Air vs Pro Round 2 - Suburbia Range Test

[droneworx]

So I finally got around to doing a range test. I will upload the videos later, but the stats are as this.

I live in North County San Diego, this is a pretty suburban area, lots of houses and everyone has wifi.

The conditions of the test were totally default by the drone and app, I changed nothing, and set nothing. I also have no amplifiers or anything.

The Air decided on a 5.8Ghz channel as the default "best" one so I just let it run with that.
I ascended to about 350 feet and went out not till it totally lost connection but till I started getting interference warnings, since 99% of people at that point would decide to turn around and come home. So it is a real world example.

This is where I think some people will be excited, or call me a liar till they see the video

The Mavic Pro got to 4500 feet before it started popping random interference warnings and controller went to one red bar, but it almost immediately went back up a few bars after the error, and I feel I could have kept pushing it, but the video kept popping, so I decided to call it there.

The Air got to 4100 feet before it started throwing interference errors, BUT it also popped back to almost full strength on the signal right after as you will see in the video when I post it, and also feel I could have gone further.

So the conclusion I have is that in a real world suburban environment, both of these guys have excellent range, and I have no concerns over the WiFi on the air.

Couple things to note on this.
1. The Mavic Pro's video feed would cut out on the interference, I noticed the Air, NEVER glitched once on the video feed. +1 Air
2. The Air is LOUD. at 350 feet, my Pro is barely audible. The Air, at 350 feet is still loud enough to clearly hear, in an odd turn of expectations, the Pro is the one thats less intrusive to use around other people... +1 Pro.

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

Great work...thanks for sharing your results

 

[droneworx]

 

[thongbong]

Thanks!! Can't wait to get my air.

 

[philh24]

Thanks for sharing [emoji106]

 

[zezrum]

Kudos to you for having the guts to do a suburban range test with you new shiny toy. Much appreciated.

 

[droneworx]

Kudos to you for having the guts to do a suburban range test with you new shiny toy. Much appreciated.

thanks, its why I didnt push it to the disconnect max like other videos out in wide open country. If it flew away and landed somewhere, I would likely never see it again..

Plus those types videos are on youtube ad nauseam.

im working on some video quality ones now.

 

[OldBlueHeron]

Thank you for that. Mine doesn't show up till Monday. This stuff will tide me over.

 

[snoopdrone]

thanks for sharing , i still dont understand why everyone is comparing the air to the pro , to me the Air is a upgrade from the spark . the Air is a beast for his size.

 

[scott rand]

Great job ! Amazing video, and evidence that the Air is a beast. May never go more than 4km, but there has been videos of 3km over water, and 4100 feet by you over a heavy WiFi area. Outstanding !

 

[scott rand]

thanks for sharing , i still dont understand why everyone is comparing the air to the pro , to me the Air is a upgrade from the spark . the Air is a beast for his size.

Probably because they are both in the MAVIC line. The Mavic Air not only is an upgrade over the Spark, it actually surpasses the Pro in several categories. Not dissing the Pro, I actually own one, and love it.

 

[NKZY]

I'm torn, I really want the Air for the portability but I really like the Pro with the Platinum propellers for the quiet nature. I have an Inspire for my heavy duty filming but I want something more portable and less noticeable. Wonder if they will ever release quiet props for the Air?? Is the Air annoyingly loud? It kinda seems like it from the few tests I've seen so far and then the OP just commented on the sound level too. Hmmm....what to do??

 

[droneworx]

Probably because they are both in the MAVIC line. The Mavic Air not only is an upgrade over the Spark, it actually surpasses the Pro in several categories. Not dissing the Pro, I actually own one, and love it.

Correct, people compare drones all the time, there are 50,000 videos comparing the Spark and Mavic, MKBHD did one comparing a Spark with an Inspire 2, and I dont know a lot of Inspire 2 shoppers going "I was going to get an Inspire to film commercials, but the spark came out, and heck thats good enough!". But people want to know which is best for them based on real world examples, not the manufacturer. The Pro and Air are so close in cost and function that it could be a toss up on which to decide on. Thats why your seeing the comparisons.

 

[snoopdrone]

Probably because they are both in the MAVIC line. The Mavic Air not only is an upgrade over the Spark, it actually surpasses the Pro in several categories. Not dissing the Pro, I actually own one, and love it.

i agree, debating if i should get one , to have a 2nd drone, i love my Pro thou

 

[scott rand]

i agree, debating if i should get one , to have a 2nd drone, i love my Pro thou

The portability, safety features and new flight modes made me really interested in the Air. Now seeing all the camera comparisons too, I’m really happy I bought it. Supposed to get mine tomorrow.

I’m either gonna sell my Pro, or keep it and fly both. I fly a lot with my nephew, and we usually take turns. May be fun flying both at the same time.

 

[droneworx]

It kinda seems like it from the few tests I've seen so far and then the OP just commented on the sound level too.

Its hard to illustrate the noise from a dB meter. Thats only half the picture. The Air's pitch is lot higher than the Mavic's, not sure if its the blades or the RPM. At eye level, the Mavic and Air are similar in loudness, but the Air having a higher pitch its more noticeable from surrounding noise of planes, helicopters, cars, etc. So in a situation where both are up side by side, dB meter says the volume is the same, but the Air is clearly drowning out the Pro. As you ascend through 200 to 300 feet, the Mavic becomes inaudible even in quiet situations. However, the Air, I was able to hear it at 350 feet with no problem even though I couldn't see it. You have to experience it to understand it. I tried to capture it with my high end 4K camera with a Rode Mic Pro, and it just didnt catch what I was actually hearing.

 

[Let Us Drone]

Excellent post. An applicable suburban range test is a refreshing change to the “let’s see how far this Mavic Air can fly out here in the salt flats” like videos that have been popping up on YouTube.

 

[Jdyowa]

I just got mine to day and flew it at work and at home. This is my first drone and the first time I've flown one. I got to about a mile away before I got nervous and came back. Had a couple of range problems but I was at 120 feet .I took it up to about 300 or so and it went away. I've noticed that playback of video on my 9 year old Mac plays better with the 1080 than the 4k. I did stream live on Facebook with 4k (optimized obviously for streaming) and it looked pretty good. I did notice the sport mode is sick fast. Overall, I think it's great. I do wish the battery lasted longer .I wonder if any kind of extended range battery is available?

 

[droneworx]

IThis is my first drone and the first time I've flown one. I got to about a mile away before I got nervous and came back.

you went a mile away on your very first drone flight? LOL , your kinda a "jump with both feet" type person huh? fixing electrical sockets in the rain kinda guy? lol, just messing with you. ive been flying for YEARS and rarely go more than a mile away anywhere.

 

[Air Beetle]

has anyone tried a flip or other freestyle tricks in sport mode?