Air 3 Fly-More Combo - What DJI don't give you anymore...

[Todd Clarke]

I recently bought the Air 3 Fly-More Combo, and whilst I'm very happy with the drone, and the advanced features within, I was more than a little miffed with some of the notable items DJI left out of the Fly-More this time around. Coming from a Mavic Air 2 Fly-More Combo these were glaring omissions and really left me feeling ripped off big time!!

From memory, this is a list of some of the things we got in the Air 2 & Air 2S Fly-More that were missing from the Air 3. (The prices are in Australian dollars)

* A charger - None included. The official DJI branded (And recommended) 100w wall charger $130.00
* ND Filters - None included. DJI's basic 4 pack includes ND8, ND16, ND32 & ND64 $159.00
* Battery to USB adapter to convert flight batteries to a power bank $39.00
* Spare set of controller sticks $19.00

That's a total of $347.00 extra in missing accessories, not including the $348.00 price rise from the Air 2 to the Air 3. Grand total means that it's now $695.00 more expensive in real terms!! I know they try to justify it by saying everyone already has a charger, just like Apple does with iPhone these days, but that wasn't the case for me because the Air 3 requires a minimum of 65w and 100w is recommended.

Yes I feel a little ripped off, why can't they just be honest and say that it's about squeezing every last dollar out of the customer up front because when I got home after laying down $2349.00 on the counter, I literally had no way to charge the batteries, having (Wrongfully) assumed that the bare minimum of a basic standard charger would be included... nope... nothing!!

That was bad enough, but the thing that REALLY annoyed me the most was the omission of the spare set of controller sticks!!

Really DJI... how much would that have really cost you to include (50 cents?) with your $2349.00 combo-kit?

Are things really that tight in manufacturing that this was something the bean-counters decided was a required deletion.

If you're looking to alienate your customers it's ****-moves like this that will do it!!

 

[pinballwiz86]

Profits. That’s what it’s all about.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I know they try to justify it by saying everyone already has a charger,

That annoys me since they then go on to advocate/require the use of a high power charger! Why would people have such powerful chargers lying around? My 'proper 'USB chargers, as supplied with a phone or the Mavic Mini etc., are much less powerful than that and I bet many people are in the same boat.
I have flymores from the mavic mini and M2P and they were brand new and came without filters,.
Spare sticks I agree with, not including a pair is Scrouge like and to then charge an arm & leg for them is .... ebay etc. usage provoking.
I can only wonder how many people have used the M2P's battery to USB adapter? The only time I have is when I wanted to discharge a battery that had been fully charged but not used, ditto the USB A socket on the Mini 1 & 2 charging hubs.

All that said, as long as people buy the things what reason do DJI have to change?

 

[shb]

When I bought my mavic 3 pro fly more combo, I got a charger that will charge 3 batteries in a row. And extra sticks. BTW, you can fly without sticks just by pushing on the hole they screw into. But when you're the only game in town, you can do whatever you want. Apple really screws their customers but people keep buying iPhones.
BTW. Any special reason you didn't get a mavic 3 pro fly more combo? Then you get all that stuff and a 7x camera too.

 

[Todd Clarke]

Yep, I'm screwed twice... I buy DJI and Apple products!! (What a dumb-***) The Mavic 3 Pro looks great, but it’s a bit out of my price range and photography skill level. Although, with all the required add-ons to the Air 3 Fly-More package than it was in the past, its a lot closer now.
I’m also a very poor photographer/videographer so sensor size is not an issue for me as I only fly for fun on the weekends, and use it semi-commercially through the week. (I do swimming pool maintenance and pool equipment)so the Air 3, and previously my Air 2, are more than enough drone for me!! It gets used to do inspections of solar heating systems for leaks, avoiding the need for me to climb on the roof and risk injuries from a fall. CASA allows me to use it as a commercial drone (And claim it as a legitimate tax deduction) under the ‘Excluded Category’ of above 500g but below 2kg (With CASA accreditation and drone registration, which I already have). I believe the Mavic 3 Pro also fits in this category, but the physical size is just a bit bigger than I’m comfortable with. The Air series kind of falls in the sweet spot for me, and particularly the Air 3, with many of the Mavic 3’s features now included.

 

[WV. Rootman]

That is the practice everywhere. It's deceptive and that's lying. I use to avoid business that did that just as a point of principle. Well, I lost that battle. Welcome to the new age of deception that is the norm. Many people can't see that our society is degenerating. We are the proverbial frog in boiling water.

 

[mobilehomer]

The charging hub is the power bank adapter.

 

[Todd Clarke]

The charging hub is the power bank adapter.

No, the Air 3 hub does not have a USB-A port to charge from, and the USB-C port is purely to charge the batteries and does not work as a power bank like the previous DJI hubs did.

 

[Todd Clarke]

No, the Air 3 hub does not have a USB-A port to charge from, and the USB-C port is purely to charge the batteries and does not work as a power bank like the previous DJI hubs did.

On checking that I got it totally wrong. The reason I thought the USB-C port was purely for charging was that I was unaware that the status button needs to be pressed first to activate the power-bank function which allows you to charge from the USB-C port. My bad...