DJI Mavic 4 Pro officially introduced

[wco81]

I'd be the first in queue to order that drone

The C1 classification was one of the few parts of the Mavic 3 that appealed (if the UK can ever make their mind up on rules they're going to follow) so it's a shame the Mavic 4 is too heavy for that. I've been keeping an eye on the Mavic 3 prices on the DJI site and notice the normal and fly more kits are both showing as sold out today, not sure if that's a coincidence.

Yeah I want to get a C1 drone as well.

But is there evidence that they're enforcing the weight and flight class rules in the EU or the UK?

I haven't seen any indication of it last year or this year -- I just returned from a trip to Portugal.

Someone said that police in Spain uses Aeroscope to actively look for drone pilots not in compliance but will they actually dedicate staff to do this kind of enforcement?

I can see for special events like big football matches or VIPs making public appearances, they want to make sure people don't violate the NFZ airspace that they put up for high-profile events.

But to routinely look for people not following the letter of the law on drone weights? So this drone is 163 grams over the C1 limit, is it that much more a threat to public safety than say 740 gram drones? Well maybe it is because I think the top speed is now 90 KPH or something like that, which would be 20-25 KPH more than other drones?

 

[Ms Ivy]

That time should be coming soon, as US tariffs will be significantly reduced tomorrow, returning closer to 2024 levels.

My understanding this has more to do with the US customs seizures of DJI products than it does the tariff wars.
Ive seen a few older articles now that have lead me to believe this has to do with customs. Plus when you go to the dji store site and you live in the USA you can not buy or view the enterprise series of drones and other products either its not just limited to the mavic4.
I think this is more of a customs issue because of the new Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (ULFPA)
drone girl on you tube and others are pretty much saying the same thing as well

, No DJI Ban Yet, But US Customs Already Stopping Some Drones at Border

The bizarre reason why it's so hard to get your hands on the DJI Air 3S

this is the screen grab of the viewing matrice4 enterprise drone in Tennessee USA on the DJI store website

 

[Dave Pitman]

Plus when you go to the dji store site and you live in the USA you can not buy or view the enterprise series of drones

Correct. You can place an order for enterprise drones from US dealers. But, they are listed at an additional ~70% cost. And, they list as 2 to 4 weeks out. I suspect the DJI supply chain is a crap shoot in the US if the drone is not already in-country and out of customs.

 

[Johnmcl7]

Yeah I want to get a C1 drone as well.

But is there evidence that they're enforcing the weight and flight class rules in the EU or the UK?

I think the short answer to that is no, in general while there's a few news worthy drone offences I suspect for the most part there will be no consequences for people misbehaving with their drones.

Personally it would make more comfortable when flying the drone if it was under the C1 regulations and I'd like to think commercial companies would follow the rules and therefore the C1 classification would be beneficial.

 

[msinger]

They agreed to reduce it to a still significant 30% for 90 days which is what B&H is basically showing in their pre-order price.

The DJI Store currently lists the Mavic 4 Pro at $2,049 USD. B&H currently has it priced at $2,699. That's a 31.73% markup on the retail price. Since tariffs are applied to the cost of goods, not the retail price, that kind of markup doesn't add up.

It's possible B&H set their current pricing based on the existing tariff. After all, anything could change between now and tomorrow, so it wouldn't make sense for them to pre-sell Mavic 4 Pros using post-tariff pricing just yet. Once the sale is made, they can't go back and raise the price.

This is why they don’t even want to bother selling it here, the country, the leadership and the people are basically bipolar.

While that may be your perception of your country, I'm not sure DJI shares the same negative outlook. If any of the answers provided by DJI in this article are accurate, it seems they are eager to get their new drone into the hands of US consumers, who represent one of their largest markets.

 

[msinger]

I think this is more of a customs issue because of the new Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (ULFPA)
drone girl on you tube and others are pretty much saying the same thing as well

, No DJI Ban Yet, But US Customs Already Stopping Some Drones at Border

The bizarre reason why it's so hard to get your hands on the DJI Air 3S

That Drone Girl article is from November 12, 2024, around the time some people were having issues with Air 3S orders getting stuck in Customs. Many others, including myself, didn't experience any problems. I ordered my Air 3S directly from DJI, and it shipped from China to my home without any Customs delays.

I'm not sure where the quotes in the other article came from, as they weren't cited. While this may still be a lingering issue from last year, it's not something many people are talking about these days. That's likely in part because DJI currently has fewer products in stock in their US store.

 

[wco81]

I think the short answer to that is no, in general while there's a few news worthy drone offences I suspect for the most part there will be no consequences for people misbehaving with their drones.

Personally it would make more comfortable when flying the drone if it was under the C1 regulations and I'd like to think commercial companies would follow the rules and therefore the C1 classification would be beneficial.

I would prefer to get a C1 certified drone as well, if nothing else for something lighter to carry around and to pack on trips.

I would consider a Mavic 4 Classic if it came out next year without the tele cameras and it fit under 900 grams. Though I still have a Mavic 2 Pro so I don't know what I'm missing with the tele cameras, at least not yet.

But I may just try to pick up an Air 3S instead and hope that DJI looks at producing a C1-compliant Mavic with the latest features in the future.

It would be interesting to see how sales of the Mavic 4 Pro compares with the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Classic in Europe an the UK given the significance of C1-compliance.

It may turn out that most of the people who'd consider buying drones in this price range are either unaware of the C1 and A1 rules or they know but believe that they'll still be able to fly as they did before the EU imposed the new rules in 2024 because they don't believe it will be actively enforced.

If there were at least a lot of anecdotes of recreational fliers in the UK and EU having to allow police or other authorities to check their drones for the CE mark, then people would would make C1-certification a bigger criterium in purchasing a €2000-3500 drone.

But even on sites like this one or Reddit, it's only a small percentage talking about getting a C1 drone, specifically to have the fewest flight restrictions.

 

[Dave Pitman]

While this may still be a lingering issue from last year, it's not something many people are talking about these days.

In the Verge article you linked, the DJI rep seams to indicate that the customs problem still exists and referred to their blog. They did not say to what extent.

Outside the Mavic 4 Pro, can you confirm that DJI drone shipments are still getting held up by US customs?
DJI continues to actively work with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to resolve the current customs-related misunderstanding. You can read more about what’s happening on our blog.

 

[msinger]

In the Verge article you linked, the DJI rep seams to indicate that the customs problem still exists and referred to their blog. They did not say to what extent.

Nope, and we don't know who this DJI employee is either.

My point was that actual consumers, at least on this forum, don't seem to be talking about it as much these days.

 

[Meta4]

I would consider a Mavic 4 Classic if it came out next year without the tele cameras and it fit under 900 grams.

For a Mavic 4 without the tele cameras to come in under 900g, it would have to lose 164 grams.
The difference in weight between the Mavic 3 classic and the Mavic 3 pro is only 53 grams.
So even if DJI released a Mavic 4 with only the main camera, it's not going to be <900g.

 

[mavic3usa]

My point was that actual consumers, at least on this forum, don't seem to be talking about it as much these days.

DJI has pretty much made sure there is nothing left to talk about with most everything being marked as "OOS" which is short for "we're working on things, get back to you shortly." Most of the talk I hear these days is how do I get a Chinese drone into the US from somewhere other than China (because it's risky). People are actually looking to South Korea and "Hong Kong" and Europe to get drones thinking this is a "loophole." Very few US retailers have the drones in stock and without Amazon being on board, most Americans just give up. For a minute, a lot of talk about replacement and care refresh drones getting tariffed which was likely another DJI costly self-inflicted wound. First half 2025 will be known as a disaster for the retail drone world; can't wait to put this behind us. In about 90 days, "holiday" decisions will need to be made.....

 

[wco81]

For a Mavic 4 without the tele cameras to come in under 900g, it would have to lose 164 grams.
The difference in weight between the Mavic 3 classic and the Mavic 3 pro is only 53 grams.
So even if DJI released a Mavic 4 with only the main camera, it's not going to be <900g.

They'd probably have to remove that giant gimbal, maybe reduce the size of the aircraft and use smaller batteries, so you get only 43 or 44 minutes of flight time.

 

[Meta4]

They'd probably have to remove that giant gimbal, maybe reduce the size of the aircraft and use smaller batteries, so you get only 43 or 44 minutes of flight time.

It's not realistic to expect that DJI would do a full remodeling of the whole drone to produce an economy model.
And the batteries for the 4 are listed as only 3g heavier so there's not much to gain there.

 

[wco81]

It's not realistic to expect that DJI would do a full remodeling of the whole drone to produce an economy model.
And the batteries for the 4 are listed as only 3g heavier so there's not much to gain there.

Then maybe replace the camera sensor and lenses of the Mavic 3 Classic and the internal electronics?

Or take the Air 3S and replace the 3 cameras into 1 MFT sensor camera with adjustable aperture?

Also presumably the processor in the Mavic 4 is more powerful than the one in the Air 3S.

So if the one camera can still do 6K videos and 4K120, that would be a pretty compelling product, with the C1 certification on top.