Own an Air 2S or Mavic 2 Pro? Don't buy a Mavic 3 yet

[chuck1026]

I flew my Mavic 3 today (2 batteries worth) and it was an extremely unpleasant experience compared to my older Mavic 2 Pro. The aircraft is not smooth at all. Even after waiting forever for 12+ sats and calibrating the compass it wanders, can't hold a lock on an object, darts and is jerky even after adjusting the EXP, gimbal smoothness and pitch... I really wish I never bought it. Now since I am stuck with it, I will put it in the hanger until DJI sorts it out and go back to my trusty pair of Mavic 2 Pros... softer image or not they fly like a dream. Maybe by spring this thing will be okay? Hope so and I can't imagine I am alone.

Also, the RC Pro doesn't connect to 5G wifi, I can barely hear the speaker on max volume, my Pro settings switched on their own from 1/50 shutter to Auto and so on... Is anyone else experiencing these things? I am pretty sure I am not alone but I am crushed.

 

[BbqJoe]

I guess when a company gets too full of themselves, the product and service is the very last concern.
The owners got boat payments you know.
Glad I didn't jump to the top of the tier with the 3, and only have to bang my head with the air2s for now.
Not sure why I want to like this company, but I'm trying.

 

[Victhor]

I didn't expect your complaints about the smoothness or jerkiness, I still don't have a M3, I am still trying to decide between M3 and Evo 2 Pro, I have watched and read thousands of comparisons, and the main point in favor of M3 is actually the smoothness of the gimbal and the easiness to achieve nice flow movements. Compared to previous DJI drones maybe the controls are too sensible, but you already configured those things to make it smoother.
This latvian guy makes amazing constant flow videos with all DJI drones, do you think your unit can achieve this smoothness? I notice he needs to make really small movements with the sticks.

 

[chuck1026]

I guess when a company gets too full of themselves, the product and service is the very last concern.
The owners got boat payments you know.
Glad I didn't jump to the top of the tier with the 3, and only have to bang my head with the air2s for now.
Not sure why I want to like this company, but I'm trying.

Yes, me too.... maybe it just needs more time... keep flying the Air 2S for now tho... it's a good bird.

 

[chuck1026]

I didn't expect your complaints about the smoothness or jerkiness, I still don't have a M3, I am still trying to decide between M3 and Evo 2 Pro, I have watched and read thousands of comparisons, and the main point in favor of M3 is actually the smoothness of the gimbal and the easiness to achieve nice flow movements. Compared to previous DJI drones maybe the controls are too sensible, but you already configured those things to make it smoother.
This latvian guy makes amazing constant flow videos with all DJI drones, do you think your unit can achieve this smoothness? I notice he needs to make really small movements with the sticks.

Well I have friends with the Air 2S and maybe I need to dial it down a bit more for smoothness more like what I was "used to"... I love and hate DJI at the same time if that makes sense, Hopefully the team will offer up another fw update that refines it more. I really need to invest more time to get used to it.

 

[jjcombs13]

I have flown the Air2S since the day it was released and have logged 4+ hours on the M3 since getting it a couple weeks ago. It was an adjustment flying the M3 but after the latest firmware it became a much better experience for me. I have been able to capture the shots I need and the M3 has saved me lots of time in post-production. The crazy amount of time it takes to lock satellites is a frustration to me, but not a deal-breaker. I truly believe that the best is yet to come for the M3, as I'm sure DJI is well aware that a lot is riding on their new flagship drone. Having said all that, I don't use Active Track much nor do I have the RC Pro to compare my experience fully with yours.

 

[LA 2020]

I flew my Mavic 3 today (2 batteries worth) and it was an extremely unpleasant experience compared to my older Mavic 2 Pro. The aircraft is not smooth at all. Even after waiting forever for 12+ sats and calibrating the compass it wanders, can't hold a lock on an object, darts and is jerky even after adjusting the EXP, gimbal smoothness and pitch... I really wish I never bought it. Now since I am stuck with it, I will put it in the hanger until DJI sorts it out and go back to my trusty pair of Mavic 2 Pros... softer image or not they fly like a dream. Maybe by spring this thing will be okay? Hope so and I can't imagine I am alone.

Also, the RC Pro doesn't connect to 5G wifi, I can barely hear the speaker on max volume, my Pro settings switched on their own from 1/50 shutter to Auto and so on... Is anyone else experiencing these things? I am pretty sure I am not alone but I am crushed.

You are correct, I've seen nothing but bad experiences with M3 and my guess is they just rushed to get it out before Christmas and it wasn't ready. I fly an M2P and have always been very happy with it. Won't upgrade until I see constant great reviews. One reason this forum is valuable

 

[Droniac]

I flew my Mavic 3 today (2 batteries worth) and it was an extremely unpleasant experience compared to my older Mavic 2 Pro. The aircraft is not smooth at all. Even after waiting forever for 12+ sats and calibrating the compass it wanders, can't hold a lock on an object, darts and is jerky even after adjusting the EXP, gimbal smoothness and pitch... I really wish I never bought it. Now since I am stuck with it, I will put it in the hanger until DJI sorts it out and go back to my trusty pair of Mavic 2 Pros... softer image or not they fly like a dream. Maybe by spring this thing will be okay? Hope so and I can't imagine I am alone.

Also, the RC Pro doesn't connect to 5G wifi, I can barely hear the speaker on max volume, my Pro settings switched on their own from 1/50 shutter to Auto and so on... Is anyone else experiencing these things? I am pretty sure I am not alone but I am crushed.

I believe that with future refinements by DJI, that the 3 is and will be quite remarkable. In the meanwhile I’ve committed as noted in past to committing myself to buying the 337.26 bag. Nothing more. Leaving my 5k to gain at least 6% and then… buy it on the dividends. In the meanwhile my M2P waves to me as it gracefully does a flyby over my bald bean. Still waiting on DJI.

 

[Cookedinlh]

I didn't expect your complaints about the smoothness or jerkiness, I still don't have a M3, I am still trying to decide between M3 and Evo 2 Pro, I have watched and read thousands of comparisons, and the main point in favor of M3 is actually the smoothness of the gimbal and the easiness to achieve nice flow movements. Compared to previous DJI drones maybe the controls are too sensible, but you already configured those things to make it smoother.
This latvian guy makes amazing constant flow videos with all DJI drones, do you think your unit can achieve this smoothness? I notice he needs to make really small movements with the sticks.

Got the Mav3 cine when it first came out and only got a few flights in last fall when the weather was not too cold. I found it smooth enough . . at least did not notice any jerkyness. I've flown about every DJI except Inspire since the Phantom 4 /pro came out and all the mavics as well as Matrice 300. I love the M3 . . lots of legs and beautiful video. My only complaints are the lack of features like Course lock or Home lock circle, auto-route etc. . I hand flew a survey or a .5 by 7.5km area in 3 batteries with lots of overlap and strong smooth responsive performance throughout and lots of time left. . . . as an early adopter I am disappointed a few features that were not rolled out with the initial launch but I think its going to be a goto package for photo/video work. No issues with number of sats or home point or many of the complaints I see here. . . my 2 cents

 

[projectarjun]

I think the Air 2s has the best of both worlds and the controls feel really refined; in other words, its the sweet spot. The bigger the drone, the clunkier it will behave. Smaller the drone, harder it is to keep it within VLOS

 

[chuck1026]

Got the Mav3 cine when it first came out and only got a few flights in last fall when the weather was not too cold. I found it smooth enough . . at least did not notice any jerkyness. I've flown about every DJI except Inspire since the Phantom 4 /pro came out and all the mavics as well as Matrice 300. I love the M3 . . lots of legs and beautiful video. My only complaints are the lack of features like Course lock or Home lock circle, auto-route etc. . I hand flew a survey or a .5 by 7.5km area in 3 batteries with lots of overlap and strong smooth responsive performance throughout and lots of time left. . . . as an early adopter I am disappointed a few features that were not rolled out with the initial launch but I think its going to be a goto package for photo/video work. No issues with number of sats or home point or many of the complaints I see here. . . my 2 cents

That's great to hear but you are the minority. As much as I want the Mavic 3 to be great, and I do, it just isn't yet. I hope the next FW update can help some but GPS has been changed from GLONAS to the Chinese GPS (I forget the name) and it's just not as good yet. The initial acquisition time is lengthy. 2nd battery is fine. I do still have instability when performing an "Eye of God" shot for example... not sure if you have tried that or not, but give it a go and I am curious if your M3 wanders a touch off the center of the shot?

 

[Cookedinlh]

That's great to hear but you are the minority. As much as I want the Mavic 3 to be great, and I do, it just isn't yet. I hope the next FW update can help some but GPS has been changed from GLONAS to the Chinese GPS (I forget the name) and it's just not as good yet. The initial acquisition time is lengthy. 2nd battery is fine. I do still have instability when performing an "Eye of God" shot for example... not sure if you have tried that or not, but give it a go and I am curious if your M3 wanders a touch off the center of the shot?

Still -15C not counting the CHILL factor . . . but will definitely give it better test flight when it warms up and evaluate the performance of some of those features . . Just wish like many, they'd gone with Pilot or Go4 rather than FLY . . . just not as well developed