobbling, the GPS position and altitude hold also seems to work even more accurately. Parrot bebop 2 is good enough here for me. Maybe when doing time lapses it matters, otherwise, not so much. The bebop is a more nimble, and because its so light and small, its more fun to toss around without worrying too much.

Video/photo quality

It won’t surprise anyone the Phantom 3 wins this handily. The camera, particularly of the advanced version I have, is WAY better. Even when shooting in the same resolution and frame rate as the Parrot Bebop, its so much sharper and with more detail.  Its like comparing a gopro hero black with a 720p keychain cam. No more blurry trees or grass, everything is razor sharp and shooting in 60FPS makes it oh so much more smooth. The gimbal also just works a lot better than the electronic stabilization, particularly when tilting/panning. On my first landing, I managed to tip the phantom over. On the video, you cant even see that anything happened. If the video of the phantom is clearly superior, still images are in a different league all together. Yeah, same megapixels, everything else is beyond comparison. But you probably already knew that. One major disadvantage of the Phantom 3 for me is the minimal interval time of 5 seconds. When doing mapping, 5 seconds is too long and I end up waiting or slowing down a lot for the camera.

Range and endurance

I haven’t fully range tested the Phantom 3 yet. But I’ve gone out about 1km with no impact on reception at all, video remained completely smooth and free of artifacts. That’s despite missing one antenna. The resolution with lightbridge may also be better, but I’m using a 5″ phone right now, so I would lie if I said I noticed. I do notice the reduced lag. Light bridge really works pretty well, I have to admit. Using the skycontroller, I generally found the range of the Parrot Bebop to be more than adequate. It does suffer a lot more from freezes/artifacts at > 3-500m, but Id still call it good enough. The latency is more annoying in my opinions, lightbridge is much closer to an analog FPV experience. Closer than I would have thought.

As for endurance, the surprise winner there is actually the Parrot Bebop. It comes much closer to its advertised flight times than my Phantom, which only lasts 18 minutes in my tests. In fairness, that was in windy conditions, and I have a crashed one with one motor that’s turning a bit rough and that will be replaced. Maybe a new motor will increase flight times.

Features/flight modes

In general, the Phantom 3 is a much more complicated platform with a ton of features that you may or may not find useful. A few things that stand out for me because I missed them on the Parrot Bebop: POI circling mode. This truly helps making cinematic shots. And is very useful for my photogrammetry experiments. I’m also delighted to discover the Phantom 3 has a FPV mode for the gimbal, that makes it roll in turns, which can make dynamic flight shots all the more, well, dynamic RTH, flight mode and navigation features are a lot further developed, to the point where I actually had to read the manual to figure it out.

Robustness

Neither platform is a real winner in this regard, they both are fragile. My Parrot Bebop wouldn’t take a 3 meter drop on grass without the cross frame breaking, the Phantom 3 I bought had suffered a slightly more serious crash, but the damage was also a lot more substantial. Particularly the camera gimbal is unbelievably fragile. On mine, one of the alu gimbal arms was bent by nearly 45 degree. I couldn’t imagine what crash it would take to do that, since its normally protected by the landing gear, until I tried straightening it. The aluminium bends almost as easily as rubber. Except that it breaks, where rubber doesn’t. I’ll still grant the Parrot Bebop this category if for no other reason than that repairs are a lot cheaper. Most of parrots spare parts are actually reasonably priced.

Portability

What you see is what you get in this regard. When paired with the skycontroller, the Parrot Bebop requires about as much space as the Phantom + controller. Of course the drone itself is in a league of its own for compactness, so if you don’t use a SC, easy win for the Bebop. Fun fact: the Phantom controller is almost as small as the Bebop, and the skycontroller comparably large as the Phantom 3.

Price

Now the Phantom 3 Advanced version is $699 and Phantom 3 Standard costs $499,while the Parrot Bebop 2(white) is $499.

So which one should you buy?

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What makes Parrot to cut a third of its drone staff

French drone maker Parrot recently said it would be laying off a third of employees, or about 290 people, in its drone division. The news was announced as part of its most recent quarterly earnings report, and it underscores Parrot’s broader struggles to succeed in the consumer drone market largely dominated by Chinese firm DJI. In its fourth-quarter earnings results, Parrot said it generated sales of about $90 million, coming in below its roughly $106 million target. It now plans to place a larger emphasis on the commercial drone market, including markets like mapping and agriculture.

Parrot’s story is playing out across the drone market, as once fast-growing firms constrict under market pressure and less-than-stellar sales. About 50 percent of all drone sales in North America belong to DJI, while Parrot, Yuneec, 3D Robotics and others hold just single-digit market share percentages. 3D Robotics, like Parrot today, announced lay offs back in March alongside a renewed focus on commercial operations.

GoPro, the most recent and high-profile industry entrant, arrived on the scene with its Karma drone back in September. Unfortunately, the device was prone to mid-flight power failure, causing some Karma units to fall from the sky. GoPro recalled the device and is now working to relaunch it some time later this year. The action camera company has also been forced through layoffs, having cut its staff by 7 percent in January of last year and then another 15 percent, or about 200 employees, in November.

Action cameras, much like consumer drones, have helped balloon small businesses into big-name brands. But it now appears that, with sales falling, it’s hard to sustain growth with expensive electronics that get purchased once for niche industries and upgraded rarely over the next two or three years. So for now — as Parrot’s layoffs make evident — the cool off in the drone industry remains underway.

( Via Theverge )

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