Review: Parrot Anafi Drone

Parrot was one of the first (if not the absolute first) companies to take a crack at the consumer drone space. The AR Drone came out in 2010 (!), and Parrot followed it up a solid upgrade in the AR Drone 2.0 a few years later. Since then, we’ve seen the Bebop, some clever flying toys, and had a bunch of fun with the fixed-wing Disco. But at this point, most consumers probably think DJI when they think of camera drones, because of how pervasive Phantoms and Mavics are. It’s not like this caught Parrot by surprise or anything—two years ago, they saw the direction that the market was trending, and started working on a completely new consumer platform designed to be exceptionally easy to use and exceptionally portable, with the ability to produce exceptionally good aerial videos.

Earlier last month, Parrot announced the Anafi, a US $700 consumer camera drone with a unique design and some unique features, coupled with the sort of thoughtful usability that we’ve come to expect from Parrot. We got a pretty good look at the drone in New York City, and have been trying one out over the past weeks. (Disclosure: Parrot covered our expenses to attend the Anafi launch event in NYC.) It’s officially available today, so here’s a detailed review to help you understand whether Anafi is the right drone for you.