Mavic Air Range

[kens65fb]

Most of the reviews on the Mavic Air don't really address the Wi-Fi range.
Most flights seem to have been in remote areas, I wonder what the range will be in moderately populated areas?

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

Most of the reviews on the Mavic Air don't really address the Wi-Fi range.
Most flights seem to have been in remote areas, I wonder what the range will be in moderately populated areas?

Well we should find out within the next few days. DJI has begun shipping them today.

 

[dcpmark]

Mine arrives today, so I plan to test that exact subject today or tomorrow.

 

[Mc39]

Flew my Mavic Air for the first time this morning. Flew over golf course in an area with quite a bit of wifi congestion. With my Spark the furthest I could get it to go before losing video feed was 1100ft. Mavic Air initially would not go past 300ft but remote defaulted to 2.4 which was very congested. After manually changing to 5.8 the range improved to 2400 ft at which point it lost connection and auto returned to home. The signal did cut out several times for 1-2 seconds at a time and several instances of slight video lag were observed. When the signal was strong it was very responsive, slightly better than Spark with OTG. For reference, when flying my Spark in more remote area, I was able to get out to 6000 feet before the signal was lost. I have no experience with a Mavic Pro to compare it to.

 

[WilliamG]

Flew my Mavic Air for the first time this morning. Flew over golf course in an area with quite a bit of wifi congestion. With my Spark the furthest I could get it to go before losing video feed was 1100ft. Mavic Air initially would not go past 300ft but remote defaulted to 2.4 which was very congested. After manually changing to 5.8 the range improved to 2400 ft at which point it lost connection and auto returned to home. The signal did cut out several times for 1-2 seconds at a time and several instances of slight video lag were observed. When the signal was strong it was very responsive, slightly better than Spark with OTG. For reference, when flying my Spark in more remote area, I was able to get out to 6000 feet before the signal was lost. I have no experience with a Mavic Pro to compare it to.

Thank you for the honest impressions. And thank you for confirming my decision not to buy an Air was the right one.

 

[g90]

Flew my Mavic Air for the first time this morning. Flew over golf course in an area with quite a bit of wifi congestion. With my Spark the furthest I could get it to go before losing video feed was 1100ft. Mavic Air initially would not go past 300ft but remote defaulted to 2.4 which was very congested. After manually changing to 5.8 the range improved to 2400 ft at which point it lost connection and auto returned to home. The signal did cut out several times for 1-2 seconds at a time and several instances of slight video lag were observed. When the signal was strong it was very responsive, slightly better than Spark with OTG. For reference, when flying my Spark in more remote area, I was able to get out to 6000 feet before the signal was lost. I have no experience with a Mavic Pro to compare it to.

Thanks for posting this, so it looks like its on par with DJI's specs about it having twice the range.

 

[Mc39]

Yeah I think so. I got the connection to improve by deleting the DJI Go 4 app (Android) and reinstalling it. I kept getting a regional WLAN warning and the connection was automatically reverting to 2.4ghz. After reinstalling the app, it auto selected 5.8. The max range I was able to get did not change but I had a solid video feed up to that point. I think in an open environment 2.5mi is likely.

 

[g90]

What altitude were you flying at by the way, were you flying at the same height for the Spark and the Air? I can fly my Spark about 1700 feet away in my neighborhood if I'm flying at 400 feet.

And yes, you're going to get a better video feed (less latency) with 5.8ghz.

 

[Mc39]

400ft. Same altitude with the Spark.

 

[Mcgon]

2400ft (732m) range is quite disappointing. I was hoping it would easily handle 4900ft (1500m). Hmm... Thanks for the review about thi Mc39. If others experiences are all similar, I'd likely skip it and wait for next iteration of the mavic.

 

[WilliamG]

2400ft (732m) range is quite disappointing. I was hoping it would easily handle 4900ft (1500m). Hmm... Thanks for the review about thi Mc39. If others experiences are all similar, I'd likely skip it and wait for next iteration of the mavic.

Disappointing to you / expected to me. Straight up 2.4/5.8 Wi-Fi is simply not good enough. And DJI has proven they have a great tech with OcuSync. I would have liked to see a next generation OcuSync in the Air.

That would have been so awesome.

 

[4wd]

It sounds similar to Phantom 2 range, adequate but not impressive compared to the occusync models like P3 onwards

 

[Akimba]

I look forward to receiving it. Shorter range doesn't bother me and I'll use it and carry it around. My P3 Pro was a beast to haul around and I fly LOS so no problemo. That being said I might get a MP2 when it comes out if the size is reduced along with new tech and camera. Admit it...the MP is a pig compared to the MA. I see pics with people who have cases the size of my Phantom backpack for the MP. I'm not into that at all.

 

[WilliamG]

I look forward to receiving it. Shorter range doesn't bother me and I'll use it and carry it around. My P3 Pro was a beast to haul around and I fly LOS so no problemo. That being said I might get a MP2 when it comes out if the size is reduced along with new tech and camera. Admit it...the MP is a pig compared to the MA. I see pics with people who have cases the size of my Phantom backpack for the MP. I'm not into that at all.

The MP is NOT even slightly a pig by comparison. Even my Spark in a Fly More case with 3 batteries isn’t that much smaller a case than my MP Fly More combo case.

 

[MichiganMavic]

The MP case left, and the Spark FM bag on right. Pretty much a close package size, just different shape.

I wish they had made a pocket with a zipper or flap big enough for the iPad mini. The back of the bag would’ve been the perfect spot.

 

[Akimba]

The MP is NOT even slightly a pig by comparison. Even my Spark in a Fly More case with 3 batteries isn’t that much smaller a case than my MP Fly More combo case.

It's a hogbeast and you know it! I'm just kidding really but with each new iteration drones (not phones) are getting smaller and smaller with amazing technology. For my lifestyle I really appreciate as small of a form factor as possible. There are always trade offs with anything but I tend to go with the newest tech whenever possible.

 

[Ozz]

I wish they had made a pocket with a zipper or flap big enough for the iPad mini..

My IPad mini4 fits perfectly in the front pocket of that - I put it in a cloth bag first for some limited scratch protection.

 

[MichiganMavic]

My IPad mini4 fits perfectly in the front pocket of that - I put it in a cloth bag first for some limited scratch protection.

I do the same too, just wish there was a dedicated pocket for a monitor[emoji6]

 

[Mcgon]

Definitely agree about tradeoffs. The reason I'm sensitive about range and WiFi is my current hubsan drone (toy grade I know) had been out to 900m (3000+ft) with no LOS or video loss, yet some days(locations) it won't go beyond 120m(350ft). I can only assume it depends on local WiFi congestion and interference. Hopefully the software in the Mavic air is more clever than that in how it uses the WiFi band. I still love the idea of the uber portability of the air.

 

[Srcrain]

Thank you for the honest impressions. And thank you for confirming my decision not to buy an Air was the right one.

+1.