Mavic Mini Controller Battery Life

[Lone_Warrior_Innd]

Hi,

I would like to know the MM Controller Battery Life, from past a month after flying a single battery almost all battery of Controller drained.
i reported it to Customer care & send my device for repair if any malfunction, but i got reply from Customer care it is OK & they didnt find any problem in it. They send it back to me.

Now today again i flow drone & after one flight i got the same problem.
Once i swtich off and swtich on it shows all 4 dots, but again after flying for 10 mins, i wil get one dot.

I already update my firmware of Controller & reset also, but no positive result.
I am using it on Android Device S10

 

[scro]

I use an android phone (Galaxy S10) and find that my 3 flight batteries are drained well before my controller (ie over 1hr of "continuous" use)

I've not run the controller until its battery is flat though, to know how much longer it will last.

 

[NorVegan]

Can you try another display device?

 

[scro]

Or, try doing a test flight with no phone connected and see if you get better results - that'll flag up if your phone is draining the battery or something in the controller itself. You'll obviously not get any real-time telemetery from the drone so keep low and close.

 

[rehkram]

Could be the controller is charging the android phone when connected; I believe there's no way to turn that behavior off(?); I'm using the iPhone version so I dunno.

You could try charging the phone to 100% before connecting to the RC and testing again. Also turn off power-consuming apps (Bluetooth & WiFi for example) while flying.

 

[Kaibil57]

Could be the controller is charging the android phone when connected; I believe there's no way to turn that behavior off(?); I'm using the iPhone version so I dunno.

You could try charging the phone to 100% before connecting to the RC and testing again. Also turn off power-consuming apps (Bluetooth & WiFi for example) while flying.

I had the same problem, what happens is that your Android charges continuesly off your controler. I solved the problem by switching to a ipad mini 5. No problemo since then.

 

[Slade]

It seems that DJI drones are optimized for iOS platforms. One of the reasons I dropped my Premium membership is this forum is flooded with people having issues and they’re using Android devices. Dump the crap phones, get an iPhone, and many of your issues will be resolved.

 

[Bosco Bear]

I had the same thing happen a few days ago. I have had no problems at all with rapid power loss on the controller since buying my Mini in March, but suddenly after a single battery's flying time I was getting warnings that the controller battery was very low. This was despite having it fully charged when I started. When I plugged it in to re-charge, it indicated a fairly high level of charge and was topped up in a short period of time so it must have been getting a false reading on the state of charge during the flight. A Samsung phone will always drain the controller battery faster than an Apple (I have both) but even the Samsung should be good for an hour and a half of controller battery. I should add that it hasn't done this again since then.

 

[THE CYBORG]

I have no experience with the Mavic Mini.
But.
When flying me MP & M2P with an Android tablet I could fly 3 batteries and have lots of power left in the controller, the charge going to the tablet was a minimal trickle charge, I got a slow charge warning on the tablet.
I would doubt that charging a phone while flying should drain the controller after only one battery.

 

[THE CYBORG]

It seems that DJI drones are optimized for iOS platforms. One of the reasons I dropped my Premium membership is this forum is flooded with people having issues and they’re using Android devices. Dump the crap phones, get an iPhone, and many of your issues will be resolved.

The problem isn’t with Android it’s that all Android devices aren't equal.
The same applies to Apple devices, with all the hype for iOS I got an Air 2 hated the thing and had nothing but problems, was told it was to old to use GO4 so it was back to happy times with my trusty Android tablet.
Lets face it the Smart Controller is Android so it can’t be the OS

 

[22kane]

Had the same issue with S8. Now I charge my phone 100%, put it on airplane mode, and I still have 4 bars after 30 minutes flying, whereas I would have 2 bars after 10 minutes. Also I flew it in 94 degrees temp,vwithout a hood on
controller when issue first noticed. It was also my 1st flight.

 

[Lone_Warrior_Innd]

Today i flow the drone without phone connected,
Surprising as all said, the controller battery was stable, looks like due to Android connection it is charing phone remotely.

I will test one more time while putting phone on aeroplane mode.

I was iOS user since iphon4 & even use MacBook Pro for all my editing,
Recently last year only i moved to Android, well better to buy ipad mini for drone flying.

Or, try doing a test flight with no phone connected and see if you get better results - that'll flag up if your phone is draining the battery or something in the controller itself. You'll obviously not get any real-time telemetery from the drone so keep low and close.

 

[scro]

I use an S10 and have no issues with really short controller battery life. It does charge from the controller when plugged in - all androind devices do on the MM. I do make a point of charging my phone up to at least 80% or more before flying. I disable wifi, but have GPS and 4G data on. I leave fast-charge enabled and haven't changed any other settings.

Phones typically charge a bit slower above about 80% so this might be an important point.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

IS your S10 fully charged when you connect it?

There are USB ammeter/voltmeter/coulomb-meter devices available, such as is shown in the attached. They are quite handy things but in this case the particular one I show presents a problem in that you would need a 'micro USB type A or more likely type B plug' to 'large USB socket' cable. They are available.
Try googling 'USB ammeter voltmeter' and spend some time going through the results and you might find more suitable ones.

The controller DOES charge android devices, I think all Mavic style controller's using the micro USB type A socket do and so do all the GL300xyz controllers for Phantom 3's. As I understand it is part of the design rules governing this method of connection. However some android devices offer the option of switching this current off, whether the S10 is one of those devices I do not know. You'd have to google it and be aware it might require a "rooted" device.
'Rooting' is not something that I personally would attempt as it can, apparently, render the device useless if it goes wrong and it will almost certainly render any warranty void.

That said, the behaviour you are seeing seems extreme, what is the battery capacity in the Japanese/your version of the controller? From a fully charged CE version controller, model MR1SD25 2600mAh, and using a Samsung S6 I can fly two full batteries flights with out a problem and might get a third. The 'recovery' you are seeing also seems odd to me, when the battery in my controller is flattened it remains flattened until recharged

There are 'work arounds' which use a USB power pack to power the phone, see post #9 in When can wee see the option to turn off phone charging for Android? I recently got a splitter cable and with that and my ammeter in use I zero amps drawn from the controller.

 

[klovatt]

Today i flow the drone without phone connected,
Surprising as all said, the controller battery was stable, looks like due to Android connection it is charing phone remotely.

I will test one more time while putting phone on aeroplane mode.

I was iOS user since iphon4 & even use MacBook Pro for all my editing,
Recently last year only i moved to Android, well better to buy ipad mini for drone flying.

Or consider using an old iPhone. If you need mobile connectivity, you could always tether to your Android device.

 

[Naveen R]

Hi,

I would like to know the MM Controller Battery Life, from past a month after flying a single battery almost all battery of Controller drained.
i reported it to Customer care & send my device for repair if any malfunction, but i got reply from Customer care it is OK & they didnt find any problem in it. They send it back to me.

Now today again i flow drone & after one flight i got the same problem.
Once i swtich off and swtich on it shows all 4 dots, but again after flying for 10 mins, i wil get one dot.

I already update my firmware of Controller & reset also, but no positive result.
I am using it on Android Device S10

I too face the same thing, what should I do? Got solution?