I'm Pissed off, but do I have a right to be?

[boldblue737]

I'm pissed because I see the Mavic Air introduction as classic market manipulation by DJI, and they're pointing the manipulation straight at Mavic owners. Again, this is all my humble opinion, but DJI intentionally made the Air so close in specs and features to the Mavic Pro so Mavic Pro owners will sell their Mavics and purchase the new Air. And if someone is in the market for a new drone, the Air is the logical choice. So DJI captures both the current Mavic Pro owner market AND the new buyer market.

Then, once everyone jumps ship to the Air, I'm sure DJI will strategically introduce the Mavic Pro II or Mavic Air Pro (or whatever they decide to call it) so folks who have a six-month old Air will be tempted to buy the Mavic Pro II.

I realize DJI is in business to make money and all that blah, blah blah. But I feel like DJI has just kicked me and other Mavic Pro owners in the balls (or crotch).

Please understand these are my simple thoughts and observations. Please don't hate on me!

Your thoughts.

I think you have it wrong. First off like Apple they announce "big" products one at a time to allow them ample press coverage without getting buried under a mound of multiple new drones. The Mavic Air is a new class of drone, it is half the size of the Mavic Pro but has many but not all of the Mavic Pro features. It clearly has less battery life and range but the price is also less. It is clearly NOT a Mavic Pro replacement unless you truly need the smaller size. That said yes, the nearly 2 year old Mavic Pro design now lacks some of the automatic flight modes of the Mavic Air as well as the rearward sensors so of course you will see a new Mavic Pro 2 with more sensors, all the new modes, and likely a superior 4k camera with 60 fps recording in the near future, if only to compete with the Autel Evo which has those features.

I just don't see what the Mavic Air offers that causes you a Mavic Pro owner to downsize other than SIZE in which case you won't be then upgrading to the Mavic Pro 2 because that will be bigger anyway.

 

[coop64]

If you're in a neighborhood, the Mavic Pro should be the drone you use. Shouldn't have any interference issues with everyone's 2.4Ghz/5Ghz networks.

And microwave ovens

 

[boldblue737]

Really bugs me that they named it MAVIC AIR why not just DJI Air?!?

The Mavic Pro has been a HUGE success for DJI and is now their mainstream consumer drone, not the Phantom. Mavic Pro is synonymous with a foldable drone and so it makes sense to take advantage of the name and brand recognition and use it as part of the Mavic Air name. After all, the Mavic Pro was the PRO, not the "Mavic." People who buy a "Mavic" of any kind now know they are getting a mid-level, consumer grade foldable drone and the Mavic Air fits the bill.

Don't worry the Mavic Pro 2 is coming soon and it will make the difference in size and price worth it again vs. the Air.

 

[JoKhool]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again...I just saved 800 bucks to put towards the Mavic Pro II.

Im right there with you, was getting a lil bored and contemplated buying a spark about 2 weeks ago out of the desperation for something new. I made the wise decision not to purchase, with all the new tech and features of the Air, I can only imagine the craziness of the MP2.

 

[Lon Denard]

I have an MPP as well. Love the range and flight time. Yeah, the camera on the Air is better. But, in 3-4 months the next DJI drone will have yet a better camera/etc. and the cycle will forever continue. It's the way of the world.

A side note, none of the reviewers that I've seen have even mentioned the MPP in comparison. It's all MP vs. MA. Feels like the MPP is sort of nonexistent.

There's a few.. That guy from iphonedo or whatever mentions it.

 

[Lon Denard]

No, no....trust me. You dont want 20mp in a 1/2.6 sensor. That is way too small. You would have extremely tiny photosites and a VERY low saturation value. Dynamic range would be terrible and the signal to noise ratio would be horrible.

The P4P can get away with 20mp because the sensor is WAY larger than 1/2.6. It has has about 11 stops of dynamic range and can do a 5k readout to 4k scaling relatively cleanly without huge amounts of noise reduction processing.

I own a P4P and a Spark. I owned a Mavic Pro but sold it to buy the P4P. For me, the Air ticks all my boxes. Especially with that 100mbp/s H.264 CODEC. I always felt my Mavic was soft and "mushy" in bushes and trees. That 60mbp/s Ambarella chip CODEC is not very good. I dont know what encoder they are using now, (Intel?) but it already looks much more detailed than my Mavic did. It still doesnt touch the P4P's 1 inch-type Sony sensor at 100Mbp/s on H.265 HEVC but the Air is much closer than the mavic now.

Already pre ordered.....cant wait.

It wasn't clear but we've been talking 1" sensor on the MP2 for weeks.

 

[Lon Denard]

Absolutely can with binoculars!

The reg calls for an "unaided eye"... Just saying.

 

[WilliamG]

The reg calls for an "unaided eye"... Just saying.

That’s a fair point.

What...if my prescription glasses are actually binoculars I wear on my head?

No?

Well ****.

 

[Lon Denard]

I agree with you, I cant see what the dji mavic air could do better than a mavic exept for a few options, like camera or back sensors...
I'm also afraid to see (or read) people go buying this new drone, even if they already have a mavic pro...why? It will not give you a lot more than a mavic pro ! I mean, maybe the size could be the best advantage of this new piece of technology , but it seems , as you said, si close from the mavic pro...for me, it can do no difference un a backpack...

But I think DJI just want to show they are still on the market with "innovations" and more and more technology inside.

In my opinion, Its just sell more and more, making advertising and trying to show that THIS drone ils way much better than another, even if its from the same brand!

I'll keep my mavic pro because its doin a really good job and I cant spend so much money every 6months, just to have in my hands something doing the same job (or less accurately) , but in another "skin"...

Maybe lots of people are sick about new technologies, and need always more and more, all the time.... DJI could have targeted this kind of people with their new drone... And Why not?...if people are ready to buy again and again at every " new" product they sale....

CELL PHONE MARKETING

 

[Lon Denard]

That’s a fair point.

What...if my prescription glasses are actually binoculars I wear on my head?

No?

Well ****.

I won't tell.

 

[Lon Denard]

The Mavic Pro has been a HUGE success for DJI and is now their mainstream consumer drone, not the Phantom. Mavic Pro is synonymous with a foldable drone and so it makes sense to take advantage of the name and brand recognition and use it as part of the Mavic Air name. After all, the Mavic Pro was the PRO, not the "Mavic." People who buy a "Mavic" of any kind now know they are getting a mid-level, consumer grade foldable drone and the Mavic Air fits the bill.

Don't worry the Mavic Pro 2 is coming soon and it will make the difference in size and price worth it again vs. the Air.

"Mavic" is their folding line of drones. All folding drones will be Mavics. Imho. Basic marketing. Phantoms will look like the phantom type until they abandon that design at which time they'll probably opt for a new name. They could have called the Mavic the Phantom Lite or Air or whatever but because it represented a different class of drone they opted for a different name. The Inspire could have been the Phantom Max or the Phantom could have been the Inspire Mini... I'm not sure which was first.

 

[MPDronePilot1]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again...I just saved 800 bucks to put towards the Mavic Pro II.

I had the exact same thought - "Saved me 800 bucks"!

 

[jason38]

CELL PHONE MARKETING

For sure!! By the way, DJI have a big contract with Apple... How can they sell drones so expensive that way , with so much differences between their IOS and android app...
I have a Android device, and its plenty of bugs... Why DJIGO cant connect to the drone when the phone is not in airplane mode? Why the app freeze sometimes during flight? Why isn't it transalted in other langages? .... .... ...
While the IOS app is out of those problems!!
I know there are many brands making Android phones, and each brand has its own way to configure it, while iOS is running on a few versions of iphones or tablets...
But as a customer, I think its incredible!! When you buy something like high quality drones, you can expect that it will works properly!!
And forums seems to be full of threads about DJI's after-sale service...

So yes, its only about that phone marketing , and also directly linked with it...

 

[floyd]

I think Mavic Pro users should make a petition for a firmware upgrade..

DJI, I would buy a firmware that gives a bitrate upgrade on the Mavic Pro...That’s good business for you. We don't want to fly a lesser drone...

Bravo! Where do I sign?

 

[m0j0]

And since that isn't happening the Mavic Air is available for purchase.

 

[Piranha]

As for me Mavic Air is the final version of spark, they nailed it and finally made exactly like it should be! When we first see the spark-everyone complaining why it is not foldable, why only 2 axis gimbal, why only 1080 video, and 6 months later we finally got the final version of spark which they call Mavic air

 

[Cliff_622]

Bravo! Where do I sign?

Sorry, I dont know this a a fact but I dont believe that Ambarella h.264 encoder chip in the Mavic Pro can be flashed to support anything higher than 60mbp/s. I think its a hardware limitation and not one DJI can modify with software.

I suspect that that the Air is a completely different video processing unit. It could be intel or a newer Ambarella chip. (Im betting its Intel)

I would not hold my breath on getting 100mbp/s on the Mavic Pro. I think DJI would have done it many months ago if it was already possible on existing hardware.

 

[Fixaldo]

Sorry, I dont know this a a fact but I dont believe that Ambarella h.264 encoder chip in the Mavic Pro can be flashed to support anything higher than 60mbp/s. I think its a hardware limitation and not one DJI can modify with software.

I suspect that that the Air is a completely different video processing unit. It could be intel or a newer Ambarella chip. (Im betting its Intel)

I would not hold my breath on getting 100mbp/s on the Mavic Pro. I think DJI would have done it many months ago if it was already possible on existing hardware.

Good and valid information. Love it when the community contribute like this! Digging deeper, I also just got confirmed that they use a Ambarella A9-A1-RH chip. It’s a small update from the A9-A0, but I doubt it can manage 100mbits. The chip originates from 2013/14 and is pretty much maxed out as I can tell… bummer. I guess they started working on the mavic back in the 2013/14 and went with the hardware, which I fully understand.

After all the ranting from my part…like a whining boy . I need to state. I have made some of my best footage with the mavic pro. Because of its portability and image quality. It’s an amazing drone. We all want better image quality, but I guess we just have to work with what we got. Beside. First rule: Content matter!

Here is a link for those who want to expand their minds.: https://www.ambarella.com/uploads/docs/A9-product-brief.pdf

 

[DMX512]

The only good thing we would like on the the Mavic pro that the air has is the rear facing sensors
in my opinion

 

[BIGLUG24]

Dont forget about all the Spark owners.

I have a Mavic Pro and would never sell her it's a great drone. I'm a bit upset because i got a new Spark combo pack
and all the extras to a tune of 700+ just last Thursday, first flight was yesterday but i hope DJI will add some of the things
the Mavic Air has to updates to the spark and Mavic Pro in the future