First Purchase Remorse

[SDFLYER619]

Hi All, I recently made my first ever drone buy - Mavic Air (arrives in 2 days). While I am new to this, I feel like the an above beginner due to the amount of extensive research I’ve invested on drones, DJI Models in particular. I’ve seen enough to know that I couldn’t go wrong either way, however for my first Purchase, with the reduced pricing of the Pro, should I have gotten this over the Air?

I fully realize this is an subjective question, but any experience input or mind easing is welcomed.

 

[Astom22]

Depends on what you want in your drone. For me the size and portability of the Air made it a must buy. I needed compact above all, so it was a no brainer. Just my two cents.

 

[SDFLYER619]

I appreciate your 2 cents is more than my 0! I live in an area where there are plenty of amazing places to fly & shoot. Hills, large rock formations, and the beach just 16 minutes west. Essentially, I intend to use it just for fun and maybe if lucky, grab some cool pics & videos along the way.

 

[ac0j]

The Air (i am told) has a better camera than the pro, BUT it has a limited range, and it is sketchy in urban areas due to WiFi interference. I think Either one would have you satisfied.

 

[Astom22]

I appreciate your 2 cents is more than my 0! I live in an area where there are plenty of amazing places to fly & shoot. Hills, large rock formations, and the beach just 16 minutes west. Essentially, I intend to use it just for fun and maybe if lucky, grab some cool pics & videos along the way.

I know I'm more likely to take my Air along on adventures than if I had a Pro. It fits in my water pack when I ride my mountain bike with ease, I wouldn't be able to say that with the Pro. That's with a spare battery too.

 

[Aerial-Pixel]

First off, welcome to Mavic Pilots! I have both the MA and MP, they are both excellent birds with their own strengths and weaknesses. You can't go wrong with either. Just enjoy it and have a good time! Fly safe!

 

[jason38]

I own a pro (1) and a friend got the air.
The camera is a bit better with the air , but it's the only better feature over the pro for me...except ultra portability for sure...
The pro is more stable in wind gusts, have a stronger RC signal, can fly at least 10 more min than the air, and , a very important parameter for me, the pro is waaaayy less noisy than the air, mostly with the low noise airscrews... You can also make the gimbal rotate on it's axis to take some portrait picrures..
And the RC of the pro is fitted with a screen that shows all you need to make it come back safely (altitude, distance, flight mode, drone attitude, battery Level......) in a case of app freeze or link cable malfunction... The air RC doesn't...

It's a very hard choice to make before buying a drone ,as it's "a bit" expensive and I also spent weeks before I made my choice, and I'm happy with it now, really!

If you can, buy twice the air and the pro , try them and sell the one you dont like/use...or keep them all!!

 

[putz]

I have owned a spark for about a year and have loved it since day one. However I always wanted the little more that the mavic offered. So I recently picked up a MP and do not regret it one bit, however I still like the portability and quick launch you get with the spark. I assume this is the same thing with the Air. I can have my spark from storage to airborne in under a minute. The Pro takes a little longer. I did alot of research on the Air and considered it for a long time, but the price of the MP kept coming down and I figured I already had a Spark, so the MP was a better option. I always tell people who ask about the 2 drones, If I owned nothing at all, knew what I know now and was in the market, I'd buy the Mavic Air.

 

[angell]

I have both The air is much more robust .You wont break it nearly as easily .Its better for take anywhere like you want .

 

[StevietheWorm]

I have just gone through this process and was strongly considering the same two drones for my first purchase. I really wanted the pro as I could live with the larger size and the slightly less good camera (it's pretty marginal).

I mostly convinced myself that the air was the smarter buy as it's newer and the camera is better but the noise of the thing, the slightly more toyish feel and the WiFi were hard pills to swallow.

After much deliberation...I bought the Mavic 2 Zoom and love it. I do regret not getting the Pro though as I'd love to do some more low light stuff.

 

[Radovan]

Hi All, I recently made my first ever drone buy - Mavic Air (arrives in 2 days). While I am new to this, I feel like the an above beginner due to the amount of extensive research I’ve invested on drones, DJI Models in particular. I’ve seen enough to know that I couldn’t go wrong either way, however for my first Purchase, with the reduced pricing of the Pro, should I have gotten this over the Air?

I fully realize this is an subjective question, but any experience input or mind easing is welcomed.

Absolutely the same happens to me on my RC controller.

 

[JoelP]

I own the Mavic Air and fly with someone who has the Pro. I am very satisfied with my MA, but he Pro is quieter and can fly a longer Litchi mission than my MA. As far as the wind I find my MA to be stable even in 25mph winds. When flying near busy areas with lots of Wi-Fi I expect the Pro to be more resistant to EMI since it can support 5Mhz. It all comes down to how you use your drone and where you like to fly.

Enjoy your new drone—it is an amazing collection of technology that continues to amaze me for how well it flies and records images.

 

[Cymruflyer]

I own the Mavic Air and fly with someone who has the Pro. I am very satisfied with my MA, but he Pro is quieter and can fly a longer Litchi mission than my MA. As far as the wind I find my MA to be stable even in 25mph winds. When flying near busy areas with lots of Wi-Fi I expect the Pro to be more resistant to EMI since it can support 5Mhz. It all comes down to how you use your drone and where you like to fly.

Enjoy your new drone—it is an amazing collection of technology that continues to amaze me for how well it flies and records images.

I thought it was only the Mavic 2 Pro that supports two signals which includes 5Mhz. The Mavic Pro that the OP is asking about only supports one, but not two which includes the 5Mhz which the Mavic 2 Pro can do. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Cymruflyer]

Hi All, I recently made my first ever drone buy - Mavic Air (arrives in 2 days). While I am new to this, I feel like the an above beginner due to the amount of extensive research I’ve invested on drones, DJI Models in particular. I’ve seen enough to know that I couldn’t go wrong either way, however for my first Purchase, with the reduced pricing of the Pro, should I have gotten this over the Air?

I fully realize this is an subjective question, but any experience input or mind easing is welcomed.

This is a subjective question to an extent, so help yourself out here. Consider it like renting to practice flying and getting familiar with. That way you get some time on the Air and then sell it at what you paid for it minus what you feel the rental cost would have been, and you put that money towards a new Mavic 2 Pro, or if you are happy with just the Mavic Pro then get that one. That way you won't feel like you have lost money on it when you sell it for less than what you paid.

 

[dannybgoode]

I have an MA and an M2P. The MA is so much fun and I would miss it more than the M2.

It’s such a capable little thing and you can genuinely take it anywhere and do pretty much anything with it.

The MP2 is a more ‘serious’ tool and is more technically capable but that does not make it necessarily better.

For starting off with in particular you’ll do well with the MA - you’ll be able to learn to fly and learn all the elements of aerial filming and photography and you’ll have fun with it too.

 

[JMF]

I would have got the Pro.

 

[Brice LeCarre]

SDFLYER619
whatever you get you will have fun with it. The Air is pretty good by all account. Don't worry about it and get your feet wet with the Air. You will have a more informed position after you fly it. You'll then know what you want out of your drone(s).

 

[Topo]

I own a pro (1) and a friend got the air.
The camera is a bit better with the air , but it's the only better feature over the pro for me...except ultra portability for sure...
The pro is more stable in wind gusts, have a stronger RC signal, can fly at least 10 more min than the air, and , a very important parameter for me, the pro is waaaayy less noisy than the air, mostly with the low noise airscrews... You can also make the gimbal rotate on it's axis to take some portrait picrures..
And the RC of the pro is fitted with a screen that shows all you need to make it come back safely (altitude, distance, flight mode, drone attitude, battery Level......) in a case of app freeze or link cable malfunction... The air RC doesn't...

It's a very hard choice to make before buying a drone ,as it's "a bit" expensive and I also spent weeks before I made my choice, and I'm happy with it now, really!

If you can, buy twice the air and the pro , try them and sell the one you dont like/use...or keep them all!!

I think you've summed it up nicely. I have the AIR and often think I'd rather have the Pro. The best thing about the Air is the portability, but I've seen my friend's Pro and it's not a huge difference. I would prefer to have all the features the Pro has, that they have not included in the Air; Home Lock, dynamic homepoint updating, etc. The longer battery life. The significantly quieter prop noise...the Air is loud. The better stability. The better occusync connection signal system. The fact that the props are out a bit further from the camera helps avoid what I often get with the Air in prop shadow showing up in the video, as well as an actual prop being seen in the upper corner of the raster. I just bought some ND filters to help avoid the shadow. The Air does have additional object avoidance sensors, and it's design around the camera has better protection in case of a crash. But, overall, I'd have chosen the Pro if it was the same price when I was buying. All that being said, the Air works well. I have been able to capture some great video and blend it with my original music to make some awesome movies. I may sell it at some point, but it really is a great portable drone.

 

[Brice LeCarre]

there is an adage in photography.
The best camera is the one you have with you.
You can create magic with every single drone. You just have to use it within its capability.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Hi All, I recently made my first ever drone buy - Mavic Air (arrives in 2 days). While I am new to this, I feel like the an above beginner due to the amount of extensive research I’ve invested on drones, DJI Models in particular. I’ve seen enough to know that I couldn’t go wrong either way, however for my first Purchase, with the reduced pricing of the Pro, should I have gotten this over the Air?

I fully realize this is an subjective question, but any experience input or mind easing is welcomed.

The Air is better than the original Pro in most ways except:

1) Maximum range (4km vs 7km), but in most countries you need a dedicated spotter to be legal if you fly beyond visible line of sight, so maximum range is very rarely the limiting factor. Make sure you are familiar with the laws of your area.

2) Battery life - you get about 7-8 minutes more flight time out of the original Pro before it's time to come home based on best practices (RTH around 30%). Certainly this is useful if you need more than about 17 minutes flight time.

3) The Pro is a bit quieter, but they are both loud enough to attract the same attention. Neither is at all quiet. The Air has a higher pitched sound to it.

The Air is approximately 2X smaller and 2X lighter, has much better obstacle avoidance, significantly better video quality, and has a much better gimbal design. It's a newer drone and it shows. The remote is a better design as far as portability is concerned the removable joysticks, but you give up the LCD screen (the same info is shown in the app). It will also fare better in a crash with the protected gimbal. They both are rated for the same wind resistance. The Air also has 8GB internal storage if you ever forget your memory card - this is potentially a life saver.

If neither size nor cost is an issue for you, the Mavic 2 improves on every shortfall of the original Mavic, but especially as a beginner I think the Mavic Air is perfect and it is capable of very professional results still. I don't think you need to be feeling any buyer's remorse - the Mavic Pro is almost 3 years old now.

Personally I went with the Air for the better image quality, huge size/portability advantage (I travel and hike a lot), newer technology, and I will never need to fly beyond 4KM. I fly around urban areas all the time and have never had any issues with signal strength. YMMV.