Hey guys, help me choose my first drone please!

[Heindrich1988]

Hey guys,


I am currently living in Guangdong province, China. I plan to go to the DJI flagship store in Shenzhen on Saturday to purchase my first ever drone! The question is... which one? Mavic Mini or Mavic Air 2? I've done quite a lot of research myself, but I am still undecided, so any advice would be very welcome!

I was drawn to the hobby by the prospect of taking unique pictures and videos of places I visit. I think of the trips I've been on before and wish I had a drone to record the beautiful places I saw and see them from angles impossible from the ground. I am also excited by the prospect of exploring wild places inaccessible on foot, such as deserted islands, steep mountains and thick jungles...

Given my hopes of using my drone to explore, I was leaning towards the Mavic Air 2 for its superior range and power. However, I am aware that only the Mavic Mini is light enough to evade standard drone regulations. So I want to ask existing drone operators... how much of an issue is it to obtain permits in general when you travel?

I am from the UK and will likely mostly use my drone in England. If I get the Mavic Air 2, I will obviously obtain a permit to fly in the UK. But I'd also like to take my drone with me on overseas trips... do you guys usually apply for permits for countries before you visit? How much of a chore/expense is it? Is it okay to not get a permit if you stay away from human settlements? How strongly are regulations enforced?

Thanks

 

[THE CYBORG]

Hi Heindrich1988 Welcome to Mavic Pilots.
I don't have either but out of the two I would go for the Air 2.
The Mini may be smaller for easy travel but the Air 2 is a better allrounder.
Only my view for what it’s worth

 

[Heindrich1988]

Hi Heindrich1988 Welcome to Mavic Pilots.
I don't have either but out of the two I would go for the Air 2.
The Mini may be smaller for easy travel but the Air 2 is a better allrounder.
Only my view for what it’s worth

Thanks mate. I see that you're from the UK as well... so do you take your drone(s) with you when you travel abroad? Do you have permits for other countries? Has regulations ever been an issue for you outside the UK?

 

[zeusfl]

Welcome to Mavic Pilots. I will go with the Mavic Air 2 all the way !!!

 

[Thomas B]

Welcome to the forum from the deserts of Arizona! Enjoy.

 

[THE CYBORG]

Thanks mate. I see that you're from the UK as well... so do you take your drone(s) with you when you travel abroad? Do you have permits for other countries? Has regulations ever been an issue for you outside the UK?

I don't travel abroad any more so the answer is no

 

[old man mavic]

welcome to the forum
if you want to be able to fly in reasonably windy conditions then the MA2 would be your best bet
i think that with the current travel restrictions and maybe having to stay isolated for two weeks if you make it to the UK ,then although it would be very nice to welcome you back to the UK ,perhaps now is not the best time to be thinking of such things ,and yes in order to fly your drone here ,then you would need to read up on the UK rules and register your drone and take the flyer test before you take to the air

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to the forum.
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .

 

[mrjohnc1]

Welcome!

 

[Laborous]

Welcome to the forum from the beautiful woods of Maine!
I have both and can tell you that the Mini has it’s limitations based on the wind speed. I can’t talk to the travel permits required as I have never taken one outside the USA. That would definitely be your deciding factor, notwithstanding permits, I would vote for MA2.

 

[wjkrysak]

Welcome to the forum. You will find plenty of support and assistance here in the forum. We look forward to seeing your part of the world.

 

[Tolly]

I'm in the UK, I have a mini and its a great beginner drone and I love it but after only 3 months I'm ready to sell it and want the Air2. The main problem for me with the mini is, it is so light it doesn't handle wind well over 20mph so quite restrictive in the UK climate! Of course the Air2 is more expensive, you pays ya money and ya takes ya choice

 

[hiflyer201]

Welcome from California!

Mavic Air 2....Every time I fly it feel like pinching myself...this can't be true I'm thinking.

 

[SkyeHigh]

I’m original from the UK but now live in Australia... but stuck in the UK due to flight restrictions. I’ve registered in the UK without any issue and will need to register in Australia when I eventually get home again with new regulations expected to come into force for my M2P.

The Mini would be very easy to carry around but the Air2 is a much more capable model with greater resistance to wind and a substantially better communication system between aircraft and remote control.

You mentioned jungles, don’t forget clear line of sight is required for GPS reception and you must also maintain Visual Line of Sight at all times.

 

[Deleted member 133794]

i'm a new pilot with only a dozen or so flights under my belt so have very little
experience, all i can say is i choose the MA2 and i'm really pleased with it.
It seems a lovely drone to fly and i'm loving every minute of it. I flew it this morning
in quite high wind and it never missed a beat, it's an absolute joy to fly. ?

 

[KB4MTO]

Welcome to the forum. I have the Mavic Mini and I love it. It is a great little drone and is very easy to carry around. But is it the right drone for you?

Both drones have pros and cons. I think the question for you is what do you want to do with it? The MA2 is bigger and has 4K video. Also, the MA2 uses regular RC frequencies rather than WiFi. The WiFi aspect of the MM is the only thing I don't like about it.

The MM is much smaller and really easy to carry around. There is even a belt clip to carry it, which is nice for hiking or travelling. The MM shoots video at 2.7K which is still really nice video. And finally, the MM can easily slip into tight areas, such as wooded areas or brush, because of it's small size. So if you are looking to do high end video and size isn't an issue, the the MA2 might be the one. But if you are looking for smallker size and a good little drone to carry while travelling, then the MM might be the one.

Down the road I want to add a MA2 for better video, but I won't get rid of my MM. They both have a place for what I want to do. Either way, I have a feeling you will be happy.

 

[Steel63]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Scubadiver1944]

Hey guys,


I am currently living in Guangdong province, China. I plan to go to the DJI flagship store in Shenzhen on Saturday to purchase my first ever drone! The question is... which one? Mavic Mini or Mavic Air 2? I've done quite a lot of research myself, but I am still undecided, so any advice would be very welcome!

I was drawn to the hobby by the prospect of taking unique pictures and videos of places I visit. I think of the trips I've been on before and wish I had a drone to record the beautiful places I saw and see them from angles impossible from the ground. I am also excited by the prospect of exploring wild places inaccessible on foot, such as deserted islands, steep mountains and thick jungles...

Given my hopes of using my drone to explore, I was leaning towards the Mavic Air 2 for its superior range and power. However, I am aware that only the Mavic Mini is light enough to evade standard drone regulations. So I want to ask existing drone operators... how much of an issue is it to obtain permits in general when you travel?

I am from the UK and will likely mostly use my drone in England. If I get the Mavic Air 2, I will obviously obtain a permit to fly in the UK. But I'd also like to take my drone with me on overseas trips... do you guys usually apply for permits for countries before you visit? How much of a chore/expense is it? Is it okay to not get a permit if you stay away from human settlements? How strongly are regulations enforced?

Thanks

No longer fly my Mavic here in the UK as I bought it mainly to take aerial video of the overseas destinations where I scuba dive. I always research the drone regulations in the countries I visit since they vary so much. None of those I visited required registration at the time, which may be just as well since other flyers on this forum have mentioned having communication problems with some nations when attempting prior permissions to fly, as I did myself when I booked a shark-diving trip to the Bahamas last year. No response from Bahamian authorities to my request to register so I gave up, especially when research found they wanted a deposit of 50% value of the drone to prevent selling it to a local (which I wouldn't dream of) as drones are highly taxed as a "luxury" item. Likewise Cuba, Nicaragua & Egypt will likely confiscate or retain a drone until you leave, for "security reasons". In short use the internet search facility before you visit any country, find out their regulations and whether registration beforehand is needed and cross your fingers that they'll respond to you anyway!

 

[Dragan R. Filipović]

No longer fly my Mavic here in the UK as I bought it mainly to take aerial video of the overseas destinations where I scuba dive. I always research the drone regulations in the countries I visit since they vary so much. None of those I visited required registration at the time, which may be just as well since other flyers on this forum have mentioned having communication problems with some nations when attempting prior permissions to fly, as I did myself when I booked a shark-diving trip to the Bahamas last year. No response from Bahamian authorities to my request to register so I gave up, especially when research found they wanted a deposit of 50% value of the drone to prevent selling it to a local (which I wouldn't dream of) as drones are highly taxed as a "luxury" item. Likewise Cuba, Nicaragua & Egypt will likely confiscate or retain a drone until you leave, for "security reasons". In short use the internet search facility before you visit any country, find out their regulations and whether registration beforehand is needed and cross your fingers that they'll respond to you anyway!

 

[flightschool610]

i love the spark. i have the mavic 2 pro but the spark is so practical