When the balance charge has finished balancing, you should have a recovered Lithium Polymer battery. With the Bebop 2 Power you have to either use the app, which means slightly slow transfers over Wi-Fi direct, or connecting the drone to a computer over micro-USB. The Skycontroller does allow you to use other interesting features, though. Plug a video headset into the HDMI port and you get to see what the quadcopter sees. A USB port also allows you to control the drone from a computer through the ARDRoneSDK that the company offers to programmers. After flying, do not charge it immediately. You should first let it cool down for some time before charging.

Sizewise, the Bebop 2 Power remains small, but not as diminutive as the DJI Spark – and certainly not as small as the folding DJI Mavic Pro. While Parrot has been generous to include the FPV goggles and remote controller accessories, a storage case would have been super-handy since there’s no means to easily transport the Bebop 2 Power safely. It isn’t something you can just throw into a bag haphazardly. The FAA flight rules also say that you should store your batteries safely to prevent them from being damaged. The best way is to store the batteries in a fireproof drone travel case or a camera bag; you can also keep them in the battery sleeve. After using a battery, you will need to recharge it; if it’s still warm, it’s a sign that you should leave it for some time before charging it. Then connect a battery that is turned on. Before connecting to the charger, the turned on battery should be flashing red. Before storing your battery, there are a few things to make sure of, like first recharging it first. If the battery level is at 60% even after you have finished using it, don’t worry, your battery should be automatically programmed to discharge down to a recommended storage level after not being used for several days.It’s a big difference, too, so it’s worth trying out in a large open space, only after you’re a little more comfortable handling the drone. The Bebop 2 Power is seriously nippy when it wants to be and it makes the FPV mode even more exhilarating. However you are controlling the Bebop 2, it connects using a 2.4GHz or 5GHz Wi-Fi signal, which is automatically selected to minimize interference. If you are using a tablet and FreeFlight 3, the connection is between the quadcopter and your phone/tablet. If you are using the Skycontroller, there is one Wi-Fi connection between the Bebop and the Skycontroller, and another between Skycontroller and your device. Either way, this means that you have to fiddle with the Wi-Fi settings on your phone/tablet to use, which some users may find confusing. We had no problems maintaining a connection using an iPad alone up to about 100 feet away, although the preview video did get rather glitchy at this distance, making it harder to control The Skycontroller definitely gets the stronger signal, thanks to the huge antenna on the front. Similarly, taking a leaf out of the DJI Spark’s piloting book, there are Magic Dronies. These use the visual recognition and GPS positioning of your smartphone to shoot dramatic ‘dronie’ videos, with pre-programmed camera movements such as ‘Orbit’, ‘Tornado’, ‘Parabola’ and ‘Boomerang’. There’s also a touch and fly mode for easy piloting.

Saying that the Bebop 2 Power offers an hour of flight might be a little disingenuous considering you’ll need to swap out batteries to achieve this time. Nevertheless, up to 30 minutes of flight on a single battery is still an impressive feat. That’s more than double offered by the DJI Spark. It’s a pretty accurate measurement, too, considering that’s 30 minutes measured in ideal flying conditions in video mode. One great aspect of the Bebop 2 is how easy it is to take it apart and repair if needed. The propellers all detach easily with a special tool that is supplied and the camera and battery are also very easily accessed. What else should I know? The Bebop 2 boasts a 14MP fisheye lens that also captures video in full 1080p high definition. Image quality is excellent and the stabilisation of the drone helps keep video smooth even at moderate speeds. Some reports that we have read have suggested that the fisheye lens is susceptible to lens flare but we didn’t notice that in any of our tests. For optimal charging, just connecting the battery to the charger is not enough – there are a few other things to keep in mind. First, use only the Bebop 2’s official charger. It has a feature that ensures the battery is healthy. Also, do not keep a charged battery near flammable material or unattended. Charging a new battery The battery is one of the main updates from the Bebop. While the original model had a 1200 mAh battery that provided a flight time of about 9 minutes, the Bebop 2 has a bigger 2700 mAh battery that lasts a claimed 25 minutes of flight. We found that this claim was pretty much spot-on: we were able to get about 23 minutes of flight time out of the included battery, which is a huge improvement over the 10 minutes we got from the original Bebop. This means longer shots, and more time to think about and frame the shot you want without worrying about the battery.Where this drone really comes in to its own though is with the FPV googles. You will need to use your smartphone as the display similar to other (cheap) VR headsets but the FreeFlightPro app really does work quite well with them and gives a whole new experience to flying a drone. We did notice some interference with the image from time to time but within around 100m the image quality was good. Photos are available in a wide-angle mode and come out really nicely, but video is limited to 1080p at 30FPS and pales a bit when compared to other leading drones. With so many top-range units now offering 4K video recording, this is a little disappointing, but it has to be remembered that the Bebop 2 Power costs a lot less than other examples on the market. We liked

I didn’t actually crash the Bebop 2 Power during testing, so can’t accurately attest to its resilience. There aren’t any prop guards, so those do feel slightly vulnerable, but you do at least get a spare set included. When the voltage per cell is about 3.3 volts, you can move it to the Lithium Polymer balance charger and balance the charge at a rating of 0.5C. This will take longer to charge than charging at 1C, but it’s safer. The drone has a standard quadcopter design and is surprisingly light at just 550g. That’s owing to some of the build materials, which consist of lightweight plastic and a polystyrene-like material towards the front. Compared to a drone such as the DJI Spark, the Bebop 2 Power doesn’t feel as robust, with the model showing some flex in parts on the exertion of some force. The app lets you view the length of flights, alongside a visual map in the flight history, and I was certainly seeing very close to 30 minutes from each battery. Charging a battery takes about 80 minutes. In my experience, the Skycontroller 2 battery will last over 4 hours; a combined 2 hours of flight time had taken it down to just over 50% battery. Note that the Skycontroller 2 charges your phone’s battery (albeit very slowly) when it’s plugged in, too. Why buy the Parrot Bebop 2 Power? You have just had some fun flying your drone, but when you plug in the battery to charge, for no reason they won’t seem to charge. Bebop 2 batteries are Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries. This means that the batteries need to be handled and stored with care to maximize their lifetime.MORE: For more information about how to travel with your drone (and batteries), read our Ultimate Guide to Traveling with a Drone. How to Charge Parrot Bebop 2 Battery Properly While the DJI Spark has a microSD slot for storage, the Bebop 2 Power instead opts for 8GB of integrated flash storage, of which about 7GB is actually usable. I’d have preferred a microSD slot, not only for the greater storage capacity but also because it makes getting content off the drone much easier.