MA2 vs M2P range disappointment

[jj46]

I posted this on another thread but feel this is a more appropriate place. I wanted to give my short experience with the MA2.

Last year, I had a Mavic 2 Pro. I live in a small housing development well outside of town and it is mostly small acreages & farms around here. With the Mavic 2 Pro, I could fly very long distances with few issues. It was very impressive. Of course I was pretty excited when they said the Air 2 has even more range than the M2P.

I'm struggling to get close to the distances I could fly with the M2P with this new Air 2. At 400' elevation, as soon as I'm 3k - 4k feet away it starts to struggle and eventually returns to home, often with complete disconnects and me sweating bullets. It does eventually reconnect as it gets closer.

Footage and flying itself seem great... I want to love the unit... but I'm not sure why I have less range and significantly more video feed glitches than with the M2P. There is a particular spot I fly to to check out... the Pro had no issues... this one barely makes it if at all, and it's a sketchy experience. Anyone else with apples to apples comparisons? My unit does have the latest firmware. So far, I'm very let down with the range and it may prevent me from keeping the unit.

 

[THE CYBORG]

I don't have an Air 2 but thought this may interest you.

Air 2 v Phantom 4 – they get the Air 2 to 15000 + feet.

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[Adgej123]

Not an expert by any means and never had a Mavic 2 but my understanding is the Air 2 should be performing at least the same, in the same location, as it uses the same Occusync connection.

One tip that helped me was to concentrate on the RC position and treat the metal bars as the antennae. RC should be held somewhat flat.

There is a few threads talking about range with tips, but I haven't got links handy. I also believe that someone had similar issues and sent it back and DJI replaced something.

Long story short, I think its more than reasonable to expect the same if not better performance thanthe Mavic 2.

 

[jj46]

Not an expert by any means and never had a Mavic 2 but my understanding is the Air 2 should be performing at least the same, in the same location, as it uses the same Occusync connection.

One tip that helped me was to concentrate on the RC position and treat the metal bars as the antennae. RC should be held somewhat flat.

There is a few threads talking about range with tips, but I haven't got links handy. I also believe that someone had similar issues and sent it back and DJI replaced something.

Long story short, I would expect the same if not better performance than the Mavic 2.

That was my hope... but it hasn't panned out thus far. I got it at Best Buy... I might exchange it before sending it away to DJI's wonderful service.

 

[Adgej123]

That was my hope... but it hasn't panned out thus far. I got it at Best Buy... I might exchange it before sending it away to DJI's wonderful service.

Might be worth a go, will certainly be quicker. Also if you have any elevated areas around you without buildings etc, see what you are getting to benchmark. I had a few occasions where my feed would disappear and RTH would begin at 5-600m but I was on flat ground with interference around.

I took it to an elevated area and got pretty much 5k away without an interruption. Some guys have made it past 6-7k and have only been stopped by the battery life.

I'd recommend a benchmark with perfect conditions and if still not getting far definitely swap it out as it doesn't seem right.

 

[Starz]

Odd. I, like you would expect at least as much as the M2 series.
I don’t have the MA2, so I’ll watch and learn.
So far, I’m not convinced the little bugger is one I need.

 

[Adgej123]

This is one thread that I found useful:

Poor range with Mavic Air 2

I've been flying my Mavic Air 2 in an urban area and I start losing connection before 2km. With my Mavic 2 Zoom, I was getting over 5km without a sweat in the same area. I was thinking that with my Mavic 2 Zoom, I was using the charging port on the controller to hook onto my phone instead of...

mavicpilots.com

See how you get on with perfect conditions that will let you know if it's dodgy or not.

 

[Adgej123]

Might be worth a go, will certainly be quicker. Also if you have any elevated areas around you without buildings etc, see what you are getting to benchmark. I had a few occasions where my feed would disappear and RTH would begin at 5-600m but I was on flat ground with interference around.

I took it to an elevated area and got pretty much 5k away without an interruption. Some guys have made it past 6-7k and have only been stopped by the battery life.

I'd recommend a benchmark with perfect conditions and if still not getting far definitely swap it out as it doesn't seem right.

Just to be clear this is km not feet! Personally I have also managed 15000ft like the video above, but some guys on here have smashed past that.

 

[z28lt1]

Couple of notes:

1 - I do find it a little harder, or less natural to "aim" the Air 2 antennas compared to the older controller -- probably because I'm not staring at things that are obviously antennas (even though I know where they are). I find I need to play with the angle a little and watch the signal strength.
2 - Trees/Leaves have a massive influence on signal. I see the OP is in Minnesota, and I would expect to get less range in summer with full leaves on trees versus in fall/winter/early spring. Was the comparison to M2P based on the same time of year?

I know I saw one range test where the Air 2 and the Pro 2 had almost exactly the same range in that specific environment, so they shouldn't be too far off, all things being equal.

 

[GadgetGuy]

That was my hope... but it hasn't panned out thus far. I got it at Best Buy... I might exchange it before sending it away to DJI's wonderful service.

Definitely swap it out at BB to make sure it isn't a lemon, which seems very likely! I get almost the same range as the M2P with a windsurfer. No way to use a windsurfer on the MA2, so a minor reduction in range is to be expected. Elevated launch point is your friend.

 

[Deleted member 142250]

You guys should read the manual more often. There is a reason it exists.

 

[Thomas B]

You guys should read the manual more often. There is a reason it exists.

Your range?

 

[Tadass910]

What is a highest you flew? 500 meters max?

 

[JOE CHRONIC]

I posted this on another thread but feel this is a more appropriate place. I wanted to give my short experience with the MA2.

Last year, I had a Mavic 2 Pro. I live in a small housing development well outside of town and it is mostly small acreages & farms around here. With the Mavic 2 Pro, I could fly very long distances with few issues. It was very impressive. Of course I was pretty excited when they said the Air 2 has even more range than the M2P.

I'm struggling to get close to the distances I could fly with the M2P with this new Air 2. At 400' elevation, as soon as I'm 3k - 4k feet away it starts to struggle and eventually returns to home, often with complete disconnects and me sweating bullets. It does eventually reconnect as it gets closer.

Footage and flying itself seem great... I want to love the unit... but I'm not sure why I have less range and significantly more video feed glitches than with the M2P. There is a particular spot I fly to to check out... the Pro had no issues... this one barely makes it if at all, and it's a sketchy experience. Anyone else with apples to apples comparisons? My unit does have the latest firmware. So far, I'm very let down with the range and it may prevent me from keeping the unit.

Ya I'm getting far less than the 6.2 miles it has the potential of flying, I have gotten 3.5 miles from controller a couple times and usually average about 2.5 one way... (MA2)

 

[Deleted member 142250]

Your range?

7.5km