Parrot Bebop 2 | The Best Drones under $500 Review – 2020

With today’s technology and innovation, you can never run out of ways to have fun.

  • Take pictures, videos and fly a copter all at the same time with the drones of today.
  • The Parrot Bebop 2 is one of the most popular drones amidst drone lovers and is the new and improved version of its predecessor, the Parrot Bebop drone.
  • The Bebop 2 lets you fly longer with its impressive flight time that is almost thrice than average drones.
  • This ultra-lightweight drone lets you flip it in air with ease and also get some great quality images and videos. You can do these and much more with the Bebop2, the sky is the limit!

Read on below to find out why the Bebop 2 is such a popular and best selling drone, in our Parrot Bebop drone review below.

Best features of this model in this group of “Best Drones under $500”

Camera

The camera of the Parrot Bebop 2 Drone- White is built-in, unlike a gimbal in other drones and comes with a 3-axis digital stabilization for superior quality images and videos.

The Bebop 2 also comes with a wide-angle fish-eye lens and the 14 megapixel camera resolution is slightly higher than most drones in the segment. The lens delivers some great pictures and you can get a video with an 1080 p output quality.

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Battery

A Lithium polymer battery with a power of 2700 mAh powers the drone and gives an impressive flight time of 25 minutes. This is way more than the 11 minutes flight time of its previous version, the Bebop drone and most others in the class. Many other drones which offer a similar flight time also need a battery that is twice as powerful.

Weight

This is a super light-weight drone for the features it packs and is even lighter than some toy drones, weighing a mere 500 grams. Despite its lightweight, it does well in high altitudes and is stable even in windy conditions.

Speed

With the Bebop 2, you get a top speed of 40 mph which is slightly higher than most average drones. 

Drone Control

You don’t have to shell out those extra bucks to buy the sky controller as you can also use your smartphone or tablet to control the drone.

  • The FreeFlight 3 app FreeFlight Pro – Android Apps on Google Play  is free to download and lets you control the drone easily with touch operations. For those of you who like the feel of a joystick, the sky controller is a better option and it also comes with a holder for your smartphone and tablet to give you the best of both worlds.
  • For those of you who want more fun out of your drone, you can also buy the parrot bebop 2 FPV (First Person View) bundle that comes with parrot cockpit glasses.

With these goggles, you will feel as if you are really flying with the drone and get an excellent cockpit view. If you are looking for the best drone under $500 you will need to use the FreeFlight pro app on your smartphone and place it in the holder provided. [PDF]Parrot Bebop User Guide PDF

Construction

The body of the drone is made of ABS plastic and reinforced with carbon fibre to be more flexible than brittle. The propellers come with an auto-shutdown feature that is activated in case of a collision, making it safe for the user and protects the drone from damage as well.

As the camera is in-built, the propellers are the only moving parts of the drone. This in addition to the light-weight construction makes the drone less susceptible to damage in case of accidents.

Negative points

We believe and know that a good review is complete only when it also gives you the negative aspects of the product. That is why in this parrot bebop 2 review, we also point out the cons, some of which have been researched from  parrot bebop 2 Amazon customer reviews – best drones under 500.

  • Lens flares – The fish eye lens has been employed to improve the video quality but due to the same reason, it also tends to produce lens flares in your videos and pictures
  • Image quality – The 1080 p picture quality isn’t the best you can get in the segment and may not be for you if very high quality videos is your priority
  • Price – Though the parrot bebop 2 price is under $500, if you need to buy the bebop 2 with skycontroller as a bundle, then it will cost you an additional $200 

Parrot Bebop 2 versus Yuneec Q500 Typhoon

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The Bebop 2 has a very unique but fuss-free design that looks light and less flimsy when compared to the Yuneec Q 500.

The powerful 5400 mAh battery of the Q 500 gives a flight time of up to 25 minutes whereas the battery of the Parrot Bebop 2, gives the same amount of flight time at just half the power (2700 mAh).

Unlike the Parrot Bebop, the Typhoon does not have an LCD screen but only a 5.5″ display.

So if you want to use a touch screen, you will have to use your tablet in the holder provided and download the app for it.

You also get a 14 – megapixel camera with the Bebop 2 as against a 12 – megapixel camera of the Typhoon, which also has a much higher price tag than the Parrot. The Bebop 2 definitely gives you more bang for your buck. [PDF]Q500 4k User Manual V2 0706 – Wellbots

Parrot Bebop 2 versus DJI Phantom 3 Standard

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The first thing you will notice when comparing the Phantom 3 with the Bebop 2 is the size difference.

The Phantom 3 is larger and almost twice as heavy as the Bebop 2 and hence you don’t need to be so very careful when flying the Bebop 2.

You also get a higher camera resolution in the Bebop 2 which has a 14 megapixel camera whereas the Phantom 3 has a 12 megapixel camera.

Both drones can fly faster than average drones, but the Bebop 2 is slightly faster than the Phatom (36mph) and has a top speed of 40mph.Both the drones have a good flight time of 25 minutes but the Bebop 2 is more efficient as it uses a battery that is only half as powerful (2700 mAh) as that of the Phantom 3 (4480 mAh). [PDF]DJI Phantom 3 Standard User Manual

Parrot Bebop 2 versus 3DR Solo

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The 3 DR solo is another option in the same segment as the Bebop 2.

When it comes to camera, the Bebop 2 beats most drones in the segment with a slightly higher resolution of 14 megapixels, whereas the 3DR Solo like other similar drones has only a 12 megapixel camera.

The Bebop 2, with its improved flight time of 25 minutes beats the 3DR Solo whose flight time is a close 20 minutes.

Letting your drone fly away far from you can let you take pictures that are not possible otherwise.

The parrot bebop 2 range is twice as much as that of the Solo, and since both have auto return features, the bebop wins over the Solo.

The Bebop 2 also beats most other drones in being the lightest of them all weighing only 500 grams whereas the Solo weighs 1.5 kg. [PDF]User Manual – 3DR

Conclusion

With so many drone options flooding the market, it can be a daunting task to choose one that is good and reliable. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned drone enthusiast, investing in an expensive drone is not a wise option unless you don’t mind putting your money down the drain, as these are prone to damage. This is one of the best cheap drones to buy.

The parrot Bebop 2 is such a compact and lightweight drone, making it a very portable model that you can carry in your backpack. It is also packed with some great features that make it a great buy than some other drones in the segment, with an affordable price point of $500.

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