Mavic Air 2 won't support DJI Goggles

Xengibez · May 10, 2020

We are now left with a completely worthless item in terms of resale value, and it serves no purpose them even still selling them, I'm honestly disgusted with DJI if this statement is true.

My 5 year old Nvidea Shield still gets updates, the goggles are only a few years old..

GerdS · May 10, 2020

I guess there are several reasons for missing compatibility, not only the software issue. The goggles have been initially developed for use with Mavic Pro. This was the only drone supporting wireless connection in parallel to the remote controller because it supports two independent Ocusync channels.
Then they added at least software support for Mavic 2 which also supports two independent Ocusync channels. Functionality is limited because the goggles don't support 5.8GHz.
The Mavic Air 2 supports only one Ocusync channel, so either the remote controller or the goggles can be connected, but not both simultanuously.

So the only remaining option would be connecting the goggles to the remote controller via USB, as is supported for Spark, Mavic Air 1, Phantom 3/4.
Because of the goggles aren't able to unlock the drone, flying with goggles would be only possible in near distance, similar to beginner mode.
Or the pilot would need to start up the drone with a smartphone or tablet connected and running GO4 app and after initialisation and unlocking the drone, he would need to unplug the mobile device and plug in the goggles, as there is only one USB port available.

The same problem as with Mavic Air 2 also applies to the Mavic Mini and there is a long thread about goggles compatibility already in the DJI forum. There DJI always avoids a clear statement or answer and just tells they have forwarded the reqauest to the developers.
So chances for ever getting the old white and RE goggles supported for Mini as well as Air 2 are near to zero from my opinion.

Xengibez · May 10, 2020

More Compatibility. More Comfort.
Compatible with the Mavic series, Spark, Phantom 4 series...

Maybe they need to change the wording on the £549 listing then.

Xengibez · May 10, 2020

I've put the goggles up for sale on ebay along with my Mavic Air 1, not a happy bunny but I may as well try and get some money for them both while I can.

swooshdave · May 10, 2020

Xengibez said:
Well looks like they have shafted us with this, and no product going forward will support the goggles... I think they need to put this in bold print on the googles page of the website right next to the price they are still selling them at..

what I got is the DJI goggles compatible plan is uncertain.

I don't seem to recall them promising the Goggles would work with every drone in the future. Did I miss that?

Xengibez · May 10, 2020

swooshdave said:
I don't seem to recall them promising the Goggles would work with every drone in the future. Did I miss that?

No you never missed that, but come on they are only 2 years old and still being sold, they are not obsolete or legacy items, the least you'd expect is decent support for them going forward..

swooshdave · May 10, 2020

Xengibez said:
No you never missed that, but come on they are only 2 years old and still being sold, they are not obsolete or legacy items, the least you'd expect is decent support for them going forward..

There are different levels of "support".

There is actively upgrading and enhancing and making compatible with every drone released.
There is making sure they still work with previously compatible products but not necessarily with all new releases.
There is divesting of so that when existing inventory is gone they will no longer be offered.

Since we don't have access to the product managers at DJI we have to assume based on what we see as to what the thinking is around this product.

Xengibez · May 10, 2020

swooshdave said:
There are different levels of "support".

There is actively upgrading and enhancing and making compatible with every drone released.

There is making sure they still work with previously compatible products but not necessarily with all new releases.

There is divesting of so that when existing inventory is gone they will no longer be offered.

Since we don't have access to the product managers at DJI we have to assume based on what we see as to what the thinking is around this product.

Well I put them on ebay and they sold within half an hour, oh well at least I've not got this to worry about now.

kohalajohn · May 30, 2020

I just spent the morning with my new goggles, trying and failing to connect them. Just found out about the fundamental incompatibility with my air 2.

Thank goodness I bought them through amazon. Have now packed them all back in the box and away they go.

I'm actually in no rush for goggles. And I'm sure when dji eventually gets googles that work with air 2, they will have many improvements over what we now have.

I'm not even bugged. Innovation is proceeding so quickly, that everything is leapfrogging over everything else.

IceAndNull · Aug 3, 2020

This is really interesting. I’m pretty sure that they are technically “compatible”, there’s just no way to link them. I got curious and plugged my controller into the goggles the same way I would my phone, and it actually recognized that there was a link and even showed my altitude, heading, battery on both the controller and Mavic Air 2. The only thing I didn’t see was the video. If there was some way to activate the linking mode on the MA2 without a button it might work using the MP2 linking in settings. Sorry if none of this makes sense, I’m fairly new to the technical parts of DJI stuff.

IceAndNull · Aug 3, 2020

IceAndNull said:
This is really interesting. I’m pretty sure that they are technically “compatible”, there’s just no way to link them. I got curious and plugged my controller into the goggles the same way I would my phone, and it actually recognized that there was a link and even showed my altitude, heading, battery on both the controller and Mavic Air 2. The only thing I didn’t see was the video. If there was some way to activate the linking mode on the MA2 without a button it might work using the MP2 linking in settings. Sorry if none of this makes sense, I’m fairly new to the technical parts of DJI stuff.

This also might mean it’s possible through a firmware update of the goggles and using a cable, similar to the Spark.

kohalajohn · Aug 3, 2020

IceAndNull said:
This also might mean it’s possible through a firmware update of the goggles and using a cable, similar to the Spark.

E

IceAndNull said:
This also might mean it’s possible through a firmware update of the goggles and using a cable, similar to the Spark.

No, my guess is there won’t be a sync upgrade. They will keep the website info the same, saying the goggles are compatible, knowing half of customers won’t return them.
Then when they have emptied their warehouse storage of goggles they will announce goggles version two, that work with current drones, and sell them too.
They could sell us ma2 compatible goggles today. But Corp management is chasing profits. This is just normal business. I don’t even care much.

IceAndNull · Aug 3, 2020

kohalajohn said:
E

No, my guess is there won’t be a sync upgrade. They will keep the website info the same, saying the goggles are compatible, knowing half of customers won’t return them.
Then when they have emptied their warehouse storage of goggles they will announce goggles version two, that work with current drones, and sell them too.
They could sell us ma2 compatible goggles today. But Corp management is chasing profits. This is just normal business. I don’t even care much.

I didn’t see anywhere on the website where it said they were compatible. And while I agree they might release new goggles I don’t think that’s the reason behind them being incompatible. They’d be killing sales now, when more people are buying, just to sell a few more goggles in the future.

magman · Nov 21, 2020

Has anything change?

Repaid1 · Nov 21, 2020

magman said:
Has anything change?

Nope, they don't even have a SDK out yet....Stay tuned...like next year for any "new" news.

EDIT: I take that back..There is one new option. If you were on the fence for a MA2 with a Flymore, DJI has just added a Combo Bundle with their Smart Controller option which has HDMI...So if you already have DJI Goggles or any of the other decent brands with HDMI in, then DJI Saves you $350 for that option to get their best controller option (YMMV).

GerdS · Nov 22, 2020

Just burry your hope, there will be no firmware update to the goggles for making them compatible as the goggles firmware is just a stripped-down GO4 app version.

Remember, GO4 is quite old software, based on 32 bit CPU architecture. So the goggles hardware is 32 bit, too. In contrast, the Fly app is based on 64 bit CPU architecture and no longer compatible with older Android phones with just 32 bit architecture. As a conclusion DJI would have to rewrite major parts of the Fly app as 32 bit code what they will never do because they have decided to move to 64 bit only, even ignoring the many customers with older phones with 32 bit still around.