Every good drone stands to benefit from having certain accessories to increase it’s safety and reliability. In this post, I want to cover 3 that will really help you get more from your Spark drone.
1) Range extenders/signal boosters for the Spark:
As an owner of a DJI Spark, I have to say that the range sucks (it uses a fairly unreliable WiFi connection and I’d say the Mavic Mini’s would be far better, which is close to the Spark in size).
While the advertised range is about 2 kilometers, there are very little chances that you’ll even make it to half that. I live in areas with a lot of interference and often fly in areas with a lot of trees, hills and other nature type obstacles. And this drone is NOT meant for long distance flights.
I have lost my signal on multiple occasions within about 100 feet and even while I could still see the drone.
Now I have to admit, that a big issue was that I had to keep updating the firmware, once even for the Spark batteries which I think is an absurd thing since no other model I own requires this, but still, even when everything was fine, the range still wasn’t that good.
Now if you plan on flying in open areas or live in such an area, you should be fine, but I would still recommend you get these for a few reasons:
A) The Spark connects via WiFi and that is often a flaky connection. You can reduce this issue by using the remote to fly it, but with signal boosters, your range potential extends by about 2x at least. That makes it more reliable when it’s flying in areas where you are at risk of losing that connection (and possibly the drone).
B) Signal boosters for this drone can also be used on the Mavic Pro and Mavic Air, since they have the same type of remote. So if you already own one of these other models, rest easy knowing these signal boosters are going to be transferable to the other remotes.
C) It’s under $10, super cheap and a good add on to have. Get the Spark signal extenders here.
2) Propeller guards for the Spark:
The Spark is honestly one of the easiest drones to fly, but you know what can happen anytime (drone crashes). A beginner could lose control, you could accidentally hit sports mode (I have and I consider myself experienced) without realizing it and crash it.
Another argument for having these that I use is that if you’re flying in tight spaces, while the size of the Spark certainly helps reduce the risk of a crash, having that extra safety with the propeller guards on is just less nerves lost.
I also want to note that I recommend propeller guards for every single drone I do an accessory article on. I’m just that kind of flyer that loves to have that insurance with me. Get the Spark propeller guards here.
3) Extra batteries (because the battery life on the Spark is terrible):
Let’s face it, the flight time on the Spark is pretty bad. I get about 10 minutes on average. Getting an extra battery or two is really going to help, especially if you enjoy flying around a lot. I personally have 3 of them.
Note: You can get the propeller guards and extra batteries included if you get yourself a fly more combo. Here is a link to it.
Side note: Why only 3 accessories?
Usually with other drone models, I typically advise getting 5 accessories and most of them are just for safety (I don’t use ND filters).
Well my whole thing with this particular drone is that you’re probably not going to film professionally, although I have to say, you can get incredible footage with it as it stands, and you can also use programs to upscale the footage from 1080 to 4k and then it’ll look quite crisp. I honestly think people just don’t give the Spark enough credit here.
But this is off topic, I honestly think that this is a drone where safety and convenience is the more important focus and the 2 big negatives with this drone are it’s lack of good range, it’s short battery life and the situation in which it can crash in tight spots.
And I am saying this as someone who has been in these situations, so to negate those problems, these 3 accessories are going to suite you just fine.
As for other things I usually recommend with other models, like car chargers, you don’t need that with the Spark, you can just use a USB wire and connect it to your car and bam, you’ve got a charger. This is something DJI got very right when they made this model.
Now if you’re not even the type who enjoys filming with the Spark, no problem, you don’t have to get any of these accessories, but I’ll tell you this much:
They make flying a lot less stressful. You never know when you decide to fly the Spark beyond it’s beginner friendly and palm modes. I know I have.
That was one of the reasons I elected to get the fly more combo and save money. The good news is that this combo is a lot less expensive now than it was before (probably because of the introduction of the Mavic Air and expectations of the Mavic Pro 2 and Autel Evo coming out soon).
But if you already have a regular Spark and didn’t get the fly more combo, I would really recommend the next accessory: Get a remote for the Spark. And that’s because flying with the phone sucks.
It’s unreliable, especially for beginner flyers. And you’re talking a 100 foot distance vs several 1,000 feet (potentially) as well as the speed of the drone increasing. The price of a remote is about $100+ but like I said, it comes with the fly more combo if you don’t already own a Spark. And if you do, and want to take your flying to the next level, but can’t afford another drone, the remote is a wise investment, trust me.
Anyway these are my recommended accessories. If you own a Spark and have your own list that you believe would work well in addition to this one, let me know 🙂
Perhaps there’s an accessory worth adding to this list that I don’t already have or thought of that you might, maybe it saved your drone and/or made flying better for filming. Either way, I’d love to know your personal list.