After flying the DJI Avata 2 for over six months, I’ve gathered some insights on how it compares to traditional 5-inch FPV drones. While the Avata 2 is an excellent drone in many respects, it’s not without its trade-offs. In this buyer’s guide, we’ll compare the DJI Avata 2 and 5-inch FPV drones in terms of flight performance, applications, and limitations. This will help you make an informed decision based on your needs and flying style.
Interested in the Avata 2? Check out my full review here: https://oscarliang.com/dji-avata-2/
Where to Buy?
Get the DJI Avata 2 here:
Learn how to build your own 5inch FPV drone in this tutorial: https://oscarliang.com/how-to-build-fpv-drone/
Chasing Fast-Moving Objects
Unlike traditional camera drones like the DJI Mavic or Mini, the Avata 2 provides dynamic, responsive, and engaging flight experiences—perfect for cinematic shots or casual flying. You can fly it like a freestyle drone, but it’s considerably slower compared to custom built 5inch FPV drones.
If your goal is to chase fast-moving objects like cars, a 5-inch FPV drone is definitely the better choice. These drones can easily reach speeds over 150km/h (~100mph), and some models even exceed 200 km/h (~130mph). The DJI Avata 2, on the other hand, tops out around 100km/h (~60mph) in calm conditions.
While the Avata 2 has built-in prop guards for safety, they create additional air resistance, reducing the drone’s agility and making it less ideal for freestyle flying. If your focus is on cinematic shots and cruising, the Avata 2 is a solid choice, but for high-speed action, the 5-inch FPV drone wins hands down.
Diving Mountains and Buildings
For extreme dives off tall mountains or buildings, the Avata 2 faces some limitations. It has a 500-meter limit, which causes the drone to refuse to fly any higher once you reach that height cap. Additionally, the prop guards don’t allow for smooth dives, leading to potential wobbles or shakes during free falls. 5-inch drones, without prop guards, excel at dives and provide a smoother free-fall experience. And you can fly as far and as high as your battery and radio/video links allow.
Flying in the Wind
When it comes to flying in windy conditions, 5-inch FPV drones are the clear winners. These drones are heavier and more powerful, allowing them to handle stronger winds. In contrast, the Avata 2 struggles in winds exceeding 30km/h (20MPH), often displaying “High wind velocity” warnings, and the drone is less stable in this condition and will drift.
Long-Range Flying
Both the DJI Avata 2 and 5-inch FPV drones can achieve impressive range, but the Avata 2 is very capable at this out of the box. You don’t need to tinker with the setup, or add additional equipment, it just works. For 5-inch FPV drones, achieving long-range flight requires selecting the right propellers, using a large Li-ion battery, and optimizing antenna—tasks that demand more experience and knowledge. For a straightforward long-range setup, the Avata 2 is the easier option.
Ease of Use and Convenience
As someone who travels frequently, I prioritize convenience and portability.
The DJI Avata 2 is very portable, light weight and hassle-free. I love how all the gear fits in the same small storage bag. It’s a ready-to-fly solution that doesn’t require any assembly or tuning. Right out of the box, the Avata 2 offers 15-20 minutes of flight time and more than 5 km of range.
By contrast, with my 5-inch FPV drones, I have to bring a big backpack with lots of different equipment. They also offer much shorter flight time, typically around 5-6 minutes (though you can extend this with a larger battery), and they require more practice to master due to their raw power. There’s also the added complexity of building, tuning, and maintaining the drone.
The DJI Avata 2 supports multiple flight modes—Normal, Sport, and Manual (Acro). For beginners, Normal and Sport modes offer altitude hold, smart landing, and return-to-home features, greatly reducing the likelihood of crashes. This makes learning FPV flying significantly more accessible.
Creative Shots
My favorite feature of the Avata 2 is its adjustable one-axis camera gimbal. Traditional FPV drones typically have fixed camera angles, limiting creative flexibility. With Avata 2, you can dynamically change camera angles mid-flight, enabling innovative shots like flying backwards while adjusting the camera angle, providing unparalleled cinematic possibilities.
Reliability
It might be surprising for some, but I actually feel more confident flying long-range or over water with the Avata 2 due to its reliable GPS system and Return to Home (RTH) feature. While you can add GPS to a custom built 5-inch FPV drone and setup similar “return to home” feature in Betaflight, DJI’s autonomous flight technology is more reliable, mature and user-friendly. The Avata 2’s advanced features give it a safety edge over custom-built drones without any tinkering.
The Avata 2 also has emergency braking, by pressing the brake button, the drone just stops and hover at the same spot and wait for your command, which is really useful in challenging environment, espeically for beginners. Custom built drones don’t have this feature, you can put it in self-stabilized mode such as Angle mode, but it will drift around and you still have to control its altitude manually which is not very beginner friendly.
Flexibility
5-inch FPV drones offer unmatched flexibility and customization, while Avata 2 suffers from its closed DJI ecosystem.
Unlike custom-built drones where individual components can be replaced or upgraded based on your flying style. Whether you want to focus on freestyle, racing, or long-range flights, you can customize the drone to suit your needs.
With the Avata 2, you’re locked into DJI’s accessories, batteries, goggles, and controllers. Repairing or customizing the drone yourself voids the warranty. It’s a fantastic out-of-the-box drone but lacks the versatility that comes with a custom 5-inch setup.
Durability
The Avata 2 is not made for crashes and the plastic frame can be easily damaged. On the other hand, custom built FPV drones usually use sturdy carbon fibre frames and can take some beating.
Cost
The initial cost for both drones is actually quite similar, especially if you’re using DJI components (such as DJI Goggles and the O4 Pro air unit) in your 5-inch FPV drone build. However, when it comes to repairs, 5-inch drones are cheaper and easier to fix. You can replace individual parts, like motors or frames, yourself. The Avata 2, on the other hand, is almost impossible to repair at home due to its sophisticated design. You can change propellers, that’s about it.
While DJI offers DJI Care, which reduces repair and replacement costs, you are limited in the number of claims, and replacements can take weeks. DJI Care Refresh insurance costs around $59/year, with a $50 replacement fee for the first crash and $200 for subsequent replacements. This can be expensive if crashes are frequent.
And if you plan to fly a lot, purchasing extra batteries are costly, approximately $100 each, compared to $20-$40 for typical FPV drone batteries.
Camera Frame Rate Restrictions
The Avata 2 camera lacks the popular cinematic frame rate of 24fps. Although it supports 4K 60fps, filmmakers preferring traditional film aesthetics might miss having 24fps or 48fps options. With a custom built FPV drones, you can just put a GoPro on it and use 24fps. You may also put a GoPro on the Avata 2, but it’s going to fly so badly due to the lack of power.
Final Verdict: Which Drone Is Right for You?
After a year of use, I firmly believe the DJI Avata 2 remains a fantastic drone, especially for content creators prioritizing convenience, portability, and reliability. Its proprietary nature and cost may deter freestyle pilots who prefer customization, but for professional filmmakers or hobbyists who want powerful creative flexibility without complexity, the Avata 2 remains a compelling choice—even today.
Choose the DJI Avata 2 if:
- You want an all-in-one, ready-to-fly solution that avoids the complexity of custom builds.
- You prioritize smooth, high-quality footage for cinematography.
- Safety and GPS return-to-home features are important to you.
- You prefer a simpler setup with minimal tuning and maintenance.
Get the DJI Avata 2 here:
Choose a 5-Inch FPV Drone if:
- You’re looking for high-performance freestyle flying or racing.
- You enjoy building, repairing, and customizing your drone for different flying styles.
- You want to be able to fly in windy environments or tackle challenging, fast-paced flights.
- You’re interested in pushing the limits of what an FPV drone can do in terms of agility and speed.
- You expect to crash a lot and will be repairing the drone by yourself.
Learn how to build your own 5inch FPV drone in this tutorial: https://oscarliang.com/how-to-build-fpv-drone/
Both the DJI Avata 2 and 5-inch FPV drones excel in different areas. The Avata 2 is perfect for cinematic FPV shots and people seeking simple FPV solutions, while 5-inch FPV drones are the go-to for seasoned pilots who don’t mind tinkering and prefer high performance. Your choice ultimately comes down to your flying style, experience level, and what you want to achieve with your drone.