Mavic specs versus Phantom 3 Standard - are they that different?

[Ian in London]

The thread title asks if they are that different.

In a broad, very general sense, no. They are both drones that fly and take videos and pictures. If you compare a P3 and a Mavic and an iPhone, then the first two are basically identical and the iPhone is completely different.

In a more specific sense, yes. Among recreational drones, they are very different machines. And you cannot just take range and size out of the equation. Those are critical components of making the Mavic a super sweet machine. If anything, I would take the price out of the equation. In the US, the P3 is about $500 and the Mavic is about $1000. If I only had $500, thus my option was either P3 or nothing, then I would choose nothing. If I wanted a drone badly enough, then I would eat uber-cheap for 2 months ($1/day on food instead of $10/day on food). At the end of 2 months, I would have saved an additional $500, PLUS lost some much needed weight, and I'd have a Mavic.

HA... that's a good plan.. Lose weight and get fun gadgets.....
You're right of course; the thread title was to push a bit of discussion because you do have beginners and people that simply can't afford pr can't risk £$1,000 on a Mavic, so I simply wanted to nail exactly what the differences are. I think I'm pretty clear in the video about the Mavic's many advantages... SIze and portability was key for me; range not so... After Dover I'm still a bit reluctant to get much more than 500 - 600 yards away
Cheers,
Ian

 

[Ian in London]

I have both and I can tell that the the mavic's camera is more crisper, when I go back and watch my P3S footage vs my Mavic footage there is a clear winner, and its not the P3S. Also the range on the Mavic is WAY better, its actually the reason I bought the Mavic. The standards range is horrendous without mods and even then a stock Mavic can beat a modded standard in range.

And trust me even if new people say they don't care about range, they will once they get a P3S I was getting on average 400-500 feet before RTH kicked in.

The P3S was my first DJI drone not my first drone and I wouldn't recommend it for the first time user, you will out grow the P3S really quickly, I bought the P3S in December of last year by February I had the Mavic. The camera is ok but the constant RTH's really ruined it. If you are taking video literally right next to you then its ok I guess but anything else heck no.

People are better off saving up for the P4 or Mavic than they are just buying the P3S

And yes by specs they are very different.

Very different specs of course, especially re range. I make that point loud and clear in the video and about trees halving your Standard's range.... but the camera I genuinly see little difference. Still photos are exactly the same resolution, and my 2.7k footage compared to my 4k Mavic footage is practcally the same too; you only really get a differecne if you start cropping and zooming in post production. You see many clips of Phantom footage in my video; are yours not as crisp?

My main point was for those who simoply can't afford the mavic or want to start out and practice on a cheaper model. Given it's price is around the Spark, I know I'd choose a P3S any time over the Spark...


Ian

 

[Kestrel]

Very different specs of course, especially re range. I make that point loud and clear in the video and about trees halving your Standard's range.... but the camera I genuinly see little difference. Still photos are exactly the same resolution, and my 2.7k footage compared to my 4k Mavic footage is practcally the same too; you only really get a differecne if you start cropping and zooming in post production. You see many clips of Phantom footage in my video; are yours not as crisp?

My main point was for those who simoply can't afford the mavic or want to start out and practice on a cheaper model. Given it's price is around the Spark, I know I'd choose a P3S any time over the Spark...


Ian


Ian in London

Yeah my Mavic shoots better video. I wouldn't choose either. The spark is a selfie drone, the standard is meant to be just your run of the mill drone but with crappy range. I outgrew my P3S standard in a matter of just a few months, I couldn't stand the constant range issues and RTH's. I live in South Dakota, there are very little trees here so trees and range isn't the issue. There is no way id recommend the P3S over a Mavic. Maybe a P3A or P3P though. If you can save up $500 you can wait a little longer and save another 5, people wont be outgrowing the Mavic and won't worry about the range issues.

Like I said before, I got the Mavic because of the range issues, I didn't need to go miles away but I hated getting RTH's almost within line of sight, I had to have something that gave me reliability.

 

[Bryan Conover]

Well, I think most of us on here would argue there's a huge difference, but as I had a few people ask me what to suggest if they couldn't afford a Mavic or were starting out, I looked into the actual specs and compared them for a bit of fun. Was actually a bit surprised in the end considering the difference in price... Is the Mavic worth the extra money?

Look forward to the drone police attacks on flying two drones without due care and attention....

Cheers,
Ian

I own a P3S, Inspire 1, and P3P...I have flown the Mavic Pro enough to know portability isn't enough of a motivation to buy one.

 

[namja]

I own a P3S, Inspire 1, and P3P...I have flown the Mavic Pro enough to know portability isn't enough of a motivation to buy one.

Take out portability, and I still choose Mavic over P3S, P3P, or P4P.

For me, the Mavic flies much better. So much better. This is the most important factor. And while the P4P has an edge on video quality over the P3S/P3P/Mavic on paper, it is a negligible difference in reality. If video mattered that much, then I'd get the Inspire and put a "real" camera on it.

 

[netfolks2000]

Well, I think most of us on here would argue there's a huge difference, but as I had a few people ask me what to suggest if they couldn't afford a Mavic or were starting out, I looked into the actual specs and compared them for a bit of fun. Was actually a bit surprised in the end considering the difference in price... Is the Mavic worth the extra money?

Look forward to the drone police attacks on flying two drones without due care and attention....

Cheers,
Ian

Thank you for sharing all that info. I am very anxious deciding whether to make the leap to a Mavic from my very dependable and enjoyable P3 Standard. The one thing about the Mavic that sells me is being able to carry it around and just, at whim, pull it out for a look around on my rural property or anywhere else. It is difficult to even load the P3 on my Recreational Vehicles when out in the forest. It's a wonderful hobby though and as they say "The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys."

 

[jonitus]

I have both drones P3S and Mavic i like them both and they both haved issues but Mavic seems to work well now with latest update and i got new controller on warranty repairs. P3S still have issues the range mainly and laggy feed on your phone or tablet, that is certainly bad and that range, it isnt go very far and image transmission could lost too. The Dji go app on Phantom 3 isnt working anymore on my phone i have to use older phone. P3S is good drone for start and i still fly it sometimes but Mavic is lot easier and no lag means easy to photo or video and its hoovers still, P3S isnt very stable on hoover. P3S camera is good tho on my opinion. Mavic is so precise when you dont touch the controller it stays still wind or not that makes it easy to fly and obstacle avoidance sensors is huge plus. My english have issues so sorry for that

 

[kens65fb]

Those who claim that the P3S camera is about the same as the Mavic Pro, must not have a 4K TV.
When I view 4K footage from my Mavic and 2.7K footage side by side on my 75 inch ViZio 4K TV, the difference is striking.
Until you have a 4K monitor or TV, you will not appreciate the quality of 4K video, when viewing it on a 1080P monitor

 

[Ian in London]

Those who claim that the P3S camera is about the same as the Mavic Pro, must not have a 4K TV.
When I view 4K footage from my Mavic and 2.7K footage side by side on my 75 inch ViZio 4K TV, the difference is striking.
Until you have a 4K monitor or TV, you will not appreciate the quality of 4K video, when viewing it on a 1080P monitor

I don't think we're claiming the two cameras are the same; for photos, they are the same resolution, but for video, there is a difference as the PS3 only shoots in 2.7K, not 4K.

The point I'm making in the video is that even 2.7K is higher definition than Blu-ray, so it's not like it's poor quality....

Cheers,
Ian

 

[Ian in London]

Thank you for sharing all that info. I am very anxious deciding whether to make the leap to a Mavic from my very dependable and enjoyable P3 Standard. The one thing about the Mavic that sells me is being able to carry it around and just, at whim, pull it out for a look around on my rural property or anywhere else. It is difficult to even load the P3 on my Recreational Vehicles when out in the forest. It's a wonderful hobby though and as they say "The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys."

As mentioned in the comment after yours, the P3S does suffer from range and connectivity issues that the Mavic doesn't.
Range and Portability are the two biggest factors for the Mavic IMHO.

Cheers
Ian

 

[namja]

Those who claim that the P3S camera is about the same as the Mavic Pro, must not have a 4K TV.
When I view 4K footage from my Mavic and 2.7K footage side by side on my 75 inch ViZio 4K TV, the difference is striking.
Until you have a 4K monitor or TV, you will not appreciate the quality of 4K video, when viewing it on a 1080P monitor

The camera on these drones are so tiny that it hardly matters. The only time it might matter is if you do a side by side, on a 75" TV, sitting 5 feet from it. On the same token, I don't think the P4P takes better videos than MP even though it has better specs. These are, IMHO, minimal difference that are negligible.

The pilot's flying skills and the pilot's cinematography skills will have a much more profound effect on the quality of the aerial video than the minute differences in these cameras.