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DJI drones have long dominated the skies, but there are plenty of other drone options out there. Parrot, which has long made some very fun toy-like drones, stepped up its game last year with the 4K-capable Anafi.
The company is back with a slightly new take on the Anafi, the Anafi FPV (first person view), which adds FPV goggles, a convenient backpack, and still manages to keep the price at $800. Compare that with DJI's Mavic Air with goggles, which would set you back $tk.
DJI's Mavic and goggles combo does offer a laundry list of features you won't find in the Anafi, but Parrot is betting there's a class of pilots out there who want the FPV experience, but don't want to shell out the big bucks to get it.
### Same Same But Different
Parrot released the Anafi earlier this year (see our [full review](https://www.wired.com/review/parrot-anafi-4k-hdr-drone/)) and it's largely unchanged in this release. The design is compact and lightweight, with arms that fold in making it easy to fit in your bag. Speaking of bags, one of my favorite parts of the FPV release is the included backpack, which neatly squares away all the components and is firm enough to double as a launch pad if there's no flat ground around.
The camera is unchanged in this release, it still offers 4K video at up to 30 fps, and takes 21-megapixel still images (including RAW), but the camera unfortunately doesn't produce as good of an image as I would think given the specs. The RAW files are fine, but the JPGs straight out of the camera were a little flat to my eye.
The Anafi has a top speed of 34 mph and manages a range of over two miles, though out of the box it's much more tightly geo-fenced. You'll need to go into the settings and tweak the geo fence to extend the range to its full potential. Parrot is now claiming 26 minutes flying time from on a single charge, that's up one minute from the original release.
### Goggle Me Goose
Small tweaks to the Anafi aside, the main point of this release is the first person view goggle headset.
Parrot has opted for what you could call a goggle holster, a relatively comfortable harness that straps to your head and holds a phone in front of your eyes. It's simple to set up, just lock your phone in place, adjust the straps, and you're ready to go. Parrot has a [list of supported devices](){: rel=nofollow}, though in my testing, so long as you can run the app and your phone fits, you'll be fine.
Tapping your phone to provide the screen allows Parrot to keep costs down, but it's not without some trade offs. There's less hardware to access controls and navigating your way through menus is definitely more difficult. There are two hardware buttons, one of which calls up a menu which you then navigate with the joysticks while the Anafi hovers in place. The other button toggles your phone display between the app and your rear camera, which is useful if you want to take a quick look around without removing the headset.
The buttons in the headset are actually just levers which tap a spot on the phone's screen. There's something wonderfully low tech about this approach that I really like, and it eliminates the need for batteries in the headset, which keeps things lightweight and relatively comfortable. It's still not the most comfortable thing to wear though. I found the lack of focusing options (there are zero) made it difficult for my aging eyes to focus well on the screen for long periods of time. I was still able to fly without any trouble, but I never wanted to keep it on for too long.
I should probably also confess that my bias is toward the drone as a flying camera, rather than as a racing copter. I understand the appeal of FPV for racing and some other scenarios, but it's not my control method of choice. That said, I did have a lot of fun flying the Anafi in Arcade mode, which makes the flight path follow the camera. This felt the most natural to me using the goggle headset. Pan the camera and the drone follows.
The other main flight mode I enjoyed in FPV was Cinematic mode, which locks the camera’s horizon to the drone's horizon. More than anything this felt like an easier version of the old PC flight simulator games I played (or tried to play) as a kid.
There's also a racing preset, which is what anyone with any experience and love of pure drone flying will want to use. I found the responsiveness of the Anafi in this mode to be impressive and on par with DJI's equivalent settings.
The faster, more responsive modes highlight why I don't find FPV all that useful in the more general case, that is, outside of closely controlled situations. -- the lack of situational awareness. That is, you have tunnel vision and no awareness of anything happening outside the camera's field of view.
That's fine for racing on a controlled course, or flying in an area with no obstructions like trees or buildings, but if you're flying at your local park, you can easily bank into a tree if you're not careful. Parrot has wisely defaulted the Anafi to what it calls "film" mode, which gives beginners a nice slow, gentle place to start flying. I'd also like to see Parrot include some object detection and collision avoidance features though. These have been standard issue for DJI drones for years now, but the Anafi offers nothing of the sort.
The Anafi FPV does cost considerably less than a similar drone and google combo from DJI though. The trade off is, you'll lose a lot of features, some potentially drone-saving features, found in DJI's offering.
https://www.amazon.com/Parrot-Anafi-Lightweight-Cockpitglasses-Comprehensive/dp/B07WHDGR2R/
[B & H Photo Video](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1497566-REG/parrot_pf728050_anafi_fpv_portable_drone.html){: rel=nofollow}, [Best Buy](https://www.bestbuy.com/site/parrot-anafi-fpv-drone-with-skycontroller-dark-gray/6366141.p?skuId=6366141){: rel=nofollow}
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