Best Tablet for Mavic Air 2: Apple iPad Mini or Samsung Tab

[Rankat1]

About to purchase a Mavic Air 2 Fly More Combo and have been researching best tablet to use. I have used Apple iPad Mini in the past with my P3S and it seems the iPad Mini 5 would be the best (in terms of smaller size vs. larger iPad Pro/Air, etc.) iPad. But as Apple really likes the higher price of the iPad Mini 5 w/cellular (for GPS Mapping), I was wondering if a Samsung 8" or similar size tablet would work as well and be more cost effective (note: I am planning to only use this tablet during flying of MA2).

Anyone have some advice or guidance in the tablet comparisons with flying the MA2?

Thanks!

 

[GadgetGuy]

About to purchase a Mavic Air 2 Fly More Combo and have been researching best tablet to use. I have used Apple iPad Mini in the past with my P3S and it seems the iPad Mini 5 would be the best (in terms of smaller size vs. larger iPad Pro/Air, etc.) iPad. But as Apple really likes the higher price of the iPad Mini 5 w/cellular (for GPS Mapping), I was wondering if a Samsung 8" or similar size tablet would work as well and be more cost effective (note: I am planning to only use this tablet during flying of MA2).

Anyone have some advice or guidance in the tablet comparisons with flying the MA2?

Thanks!

Mini 5 for the win! IOS version of all DJI apps is always superior to the Android version and gets priority attention from DJI!

 

[JackL]

About to purchase a Mavic Air 2 Fly More Combo and have been researching best tablet to use. I have used Apple iPad Mini in the past with my P3S and it seems the iPad Mini 5 would be the best (in terms of smaller size vs. larger iPad Pro/Air, etc.) iPad. But as Apple really likes the higher price of the iPad Mini 5 w/cellular (for GPS Mapping), I was wondering if a Samsung 8" or similar size tablet would work as well and be more cost effective (note: I am planning to only use this tablet during flying of MA2).

Anyone have some advice or guidance in the tablet comparisons with flying the MA2?

Thanks!

I'm using a $99 ONN 8" pro Walmart tablet and it works very well. It lacks an internal compass like many android tablets so the pointer doesn't work. Bigger is better for sure. I am looking for something 10" or more to replace the 8" right now. Good luck. Apple does seem to get the best app support from DJI.

 

[Chris Baish]

About to purchase a Mavic Air 2 Fly More Combo and have been researching best tablet to use. I have used Apple iPad Mini in the past with my P3S and it seems the iPad Mini 5 would be the best (in terms of smaller size vs. larger iPad Pro/Air, etc.) iPad. But as Apple really likes the higher price of the iPad Mini 5 w/cellular (for GPS Mapping), I was wondering if a Samsung 8" or similar size tablet would work as well and be more cost effective (note: I am planning to only use this tablet during flying of MA2).

Anyone have some advice or guidance in the tablet comparisons with flying the MA2?

Thanks!

2nd vote for Ipad Mini 5. Fantastic size, never slows, and is excellent for video editing if you buy Lumafusion. It cuts through 4k h.265 footage like butter, and even a mid range PC will struggle with that.

 

[Platinum 4 ever]

About to purchase a Mavic Air 2 Fly More Combo and have been researching best tablet to use. I have used Apple iPad Mini in the past with my P3S and it seems the iPad Mini 5 would be the best (in terms of smaller size vs. larger iPad Pro/Air, etc.) iPad. But as Apple really likes the higher price of the iPad Mini 5 w/cellular (for GPS Mapping), I was wondering if a Samsung 8" or similar size tablet would work as well and be more cost effective (note: I am planning to only use this tablet during flying of MA2).

Anyone have some advice or guidance in the tablet comparisons with flying the MA2?

Thanks!

You really can’t go wrong with the mini 5. Been using it since its release . And never any issues.

 

[Meta4]

But as Apple really likes the higher price of the iPad Mini 5 w/cellular (for GPS Mapping), I was wondering if a Samsung 8" or similar size tablet would work as well and be more cost effective (note: I am planning to only use this tablet during flying of MA2)

Apple make some good flying tablets, but (despite what the Apple users like to tell you) they don't have a monopoly on good flying tablets.
There are plenty of good Android tablets these days that will work at least as well as anything from Apple.
You can get some ideas of what others are using here:

Best Tablets and Phones for DJI GO & DJI Fly (Updated Daily) | Phantom Help

Phantom Help is a site for help with DJI Phantom drones. Find the latest fixes, how-tos, guides, accessories, modifications, and more.

www.phantomhelp.com

 

[Bigfoot Hunter]

The link that Meta4 posted is really detailed and helped learned that my old Lenovo tab8 plus really does work and works OK. SIDELOADING is mentioned several times though out the link, just what is sideloading? I am not familiar with that term.

 

[NDWildBill]

I use a mini 5 with my MA2. I have the wifi only model, so set my android phone up as a hotspot so I can get the maps and connect to internet for anything else...like and unlock from DJI. I also use lumafusion for editing videos. This was my first apple product, so took a bit of a learning curve to learn how to use icloud for storage and not fill up the mini. I highly recommend using the mini 5.

 

[OldGuy]

About to purchase a Mavic Air 2 Fly More Combo and have been researching best tablet to use. I have used Apple iPad Mini in the past with my P3S and it seems the iPad Mini 5 would be the best (in terms of smaller size vs. larger iPad Pro/Air, etc.) iPad. But as Apple really likes the higher price of the iPad Mini 5 w/cellular (for GPS Mapping), I was wondering if a Samsung 8" or similar size tablet would work as well and be more cost effective (note: I am planning to only use this tablet during flying of MA2).

Anyone have some advice or guidance in the tablet comparisons with flying the MA2?

Thanks!

I bought a Tripltek recently with a 1200 NIT screen which for me is the most important part of any phone or tablet Brightest Tablet Android on the market | Tripltek

 

[Deleted member 133794]

I bought a Tripltek recently with a 1200 NIT screen which for me is the most important part of any phone or tablet Brightest Tablet Android on the market | Tripltek

i would like to second that, i've switched as well from an Ipad to the
Tripltek as i couldn't get on with how difficult it was to see the apple
screen on bright days.

 

[Sheppie]

Ipad mini 5 wifi only along with the Garmin Glo 2.

 

[DanMan32]

The link that Meta4 posted is really detailed and helped learned that my old Lenovo tab8 plus really does work and works OK. SIDELOADING is mentioned several times though out the link, just what is sideloading? I am not familiar with that term.

Sideloading is installing the app with its APK file rather than getting it from the store. IMO if you can't find it in Play, then it's either 32 bit which won't work at all, or has less than 3 or 4GB RAM installed. Many have gotten it to work with 2GB but you could be pushing it.

 

[fullbore]

I use mini 5 iPad with mini2 drone. But for newer MA2, I got the FM kit with the SC. Cost difference of ~$400 similar to cost of good tablet.

 

[Rankat1]

I use mini 5 iPad with mini2 drone. But for newer MA2, I got the FM kit with the SC. Cost difference of ~$400 similar to cost of good tablet.

Yeah, that was the combo I was looking at. I am just concerned that the SC processor is aged and also has other processing and calibration issues. Seems the iPad Mini 5 has a smoother mapping capability and when working with the standard controller, may have more distance capability. Been going back and forth for the last few weeks and still undecided. Any issues you have seen with the MA2 and SC experience? Thanks.

 

[fullbore]

Only issue with SC and MA2 involved drone locator position (shown in bottom middle of Fly app screen). It showed incorrect angle. Some have said recalibrating compass and avoiding concrete (which I was using, and likely has rebar), would fix that.

(I also use iPad mini 5 with mini 2 drone.)

 

[DanMan32]

Only issue with SC and MA2 involved drone locator position (shown in bottom middle of Fly app screen). It showed incorrect angle. Some have said recalibrating compass and avoiding concrete (which I was using, and likely has rebar), would fix that.

(I also use iPad mini 5 with mini 2 drone.)

By "recalibrating the compass", that's referring to the SC's compass, not the AC's. You're not likely to have the SC close enough to rebar to affect its compass unless you're sitting on the concrete.

 

[fullbore]

By "recalibrating the compass", that's referring to the SC's compass, not the AC's. You're not likely to have the SC close enough to rebar to affect its compass unless you're sitting on the concrete.

Thanks for the info.

 

[KenB714]

I realize I'm late to the talk but just wanted to say that the 2019 tab a didn't work for me. Even all stripped down it just couldn't handle the job consistently. If you want to run a screen recorder during flight......forget it. Not enough ram or video power. Too bad too.....definitely bright enough.
KB

 

[JackL]

I realize I'm late to the talk but just wanted to say that the 2019 tab a didn't work for me. Even all stripped down it just couldn't handle the job consistently. If you want to run a screen recorder during flight......forget it. Not enough ram or video power. Too bad too.....definitely bright enough.
KB

I wonder what the problem is. I would expect a real Samsung to rock. Your post just inspired me do my very first screen recorder flight with my cheap 8" ONN 'pro' Walmart tablet. DJI FLY 1.2.0. Cache on. HD mode. It only has 2gb of ram and is bone stock. It really worked well, imo. I have been afraid to try. I suppose I should try to root it and see if there is some extra space and any performance to gain in there

.

 

[MiniNubi]

rather than start a new thread, will jump in here, I am using a Mavic Mini 1, and tried using an iPad, then an iPad Mini (3 I think) and had so much blurring and artifacts I just went back to using my iPhone (2020SE) and holding it closer to my eyes, worked better... I agree brightness a major issue, My Question to you folks: is the blurring unavoidable, just a result of compression in transmission, or would a new tablet be larger but still sharp?