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first impressions of the Air vs the Mavic....

droneworx

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I finally got around to unboxing it this morning, haven't flown it yet, but first impressions.

53902085368__2DDDC103-D2E1-418B-B9E4-0B7F1DB5760B.JPG

This is just MY OPINION of someone who has flown drones since the Phantom 2 with a separate GoPro..nothing flight related on this, just looks and appearances.

Gimbal is much better on the Air, it feels more stable, it doesnt feel like its going to break everytime I look at it like the Mavic. The clamp is also much improved on the Air, the 2 piece thing on the Mavic was a PITA.
The Air is more stylish, it just looks better, it has this nice matte finish with silver and it looks like it was designed with looks in mind. The Mavic has a 1980's Mercedes front end look to it, definitely form following function.
It is TINY!, I cannot express that enough, it is really small, even pictures dont do it justice till you hold it and it feels like it wouldn't even work as a paperweight, im reserving how this affects my personal flight performance in wind when I actually get to flying it.

Folding on the Air is a task at best. The Mavic because of the folding props, is a piece of cake to fold up, it all folds in and blends nicely. I found myself struggling with folding up the air because the props would get caught on something, having to remember to fold and unfold the antenna is something we haven't done on devices in 10 years, so it seems like a step backwards. If you dont fold them up it wont fold down, the props will be bent up against them. I have been folding and unfolding all morning, and I have yet to get it right the first time out. Either a prop is bent somewhere, or a leg is pushing against a prop. However, with that said, the legs feel stiffer and the folding mechanism feels tighter than the Mavic, maybe thats just age, or the length of the arms which are obviously smaller.

I like the controller on the Mavic, I like the screen, if you lost video, or if you wanted some quick data on flight performance, exposure, battery life, it was nice having it on the controller and having the video on full screen. Although having the removable sticks on the air's controller is cool, now I dont need a seperate case just for the controller.

Again, these are just my opinion.

Flight and Video next
 
Looking forward to reading your flight impressions
 
MA look nice i think of it as a second drone to have , in my opinion MP still on the top.


100% agree, if I had neither, the Mavic Pro would be the clear winner, especially since the cost difference is so small. But I can see some clear advantages of the air. Look at this pic, the drone is just barely bigger than the mavic pros controller case. This small size makes it easy to toss in any bag to get some quick shots.

D4AE4339-7761-409D-89F7-EC9109E483CB.jpeg
 
i agree is a small and with lots of power by what i am seen on you tube and here, plus price is good.
 
Go fly!!!! I assume you will report back on range, but I for one would like to know whether APAS continues to work in Active Track mode.
 
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Something crazy worth trying is using the folding spark props. Apparently they work great and make it easier to fold. Another tester on youtube said it decreased flight time by 1min in his test, and no issues with speed. I think that's crazy. No doubt somebody will release folding props for the Mavic Air soon.
 
I finally got around to unboxing it this morning, haven't flown it yet, but first impressions.

View attachment 30007

This is just MY OPINION of someone who has flown drones since the Phantom 2 with a separate GoPro..nothing flight related on this, just looks and appearances.

Gimbal is much better on the Air, it feels more stable, it doesnt feel like its going to break everytime I look at it like the Mavic. The clamp is also much improved on the Air, the 2 piece thing on the Mavic was a PITA.
The Air is more stylish, it just looks better, it has this nice matte finish with silver and it looks like it was designed with looks in mind. The Mavic has a 1980's Mercedes front end look to it, definitely form following function.
It is TINY!, I cannot express that enough, it is really small, even pictures dont do it justice till you hold it and it feels like it wouldn't even work as a paperweight, im reserving how this affects my personal flight performance in wind when I actually get to flying it.

Folding on the Air is a task at best. The Mavic because of the folding props, is a piece of cake to fold up, it all folds in and blends nicely. I found myself struggling with folding up the air because the props would get caught on something, having to remember to fold and unfold the antenna is something we haven't done on devices in 10 years, so it seems like a step backwards. If you dont fold them up it wont fold down, the props will be bent up against them. I have been folding and unfolding all morning, and I have yet to get it right the first time out. Either a prop is bent somewhere, or a leg is pushing against a prop. However, with that said, the legs feel stiffer and the folding mechanism feels tighter than the Mavic, maybe thats just age, or the length of the arms which are obviously smaller.

I like the controller on the Mavic, I like the screen, if you lost video, or if you wanted some quick data on flight performance, exposure, battery life, it was nice having it on the controller and having the video on full screen. Although having the removable sticks on the air's controller is cool, now I dont need a seperate case just for the controller.

Again, these are just my opinion.

Flight and Video next

I’m not a fan of the Air personally, it’s not for me, but I did enjoy your review/comparison. It was very fair and realistic. Didn’t seem like you were pushing people one way or the other.
 
I’m not a fan of the Mavic Pro personally, it’s not for me, but I did enjoy your review/comparison. It was very fair and realistic. Didn’t seem like you were pushing people one way or the other.
 
Looking forward to read your impressions after its first flight.

I'm getting tempted to order one but would rather wait and see some user reviews rather than the early ones on YouTube.

Looks promising.
 
100% agree, if I had neither, the Mavic Pro would be the clear winner, especially since the cost difference is so small. But I can see some clear advantages of the air. Look at this pic, the drone is just barely bigger than the mavic pros controller case. This small size makes it easy to toss in any bag to get some quick shots.

View attachment 30009

do you mind uploading a picture of the MA next to the Battery if the MP? It would be easier for me to get a perceptive view :) many thanks in advance!

oh, and I just posted on the Mavic Pro forum about having gimbal issues today, and it seems that problem along (if it doesnt exist on the Mavic Air) would be a deciding factor for me if I was to buy again, not the range or battery life as much. I'd like a more solid aircraft!
 
do you mind uploading a picture of the MA next to the Battery if the MP? It would be easier for me to get a perceptive view :) many thanks in advance!

Mavic pro controller, battery; and air side by side

image.jpg
 
Mavic Air and Mavic Pro battery battery side by side with my Osmo mobile
d209c5b0dd3c23db5fab7a387ab90d39.jpg
 
Thanks.. Nice to get a feel for that size of aircraft.

It’s really small. Smaller than I expected and handles better than I expected.
 
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How is the video and stills quality compared to MP? This is my main complain about the Mavic, so i am interested to see how they compare. BTW, whats the camera specs (mm equiv, F range, etc)?
 
Have to agree with the folding part. I just received it today. Few things came to my attention immediatly and that was one of them. The non folding props are a pain in the but and they do interfere and get inthe way when trying to close and the once closed they are intrusive the overall design thought of being compact transportable. The props just wiggle around and and to me seem subject to being easily broken or bent. A solution to this may be a third party prop guard like ones made for Mavic and Spark but I’m gonna try the spark props and see if that makes it any easier. But overlal this to me this is a huge design FAIL!

Its hard for me to imagine that in all the steps that goes into designing the next generation unti, a designer said, oh, what the hell, people will figure it out and just have to deal with it. The foldable prop may have been the solution so why didnt they go with that, maybe its not, we’ll see.

I’m not sure what the reviewer means by folding down the antenna....”having to remember to fold and unfold the antenna is something we haven't done on devices in 10 years”

The provided gimbel protector is outstanding. Will not need a third party one for the AIR!

The other really annoying thing I have an issue with is the charging base. Instead of laying flat the batteries now stand in the charger. They kind of click into the base that folds for storage and its just a bit awkward. Perhaps some getting used to it is needed.

I also did not understand why with the fly more bundle they give you the nice carry case, which has a fanny pack kind of thing attached for what I presume would be personal stuff, wallet, glassses, etc. AND they give you a seperate smaller case for the AIR. This case will not fit into the provided carry case, WHY?

Having said that the carry case does have a dedicated slot for the AIR has obviously less protection as it sits on top and really is only protected by the case cover which is on the thin side. Go figure...Personally I wish one day that DJI would just provide a case that will be able to carry all the crap they give you in their fly more bundle’s, which has not happened yet! So for me I never end up using the nice cases and I would have certainly like to have avoided the cost of getting yet another case for the dam thing!
 
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Just returned the Spark and staring at the Air.......they have the Onyx and White. Going to walk around the store to think about this..... it sure looks pretty [emoji848]
 
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