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My DJI Predictions For 2020

AIredale1

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My prediction on what DJI will put out in 2020 and why. The Skydio 2 and the Evo 2 have raised the bar, it is obvious that DJI will raise it even higher simply because they can.


I believe they will first release the Mavic Air 2 which will have either improved WiFi like the US A Mavic Mini version does or their proprietary Ocusync. It will also have a slightly better camera than the current model; no 6k or 8k, the latter of which has very low appeal to begin with and makes zero sense to anyone looking for a drone in the sub $2000.00 price point as both 6k and 8k would necessitate a major expenditure for a computer to adequately process it. I believe that the biggest and most welcome improvement which we will see in the Air 2 will be a significantly longer battery time, quieter motors and increased range.


As far as the Mavic 3 goes I would expect it to also have a better battery than the EVO 2, better obstacle avoidance than the Skydio 2 and a better camera than the Evo 2 but again not going with 8k for the same reasons I listed for the Air 2.

What are your thoughts?
 
I feel a Mavic 2 Air is on the horizon (but) Remote ID will delay it. Occusync 3 technology, 4k at 60fps @100mbs should be doable. Foldable and increased battery life a must.

I agree with you completely on the M3P. I think 4k at 60fps would be sufficient in a M3P with the ability to upgrade the camera. The computer power necessary to edit 6k and 8k is enormous. Not everybody does editing of video which is why I'd have the camera interchangeable for those who need to.

I do not think COMPLETE autonomous AI is necessary but do improve on the obstacle avoidance and APAS. Improved battery life (with) smart heating (if that is even possible) but the danger of thermal runaway would concern me. Personally I wouldn't need it (living in a desert environment) but our cold weather pilots would invite it.

All new drones MUST HAVE Remote ID built-in or it won't even make it off the assembly line. This will (probably) delay the Mavic 2 Air and M3P by several months (if at all) this year.
 
Foldable and increased battery life a must.

All new drones MUST HAVE Remote ID built-in or it won't even make it off the assembly line. This will (probably) delay the Mavic 2 Air and M3P by several months (if at all) this year.

James, excellent observation on next gen Air to be foldable. I hadn't thought of that and I'm sure they'll make it so. That being said, my thoughts are that we will see both the Air 2 & Mavic 3 in 2020 and in that order.
 
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Mavic Mini 2 will be a bad idea. It will require manual video and long life battery. If you add manual control it will cannibalised Air and Pro. New battery is not coming earlier than the next year (based on Tesla developments, they use the same cell). Plus it is very good as is.
 
Mavic Mini 2 will be a bad idea. It will require manual video and long life battery. If you add manual control it will cannibalised Air and Pro. New battery is not coming earlier than the next year (based on Tesla developments, they use the same cell). Plus it is very good as is.
Haven’t Tesla moved away from 18650 format? In any case aren’t the larger cells just more of what ever the current chemistry is? Tesla may be producing their own cells and no doubt doing it very well however it is likely Panasonic and the other big players are the ones advancing the core tech (advances in the chemistry).
 
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Mavic Mini 2 will be a bad idea. It will require manual video and long life battery. If you add manual control it will cannibalised Air and Pro. New battery is not coming earlier than the next year (based on Tesla developments, they use the same cell). Plus it is very good as is.

I agree A Mavic Mini 2 won't be coming soon but not for the reasons that you have mentioned.

Simply put, from a business and marketing viewpoint there is no need for one. I say that because the Mavic Mini has no competition.

Specifically, the. MM stands alone in that it is a sub 250 gram quad that has an excellent 3,axis gimbal, 2.7k video, 25 minute + flight time, easy to fly,with a simple app. And add to that the fact that DJI is selling tons of them and it's plain to see there is no need to upgrade it anytime soon. Also, the very excellent MM Fly More Combo only sets you back a ridiculously low $400.00.

No other drone even comes close to giving you all that at that price point.
 
My prediction on what DJI will put out in 2020 and why. The Skydio 2 and the Evo 2 have raised the bar, it is obvious that DJI will raise it even higher simply because they can.


I believe they will first release the Mavic Air 2 which will have either improved WiFi like the US A Mavic Mini version does or their proprietary Ocusync. It will also have a slightly better camera than the current model; no 6k or 8k, the latter of which has very low appeal to begin with and makes zero sense to anyone looking for a drone in the sub $2000.00 price point as both 6k and 8k would necessitate a major expenditure for a computer to adequately process it. I believe that the biggest and most welcome improvement which we will see in the Air 2 will be a significantly longer battery time, quieter motors and increased range.


As far as the Mavic 3 goes I would expect it to also have a better battery than the EVO 2, better obstacle avoidance than the Skydio 2 and a better camera than the Evo 2 but again not going with 8k for the same reasons I listed for the Air 2.

What are your thoughts?
I believe you are "right on." the EVO 2 6K and 8K don't really make a lot of sense. I do wish the Mavic 3 could have a feature like the Skydio 2 so the operator could take their eyes and attention off the drone during certain filming projects without worry. Improved obstacle avoidance is essential for the Mavic 3; better battery time and no battery swelling.
 
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My prediction on what DJI will put out in 2020 and why. The Skydio 2 and the Evo 2 have raised the bar, it is obvious that DJI will raise it even higher simply because they can.


I believe they will first release the Mavic Air 2 which will have either improved WiFi like the US A Mavic Mini version does or their proprietary Ocusync. It will also have a slightly better camera than the current model; no 6k or 8k, the latter of which has very low appeal to begin with and makes zero sense to anyone looking for a drone in the sub $2000.00 price point as both 6k and 8k would necessitate a major expenditure for a computer to adequately process it. I believe that the biggest and most welcome improvement which we will see in the Air 2 will be a significantly longer battery time, quieter motors and increased range.


As far as the Mavic 3 goes I would expect it to also have a better battery than the EVO 2, better obstacle avoidance than the Skydio 2 and a better camera than the Evo 2 but again not going with 8k for the same reasons I listed for the Air 2.

What are your thoughts?
I don't think the Mavic 3 Pro will have a better obstacle avoidance than Skydio 2, unless they buy the company. IF it has all the things you think it will have, it'll cost $2,000.

The Air 2, IF it has better wifi & battery range than the first one, I'd probably get it. But not gonna spend $1,000 on it if that's the price.
 
I agree A Mavic Mini 2 won't be coming soon but not for the reasons that you have mentioned.

Simply put, from a business and marketing viewpoint there is no need for one. I say that because the Mavic Mini has no competition.

Specifically, the. MM stands alone in that it is a sub 250 gram quad that has an excellent 3,axis gimbal, 2.7k video, 25 minute + flight time, easy to fly,with a simple app. And add to that the fact that DJI is selling tons of them and it's plain to see there is no need to upgrade it anytime soon. Also, the very excellent MM Fly More Combo only sets you back a ridiculously low $400.00.

No other drone even comes close to giving you all that at that price point.
MM Fly More is $500, still extremely reasonable though.
 
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I don't think the Mavic 3 Pro will have a better obstacle avoidance than Skydio 2, unless they buy the company. IF it has all the things you think it will have, it'll cost $2,000.

The Air 2, IF it has better wifi & battery range than the first one, I'd probably get it. But not gonna spend $1,000 on it if that's the price.

The obstacle avoidance of the Skydio 2 is NOT ready for prime time.

In short it is long on hype and short on performance.
I've watched all of Billy Kyle's excellent Skydio 2 YouTube videos. They are a series of videos in which Billy puts the Skydio through its paces. One in which he has it follow him at slow speed on a bicycle, one in which he has it follow him on a powered skate board and most recently he has it follow him while he is in a slow moving SUV.

In all of these videos at one point or another the Skydio 2 has serious problems; culminating in the final video in which the Skydio 2 dive bombs headlong into a pond for no apparent reason. The quad was recovered but unfortunately it was ruined.
 
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The obstacle avoidance of the Skydio 2 is NOT ready for prime time.

In short it is long on hype and short on performance.
I've watched all of Billy Kyle's excellent Skydio 2 YouTube videos. They are a series of videos in which Billy puts the Skydio through its paces. One in which he has it follow him at slow speed on a bicycle, one in which he has it follow him on a powered skate board and most recently he has it follow him while he is in a slow moving SUV.

In all of these videos at one point or another the Skydio 2 has serious problems; culminating in the final video in which the Skydio 2 dive bombs headlong into a pond for no apparent reason. The quad was recovered but unfortunately it was ruined.
I saw that video where the drone dive bombs into the pond. The drone does an amazing job of following and avoiding things, WHEN there isn't any disconnections. That being said, watch the video again, I think he missed it and I think EVERYONE who watched it missed it. There was a "low battery warning" that popped up on his screen (he was recording his screen), and he missed it completely. So at the end, the last thing he did was put the drone to the right (over the pond), and it went down into the water. The low battery warning was very brief on screen, but if you notice, he was flying for quite some time.
 
I saw that video where the drone dive bombs into the pond. The drone does an amazing job of following and avoiding things, WHEN there isn't any disconnections. That being said, watch the video again, I think he missed it and I think EVERYONE who watched it missed it. There was a "low battery warning" that popped up on his screen (he was recording his screen), and he missed it completely. So at the end, the last thing he did was put the drone to the right (over the pond), and it went down into the water. The low battery warning was very brief on screen, but if you notice, he was flying for quite some time.


Yeah Scott, watch it again. When he crashes there is no battery warning. The battery clearly shows at 29%
Here is a screen shot from the video just seconds before the crash.IMG_7122.jpg
 
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Yeah Scott, watch it again. When he crashes there is no battery warning. The battery clearly shows at 29%
Here is a screen shot from the video just seconds before the crash.View attachment 92636
Trust me, watch it again, but if you don’t have time, I will watch it and post a screenshot of it. Not saying the drone is a perfect drone, I wanted one, but the WiFi distance limitations really ended my want for that drone. That being said, I definitely saw a low battery warning come up on the screen before it crashed. So even though it showed 29% before the crash, I believe it was well below that. The warning came up, and most people would say, well I better change batteries, but he just ignores it.

I’ve also seen this happen with DJI drones, faulty battery percentage read outs. Not sure what causes it though.
 
IMG_7130.jpg
Trust me, watch it again, but if you don’t have time, I will watch it and post a screenshot of it. Not saying the drone is a perfect drone, I wanted one, but the WiFi distance limitations really ended my want for that drone. That being said, I definitely saw a low battery warning come up on the screen before it crashed. So even though it showed 29% before the crash, I believe it was well below that. The warning came up, and most people would say, well I better change batteries, but he just ignores it.

I’ve also seen this happen with DJI drones, faulty battery percentage read outs. Not sure what causes it though.

Okay, I watched it again and I did see the low battery warning (see attached image) flash on the screen for a nanosecond.

This happens early in the video and at that time the battery is showing 66% battery. So, that begs the question; which is correct? At that time in the video is it a low battery or is it 66% battery?

Well, given that this warning occurred fairly early in the flight and given the additional fact that much later (right before the crash) in the video the craft is at 28% battery, I would say that 28% battery at time of crash was the true state of the battery and the warning was false.

Of course whether that is true or not is a moot point; because if the true state was a low battery that should have resulted in repeated low battery warnings and initiated a
RTH; it did neither.
 
They just need to optimize the M2P a little bit.

4K@60fps is a MUST, and like you guys said, it's enough, nobody need more than 4k, it just makes no sense at all for home cinema, commercial, etc... It will be the new standard in the next few years, like it is 1080 now. Everything above is useless for most situations.

Some more flight modes like terrain follow, which was possible with the old drones (!)

A bit more user friendly interface (some camera modes are not where I want them to be, waypoints is a mess,...)

TRUE 4k without line skipping or other stupid stuff like barrel distortion in H265, just get a better processor in the drone and that's no problem! The image processing is still not sharp enough!!
(but maybe that's just my device, I talk to dji to find out if my drone has a faulty lense or something).

I personally don't need obstacle avoidance, but they kinda have to improve that because the other drones can do... I don't care about that.

A bit more flight time is always good, but I'm happy so far.

So these are just a few things they should have done with the M2P in the first place, I don't really can afford another 2000€.

Plus I hope they make it compatible with the smart controller. If not, I won't buy the mavic 3.
 
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