Mavic air 2 in 2025

Sleepymouse · Feb 2, 2025

Hi

I currently fly a Mini SE and also a Neo. I'm looking at an additional drone for better stability in windy conditions but have a limited budget as I self fund my very small hiking YouTube channel.

I'm currently looking at the Mavic Air 2 but I'm not sure if this is getting too old or whether I'm better off investing in a more modern Mini.

Much help appreciated

Thank you in advance

Capt KO · Feb 2, 2025

I love my A2, have no need to upgrade. Batteries and parts readily available too. Bare bones tough drone that's hard to beat for the price nowadays.

Rchawks · Feb 2, 2025

I still use my MA2, I think it's a awesome drone. It does take more effort the setup with cables, mount, and such. Not very portable as compared to using a RC screen equipped unit. As far as it's useful life I don't know, I guess that's the tradeoff with the pricing but I do know I'm more comfortable in windy conditions than with the smaller drones such as my m3P. That's not to say the mini's aren't up to the task, it just depends on where and how you're going to fly it. It's kind of like comparing a midsized car to a compact model, lol. If you're flying somewhere where there's mountains the wind it will be probably be more of an issue. The larger drone will give you a longer VLOS as well as being comfortable with useable range.

djwak59 · Feb 2, 2025

Capt KO said:
I love my A2, have no need to upgrade. Batteries and parts readily available too. Bare bones tough drone that's hard to beat for the price nowadays.

I’ve still got mine too !

StantonZ · Feb 2, 2025

I still have (and love) my MA2, but the only thing I would be worried about is DJI support; I'm not talking about warranty support, I'm talking about firmware support. It seems as though firmware updates stopped about a year ago with the addition of RID (v01.01.1600) and while it's a solid release, I see a lot of folks (including me) get these "unable to fly" errors that not even DJI can explain (in my case, a simple reboot--or 2--gets me flying again).
As long as the current firmware holds, I think battery/controller compatibility with later models (e.g. A2S) will keep us "in the air" a bit longer.

twickers14 · Feb 2, 2025

Couldn’t agree more with the above. Mine is working perfectly and I take it to Naples FL every year as well as wizzing around here in the U.K. Sure more recent models are even better but for a workmanlike, solid drone with most of the extras you could need it takes some beating. I am not very adventurous and have not really tried any of the Quick Shots and other features but it just works every time. Good luck with your decision making.

Cafguy · Feb 2, 2025

My AIR 2S has been my workhorse and these Drones are TANKS! Mine should have died long ago from overuse, yet it still keeps flying and doing its job! If it finally Dies I will replace it. With another one!

Rchawks · Feb 2, 2025

Every time I considered selling it I changed my mind. My first Drone was Mavic Mini which I sold about 6 months of flying, it was way underpowered compared to the MA2. Not the same equation with the m3p, good power compared to the mm.

PunaPhantom · Feb 3, 2025

I'm looking at selling off our fleet. I lost our major client (his daughters boyfriend is going to do it) after 6 years with a further 5 promised for the future... major shopping developments... anyway, not crying over spilt milk I'm 74 and gonna take this as a push to just chill... But to get to the point of my post is:

I will not sell our: M3P m3P and A2S all can be flown from our RCP controller, three drones and they fit perfectly in a Lowepro back pack. My advice would be, if you can afford the A2S over the A2 I would go with that.

Now time to go out on my Lanai and watch the day fade... Aloha.

Sleepymouse · Feb 4, 2025

Thank you all for your replies very helpful.

What I'm after really is improved image quality and tracking. I can currently do basic distance tracking with my Mini SE using Litchi but without obstacle avoidance. The image quality looks fine on my 32" monitor but I'm not really a pixel peepers. Close tracking I can do with my Neo, which again appears ok on my monitor.
What I want is to add is distance tracking with obstacle avoidance and also like a tripod mode.
I've started looking at a Mini 4 Pro as a smaller alternative but it's a bit out of my budget unless I get a DJI refurb which is currently out of stock.