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Changed from Mini to Mini SE, observations.

Jess--

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I have just switched from a mavic mini over to mini se and have the following observations

at a glance apart from orange tips in the props the SE looks the same as the mini, looking closer the motors look to be using a heavier gauge of wire on their coils and the charging port is now a usb-c

transmitters appear identical in all respects, why didn't they switch the socket on the transmitter to usb-c is a mystery (as it would solve so many broken socket problems).

motor bleeps are a lot quieter on the SE

motor startup seems smoother

takeoff seems a little snappier (seemingly a little more powerful than the mini)

braking when you release the sticks seems more agressive on the se

if flying low over crops (about 4 feet above) the old mini used to slowly climb (gaining about 2 feet for every 100 flown), the SE seems a lot happier to hold at the 4 feet above height

range may be slightly reduced I did get a few more image drop-outs than I was expecting, the SE certainly still has the same poorer range when pointing at you as the mini.

Something has changed with the video recording, my old faithful toshiba exceria 64gb card (U3 spec) gave sd card too slow errors when panning across complex scenery (static or plain scenery was ok). this meant that the longest video I was able to take on my SE's maiden flight was 14 seconds. formatting the card made no difference but dropping in another identical (same batch code) one may have (not flown but panning across vertical blinds killed it on the old card but not the replacement).
my settings were 1080p60 and the card throwing errors was pulled from my mini after around 80 flights with no error on the same camera settings.
 
transmitters appear identical in all respects, why didn't they switch the socket on the transmitter to usb-c is a mystery (as it would solve so many broken socket problems).
They have the same model number in the UK, MR1SD25, broken sockets are generally due to mishandling.

I have a seeking suspicion the SE was built to use up unsold Mavic Mini bits lol, probably not correct but......:D
 
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Identical bodies
Go through cam settings and see if sd card recording times change,my oversized sandisk 64gb on 1080/30 gives my se 3.58 min recording time,,2.7k is 3.28 min ,yes have noticed my se bit aggressive in movement so just small stick inputs and I never just let go the sticks,,always slow it down to a nice stop
 
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They have the same model number in the UK, MR1SD25, broken sockets are generally due to mishandling.

I have a seeking suspicion the SE was built to use up unsold Mavic Mini bits lol, probably not correct but......:D
I ended up painting one side of the plug on the lead I use to charge my handset, far too easy to try and put the plug in upside down with the squared off socket.

I suspect you are right about the origins of the SE, mini brains mated with mini 2 batteries (and motors?).

Identical bodies
Go through cam settings and see if sd card recording times change,my oversized sandisk 64gb on 1080/30 gives my se 3.58 min recording time,,2.7k is 3.28 min ,yes have noticed my se bit aggressive in movement so just small stick inputs and I never just let go the sticks,,always slow it down to a nice stop
I'll put the same card through both drones later and see if they report different recording times.

With the aggressiveness of the braking I wonder if the mini always tried to brake just as hard but was unable to, now with the new motors on the SE (visibly heavier gauge coils & less turns per coil) it's got a bit more torque to play with (probably no difference in max motor speed but a big difference in how quickly it can change speed)

Edited to add...
Both drones (mini & SE) set on 1080/60 report 03:23:57 as recording time on a freshly formatted card.
I wonder if the difference between the mini and se is constant bitrate vs variable bitrate on the video encode (if the SE is using vbr that would account for it struggling with my old card with complex scenes)
 
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I ended up painting one side of the plug on the lead I use to charge my handset, far too easy to try and put the plug in upside down with the squared off socket.

I suspect you are right about the origins of the SE, mini brains mated with mini 2 batteries (and motors?).


I'll put the same card through both drones later and see if they report different recording times.

With the aggressiveness of the braking I wonder if the mini always tried to brake just as hard but was unable to, now with the new motors on the SE (visibly heavier gauge coils & less turns per coil) it's got a bit more torque to play with (probably no difference in max motor speed but a big difference in how quickly it can change speed)

Edited to add...
Both drones (mini & SE) set on 1080/60 report 03:23:57 as recording time on a freshly formatted card.
I wonder if the difference between the mini and se is constant bitrate vs variable bitrate on the video encode (if the SE is using vbr that would account for it struggling with my old card with complex scenes)
Same file size?
 
Mini 1 video info
1652952671808.png

Mini SE video info
1652952576646.png

The biggest difference is the Mini is using AVC High L4.2 where the SE is using High L4

from what I can see quickly looking for the difference the 4.2 profile has a higher bitrate capability than the 4.0 profile, so the SE should produce smaller video files which bears out in the bitrates shown above (36MB/s on the SE vs 40Mb/s on the original mini)
 
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Mini 1 video info
View attachment 148571

Mini SE video info

The biggest difference is the Mini is using AVC High L4.2 where the SE is using High L4

from what I can see quickly looking for the difference the 4.2 profile has a higher bitrate capability than the 4.0 profile, so the SE should produce smaller video files which bears out in the bitrates shown above (36MB/s on the SE vs 40Mb/s on the original mini)
Frame rate is 60 vs 30.
 
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