DJI Mini 2 vs Fimi X8 SE 2020 Camera Drone Spec Comparison

Spec Comparison of the DJI Mini 2 and the Fimi X8 SE 2020

In this comparison table, we have each camera drone side by side with all of their specs and features so we can compare them and share individual features that you may be interested in to see which camera drone is best for you and your photography and film making.

These two drones are potentially the closest on paper that we have seen in a long while and are excited to compare them side by side here. Both were released this year in 2020 and the Fimi X8 SE 2020 being released just a few months ago.

Physical Differences of the DJI Mini 2 and the Fimi X8 SE 2020

First of all, the physical differences between the two camera drones.

When folded up, in their smallest form, the diagonal distance between the two is 5cm, with the Fimi X8 SE 2020 having a diagonal distance of 210mm and the DJI Mini 2 having a diagonal distance of 160mm in their smallest forms.

In terms of dimensions and volume size, this comes out at the Fimi X8 SE 2020 being just over twice the size of the DJI Mini 2.

The Fimi has a volume of 1556cm³ and the Mini 2 drone has a volume of 648cm³.

In terms of weight, there is a bigger increase of the difference between the two. The Fimi weighs in at 765grams and the DJI Mini 2 weighs in at 249grams.

This is more than likely due to the battery weight difference between the two camera drones, with the Fimi X8 SE 2020 having a very large battery.

They're both folding arm camera drones so both can fold up into a small brick sized shape and their props fold in neatly too.

In terms of size, it's clear, the DJI Mini 2 is the winner here, it's half the weight, half the size, and almost pocketable. The Fimi isn't the biggest camera drone on the market and portable as well, just not as small as the DJI Mini 2 is. There are upsides to this weight with the Fimi which we'll talk about further down.

Performance Difference Between the DJI Mini 2 and the Fimi X8 SE 2020

If you're looking for a high performing camera drone, we'll get into the details and differences between the two camera drones here. You can see these exact performance differences in the comparison table at the bottom of this article as well.

The camera drone with the best top speed is the Fimi X8 SE 2020 which has a top speed of 65kmh in sport mode. The DJI Mini 2 is not bad for it's size but comes short by 7kmh with a top speed of 57kmh.

The ascent speed is also much faster with the Fimi X8 SE 2020 at 8m/s compared to just 5m/s for the DJI Mini 2.

The descent speed is also quicker at 4m/s for the Xiaomi Fimi X8 SE 2020. The DJI Mini 2 has a descent speed of 3m/s which makes the Fimi 1m/s quicker, quite important when you're coming in to land with a small amount of battery remaining.

One of the most important differences we think between these two drones in terms of performance is that of max wind speed tolerance.

The Fimi X8 SE 2020 is capable of flying in wind speeds of up to 50kmh, and we can vouch for this, having flown in 40kmh+ winds in the mountains with gusts of over 50kmh and managed to fly it pretty successfully in these speeds and up to 1km away, which is seriously impressive.

DJI Mini 2 has added, what they call, level 5 wind resistance. This means the drone can fly up to a max wind speed of 37kmh, this is an improvement on the original DJI Mavic Mini drone, but is 13kmh slower in terms of wind performance than the Fimi drone.

We have yet to fly the Mini 2 but having experience with the original Mini, we don't yet know if this feature and specification can completely be trusted. We've struggled to fly in even small winds with the Mini and heard horror stories of drones not returning due to flying in high winds.

And the reason we believe this is the most important feature when it comes to the differences between the two camera drones is because the reason you buy a drone, is to fly it.

And if the wind picks up and you are nervous of not getting it out, it doesn't matter what camera drone you have for aerial photography or film making, it will be stuck inside, collecting dust.

Time will tell how well the Mini 2 handles in the air, but going off of the specification at launch, it seems the Fimi X8 SE 2020 will fair much better in windier environments and if you fly in the mountains or along the coast, expect there to be more wind that in-land.

One performance difference that the Mini 2 does better than the Fimi in is transmission distance. It has OccuSync 2.0 and capable of uninterrupted flying to 10km distance away from the remote control.

The Fimi comes a little short of this at 8km, but again, years of flying camera drones, we have never had to fly more than 2-3km away for any shot we've wanted to get.

Where the Mini 2 will excel here is if it's being used as a search and rescue drone and that extra 2km will definitely come in handy.

The Fimi comes out on top again though in terms of flight time, a whopping 35 minutes, which is more than enough to get up in the air, get a handful of shots and return with energy remaining in the battery.

The Mini 2 has improved from it's original Mavic Mini but only to 31 minutes. It will be hard without a battery technology improvement to fit much more in the tiny batteries that come with the Mini 2. But you could always carry 2 batteries in the same space as you would just one for the Fimi due to their size differences.

With flight modes, you get more flight modes with the Fimi X8 SE 2020, as well as the usual helix, dronie and circle shots with the Mini 2 you get waypoint, fixed wing and other flying modes with the X8 SE 2020 if you require them.

This means if you're looking at mapping out farmland or buildings on your land, the Fimi X8 SE 2020 will be capable of this, when working with other programs to create the maps you require.

Both have bottom facing sensors and are equal here, which helps them both land and avoid obstacles when dropping but no other obstacle avoidance.

And you get active tracking with the Fimi X8 SE 2020 which means you can follow animals, yourself or even vehicles if you require.

Photo and Video Differences Between the DJI Mini 2 and the Fimi X8 SE 2020

This area and specs of the camera drones may be what interests you the most and something you want to use to work out which camera drone is for you.

Off the bat, the Mini 2 has a slightly wider field of view of 83 degrees compared to a FOV of 80degrees for the Fimi. This means if they were both sat in the sky at the exact same spot you would have slightly more in-shot and in frame on the Mini 2 drone.

They both have 100mbps video bitrate at their max, but the Fimi has F-Log flat profile choices as well as HDR video recording which the Mini 2 does not have a flat profile which means less to work with if you want to edit your videos afterward.

The Fimi X8 SE 2020 comes out on top again in terms of slow shutter speeds. Capable of up to 100fps in 1080p, so if this is important to you, you can get 4x slow mo if you are exporting at 24fps.

The Mini 2 is only capable of 60fps which means 2x slow mo or just slower.

Both are 4K video cameras and also shoot in 2.7k and 1080p and the cameras are stabilized by 3-axis camera gimbals on both drones for smoother footage. We can attest to the smoothness of the X8 SE 2020 in high winds.

You get a slightly larger image sensor with the Mini 2 of 1/2.3" which is used a lot in camera drones and smart phones and action cameras. The Fimi uses a 1/2.6" image sensor which is about half a millimeter smaller than that of the Fimi. But both camera drones have an image sensor larger than 7mm diagonally.

In terms of photography, you get 12mp photo resolutions with both camera drones and RAW photography, so both can be used if you are serious about getting into aerial photography.

Summary of Differences

There are some major benefits and positives to the DJI Mini 2, and also arguments for the Fimi X8 SE 2020 camera drone.

One of the most important points we added was that of flight time and chances to fly. We have found that if we had the original mini we might not have flown it as much compared to the Fimi X8 SE 2020 as we fly in the mountains and on coastal areas which are much windier than in-land.

The biggest thing for us is being able to fly it and after that comes the quality of the camera and we are impressed by what photography and video the Fimi can take.

The main argument for the Mini 2 is that if you do want the smallest camera drone you can get, you should definitely consider the Mini 2. Another advantage is that it can charge via USB. This means that you could have 2 batteries, the drone and controller and charge them off of a power bank and put all of these in a small pocket on a backpack.

In terms of portability, it's unrivaled and creates incredible footage (as far as we have seen) for the its size.

Another thing is to check your phone works with the DJI, one of ours didn't so that was an issue when we've been experimenting and testing DJI camera drones.