Can the DJI Neo 2 Keep Up With a Four-Year-Old?
Blake and his Christmas present
I’ll be honest: I was skeptical.
Not skeptical of my kid — skeptical of the drone.
If you’ve ever met a four-year-old with a full battery and zero sense of pacing, you’ll understand the concern. The real question going into this wasn’t “Will the DJI Neo 2 work?” It was “Which one of these is going to run out of batteries first?”
First Flight, Boxing Day, Beach Test
We were down in Parksville over Christmas, staying near the beach, and Boxing Day felt like the right moment to see what this little drone could actually do in the real world. No backyard hovering. No careful demo. Just open space, sand, and a kid who absolutely does not slow down for technology.
The Neo 2 came out of a pocket. Not a case. Not a backpack. A pocket.
Press a button. It’s on. Another button. It’s in the air.
From there, it was off chasing Blake up and down the boardwalk while I stood back, half amused and half waiting for something to go wrong.
It didn’t.
“Wait… It Just Does That?”
We watched a short video beforehand, and that was about it. I helped him turn it on and launch it, but the gesture controls clicked almost immediately. Start following. Stop. Land back in his hand. Repeat.
No controller. No panic. No drama.
That part surprised me more than anything. Not just that he could do it — but how quickly it made sense to him. Five minutes might actually be generous.
And here’s the thing: watching the drone chase him around in person feels a little chaotic, but when you look at the footage afterward, it’s impressively stable. The framing holds. The motion is smooth. You’re clearly watching a kid running full tilt, but the video itself doesn’t feel frantic.
That’s not nothing.
This Is Not an Air 3S (And That’s the Point)
I fly an Air 3S regularly. That’s a very different tool, for very different work. It lives in a case, gets set up deliberately, checks satellites, checks airspace, and goes up with intention.
The Neo 2 is the opposite of that.
This thing is basically a pocket-sized, mildly obedient videographer. You pull it out, press a button, and it starts capturing whatever’s happening — kids running, family walks, quick moments you normally wouldn’t bother setting a drone up for.
That’s the real difference.
This isn’t about cinematic shots or production value. It’s about use. It’s about actually using a drone instead of talking yourself out of it because setup feels like work.
Price, Practicality, and Reality
For the money — especially if you’re realistic about accessories — it’s hard not to be impressed. You don’t need the whole kit. A spare battery (maybe two if you’re feeling ambitious) and you’re in good shape.
For families, that matters.
This is the kind of drone you can teach a kid to use responsibly. Gesture control first. Controller later. Safety always. It goes back in the pocket when you’re done. It gets looked after when you bring it home.
And yes, responsibility is part of the fun. Learning when not to fly is just as important as learning how.
Final Thoughts
I went into this curious. Mildly skeptical. Fully prepared for the drone to lose a race with a four-year-old.
Instead, I walked away impressed — not just with the tech, but with how naturally it fits into real family life. It’s fast, approachable, surprisingly capable, and doesn’t demand a whole production just to capture a moment.
If nothing else, it answered the original question.
The drone didn’t run out of batteries first.
The kid didn’t either.
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