Both DJI and Yuneec are great drone companies, but when you put their models head to head, which company produces better models? I’ll tell you.
As the drone industry has grown from being more military to commercial and now has become more of a mainstream hobby for regular everyday people like myself, these 2 companies in particular that have stood out and marketed themselves best in this industry.
Let me just say right away that I am a big fan of DJI, own several of their models but Yuneec has caught my eye on many occasions (I was contemplating getting a Yuneec H520), especially since my interest and understanding of drones has grown over the years.
I truly appreciate both companies and this comparison is a tough one to do, mainly because both companies produce great products, but there are differences in the drones they produce, and not just in the looks department, but also the quality, so I’d like to the time to write about the various models both companies produce, how they rate in my book and which companies’ drones are better for you to invest in…
Where both companies are similar:
Both produce medium to high level drones.
The market here is big and there are many models out there, most of which are cheap and low quality that can break easily or are hard to pilot. That being said, when it comes to the ones these 2 companies produce, you’re really looking at a safer, better flight experience from just about any model you buy from these 2 places.
In fact, if someone is looking for professional level models for instance, you will have a number of choices with these 2 companies. Here are some models definitely worth a looking at:
From DJI:
- Phantom 4 Advanced or Pro (professional, yet affordable).
- Inspire 1 & 2 (Very professional).
- Matrice & MG 15 (the super expensive, professional ones).
From Yuneec:
- Typhoon H and Typhoon H520.
Which company is more popular?
Easily DJI. Although they’ve been around for less, they produce more models, more frequently and their name is more popular in the consumer world than Yuneec.
I will say when I was first looking at drones at a Best Buy near me, they had models from both companies on display and the Yuneec ones caught my eye more so and that was because they looked cooler (Their Typhoon 4K looked like a fighter jet and their Typhoon H looked like a flying spider), but even DJI models were a little bit more expensive and were even suggested to me by the Best Buy staff.
I fully recognize that their recommendation may have been more of a financial incentive based recommendation in that they’d get higher credit if they made the bigger sale, but my followup research led to an interesting opinion:
Which company produces higher level quality models?
I would say in almost every instance, if you were to take each companies models and compare the ones which have the most similar specs against one another, that DJI would come out on top.
Although I have not owned a Yuneec model (yet), one of the reasons why is because I was incredibly impressed with the footage and flight capabilities of the drones DJI makes. And I was also looking at comparisons on YouTube between the models of both companies.
Usually my research shows that:
The quality of the camera, photo and video is better on the DJI brand than on the Yuneec.
Flight capability wise, they also win. Generally their models have longer flight times and MORE comfortable remotes.
On the topic of remotes, I really can’t understand why something like the Yuneec H for example has a gigantic “television” for a remote. It’s crazy hard to carry that around + the model.
Then there’s something like the set up part. There’s very little physical set up necessary for most of the DJI drones, other than the propellers and remote control/mobile phone link up with their app. If you take something like the Yuneec Typhoon, you have to “assemble it” and that can be truly tough and worrying for someone who is knew who is afraid to get a bolt or nail wrong, but that’s just 1 model example, but you do have to do more of a set up for most of Yuneec’s drones than you do for DJI ones in my opinion.
I am of course generalizing and the specs on the models of both companies are very similar in most cases, yet the footage you get (the quality of work) is just better on DJI, sorry.
Yuneec drones vs DJI drones. My ratings:
So I’ve classified this part in such a way where I compare the models from each company based on size, specs and overall quality, so that when I compare them to one another, it’ll be on a nearly equal field:
First, the tiny, portable models:
Breeze 4k:
Shoots well. Flies OK, no gimbal. Small range. $399.
Rating: 40 out of 100 points.
Versus…
Spark:
Doesn’t shoot as well (1080p), flies pretty well, has a gimbal. Can fly far if you buy it with remote. A Spark is currently $399 (currently) or $699 with remote and other accessories. I’ve had issues with it, but it’ll do better than a Breeze.
Rating: 50 out of 100 points.
Then we have the medium to giant models:
Typhoon 4k.
Good camera, 4k capabilites, large, powerful machine that can fly for up to 25 minutes and there is a gimbal. It can however be annoying to set up the first time and it’s HUGE (not much portability). Price: $699.
Rating: 70 out of 100 stars (mainly because of the set up and huge size which I personally have an issue with).
Typhoon H.
Great model, not as big of a camera life, set up is slightly annoying (6 wings + propellers). Shoots 4k and is quite powerful. Price: $1,000.
Rating: 65 out of 100 stars.
Mavic Pro, Phantom 4 (because of similar specs such as the camera).
Both great models, both also shoot 4k and also fly up to 25 minutes, but there’s more portability and less hassle of set up in my personal opinion. Both also have a gimbal and in my personal opinion shoot better than above model.
Price: Mavic Pro: $999 Phantom 4: $1,000.
Rating: The Mavic is 85 stars and the Phantom 4 is 80 out of 100 stars.
Then we have the “professional” models:
Be prepared to spend A LOT if you go this route…
Typhoon H520:
A superior version of the above Typhoon H, shoots better, flies better and is basically next level to it’s previous version. Has intelligent flight modes and a 360 gimbal, a huge advantage. (The above Typhoon H does too I believe). Price: $1,999.
Rating: 85 out of 100 stars.
Typhoon H920 (aka Tornado):
Currently the most expensive and high end model from Yuneec. Also has a 360 gimbal, a 16 mp camera and other great features (you can also change cameras on this model). Price: $3,000+.
Rating: 85 out of 100 stars.
Phantom 4 Pro:
I believe the Phantom 4 Pro shoots noticeably better than the Typhoon H520 AND even the H920 as it has a better camera (20 MP and shoots in 4k, 60 fps), also a great flight time. However, there are “legs” around the camera and propellers near it that can show up on the footage which is where the Typhoon models hold a great advantage (no props interfering).
Price: $1,500.
Rating: 90 out of 100 stars.
Inspire 1 and 2:
I will use the Inspire 2 more so in this comparison because it is superior. It has interchangeable cameras like the Typhoon models above, but it is superior to even the Phantom 4 Pro camera and in my opinion, that model itself was better than the Typhoon models, so the Inspire is that much better.
Also it flies better and shoots better, but man, it is expensive. Price: $2,999 for JUST the model. Cameras come separately and each is several $1,000.
Rating: 95 out of 100 stars. It shoots better than any other drone on this list, but that price is insane (as is the fact that it’s huge and not portable) and a big reason it didn’t hit a perfect 100 stars.
As of now, these models are in my opinion the best ones to compare to one another from each company. Although these ratings and comparisons are quite generalized, I will be doing specific comparisons in the future with each model the way I stacked them up together above and provide a more comprehensive comparison in the future to explain why my ratings were the way that they were.
I can totally understand if there’s people on Yuneec’s side that will not agree with me on the types of ratings I made above, but understand that my opinion of the company is high. It’s just that DJI has really been outdoing themselves for the past few years and making publicly available top level drones that would otherwise be much more expensive.
Yuneec is catching up and a close second on the drone market, but I find that…
- When it comes to beginner level models, DJI is better.
- Flight capabilities and ease, same thing.
- Shooting video/picture capabilities, same thing.
These are all factors (including others) that need to be taken into account when comparing the drones. It’s not enough that one has a better camera or that one has a better flight capability, it is all a package deal so to say, so I am looking at the most important factors when I used the above models and came to the conclusion that I did.
If you have your own personal opinion of the models I used to reflect the companies being compared here, I would love to hear your feedback as well as experiences if you have them with any of the models I used above and/or other models not included in the list.
As a final note, I will say I am very happy with my (current number) 3 DJI models and even when I still look at Yuneec drone reviews, I still find the models I chose to be superior (slightly).