pros and cons of the new mini 4 pro

[old man mavic]

here are my thoughts ,and opinions, on the new Mini 4 pro
firstly ,with the Mini 4 pro, DJI have tried to incorparete as many features as possible into a sub 250g drone
but doing so, brings its own set of problems,trying to keep the weight under the 250g threshold
obviously in the world of micro electronics ,components are getting smaller, hence lighter, and more capable
so therefore ,that allows for improvements to be made ,with a reduced amount of internal space needed to house them ,plus a small weight saving as well
as with all the Mini drones, its quite amazing how much proccessing is going on during flight ,to achieve what we as the user expect
in order to take full advantage of the new 04 communication system ,it meant having to revert back to having front legs to house the extra antennas ,so imediatly some weight was added
when the original Mini 3 pro battery was fitted in the drone ,it took the MTOM over the magic 250g so a new battery had to be developed ,with probably a thinner casing ,and lighter BMS components as well ,the slightly added capacity, was probably the result of improved Cell contruction
it probably turned out, that even adding the existing ND filters from the Mini 3 pro,a similar thing happened ,so the filters had to be modified to reduce weight ,and to stop the old ones being fitted ,the way they are attached was changed
the weight of the airframe has been reduced as well ,with thinner walls to help save weight ,every gram added, or saved, is significant, to the final MTOM number
is it perfect No ,but it comes pretty close ,and IMHO, it will probably be the last of the Mini series drones ,in its present configuration

 

[projectarjun]

That means the Mini 5 Pro will like be a complete redesigned mini-Drone

 

[SmilingOgre]

Interesting conclusion. I just bought a Nikon Z8 and I can’t believe they can do much more to significantly improve that camera. Innovation always proves me wrong. They manage to come up with something. It’s smaller, lighter, and much more capable than my D850. I love my M3PC and so far the additional focal lengths don’t thrill me but I’m sure they will come up with something that will.

 

[mavic53]

First flight for me today. Connection much better with new antenatal. Screen capture much much better quality. RTH very amusing and first off a bit more accurate. Waypoints will be very handy in getting quickly in to position very accurately.

 

[old man mavic]

@mavic53 hi fellow flyer ,i am not sure if antenatal,is quite the right word ,to describe the new anttenas, but maybe you were like an expectant father ,waiting for the birth of your new baby,
sorry drone enjoy

 

[Berf]

The Mini3 Pro had lots of reception problems. I'm glad they added more antennae and put new external antennae on the remote as well. The range issue of the Mini3 Pro was my number one complaint.

I also think the front legs make landing a lot easier, especially on uneven terrain.

 

[akdrone]

I have returned mine due to excessive flare. There have been several other folks that have had similar problems. I am reordering but now believe DJI does not have very tight QC.

 

[Crashdummytest]

My first impression is that it is darn good, and I love the RC2, but video out not working currently. The attached pic was taken in 48mpx mode.

 

[IFlied]

Wish I had one of those (tipi, and the setting)

 

[Hands Down]

Here's something I wasn't expecting. I ordered the Fly More Plus package. All 3 batteries that came with it are the extended flight batteries. A standard battery was not included.

Not a huge deal, I guess, since I live in the USA and was planning to register the drone anyway. But since even the standard Mini 3 Pro battery puts the weight of the Mini 4 over 249g, I don't have a <249g option without ordering another battery.

I wonder if this was intentional or a mistake? My M3P Fly More Plus package shipped with the standard <249g battery installed in the drone, and the 2 additional batteries were the heavier extended flight batteries.

 

[old man mavic]

@Hands Down ,i would say its probably not a mistake as you are in the USA
maybe others in the US could chip in, and say what they received ,with the plus package

 

[Berf]

Here's something I wasn't expecting. I ordered the Fly More Plus package. All 3 batteries that came with it are the extended flight batteries. A standard battery was not included.

Not a huge deal, I guess, since I live in the USA and was planning to register the drone anyway. But since even the standard Mini 3 Pro battery puts the weight of the Mini 4 over 249g, I don't have a <249g option without ordering another battery.

I wonder if this was intentional or a mistake? My M3P Fly More Plus package shipped with the standard <249g battery installed in the drone, and the 2 additional batteries were the heavier extended flight batteries.

It's an easy mistake to make if you don't pay close attention to the details of each kit, I almost did the same thing myself. The Fly More Kit includes the standard package, the Fly More PLUS kit gets the Extended life batteries.

Don't know where you ordered it from, but I suspect they would let you return it for the regular version.

 

[Hands Down]

It's an easy mistake to make if you don't pay close attention to the details of each kit, I almost did the same thing myself. The Fly More Kit includes the standard package, the Fly More PLUS kit gets the Extended life batteries.

Don't know where you ordered it from, but I suspect they would let you return it for the regular version.

True. I'm not really upset about it. I was mostly just calling it out because it could make a difference to someone who lives in the US and is planning to travel abroad with it to someplace where exceeding 249g has a lot more implications than a registration requirement.

And like I say, it's different than how my Mini 3 Pro plus kit shipped. The M3P had one standard and 2 extended batteries in the box.

 

[finity]

And like I say, it's different than how my Mini 3 Pro plus kit shipped.

I did exactly the same thing with the same results. And was surprised too.

I then realized that when I ordered the Mini 3 Pro I ordered the drone kit (standard) and then the Fly More Plus Combo separately.

So the standard kit came with the regular battery and the combo came with two extended batteries. And they were both in separate boxes (drone, controller and regular battery in one and the fly more combo stuff in the other).

This time I ordered the drone with the Fly More Plus combo as a set and got three extended batteries and everything was packed in the same box (the drone and everything else was already packed in the carry bag).

It probably won't make much difference unless or until the rules change significantly for sub-250 drones in the US.

 

[minipro3]

The other day I ran into someone flying the minipro 4 in the same area that I have flown with the minipro3. He definitely had much longer range ability with the 4

 

[Landshark99]

When i ordered I took the standard fly more kit because I knew I was going to keep two of the Mini 3 plus batteries, this way I got 3 standards and two plus, lots of options

 

[GerdS]

I have a Mavic Pro, a Mini 2, since two weeks the Mini 4 and have compared flight behaviour.
The Mini 2 was always a bit unexact on stick reaction, it was difficult to move it accurately around in tight space. It felt a bit unwilling to follow stick inputs and there was a noticable delay, especially for yawing.
The old Mavic Pro feels much better coupled to the sticks, reacts more smooth, but tends to show slight deviation from the commanded course.
The Mini 4 in contrast is more similar to the Mavic Pro than to the Mini 2. It reacts smooth and goes exactly into the intended direction. So it is a big progress in the Mini series. As I never have flown a Mini 3 I cannot tell if this better stick coupling has been already introduced with Mini 3 or just now with Mini 4.
Range (CE) is also much better than with Mini 2, more equal to Mavic Pro.

I am used flying with goggles most time, that's the reason I have kept my Mavic Pro with the white DJI goggles for so long. When flying the Mini 2 I have used Litchi with cardboard-type goggles.
As DJI is quite slow with updating their SDK for new drones and maybe an update for Mini 4 Pro might never come, I had to find another solution instead of Litchi. So I bought it with the RC2 radio which supports display port protocol over USB.
In the first approach I successfully connected a USB-to-HDMI adapter and the white DJI goggles. It worked well, but the image was a bit streched horizontally and there were pixel binning artefacts. Then I got attention to the Rokid Max AR Headset RM201 and bought it for testing. And wow, it works great!
The FOV is at least 40°, somewhere between Fatshark goggles and DJI goggles, the image is bright and clearly visible even in bright sunlight (shielding attached). So I can now send my old Mavic Pro and white goggles to retirement.

 

[MikeyST1957]

I’m pretty interested in this set up
I also still fly my old mavic pro with my old white DJI goggles
So does the Rokus max headset connect directly to the rc2?

 

[GerdS]

Yes, it connects directly to the RC2 USB port. I only added an additional 90° USB-C adapter, so that the cable exits to the left and can be secured with my lanyard ring attached there, instead of the cable going to the back against my chest, mechanically stressing the USB port.

 

[MikeyST1957]

if I could hook up a mini4 pro to my old white DJI goggles…. I think I’d really enjoy that

When you say it was a bit stretched, was it still enjoyable to fly that way?
Mike