Some questions about Spark

[thewhatever]

I am a total noob in term of drones, I never owned one or tried one.
Recently when I saw the Follow Me feature on Bebop 2 I abandoned the action camera search and went into small drones search with Follow Me feature.
I was nearly gonna buy a used (sorry I am jobless) Bebop 2 but many people told me to pay a bit more and get the Spark instead. I must reckon the video quality of the Spark outclass the Bebop 2, it's not only a matter of ''no more waves'' thingy but more importantly videos taken with the Spark are way sharper and detailed.
Though I will be only using my smartphone S8 as a controller so here my questions:
-How far and how high can you get with an S8 in the city?
-How far and how high can you get with an S8 in a place without any or poor wifi interference like on a ski slope or mountain peak?
-Can you use portable Wifi extender like a Xiaomi to boost the wifi range?
-How good is the Spark Folow Me option without smartphone control? I mean using the gestures only. Can you configure these gesture control like max/min distance prior to using them?

 

[Lastrexking]

I think the range in any environment is 50m with a phone, although I'm sure that will be greatly reduced in a city. The buildings, wifi networks etc will interfere.
I haven't use gesture control. they're more of a gimmick than any practical use (for me anyway).

 

[thewhatever]

I think the range in any environment is 50m with a phone, although I'm sure that will be greatly reduced in a city. The buildings, wifi networks etc will interfere.
I haven't use gesture control. they're more of a gimmick than any practical use (for me anyway).

Yes I think dji threw too much hype on the Spark, limiting on purpose the Wifi limit on the app without RC is a very bad move.
I think I will bypass the Spark and go for another brand

 

[Lastrexking]

They didn't do it on purpose. Try keeping a wifi signal from your home over 50m away - you've got no chance. DJi are limited by the tehnology...
Also, they didn't hype it. Anyone here has known from the start that a remote would be needed to fly over 50m....

 

[Sparkbart]

I think I know what you want a drone for based on your comments/questions, Let me tell you right now, There is currently NO drone that can do what you want. There is NO drone that can autonomously follow you down a mountain while snow riding or follow you on your mountain bike, or on your motorcycle. At least NOT to the degree you'd really want.

I know as that type of drone is my "dream drone" and there isn't one out there yet. I've seen some that if you put it high enough in the sky it can track you for awhile but its not really cool to watch for too long and it can lose you in the trees, or too sharp a turn that it loses you. When I first heard about "follow me" drones, I expected something that you'd put up in there air, do your ski run or ride through a canyon and recover the drone when you get to the bottom of the run or at the end of your canyon run. They just aren't that good YET.... They can't keep up with anything moving at more than a walking speed.

Yeah, yeah, I hear some people say they've seen videos or have had their drone follow them skiing, but its not what you think and its not for any long duration. Again, not like you'd imagine...

I've seen some videos where a person has had a drone follow them, but when you read the actual description or watch the video, you can see that they had someone piloting the drone in sections as there is no way a drone could avoid some obstacles on its own.

Also, MOST ski resorts do not allow drones. You'll have to back-country it.

I am a total noob in term of drones, I never owned one or tried one.
Recently when I saw the Follow Me feature on Bebop 2 I abandoned the action camera search and went into small drones search with Follow Me feature.
I was nearly gonna buy a used (sorry I am jobless) Bebop 2 but many people told me to pay a bit more and get the Spark instead. I must reckon the video quality of the Spark outclass the Bebop 2, it's not only a matter of ''no more waves'' thingy but more importantly videos taken with the Spark are way sharper and detailed.
Though I will be only using my smartphone S8 as a controller so here my questions:
-How far and how high can you get with an S8 in the city?
-How far and how high can you get with an S8 in a place without any or poor wifi interference like on a ski slope or mountain peak?
-Can you use portable Wifi extender like a Xiaomi to boost the wifi range?
-How good is the Spark Folow Me option without smartphone control? I mean using the gestures only. Can you configure these gesture control like max/min distance prior to using them?

 

[thewhatever]

I think I know what you want a drone for based on your comments/questions, Let me tell you right now, There is currently NO drone that can do what you want. There is NO drone that can autonomously follow you down a mountain while snow riding or follow you on your mountain bike, or on your motorcycle. At least NOT to the degree you'd really want.

I know as that type of drone is my "dream drone" and there isn't one out there yet. I've seen some that if you put it high enough in the sky it can track you for awhile but its not really cool to watch for too long and it can lose you in the trees, or too sharp a turn that it loses you. When I first heard about "follow me" drones, I expected something that you'd put up in there air, do your ski run or ride through a canyon and recover the drone when you get to the bottom of the run or at the end of your canyon run. They just aren't that good YET.... They can't keep up with anything moving at more than a walking speed.

Yeah, yeah, I hear some people say they've seen videos or have had their drone follow them skiing, but its not what you think and its not for any long duration. Again, not like you'd imagine...

I've seen some videos where a person has had a drone follow them, but when you read the actual description or watch the video, you can see that they had someone piloting the drone in sections as there is no way a drone could avoid some obstacles on its own.

Also, MOST ski resorts do not allow drones. You'll have to back-country it.

Thanks!
Another reason to not get the Spark.
I wanted it mainly for Ski + Follow Me and for landscapes
If follow me can't follow me while I am doing 60 to 80km/h downhill and I need the extra 150$ RC for landscaping then no thanks

 

[Spark 317]

Selfie stick and a GoPro could work.

Seen a video of a snowboarder wearing a helmet with a skate board wheel attached on the top so it would spin 360* with a light weight rod and a GoPro attached to the other end of it.

The resulting video was neat as the camera spun around the person getting all angles.

Hands free too.

The whole rig would break away if you biffed it in the snow.

 

[suprPHREAK]

Thanks!
Another reason to not get the Spark.
I wanted it mainly for Ski + Follow Me and for landscapes
If follow me can't follow me while I am doing 60 to 80km/h downhill and I need the extra 150$ RC for landscaping then no thanks

LOL well all the advertising material says "up to 50kph" so that should have ruled it out right away.

-How far and how high can you get with an S8 in the city?

All phone to drone connections are limited to 50m.

-How far and how high can you get with an S8 in a place without any or poor wifi interference like on a ski slope or mountain peak?

50m, limited in the drone. Wifi connections from phones suck for this purpose.

-Can you use portable Wifi extender like a Xiaomi to boost the wifi range?

No, because there is no way to connect multiple devices.

-How good is the Spark Folow Me option without smartphone control? I mean using the gestures only. Can you configure these gesture control like max/min distance prior to using them?

Terrible for your use. It will follow you up to 100m I think, then return to take off point without a phone connected. Also, very slow in this mode.