Back in early 2018 I finally bought my first real drone, a DJI Spark. Three days after I ordered it, DJI announced the Mavic Air and everyone started dumping their Sparks. This is why I kept mine anyway.
Why I wanted a drone
Let's be honest: I'd been watching Casey Neistat and Peter McKinnon flying their drones on holiday, with all those cinematic, beautiful shots, and I wanted one too. My first attempt, a couple of years earlier, didn't go well. I bought a Chinese drone for 19 euros and crashed it on the second flight: it went into a tree and then fell headfirst.
Something else had kept me from buying a drone: the Italian rules. They're really strict, and Brindisi is basically surrounded by the airport. You can't fly anywhere in town, so you have to take the car and drive four or five miles out, towards the beach or south, before the red zone ends.
Choosing the Spark
So I started studying websites to find the best drone for me, and the answer kept coming back the same: the DJI Spark was the best drone to start with. It's easy to pilot, it has a decent camera and it's affordable. I ordered the Fly More combo from a local shop on the 20th of January.
Then, on the 23rd of January, before I'd even picked it up, DJI released the Mavic Air. Facebook went crazy. Everybody was selling their brand-new Spark combos under price, and there I was thinking: I haven't even held my drone and it's already old.
Why I kept it
That feeling lasted until I got it in my hands and started flying. DJI isn't paying me to say this, but it's an awesome product to start with. I paid 630 euros for the combo, and yes, for about 300 euros more I could have had the Air. The Spark isn't 4K, and the Air folds up smaller. But I'm an amateur flier. I needed a drone to start understanding how it all works, not a professional tool, and the Spark is fine for me for the moment.
I also didn't get why people were going so crazy about the Air. It's new, sure, but the Mavic Pro was already out, and imported from China it cost about the same.
The upgrade trap
At the time, rumours said DJI would release a Mavic Pro 2 within two or three months. So think about it: you sell your Spark, buy an Air, and two months later another drone comes out. Do you sell that one too? Exactly. That's why, for now, I'm keeping the Spark.