DJI Spark
| Industry | Drone manufacturing, technology |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2006 |
| Headquarters | Shenzhen , China |
| Products | Drones, quadcopters, aerial photography equipment |
The DJI Spark (internally known as Model MM1A) is a compact quadcopter drone developed by the Chinese tech firm DJI for both personal and professional aerial photography and videography purposes. It was manufactured for a limited period of two years before being succeeded by the Mavic Mini.
Design and development
Announced by DJI in May 2017, the Spark is a small-sized quadcopter equipped with obstacle avoidance sensors positioned at the front and bottom, as well as satellite navigation capabilities. It is smaller and lighter compared to DJI's Mavic Pro, although its fixed arms make its dimensions comparable to the Mavic when folded. The drone features a 12-megapixel camera fitted with a 1/2.3" CMOS sensor, mounted on a two-axis gimbal, enabling it to shoot 1080p video at 30 frames per second.
The Spark marked DJI's initial venture into drones controllable through hand gestures. Originally, users had to rely on their smartphones for camera operation while using gesture controls, but an update released in August 2017 introduced new gesture commands that allowed direct video recording without a phone.
Upon its launch, the Spark entered the market alongside competitors such as the GoPro Karma and Yuneec International Breeze. In August 2017, after reports emerged of drones unexpectedly dropping from the sky, DJI traced the issue to a software defect and responded with a firmware update that remotely disabled drones which had not installed the fix.
In August 2018, DJI collaborated with Line Friends to produce a limited edition Spark featuring the character Brown.
The Spark was eventually replaced by the Mavic Mini in 2019. Unlike the Spark, which required registration in many countries due to its weight, the Mavic Mini was engineered to weigh less than , thereby avoiding most drone registration requirements.