Skydio 2+ Drone Brings Dazzling Cinematography Within Easy Reach

Skydio is already well-known for the autonomous capabilities of its drone range. Looking to build on this legacy, the company has introduced the Skydio 2+ that offers improved battery life, enhanced range and a new KeyFrame feature that brings cinema-like continuous shots within easy reach. Where the superseded Skydio 2 model offered around 22 minutes of flight time, the new Skydio 2+ offers 20 percent more battery life making it good for about 27 minutes of use per charge. This is courtesy of a new battery (also sold separately for $115) that is also backwards compatible which is good news for owners of the previous model.

The company has also managed to substantially boost the range of the Skydio 2+ from 3.5 km to 6 km. You can even extend its range further with the new Skydio 2+ Beacon accessory ($219) which bolsters the signal of your smartphone's GPS signal a further 3 km when paired with the Skydio app.

A lot of new drone pilots often get tempted to buy drones when they see the spectacular video footage captured by professionals – only to find that it isn't quite as easy as they expect. This is where the Skydio 2+ could come to your rescue courtesy of a new KeyFrame feature that makes it easy to take dynamic, smooth and creative shots in 4K HDR quality.

To set up a custom flight path for a continuous and complex shot that can swoop from high to low and around corners, the user just needs to pilot the drone to key positional points and tap their smartphone to mark the location. The Skydio 2+ drone will then autonomously fly smoothly through the designated flight path to capture seamless Hollywood-style cinematography.

The Skydio 2+ comes in four variants, with the Starter Kit coming in at $1,099. The Sports Kit ($1,549), Cinema Kit ($1,949) and the Pro Kit ($2,169) each add various accessories depending on user needs. The latter three kits can also be purchased separately as an add-on to the Starter Kit.