New Air 2S with smart controller

[Deleted member 119987]

Just purchased the Air 2S with smart controller. Sale ends today.
Just like when you by a new car, before you never see them, after you see them al over the place .
So, now that I am waiting for this thing to ship... I have seen nothing but videos about how crappy the smart controller is on this. Laggy video, signal strength dropping off, problems with o3 on air 2s and o2 on the smart controller.
Did they fix this recently? or are they still shipping the same smart controller that has these issues reported?
I will issue a return if these issues haven't been resolved and reorder with standard controller.

 

[slup]

To my knowledge nothing have been done to make the old SC work more reliable ... it wasn't uncommon with various problems with the SC using the GO4 app but the use with the Fly app for the MA2s tipped the processor power in the SC over the edge & it couldn't cope reliably anymore. If you want reliability for a controller with screen, you should go with a bundle including the newer RC Pro.

 

[Deleted member 119987]

To my knowledge nothing have been done to make the old SC work more reliable ... it wasn't uncommon with various problems with the SC using the GO4 app but the use with the Fly app for the MA2s tipped the processor power in the SC over the edge & it couldn't cope reliably anymore. If you want reliability for a controller with screen, you should go with a bundle including the newer RC Pro.

I am waiting in cue with DJI support to find out if I am getting the RC Pro controller or not. Its not clear on their site but I have run across websites that says its the RC Pro included in the Fly More bundle.
I wish it were more clear.

 

[Deleted member 119987]

I am waiting in cue with DJI support to find out if I am getting the RC Pro controller or not. Its not clear on their site but I have run across websites that says its the RC Pro included in the Fly More bundle.
I wish it were more clear.

Just got off the online chat with them. It was shipped with the older controller so I am cancelling.
The tech support guy was defensive about it, saying there wasn't any reports that the old smart controller had any problems with the air 2s, but if I wanted the RC Pro... I'd have to buy it separately.
I'm just going to get a Mini 3 Pro with RC and be done with it.

 

[ThatBeardedDroneGuy]

fwiw, I gambled to get the RC Pro and ended up with the Smart Controller. I haven't had any issues so far.

 

[Deleted member 119987]

fwiw, I gambled to get the RC Pro and ended up with the Smart Controller. I haven't had any issues so far.

I guess some do, and some don't. I don't like to gamble, so its either return it and get the regular controller, or buy the mini 3 Pro with RC. Was their a recent firmware update to that controller? Maybe that fixed it? But I am hearing its due to a weak processor just like the iPad mini 4 had with dji fly app.

 

[ThatBeardedDroneGuy]

Based on the age of the controller it's probably safe to say that it's underpowered for an app that keeps changing. I'd have to check the firmware to see where I'm at.

 

[Deleted member 119987]

Based on the age of the controller it's probably safe to say that it's underpowered for an app that keeps changing. I'd have to check the firmware to see where I'm at.

I decided to just get the RC-N1 controller instead. DJI wasn't any help either, so I decided on the Air 2 S ( went to Best Buy instead of DJI online store ) since it has ADS-B. I live close to a heli training field and it comes in handy. That, and in Central Oregon, we have windy days and I just am not sold on the Mini 3 having the same attitude flying in the wind as a bigger bird. DJI did say that its possible to have a firmware update once they get information from FAA on remote ID requirements. I'll take that with a grain of salt. But we have a little more than a year to find out.

 

[maggior]

I have been using the original SC with my MA2 (similar to the A2s) and really haven't had any problems. I find the sticks far better at getting smooth movements than with the standard controller. I suffered a bit of video lag but I fixed that by dropping the video feed resolution down (smooth), which given the size of the screen you don't even notice.

Phones or tablets you have to worry about them overheating in the sun, even if it isn't hot.

There is so much dislike out there for the original SC that I feel is undeserved. It's not current tech, but it's good enough.

Everybody acts like DJI Fly is a super resource intensive app. I have a Galaxy S7 phone and when I decided to try the standard controller I really expected it to perform poorly. It performed perfectly fine...on a phone released on 2016 with tech that is 6 years old at this point.

Too late now since you've gone another way. Good luck.

 

[marshvet]

What I find interesting is why the apparent change. I got my Air 2S in December and it came with the RC Pro. The box said "Smart Controller" but lucky for me that was not the case. Yet, everything now says they have downgraded back to the Smart Controller. WHY??

 

[slup]

...There is so much hate out there...

Don't really follow you here ... what have this to do with Hate, Love or Black or White? The issue is all about present reliability & how sustainable the SC will be going a few versions of the DJI Fly app forward... and the investment you do.

We know that the SC is built on an ancient Android version & from time to time caused video glitches & app crashes already for the DJI GO4 app, which is less processor hungry than the DJI Fly app ... if you now have an alternative in the RC Pro, built with the latest intended for the latest, why take the risk, not funny if it happens to be you that suffers from all kinds of problems after shelling out big $$$.

Nothing of this doesn't even come close to Hate ...

 

[maggior]

Don't really follow you here ... what have this to do with Hate, Love or Black or White? The issue is all about present reliability & how sustainable the SC will be going a few versions of the DJI Fly app forward... and the investment you do.

We know that the SC is built on an ancient Android version & from time to time caused video glitches & app crashes already for the DJI GO4 app, which is less processor hungry than the DJI Fly app ... if you now have an alternative in the RC Pro, built with the latest intended for the latest, why take the risk, not funny if it happens to be you that suffers from all kinds of problems after shelling out big $$$.

Nothing of this doesn't even come close to Hate ...

The word "hate" has strong connotations these days. My apologies. I went back and edited my post.

Regarding the rest, it's a matter of opinion. I find the SC runs DJI Fly more than sufficiently. I've been using it for a little over a year and have never had a single crash or issue other than bugs in DJI Fly which were fixed.

 

[maggior]

What I find interesting is why the apparent change. I got my Air 2S in December and it came with the RC Pro. The box said "Smart Controller" but lucky for me that was not the case. Yet, everything now says they have downgraded back to the Smart Controller. WHY??

From what I saw, they bumped up the price of the A2S/SC combo but included the RC Pro. Considering the cost of the RC Pro, it was a good deal. The current "sale" price is the original price of the combo with the SC. Anybody that paid the higher price and got the SC got a raw deal.

It's strange to me that they went back to the SC for the combo. Maybe they unearthed some stock? I can't imagine they are manufacturing them any more. On the other hand, since they never updated the packaging to show the RC Pro in the combo (to my knowledge anyway), it feels like it was a temporary move.

Probably all a result of the supply chain issues.

 

[Deleted member 119987]

From what I saw, they bumped up the price of the A2S/SC combo but included the RC Pro. Considering the cost of the RC Pro, it was a good deal. The current "sale" price is the original price of the combo with the SC. Anybody that paid the higher price and got the SC got a raw deal.

It's strange to me that they went back to the SC for the combo. Maybe they unearthed some stock? I can't imagine they are manufacturing them any more. On the other hand, since they never updated the packaging to show the RC Pro in the combo (to my knowledge anyway), it feels like it was a temporary move.

Probably all a result of the supply chain issues.

Supply chain issues, maybe. DJI said their warehouse was full and are waiting for UPS to come pick up. Looking at the data on my tracking... UPS hasn't been there for a couple weeks.
But, I think its is more that they have a lot of the older controllers and decided to put the A2S back on sale with it.

 

[Deleted member 119987]

What I find interesting is why the apparent change. I got my Air 2S in December and it came with the RC Pro. The box said "Smart Controller" but lucky for me that was not the case. Yet, everything now says they have downgraded back to the Smart Controller. WHY??

Probably because they had a lot of the older controllers that they wanted to flush out of their warehouse.
Still, I told the rep on the phone that that is why I am canceling my order. If they had offered me a combo that included the RC Pro... I might have upgraded. But they told me if I wanted it, I'd have to fork out another 1100.00
After September 2023, and the Remote ID requirement, this may be my last drone anyway.

 

[ThatBeardedDroneGuy]

Anybody that paid the higher price and got the SC got a raw deal.

I felt the burn. First I got the SC instead of the RC Pro then they dropped the price over $200. Sometimes you're the bug, sometimes you're the windshield.