about mavic mini

[JL brock]

hello my question is does a phone have to be connected to a service to work with the mavic mini?

 

[maelstrom]

hello my question is does a phone have to be connected to a service to work with the mavic mini?

No. I sometimes use my old phone which doesn’t even have a SIM card.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

I don't even have a simm card in the 'phone', In fact wifi is often off and bluetooth, nfc etc etc are always off, the only 'radio wave ' connections that might be active are the emergency number service and maybe GPS

 

[lannes]

You'll need it if you want real time mapping or you can hot spot your phone.
I hate the "cache" mapping function in DJI Fly.

 

[fificap]

Not needed, i usually put it on plane mode to get stronger connection between remote controller and aircraft

 

[maelstrom]

Not needed, i usually put it on plane mode to get stronger connection between remote controller and aircraft

I don’t think airplane mode actually improves the connection to you RC, it just prevents the likelyhood of an incoming call or message potentially interrupting the use of the app you use to control your drone.

 

[Repaid1]

I don’t think airplane mode actually improves the connection to you RC, it just prevents the likelyhood of an incoming call or message potentially interrupting the use of the app you use to control your drone.

Varies by phone manufactures and functions of "Airplane Mode" and how you can set it up if applicable. Some allow the auto off of all things. Some report that turning off of Bluetooth helps, which depending on phone, Airplane Mode can do... But yeah for the most part it just stops interruptions.

 

[SW_Drone_Guy]

One more thing you might need a connection for: DJI GeoFencing. DJI doesn't allow the Mavic Mini to take off in "certain authorization zones" and you'll need to "unlock" the zone in order to fly. On the rare occasion this might occur, it requires the ability to receive texts (at least) and enter an authorization code that you receive (via text) once you agree to be totally responsible for your actions... It's happened to me twice, but I get the impression it doesn't happen too often to most flyers. It can ruin your day if you can't "unlock" the zone and fly - the first time it happened I was unable to work it out. I think I was out of service area, as I recall. The second time I was better prepared and had a good phone signal and it worked just fine. (I think there was a prison in the area, but I was really nowhere near it...) That time I got up in the air in time to get some nice hot air balloon footage. Happy flying

 

[DanMan32]

In that situation, check DJI Flysafe site on a desktop and unlock ahead of time. You'll still need WiFi for the app to download the unlock token but that too can be done ahead of time.

 

[adamcrow64]

You don't have to plug your phone in to fly if you don't want.
The controller will happily allow you to fly the drone without a phone.

 

[SW_Drone_Guy]

In that situation, check DJI Flysafe site on a desktop and unlock ahead of time. You'll still need WiFi for the app to download the unlock token but that too can be done ahead of time.

Yes, if you know exactly where you'll be flying.