Active Track - MA2 Vs Skydiyo 2 - DC Rainmaker test the two.

[Deleted member 94047]

I didn't see this posted anywhere (apologies if it has been). It is an excellent comparison worth watching

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[Matt8900]

I watched this yesterday & the skydio 2 is a serious piece of kit when it comes to active track.
But comparing the two, when the MA2 doesn't have upwards or side sensors is kind of pointless.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

I watched this yesterday & the skydio 2 is a serious piece of kit when it comes to active track.
But comparing the two, when the MA2 doesn't have upwards or side sensors is kind of pointless.

It is kinda unfair I agree. But I found the review very useful because it really shows how much Active Track 3.0 has improved from the 2.0 and yet how lacking it is when compared to what the Skydio 2 offers. The obstacle avoidance certainly has improved on the MA2 and so has its ability to track (and not lose the target). But I was very disappointed by the inability of the MA2 to keep up at higher speeds.

Also, this kind of neutral reviews are a rare gem these days; everyone is sounding like a hired salesman. I really appreciate the "let's just try it and see what it does" attitude from DC Rainmaker.

 

[Butterfly Copper]

I also enjoyed this review yesterday.

I think it is quite crazy of DJI to give the Mavic Air 2 a parallel tracking mode without giving it side sensors. This is made for disasters.

The Skydio does obviously much better, but I would not trust both of them in real world situations. It is just not enough that the drone is doing the right thing in 9 out of 10 critical situations.

 

[rctoyguy]

I don't think I could ever rely on the sensors to avoid anything anyway. If it's in any tracking mode, I'm gonna have my hands on the sticks and my eyes on the bird anyway. Now, out over open water, following a boat/jet ski or something, sure, I might give it a little more "freedom"..

 

[RonRob61]

without the side sensors there was no way it was gonna be as good as the skydio but it was still a good look at how improved Active track 3 is over active track 2. In stepping up the Mavic 3 game Im guessing there will be additional sensors added to the sides and top and it will be interesting to see what Active track 3 can do with that extra info. I think at that point we should see at least the equivalent performance of Skydio

 

[Jordaneer]

I also enjoyed this review yesterday.

I think it is quite crazy of DJI to give the Mavic Air 2 a parallel tracking mode without giving it side sensors. This is made for disasters.

The Skydio does obviously much better, but I would not trust both of them in real world situations. It is just not enough that the drone is doing the right thing in 9 out of 10 critical situations.

The skydio was basically built to be an autonomous tracking drone, its kind of bad at regular photography, but as a action drone, its extremely capable and will more or less not crash.

Its honestly impressive how much better the mavic air 2 is at tracking than the 1, the MA1 is kind of garbage at tracking.

 

[Butterfly Copper]

The skydio was basically built to be an autonomous tracking drone, its kind of bad at regular photography, but as a action drone, its extremely capable and will more or less not crash.

Its honestly impressive how much better the mavic air 2 is at tracking than the 1, the MA1 is kind of garbage at tracking.

And this is exactly my point: "it will more or less crash" is not good enough when you are giving 1000 € (or dollars) or more that you could lose in a minute. Especially when you see all this shiny videos telling you how great this superduper Smart Tracking 27.0 is...

And that a new drone is much better in this than it's predecessor tells you nothing when you know that the predecessor was crap anyway.
Don't get me wrong: I really love the Mavic Air 2 and I will buy one, but I just cannot afford to use automatic tracking (or the braindead Parallel Tracking!) because I would not like to spend the money to buy a second one for that.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

And this is exactly my point: "it will more or less crash" is not good enough when you are giving 1000 € (or dollars) or more that you could lose in a minute. Especially when you see all this shiny videos telling you how great this superduper Smart Tracking 27.0 is...

And that a new drone is much better in this than it's predecessor tells you nothing when you know that the predecessor was crap anyway.
Don't get me wrong: I really love the Mavic Air 2 and I will buy one, but I just cannot afford to use automatic tracking (or the braindead Parallel Tracking!) because I would not like to spend the money to buy a second one for that.

Oh, about that "brain dead parallel tracking"; didn't you notice how DJI pull that off? DC Rainmaker actually point out how the MA2 kinda retreats back a little and tracks you not just from the side, but from just a little behind as well. See this screen grab for example

And compare that to this one from the Skydio 2 below

The MA2 knows it doesn't have side sensors; so it positions itself such that it can use the front sensors to detect obstacles as it moves laterally (well as close to laterally as it can). I thought that was actually quite clever! So may be not totally brain dead after all

 

[Butterfly Copper]

Interesting you mention that video. Have look at:

• 8:45 - Mavic Air 2 misses a road sign by just a few cm, out of pure luck, I guess.
• 8:51 - Mavic Air 2 "got stuck in numerous branches"
• 8:54 - Mavic Air 2 got stuck again
• 9:00 - Mavic Air 2 crashes in a tree. Luckily it did not land in the water.
• 10:30 - Mavic Air 2 crashes full speed in a road sign (unfortunately not shown, but to be heard) and in the second run crashes full speed in a tree - while going forward and beeping!

The scenario that we see there is a not very tricky real world scenario. I do not know how you call it, but I think parallel tracking is nothing that the Mavic Air 2 is capable of.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

Interesting you mention that video. Have look at:

• 8:45 - Mavic Air 2 misses a road sign by just a few cm, out of pure luck, I guess.
• 8:51 - Mavic Air 2 "got stuck in numerous branches"
• 8:54 - Mavic Air 2 got stuck again
• 9:00 - Mavic Air 2 crashes in a tree. Luckily it did not land in the water.
• 10:30 - Mavic Air 2 crashes full speed in a road sign (unfortunately not shown, but to be heard) and in the second run crashes full speed in a tree - while going forward and beeping!

The scenario that we see there is a not very tricky real world scenario. I do not know how you call it, but I think parallel tracking is nothing that the Mavic Air 2 is capable of.

Yup, I fully take your point. And I am not saying the MA2 is fully capable of parallel tracking; your nicely compiled timeline of mishaps makes that very clear. But, it isn't totally incapable either. DJI have chosen to implement a "kind of parallel tracking" that is not exactly parallel (i.e. one that tracks the target from behind and to the side rather than from a nearly 90 degree angle to the side). In doing so, DJI have at least made some effort to make sure the MA2 doesn't do this tracking full blind to obstacles. But it is still half-blind and that is the problem here. How well this will work remains to be seen, but I can't help but admire the cleverness of the solution.

 

[Butterfly Copper]

Agreed: Half-blind is better than completely in the dark.

As I said I will buy the Mavic Air 2 for a lot of other reasons. If I would want a drone to track me cycling, I would wait for the Mavic 3 Pro or the Mavic 4 Pro perhaps...

 

[Fredrikholm]

I wonder if the MA2 will track down a hill? For Skiing/downhills situations