DJI smart controller; my opinion

[Lon Denard]

So I guess the next best thing is coining the phrase " Works with iPhone" Which the mavic line does but the smart controller doesn't. It's a shame that DJI chose Apple when Apple certainly is not choosing DJI.

Apple allows DJI users to license the ProRes software With the purchase of a DJI inspire. I think Apple has had a bad time with Chinese companies making fake copies of their iphones. They have tried to pull all the strings they can with the US and Chinese government to no avail. You can't blame Apple for not wanting to partner with DJI.

It's like Apple Car Play. Toyota is WAY bigger than DJI yet they can't use iOS either and must settle for installing an app in their cars that works with Apple products.

Why can't LG or Sony make a TV with Apple TV built in? They're so much bigger than DJI?

Why doesn't Tissot, Fossil, Movado, etc make a smart watch with iOS built in? Like DJI they all use android or their own os?

I guess all of these companies missed the mark as well...

 

[Former Member]

The big difference in what I do here on the forum vs what some others do, is I try something and if I dont like it, I tell people my thoughts and whether or not, based upon my experience, they should buy it or not. This is different from people who never buy or use a product, but encourage people to buy it.

 

[Lon Denard]

You and i have disagreed on just about every single post I have ever made in the past. You usually chime in and tell me that I'm wrong, tell me that your experience has been different, etc yada yada yada

Unfortunately you are one of those people who I just don't believe. Simple as that. Nothing personal, but you sound like A DJI fanboy and that's fine but at least own up to it.

And you sound like a DJI hater, which makes you hard to trust or believe. All you want to do is find fault with everything they do. You were also against the Crystalsky, if I remember correctly. You seem to think they can't do anything right and it's up to you to educate us "DJI Fanboys". I speak on my experience with the products. I also hated the idea of the screen below the controller until I gave it a fair shot. I'm not knocking above the controller screens or insulting those that like them, unlike you. Heck, Parrot and DJI pioneered the consumer fpv drone with the display above the controller. If they had started out with the display below, we'd probably be having the exact opposite debate, with you calling me names for being willing to try an above controls screened remote.

I'm sorry that out of the 7 or 8 brands of drones that I've owned over the years, the DJI drones have by far performed the best. I'm sorry that I have over 1000 clips using my Mavic 2 Pro without incident and hundreds previously with the MP with the same great results. I'm not commenting based on opinion or supposition, I'm debating based on actual in the hand, long term experience. Because it's been overwhelmingly positive, I guess that makes me a "fanboy" but I'll always be a fan of any product that actually works for me.

 

[Former Member]

And you sound like a DJI hater, which makes you hard to trust or believe. All you want to do is find fault with everything they do. You were also against the Crystalsky, if I remember correctly. You seem to think they can't do anything right and it's up to you to educate us "DJI Fanboys". I speak on my experience with the products. I also hated the idea of the screen below the controller until I gave it a fair shot. I'm not knocking above the controller screens or insulting those that like them, unlike you. Heck, Parrot and DJI pioneered the consumer fpv drone with the display above the controller. If they had started out with the display below, we'd probably be having the exact opposite debate, with you calling me names for being willing to try an above controls screened remote.

I'm sorry that out of the 7 or 8 brands of drones that I've owned over the years, the DJI drones have by far performed the best. I'm sorry that I have over 1000 clips using my Mavic 2 Pro without incident and hundreds previously with the MP with the same great results. I'm not commenting based on opinion or supposition, I'm debating based on actual in the hand, long term experience. Because it's been overwhelmingly positive, I guess that makes me a "fanboy" but I'll always be a fan of any product that actually works for me.

That's my job. To find faults with the DJI products and fixum.

 

[A330FO]

I would never go back to my Ipad after using the Smart Controller. The awkwardness and out of balance feel of the Ipad attached directly to the original controller or using an aftermarket Ipad holder is far less comfortable than the Smart Controller. The Apple products Ipad or phone are almost impossible to see in direct sunlight regardless of how large the screen is without one of those shield contraptions which causes even a more out of balance feel.

The Smart Controller battery life is excellent, easy to see in direct sunlight and easy and quick to power up and get on with the business of flying. No worry with phone or Ipad battery, receiving a call while working/flying and no cable hanging off the side.

I've used the phone, Ipad and Smart Controller. I'm very happy with the Smart Controller.

Well said...ditto

 

[ff22]

The big difference in what I do here on the forum vs what some others do, is I try something and if I dont like it, I tell people my thoughts and whether or not, based upon my experience, they should buy it or not. This is different from people who never buy or use a product, but encourage people to buy it.

No problem with you expressing your opinion on the smart controller (even if it is wrong ). As long as you give your reasons so that folks can judge your criteria, all well and good. And I do believe as this thread was fleshed out, that you have given your reasons and preferences.

I'm no fanboy of DJI. Just got into drones in Oct and it was the Zoom (which many preferences don't seem to prefer). The SC needs its date bug or bugs fixed. It also really should have had the full Google Play store innards. I wish the darn icons for Camera/Video were distinctive so at a glace I know what's what. Other than that, at the moment, I'm fairly content. I have to agree that anyone with an Enterprise version drone should be extremely angry.

 

[Lon Denard]

The big difference in what I do here on the forum vs what some others do, is I try something and if I dont like it, I tell people my thoughts and whether or not, based upon my experience, they should buy it or not. This is different from people who never buy or use a product, but encourage people to buy it.

So you own a Smart Controller and have used extensively? How many hours have you logged with it? How does it specifically fall short in performance?

No problem with you expressing your opinion on the smart controller (even if it is wrong ). As long as you give your reasons so that folks can judge your criteria, all well and good. And I do believe as this thread was fleshed out, that you have given your reasons and preferences.

I'm no fanboy of DJI. Just got into drones in Oct and it was the Zoom (which many preferences don't seem to prefer). The SC needs its date bug or bugs fixed. It also really should have had the full Google Play store innards. I wish the darn icons for Camera/Video were distinctive so at a glace I know what's what. Other than that, at the moment, I'm fairly content. I have to agree that anyone with an Enterprise version drone should be extremely angry.

Regarding Google Play, I understand DJI's stance that they don't want us downloading Candy Crush or other third party apps that might interfere while you're flying. They've always been clear about their opinion on 3rd party drone apps.

As far as the Enterprise customers go, yea that's a situation there... I'm not sure what their level of anger should be considering that the enterprise drones came out before the Smart Controller. It's not like they were promised the SC when they bought the M2E, you know? However, I agree that it seems like it's been far too long of a wait. Besides, this will seem like a contradiction, but for SAR, I'd much rather have the Crystalsky 7.85 HB/UB than the SC. More output options and dual micro sd card slots.

 

[Former Member]

So you own a Smart Controller and have used extensively? How many hours have you logged with it? How does it specifically fall short in performance?


Regarding Google Play, I understand DJI's stance that they don't want us downloading Candy Crush or other third party apps that might interfere while you're flying. They've always been clear about their opinion on 3rd party drone apps.

As far as the Enterprise customers go, yea that's a situation there... I'm not sure what their level of anger should be considering that the enterprise drones came out before the Smart Controller. It's not like they were promised the SC when they bought the M2E, you know? However, I agree that it seems like it's been far too long of a wait. Besides, this will seem like a contradiction, but for SAR, I'd much rather have the Crystalsky 7.85 HB/UB than the SC. More output options and dual micro sd card slots.

DJI just should have made it cross compatible for every drone. Big mistake on their part.

 

[LazyBird]

Have you tried a tablet holder?

No I haven't. Just seen plenty of videos of users who prefer the accessory and it looked cumbersome. I know seeing isn't always enough to form an opinion but I have fly more combo packages for both Spark and Air and already a bit wary of carrying another item.

 

[Former Member]

No I haven't. Just seen plenty of videos of users who prefer the accessory and it looked cumbersome. I know seeing isn't always enough to form an opinion but I have fly more combo packages for both Spark and Air and already a bit wary of carrying another item.

I've used them on almost every flight for years. Really easy to use.

 

[ItsDarts]

The concept of a smart controller for the Mavic 2 was a good one. DJI had already successfully integrated a display into the Phantom 4 pro plus controller which worked very well. It had its limitations but over all I think it was a benefit to have one. As good as it was, I still preferred to use my own device versus the integrated display. Using my own device just offered me more flexibility, was larger and seemed like it booted up faster. I sold the integrated display in favor of a simple GL300F controller and never looked back.

Currently DJI offers the smart controller for the mavic 2 pro and zoom series. It was long awaited and anticipated and when it finally arrived some people were happy with it and others were not so excited. I fell into the latter group.

Without going into too much detail, the things that I liked about it were that it is integrated, you only need to carry one device with you instead of a controller and a phone, it was faster, and the display was quite well lit. Battery life is good and very few glitches (After the initial firmware problems.)

Now for what I didn't like about it. The 1st thing is I never really liked the idea of having to rely on one controller as your display and as a controller. If something happens to either the display or controller, you are down until the integrated unit gets repaired. With a phone, if the phone breaks, you could always use diffetent phone. With the normal controller, if that breaks you could just buy another controller. But with the smart controller you have to send the whole thing in for service.

A big complaint I had was the position of the display. With the phantoms, I always enjoyed the display being right out in front of me. In the Smart Controller, I don't like the display being below the controller, it's not a natural position for me. Even for my Mavic, I have a display extender that brings my phone closer to my eyes. It's also right out in front of me above the controller which is a natural position for me.

The last thing I'm going to say is that I wish they had just made the display size bigger. Everyone is complaining that it should have been at least 7" may be 8". It is being sold with their flagship consumer drone, so I think they should have just put more effort into making it a larger display to begin with. Now, everyone is waiting for the next DJI announcement hoping that this Smart Controller will be offered with a larger display, but I don't have much hope for that quite yet. DJI should have realized that most people use I pads or tablets to fly. No one is going to want to go back to a small display once they have experienced the ease of using a larger display.

Thanks for reading and if you like this post please click like at the bottom.

Best regards,

Rob

I just got my DJISC yesterday and I’m having firmware install glitches trying to upgrade to 1.1.40 or some number similar. It downloaded OK, but it did take a long time. When it gets to the install portion of the procedure, it just sits there for hours at 0%. I’ve removed the SD card and made sure it was set to Portable Storage before ejecting. REbooted a number of times and still the same thing. You mentioned you had glitches, did you get past them? We’re they similar to my glitches? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[TheRock]

I like the screen brightness. I shoot it tropical island conditions almost always. It really helps. The thing that really bugs me is that the handles are not really ergonomic. The old controller feels much better than this new unit. And it is so easy to have your thumb slide onto the screen, unwittingly triggering a menu item. Right now my new controller fits into the spot in my case that was occupied by the old one, so a bigger screen would have made me get a new case or try to cut this one up to fit the new one. I did use an iPad before, so I carried the unit separately. Now I can have it all in one case, which works great for travel... one less bag to bring (attached an image in Palau from a recent trip). I accept the trade in brightness for the size. And yes, slowly re-learning Android which I had hoped to be able to forget for the rest of my life. Wish it was IOS, I'd probably play with it more away from the actual flying.

 

[MacSide]

I love the SmartController. I have both CrystalSky size monitors and enjoy them as well, however, the convenience of one unit brings a number of benefits. To name a few; balance in the hand, travel package size reduction (was totally blown away at how much additional space is required for the old controller and associated pieces), and ability to view footage with ease from the controller alone.

My biggest gripe regarding the SmartController is its roll-out date. This should have been available much sooner - would have saved me a mint. Secondly, the controller should have come equipped with replaceable batteries. I see this controller as a "platform" more than an single item. As such, user replaceable batteries and parts are a must.

DJI makes great products, however, I believe they can and should do more in the "vision" department. Determine where you're going and build upon the vision. The SmartController is an "after-thought" in my opinion.

I do love my controller though.

 

[briano216]

I purchased a DJI Smart Controller with my Mavic 2 Pro and love it's brightness and convenience. However, I'm very disappointed with its inaccurate orientation of the map. When I callibrate the SC compass its orientation is frequently up to 20 to 25 degrees out. Then when I rotate the SC, it's orientation is inconsistent, as shown in the video at this link - Smart Controller Issue.mp4

I previously had a Mavic Air and used my iPhone with the Air's controller. If I slowly rotated 360 degrees, the map would stay orientated correctly the entire time, as shown in the above video. But when I slowly rotate the SC, its orientation is incorrect most of the time and varies by as much as 40 degrees, as also shown in the above video.


This issue makes it very difficult to ascertain the orientation of the M2P when it is some distance away since the drone symbol on the map (the red paper plane) will also be orientated incorrectly and so will the drone symbol shown in the circle in the bottom left of the screen (the radar).

I took the SC to the technicians at DJI in Melbourne and they couldn't fix it. They tried one they had there and said it also had orientation issues. I asked Rise Above in Sydney (where I purchased the SC and M2P) to test another unit and they found it had the same issue. This is very disconcerting as it suggests that all SCs have this issue so I don't know what to do.

Is anyone else having this issue?

 

[ff22]

I just got my DJISC yesterday and I’m having firmware install glitches trying to upgrade to 1.1.40 or some number similar. It downloaded OK, but it did take a long time. When it gets to the install portion of the procedure, it just sits there for hours at 0%. I’ve removed the SD card and made sure it was set to Portable Storage before ejecting. REbooted a number of times and still the same thing. You mentioned you had glitches, did you get past them? We’re they similar to my glitches? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

How much space is left in the Internal Memory of the Controller. I know I've read that it has sometimes taken a few tries to get it installed. But I did it last week without any issues using wifi. It did take a while to download, stalling at about 16% for a while. The install rebooted the controller a few times.

You can also try doing it using DJI's Assistant 2 software on the computer and plugging the controller into the computer. Make sure you get the most recent version of the Assistant software for the Mavic 2 series.

 

[ff22]

I like the screen brightness. I shoot it tropical island conditions almost always. It really helps. The thing that really bugs me is that the handles are not really ergonomic. The old controller feels much better than this new unit. And it is so easy to have your thumb slide onto the screen, unwittingly triggering a menu item. Right now my new controller fits into the spot in my case that was occupied by the old one, so a bigger screen would have made me get a new case or try to cut this one up to fit the new one. I did use an iPad before, so I carried the unit separately. Now I can have it all in one case, which works great for travel... one less bag to bring (attached an image in Palau from a recent trip). I accept the trade in brightness for the size. And yes, slowly re-learning Android which I had hoped to be able to forget for the rest of my life. Wish it was IOS, I'd probably play with it more away from the actual flying.

No, sorry, no place can look that good. Obviously a figment of one's painterly imagination!

NICE picture.

 

[Pdunnuck]

This maybe in the wrong spot but, I keep getting this message with the zoom & sc....what can I do???

 

[Jimmy777]

This maybe in the wrong spot but, I keep getting this message with the zoom & sc....what can I do???View attachment 69467

Slide to update [emoji4]

 

[Pdunnuck]

Slide to update [emoji4]

Doesn’t stop it the next time it is opened?!

 

[Jimmy777]

Doesn’t stop it the next time it is opened?!

You can try to update with DJI assistant 2