DJI Mavic Air has been released (taking pre-orders now)

[msinger]

What exactly does the MA controller show?

 

[RolandW]

a great comparison video of the spark, mavic pro and the new mavic air up on youtube already here:

Good epizode.

 

[Sean_b]

Never ever!

 

[boldblue737]

Mavic Air "real" pros and cons...

Pros:

1. The size is much smaller and it does matter. The easier it is to carry the drone and the remote the more likely you will take the drone with you and capture some great things.
2. The added automated obstacle avoidance path controls and preset automatic shots are great. Hand gestures to me are a gimmick but not like they are hurting anything.
3. The added rearward obstacle sensors are a good thing.
4. The new remote that fits fatter phones and has sticks that store inside the remote is all nice to have.
5. Cheaper than the Mavic Pro without making it seem the drone has significant compromises like the Spark had.

Cons:

1. The 4k camera in some of the side by side comparisons released on Youtube seems to have a fuzzier end result than the 4k camera in the Mavic Pro, despite having a higher bit rate. That's not great because I don't think the Mavic Pro 4k camera is anything to write home about in 2018. I think at best they are close, but I see nothing to indicate the Mavic Air has improved image quality over the Pro at all.
2. The range is significantly less than the Mavic Pro. While 2.5 miles is plenty for me, the reality is I have flown my Mavic Pro pretty far out and I like knowing that I'm not pushing the ultimate range at all, that I have margin to spare... with the Mavic Air I would be far closer to the actual limit and I assume more likely to have interference that results in a loss of signal and a stressful return to home event.
3. Battery life is MUCH less than the Mavic Pro. My drone flights tend to be 15-20 minutes on my Mavic Pro because I like having a big safety margin and to have the same safety margin with the Mavic Air I would be limited to 10-13 minute flights.

I like the product, don't get me wrong but as a Mavic Pro user I don't see anything that makes me want to buy this thing. The size is awesome but the size of the folded Mavic Pro is still awesome. OBVIOUSLY the Mavic Pro 2 is going to come out in the next few months to compete with the Autel Evo and because it is untenable having the Mavic Air and even Spark have features that don't exist on their 2 year old and more expensive Mavic Pro. I assume we will see a Mavic Pro 2 in the same basic body design but with ALL of the features found in the Mavic Air. I assume the Mavic Pro 2 may even get upwards avoidance sensors and a significantly improved 4k camera with bigger sensor and 60 fps recording.

 

[mfc]

The one thing you got wrong is that the Air, in sport mode, is faster than the pro, in sport mode.

Yes, a whopping 5% faster. However, its climb rate is 60% of the Pro, and descent 67%. If one is examining buildings (with permission) or cliff faces (as I do), those are much more significant differences than sport mode forward speed....

 

[cranngel]

Some interesting things
1. 4K@30fps and Max Video Bitrate = 100MBps !!!!
2. Three axis stabilization
3. Same sensor size as the Mavic.
4. Backwards sensor in addition to front and down
5. Looks like controller has no display - interesting if your phone crashes
6. WiFi connection vs Occusync

But, my only issue with the MP is the video quality. Looks like this *could* be better but we will see. Likely will wait for the MP 2 ... depends on how good the video quality is. I don't need a smaller drone and the additional and the rest kind of balances out the pro's and con's. Back sensors are good but I don't like the lack of display on the controller and and WiFi streaming connection.

 

[Evo1668]

The Mavic Air batteries are a brand new design. You can see them in the DJI Store here.

Also seeing how they are latched in from below....might we see some mid air dropouts from batteries not being seated correctly?

 

[msinger]

might we see some mid air dropouts from batteries not being seated correctly?

Yep. But, I don't think it's a flaw of the design. Mavic Pros drop out of the air too when the battery is not clipped in properly.

 

[Pointbob]

I also thought the mavic air's 100mb vid rate vs 60mb of the pro would blow the pro away..but not so far...all the vids I've seen are fairly even...the mavic air is sometimes a bit fuzzy.

 

[mikeGR]

Okay, the way I see it, DJI decided to cannibalize the Mavic Pro, which isn’t very smart.

I don’t want a smaller drone, I want a BETTER drone, and Mavic Air won’t cut it.

Or... Mavic Pro 2 is coming soon and if that’s the case, for all of this to make sense it would have to hit the stores at a higher price ($1199 sounds fair).

 

[Espen W]

As mentioned above, the display missing from the remote concerned me too. Having the basic telemetry data on the display of the MP remote is not just handy, but can be crucial in case of the app, phone or tablet crashing or losing contact.

 

[Neebles]

Mavic Air "real" pros and cons...

Pros:

1. The size is much smaller and it does matter. The easier it is to carry the drone and the remote the more likely you will take the drone with you and capture some great things.
2. The added automated obstacle avoidance path controls and preset automatic shots are great. Hand gestures to me are a gimmick but not like they are hurting anything.
3. The added rearward obstacle sensors are a good thing.
4. The new remote that fits fatter phones and has sticks that store inside the remote is all nice to have.
5. Cheaper than the Mavic Pro without making it seem the drone has significant compromises like the Spark had.

Cons:

1. The 4k camera in some of the side by side comparisons released on Youtube seems to have a fuzzier end result than the 4k camera in the Mavic Pro, despite having a higher bit rate. That's not great because I don't think the Mavic Pro 4k camera is anything to write home about in 2018. I think at best they are close, but I see nothing to indicate the Mavic Air has improved image quality over the Pro at all.
2. The range is significantly less than the Mavic Pro. While 2.5 miles is plenty for me, the reality is I have flown my Mavic Pro pretty far out and I like knowing that I'm not pushing the ultimate range at all, that I have margin to spare... with the Mavic Air I would be far closer to the actual limit and I assume more likely to have interference that results in a loss of signal and a stressful return to home event.
3. Battery life is MUCH less than the Mavic Pro. My drone flights tend to be 15-20 minutes on my Mavic Pro because I like having a big safety margin and to have the same safety margin with the Mavic Air I would be limited to 10-13 minute flights.

I like the product, don't get me wrong but as a Mavic Pro user I don't see anything that makes me want to buy this thing. The size is awesome but the size of the folded Mavic Pro is still awesome. OBVIOUSLY the Mavic Pro 2 is going to come out in the next few months to compete with the Autel Evo and because it is untenable having the Mavic Air and even Spark have features that don't exist on their 2 year old and more expensive Mavic Pro. I assume we will see a Mavic Pro 2 in the same basic body design but with ALL of the features found in the Mavic Air. I assume the Mavic Pro 2 may even get upwards avoidance sensors and a significantly improved 4k camera with bigger sensor and 60 fps recording.

Nice summary.

As I see it, I already have 800 dollars saved towards the MPII

 

[Nathanmot]

Getting one for the gf to eventually destroy. Mavic pro is too much for her. She will use it for work to film homes.

 

[Dan]

As mentioned above, the display missing from the remote concerned me too. Having the basic telemetry data on the display of the MP remote is not just handy, but can be crucial in case of the app, phone or tablet crashing or losing contact.

Exactly, to many times I and others have had the app crash and really the only way to get it back is by using the telemetry data on the remote...

To me this Mavic Air is a step forward and 2 steps back.

 

[msinger]

To me this Mavic Air is a step forward and 2 steps back.

2 steps back from the Mavic Pro? That makes sense since it's not a Mavic Pro replacement. This is probably just a taste of what we're going to see in the Mavic Pro 2.

 

[boldblue737]

Yep. But, I don't think it's a flaw of the design. Mavic Pros drop out of the air too when the battery is not clipped in properly.

Just a neat fact... the new Mavic Air has a new feature that can detect positive battery power but an improperly clipped in battery. It will alert you on the phone display and prevent takeoff.

 

[Neebles]

Getting one for the gf to eventually destroy. Mavic pro is too much for her. She will use it for work to film homes.

Shoot you could probably get her a refurbished pro and insurance for the same price as the Air.

 

[britco]

Was quite excited until I saw the UK price... £799 I could live with but £949!!..too much.

 

[Nerwesta]

Being able to make slow-mo is really tempting ..

 

[ChopSticks]

What's the range on the Air?

Any other downsides besides flight time and wifi compared to the pro?