The jury is still out for me. My Anafi arrived about 3 weeks ago. Updating the Anafi went fine and I had no trouble with a SanDisk Extreme 64 gb sd card. The first flight went well and the Anafi flew for about 20 minutes before I brought it back with about 15% left on the battery. It was very windy, but the Anafi did well. I liked the zoom feature and the 180 degree camera tilt. I especially liked the quiet operation of the Anafi – I live in a suburban area where I try to avoid disturbing others. Went out about 1,500 feet and that is where the signal started to break up. The second flight was not so smooth. I wanted to try out all of the video modes and the photo modes. About half way through the flight, my screen froze after I switch from video to photos. Not sure if this is a Freeflight app or Anafi problem, but I could not get my FPV back. The controller was still connected and I was about 700 feet away and could still see the drone, so I brought it back and landed. Turned everything off and started over and everything worked fine.
My third flight was not so good. After taking off, I leisurely started exploring a park I was flying at. Nothing fast, but wanted to get some cinematic, slow video. Went up to about 140 feet in altitude and started focusing on the baseball field. All of a sudden, I received a “motor cut off” error in red on my screen and the Anafi fell out of the sky. No warning, no gradual descent – it just fell from 140 feet. Luckily, the drone was only about 400 feet from my home point and it fell in a grassy area narrowly missing a wooded area. Found the drone. Had two bent props and unfortunately, about a ½” crack in one of the legs. I was surprised about the crack, as the Anafi landed in a soft grassy area.
Contacted BH Photo where I purchased it (it was within their 30 day return window) and explained the situation. They were pretty knowledgeable and asked for the flight info, which I provided. They seem to think it was a faulty connection between the power source and the motors. They gave me an RMA to send the damaged one in and I am now awaiting a new Anafi to arrive.
I like the Anafi and its features, but I am concerned about its sturdiness and quality control. I also have a DJI Spark and DJI Mavic Pro with about 100 flights on each, and they have been very dependable for me. They each have their pros and cons, but they never dropped out of the sky. When it arrives, I hope the new replacement Anafi performs well and holds up. So right now, do I have buyers remorse? Not yet, but a lot will depend on the performance of my replacement Anafi. I will provide an update to the group in the future.
