Mavic Air 2, looks great.... so what doesn't it have?

[GadgetGuy]

another major minus is no Litchi support out of the box, we won't know how long if ever Litchi is going to work. It really is a powerful tool for autonomous flight.

That really only depends upon the availability of an MA2 SDK for Litchi to add it to their list of supported drones. Highly likely, as DJI had an SDK for the MA. Shouldn't be too long.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I wonder about the antenna on the controller though.
Assuming they are the extended phone bracket, that would need to be opened up so the antenna could function as designed ?

Exactly. DJI Fly is a much cleaner screen than GO 4, so a large phone may be good enough. However, most of the iPad mounts use the open phone brackets for their base plate, but metal base plates might be a problem. Hmmm. Might have to go with the plastic ones.

My concern is there is no way to add a windsurfer, which I always use on the M2.Without the windsurfer, I fear the range may not be the same as the M2, even though both use the same OcuSync 2.0. Only way to find out is to try it out!

 

[webvan]

Ticks a lot of boxes but...
- No Pam Control, that worked really well on the MA1 and was the only mode that allowed tracking without the remote (tracking with the phone was limited to 100 meters) and to have "homepoint autoupdate"
- Not possible to use with phone only over WiFi, Occusync is not a good excuse since the MP could
- Haven't seen any info yet (come on "influencers" !) on the Pano/Sphere modes

Since 2017 I've had the MP, the Spark, MA1, Anafi and have only kept the...Spark. Comes down to personal needs/preferences of course, and I was thinking of getting the MA2 for range and flight time, but the MPP might be close enough, and it's a lot more tweakable...and folded it uses up less space !

 

[GadgetGuy]

- Haven't seen any info yet (come on "influencers" !) on the Pano/Sphere modes

Not an "influencer," but here you go!
Seems to cover all the bases!

 

[Th3DroneroGT]

Just read another Air 2 post, there's a few of them, ha ha

Is it right the Air 2 uses Fly app ?
If so, I think this is a negative.
I'd so miss the attitude indicator.

Yes the app is DJI Fly
I think that's easy to solve by asking DJI in future updates.

In fact, this application will incorporate many improvements as the DJI Fly app itself does not show the level of imu and interference of the compass and these factors are important to have a safe flight, because with the Mini was an app that did not demand so much information as it is very short with the app DJI GO 4.


Hopefully in a future update and incorporate the compass interference meter, you can customize the battery level, show the height of the vps, you can make live transmissions for social networks (in summary everything that has the DJI GO 4)

 

[RPSM]

My son and I have had an Air since it was released and have flown it all over Europe and a good part of Asia, and I've massively enjoyed it. When we saw the release today, I'll admit we didn't hold back. Only problem is lock-down! ?

 

[rtr32]

Does it have smart controller support? You would think so based on ocusync 2.0 but I'm not seeing that advertised.

What's the technical reason it may not?

 

[GadgetGuy]

Does it have smart controller support? You would think so based on ocusync 2.0 but I'm not seeing that advertised.

What's the technical reason it may not?

Not yet, but in a future update.

 

[Butterfly Copper]

Maybe I am missing something here, but from the videos I saw, I did not see the current shutter time and ISO in the Fly app while I record a video in auto mode. This information seems to be quite basic to me.

 

[Zeroing]

Price?
799$ but....849€ ....??
DJI must back to school to learn what exchange rate is.

 

[sunsetrunner]

Mavic Air 2 more looked like a "Mavic 2 Pro mini" to me considering the size&weight. As a long time drone hobbyist since first Phantom series, I'd phased out all my big drones and recently settled down only with a Mavic mini which I've been really enjoying. My two previous drones were Mavic Pro and Mavic Air in respective order. Now Mavic Air 2 is out and I'm definitely keeping my Mavic mini.


(Screenshot curtesy of FlyPath)

 

[ImageAmos]

No AirSense chipset on early non-US models. DJI blaming supply chain issues.

DJI say they will correct this as the supply chain issues ease, so are they going to replace all non-AirSense models for free?

Doubt it.

I am in the UK and not pre-ordering for this reason. Already have an M2P so don't really feel I'm missing out on much anyway. Am actually now contemplating a Mini as my backup / travel drone having seen the new Air 2.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

Price?
799$ but....849€ ....??
DJI must back to school to learn what exchange rate is.

I feel you, but prices have always been like that and it is not just drones. Every consumer electronics costs more in the EU.

 

[ImageAmos]

Does it have smart controller support? You would think so based on ocusync 2.0 but I'm not seeing that advertised.

What's the technical reason it may not?

Smart Controller will support Air 2. DJI anticipate having the firmware updates released by mid-May 2020 to coincide with most pre-orders being delivered.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Price?
799$ but....849€ ....??
DJI must back to school to learn what exchange rate is.

Yes, about US$923.
Here the Air 2 is AUD$1499 in the official DJI store, about US$975 !!

The flymore combo here ? AUD$1899, US$1235.

 

[Zeroing]

That's the price for leaving in a god bless country like yours .
Paradise down under, i so much love Australia.

Anyway for the mini DJI is more accurate on the price : 399$ / 399€

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

That's the price for leaving in a god bless country like yours .
Paradise down under, i so much love Australia.

Yes, I suppose we will have more time during the year to use our drones, so we are made to pay more, ha ha.
How we pay more for almost everything is commonly known as the 'straya' tax.
It's probably more to do with logistics and economies of scale, and our relatively small market size.

 

[webvan]

Well as always the price in the US is WITHOUT taxes (~10% in CA) and in Europe it's WITH taxes (20% VAT) but yes, with the exchange rate it generally works out as xxx$=xxx€

I mainly use my Spark for Active Tracking without a remote and photos (panos and Spheres so the Mini is out) so with my 4 batteries I still can't find a good reason to upgrade. Well maybe for a cheap second hand MPP for Ocusync ;-)

 

[Deleted member 119987]

It's quite amazing DJI don't release a sample or model of such a remote, with its substantial changes, to people making aftermarket mounts.
(Or do / have they ???)

Be ready for the MANY like yourself, me, maybe 50% + of pilots that use ipads etc.
So many will wait now before thinking of buying, until the various mount manufacturers actually develop and get theirs to market.

I wonder about the antenna on the controller though.
Assuming they are the extended phone bracket, that would need to be opened up so the antenna could function as designed ?

I was all ready to order one until I saw the remote. I also prefer to fly with an iPad, and with the M2P, I use a MavMount. I'm sure there will be aftermarket accessories available at some point - including a method to use an iPad - but as of now, it doesn't look like the stock remote can accommodate this. Even if it could as is, the angle would be all wrong as would the center of gravity.

For those who use a phone however, the remote looks awesome and could be a nice upgrade over what we have seen so far with the Mavic line.

Looking at it, I would think the MavMount could actually be clamped into the controller mount. Don't know about balance, but I think you could use it that way until a better iPad mount comes along.

 

[lee82gx]

That really only depends upon the availability of an MA2 SDK for Litchi to add it to their list of supported drones. Highly likely, as DJI had an SDK for the MA. Shouldn't be too long.

having seen almost half a year pass by for mavic mini, Im not as optimistic. Does it usually take that long?