The DJI mini 2 is known by many as the king of drones under 250 grams. The sheer amount of features packed in this tiny marvel of drone technology is still peerless across the drone technology.
Drones like the mini 2 make you want to test its limits, and we’ve all wondered at least once just how far away we can fly our drone…
Which brings us to the topic of this article. What’s the full flight range of the mini 2, the actual range, not the one you read in the spec sheet. And what limits the range of your drone.
And if you stick around till the end of this article, we’ll talk about some ways you can improve your drone’s range.
First, let’s talk about the standard mini 2 range that you’ll find in any spec sheet and every specs review on the internet.
The DJI Mini 2 has a maximum range of 10km. Meaning that the drone will be able to transmit HD live footage to your phone up until the 10km mark.
However, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll actually be able to fly your DJI mini 2 at that range. Not to mention the fact that it’s completely illegal, there are many factors that influence your drone’s flight range.
Factors such as the environment, weather conditions, electromagnetic interference, battery life (and health), etc…
The number one factor that determines a drone’s flight range, any drone, is its transmission system. Let’s look at the specs of the mini 2.
The DJI mini 2’s take-off weight comes at around 249 grams, meaning in most parts of the world, you can fly it without registering it (one of its many appeals).
It can shoot 4K video at 30 frames per second and can shoot 12-megapixel images. Which is honestly amazing for a drone of its size.
It has a battery life of 31 minutes, an important factor that determines its range as we’ve discussed.
But like I said, the most important factor is its transmission system. The DJI mini 2 runs on the OcuSynC 2.0, which is the same transmission system used by the Mavic 2 & 3, as well as basically all the newer DJI drones.
A transmission system, if you didn’t know, is how the signal gets sent from your remote controller to your drone, and how your drone processes said signal (and how well it does it). OcuSync 2.0 is DJI’s transmission technology that they’ve incorporated into the DJI Mini 2.
The reason why the OcuSync 2.0 is more advanced than its predecessors is the fact that it can automatically switch transmission frequency between 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz. Don’t worry though, I won’t bore you with the technical details of that, though you can check an article about it here.
While the transmission system is the most important factor for flight range, technically, nothing is above the law.
Your DJI mini 2 comes equipped with a sensor that regulates its maximum flight range depending on which geographical area you’re flying it, and the regulations in said area.
DJI mini 2 uses four main standards for transmission certification: FCC, CE, SRRC, and MIC.
This is standard transmission certification in the U.S and it stands for Federal Communications Commission. If you’re flying your drone in U.S territory (or Canada), the maximum range your drone will be able to fly is 10km.
Which happens to be the maximum range of the DJI mini 2 anyways, so you’re in the clear here.
This is the standard transmission certification in most of Europe. It stands for Conformité Européenne, which is French for European Conformity. If you’re flying under a CE transmission, the maximum flight range is 6km.
This is the Japanese transmission certification and it stands for the Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications. The maximum flight range here is 6km.
The standard transmission certification in mainland china. It stands for State Radio Regulatory Commission. Again, the maximum range for the DJI Mini 2 in this region is 6km.
If you’re wondering whether you can just not care for the regulations… Well, it’s really not up to you. Your drone automatically detects which legal certification it is flying under (using GPS) and will automatically switch transmission for you if needed. That’s not to say that you can’t tinker with your drone’s software and change that but… don’t do that.
I’d say the most determining factor after the transmission system is the environment you’re flying your drone in. Flying in a mountainous area for example, or an area with many trees will most likely affect your drone’s signal because of all the objects that interfere with it.
So is flying in a city with many tall buildings or skyscrapers. It’s why you usually notice a better signal in vast open areas than in the city.
If you’re near a cell tower, that can also heavily affect your drone’s signal. The same can be said if you’re in a place with a lot of metal objects.
And lastly, the temperature also affects your drone's range, albeit indirectly. The temperature usually affects battery life which means it’s something you’ll also have to keep in mind (always remember to have enough battery for a round trip with your drones).
The good news is you don’t need to do all the hard work yourself and test out different environments yourself. DJI already did that for us, according to them here is how transmission is affected by different environments (under FCC regulations):
With its 31 minutes battery life, its OcuSync 2.0 transmission and the FCC regulations that basically allows up to 10km of flight range, you’d think that testing the limits of your DJI mini 2 is the next step…
Unfortunately, that’s not the case. There is currently no country that allows flying your drone beyond visual line of sight unless under some special circumstances, usually requiring a myriad of written permissions and certifications.
And unless you have the eyes of an eagle, spotting a drone as small as the mini 2 with your naked eye 10km away is simply impossible.
There is a way though, although convoluted. Visual line of sight can be maintained by another person that’s part of the operation. Which means that you can fly your drone while many other people whom you know can keep an eye on the drone for you. But that’s also pretty much unfeasible.
Like I said, the battery life also plays an important role here. The DJI mini 2 maximum flight time is 31 minutes, which means you must keep in mind a round trip that takes less than that unless you want your drone to crash.
Which, according to the DJI mini 2 average speed, is not undoable.
I’ve actually done an in-depth article comparing the ranges of the most popular drones, including the dji mini 2, but as a summary, just know that the DJI mini 2 is actually great.
In terms of flight range, the dji mini 2 is actually on the higher end of most entry level drones. In fact, at only 249 grams, it’s remarkable how it can fly up to 10km away in perfect conditions.
Here is a table comparing some popular drones out there:
| Drone | Range (kilometers) |
|---|---|
| DJI mini 2 | 10km |
| DJI Air 2s | 12km |
| Autel Evo 2 | 9km |
| DJI Mavic 3 | 15km |
| Fimi 8x | 5km |
If you’ve read this far and seen the multiple range limitations that drones are subjected to, then you’ve probably asked yourself this question. Note that what I mean isn’t going past 10km, but making sure to go past environmental limitations.
Increasing a drone’s range is definitely possible. There are different types of additional equipment, like signal boosters, available on the market for this very purpose. However, not all of them offer the results you may be looking for.
I’ve already done a really detailed article about how to increase the range of drones, which ways actually work and which ways are total B.S, so I implore you to check it out here.
The most common way is signal boosters. I’ve found a really good video that explains them perfectly:
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