Skydio launches money-saving accessory bundles with new Sport Kit, Cinema Kit

Skydio, which is making big waves this year with the launch of its Skydio 2 drone, just launched two new accessory bundles that could save you money.

Skydio now offers two new accessory bundles — the Sport Kit and the Cinema Kit — in addition to the Skydio 2 Pro Kit Upgrade that was already available.

The Skydio 2 Pro Kit is pretty expensive; at $1,500 for the Pro upgrade alone (that’s not including the $999 cost for the drone too) we only think it’s worth it if you’re seriously considering Skydio’s extended warranty plan called Skydio Premier Support. Skydio Premier Support normally costs $749 a la carte, which is about half the price of the upgrade kit alone. Unless you seriously need technical support, we’re not sure $749 is worth most people paying, especially compared to other forms of product insurance.

But Skydio’s two new accessory bundles, the Sport Kit and the Cinema Kit, include add-on accessories that we love and recommend you pay for anyway. Buy them in bundled form, and you’ll save big.

Here’s what you get in the new accessory bundles:

The new bundles are appealing. The Cinema Kit certainly has a case for people who want to up their image quality with PolarPro filters, or who want the better precision you get with the joystick controller.

But anyone, regardless of whether you’re actually an action sports person or not, would benefit from at least the Sports Kit.

Why (at least) the Sports Kit accessory bundle is a must have for Skydio owners

Two spare batteries: The battery life for the Skydio 2 drone is just 23 minutes. You’ll certainly want to buy more than one — and the $499 upgrade kit contains two batteries. A la carte, spare batteries cost $115 each.

Dual battery charger: With extra batteries, you’ll also almost certainly want the dual battery charger ($149 on its own), which enables you to charge multiple batteries while the drone is in flight.

The Beacon: It’s $179 on its own – and it’s a neat tool. The Beacon is a magic wand type tool that basically levels up your drone, extending your drone’s range up to 1.5 km (without the Beacon, the range is a maximum of 3.5 km). The point? Your drone can carry out out flights in complex environments where the drone can’t necessarily see you, like skateboarding around pillars or biking through thick trees.

Memory card: And perhaps most importantly, you get an SD card. The drone doesn’t come with one on its own, but you obviously need that to give your drone purpose! The Skydio 2 requires a very specific SD card: a UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) or faster microSD card. This guarantees you’ve got the right one.

What about the other accessory bundles?

The Cinema Kit accessory bundle costs an additional $809 beyond the drone, for a $203 savings should you buy the items a la carte. The standout difference is you’ll also get the joystick controller. The controller is great for enabling greater precision in the videos you want to shoot. But if you’re planning on primarily flying the drone via controller, then the Skydio 2 might not actually be the drone for you in the first place (consider other camera drones, like the DJI Mavic 2 or DJI Mavic Air 2).

And as far as the Skydio 2 Pro Kit Upgrade, we’ve written extensively about its $1,500 price tag (and whether or not it’s worth it) here.

Do you have a Skydio 2 drone? Is one on your wishlist this year? Tell us why in the comments below!