Parrot Announces Bebop 2 Drone

On Tuesday, Parrot announced the latest addition to their family of drones, the Bebop 2 Drone. Similar to the original Bebop, the Bebop 2 Drone can be piloted from your smartphone or tablet, features a 14 megapixel, fisheye lens camera, and a downward facing, vertical stabilization camera for stable flying low to the ground.

In addition to the stabilization camera, the Bebop 2 also sports an ultrasound sensor that analyzes flight altitude up to 16 feet and a pressure sensor that measures air pressure and flight altitude for even more stable flights at greater distances.

The Bebop 2’s magnetometer and Global Navigation Satellite System chipset defines the position and geo-localizes the drone to help measure speed and stabilize the drone at high altitudes.

And those are important features because with a weight of 500 grams and a 2700 mAh battery, the Bebop 2 Drone can reach speeds up to 37 mph horizontally in 14 seconds.

Parrot also claims this power enables the Bebop 2 to resist head wings up to 39 mph and a range of nearly 1000 feet.

But the most impressive capability this new hardware brings to the table is the fact that the Bebop 2 nearly doubles the flight time of the original Bebop to 25 minutes in one battery charge.

The Bebop 2 Drone also comes standard with a number of safety systems such as emergency cut-out for the engines in case the propellers hit something, limitation of the altitude and flying perimeter, and auto return home.

The Bebop 2 will be compatible with the Skycontroller for the original Bebop, but Parrot is also releasing a brand new Skycontroller, the Skycontroller Black Edition, specifically designed for the Bebop 2. As is the case with the first Bebop, the Skycontroller uses additional WiFi chips to significantly extend the range of the Bebop and enables FPV glasses compatibility.

The most surprising feature of the new Bebop though, might be the price tag.

The Bebop 2 will retail for $549, only $50 more than the Bebop one, and be available on December 14. The Bebop 2/Skycontroller Black Edition will retail for $799, which is actually $100 less than the current generation Bebop/Skycontroller bundle.

This probably means you can expect some serious price drops on the original Bebop this holiday season as retailers look to clear shelf space for Parrot’s latest and greatest.

For more on the Bebop 2, go to Parrot.com and for additional holiday drone deals, you can check out our predictions right here.