At the moment I have a MM. I'm looking at possibly upgrading, well, adding to my collection. I am 100% a hobbyist, I find it relaxing and enjoyable and a great addition to off-road exploring and hiking. My biggest complaint with the MM is connection stability. In a canyon or in the forest, the signal range is dismal and I often find myself getting disconnects and RTH's at somewhat short range. Is the
MA2 connection more stable in these conditions? Also, the wind tolerance is a plus in my eyes too, it'll open up more flying opportunities. What about the
smart controller? Is it truly beneficial to buy the fly more combo that includes it? In everyone's opinion, does it add enough value to justify it? Thank you in advance for your time, opinions, insight, and info!
-Dan
I've had several drones, and currently own a
Mavic 2 Pro and a
Mavic Air 2, which I purchased recently. To be honest, since I got the
MA2, I haven't flown the
M2P. While the
M2P does a few things a little better, I love the small size of the
MA2 and how quiet it is. I like to be inconspicuous when I fly, and the
MA2 does that well.
For your use in the woods, I think the
MA2 would be a lot better choice than the
Mini 2 because of the front and rear obstacle avoidance. I recently flew my
MA2 in some very strong winds while shooting some kite boarders, and it did phenomenally well. In my opinion, I don't think my
M2P would have handled that much wind as well.
As for the
Smart Controller, I've never used one. My favorite setup is my iPad
Mini 4. It is has a great display that is visible in sunlight, is lightweight, can be used for other things, and is cheaper than the
SC upgrade. The new
MA2 controller has a feature you can enable that uses its battery to keep your phone or tablet charged, if needed. There is a slick little extension bracket that makes it fit the controller very nicely, and has a good balance to it.
The connection is rock solid in even the most adverse conditions. I've flown out a long, long ways (keeping VLOS of course, LOL!) and have never had so much as a glitch, except one time flying near a train. Those things throw off some serious EMFs that really mess with your video downlink!