Ready to upgrade from Spark. Zoom? Air 2? Or?

[zzatihz1]

I've been researching several drones as upgrades to my Spark. I'm a casual flier. No business use and too old for extreme sports. But I do like a drone that can track me on certain hikes as well as be easy to fly manually. What I like about my Spark is that it is easy and is compatible with Litchi for waypoints which I use for my rental properties and occasional survey of my own house. What I dislike the most about my Spark is the limited flight time. Often, just as I'm getting into flying, I need to RTH to change the battery.

I am considering the Mavic Air 2, Mavic 2 Zoom and the Autel Evo 2. I also wanted to consider the Skydio 2 but it seems mostly tailored to follow me flying; not so much for manual flying and no waypoints either. Overall it feels like the MA2 nails the value quotient but does not handle waypoints since the Litchi is incompatible and DJI doesn't offer it either. The M2Z has the older controller, albeit with a display for some telemetry and still supports Litchi since it uses the older DJI Go software. The MZ2 is also 2+ years old now. The Autel Evo 2 has a lot going for it including a controller with a built in display for the video feed and a very long flight time. The software does include decent waypoint capabilities. The fact that it does not enforce NFZ is a plus but not a requirement for me.

I do have a bit of distrust of DJI given some of the politics and security related articles of late. The MA2 seems to tick most of the boxes but not having waypoint capabilities is disappointing. I seem to have narrowed it to the MA2 or Evo 2 which doesn't feel like a fair comparison given the value propositions. What is this groups thoughts and feedback? I suppose I could wait of the Mavic 3 series and see how it will stack up against Autel.

Thanks in advance to any insight and feedback!
-MikeF

 

[Dakarenduro]

This is being discussed regularly on the forum, a quick search may turn up plenty of pros/cons for your question.

I would search as well for MA2 faults and the Autel Evo 2 faults. There are some good youtube videos on both. I have not owned an Autel but I understand they all (including the Evo 2) have problems flying in a straight line and keeping the horizon level on the video. perhaps these have been fixed with a firmware?

 

[Dakarenduro]

If price wasn't the issue- MA2 or M2Z or M2P?

If today you were granted a gift certificate for a drone and you could choose between the Mavic Air 2, the Mavice 2 Zoom or Mavic 2 Pro, which would you choose... but more importantly, why? [please be as specific as possible] Why the question posed this way? Having gotten my feet wet with the...

mavicpilots.com

 

[zzatihz1]

Thanks for the reference to that thread. I've read it and it clearly seems biased towards the M2P; which is fine given that many or the respondents were pros and/or photographers/videographers doing post production work. I am not a photographer/videographer and tend to accept the images/video as they come out of the camera.

I have also watched tons of YouTube videos. Every drone enthusiast/influencer has their clear preference. Mavics seem to suffer battery issues. Autel seems to have gimbal/horizon issues and jerky flight. Mavic has a clear advantage for smooth flight. For me, the choice is coming down to 1) level of obstacle avoidance and 2) waypoint capabilities. If making a choice on only these two attributes, my selection would come down to either M2Z or Evo 2 with advantage to Evo 2 only because the tech is more current. But the cost of either of these is hard to swallow given my casual flying. The MA2 has decent obstacle avoidance (no sides), acceptable camera and a good value but does not support waypoint capability.

I'll be watching the YouTube videos later today. Thanks again for the response!

 

[hiflyer201]

Newer is better. The Mavic Air 2 being absolutely light years ahead of the Mavic Air one is the reason I say that.

 

[Dakarenduro]

I disagree that the thread is biased to the M2P due to most being post production folks. I think it is leaning towards the M2P because that is the drone that most believe is the best all around.

Happy hunting!

 

[zzatihz1]

I decided to purchase a MA2 Fly More Combo as an upgrade to my Spark. It should arrive tomorrow. I simply could not justify spending double on an Evo 2 or Mavic 2 Zoom. While the Evo 2 has some compelling new technology, I simply did not think the value was there. As for passing on the M2Z, it's 2+ year older tech for about the same cost as the Evo 2 with updated tech; in other words, I also felt it was a poor value.

I was also encouraged to hear that the SDK for the Mavic Mini was just released which gives me hope that Litchi (or someone else) will come out with solutions providing true waypoint capabilities to MA2. Thanks, all!