Hi guys,
there is a lot of talk about the new DJI RC Pro. While I definitely get where you are coming from, especially if you already own (like I do) the original Smart Controller, I'm thinking DJI has good reasons not to try to make the Smart Controller compatible with Mavic 3.
I'm using the RC Pro for a bit over 2 weeks now and I am blown away. It is like the Smart Controller should have been, but sadly wasn't. It may look identical on the outside, but inside it is really a totally different kind of beast.
Battery life is fantastical. I was using it outside in -8°C weather for hours and it never gave up. I easily installed Adobe Lightroom and with the help of a mobile AP, every picture I take gets synced to Creative Cloud without ever taking out my mobile phone. With WiFi 6 coming, I guess even the transfer of video files is feasible without taking out the SD Card.
Would I edit my picture on this device? Probably not. But I tried and it worked flawlessly.
Charging is equally impressive. If you use the right charging equipment (that means a USB-C PD with >=65W) the controller charges from 10% to 50% in less than 15 minutes and takes about 1:10h to full charge. And It works while plugged in. So, using power banks essentially gives you unlimited runtime.
The signal is as robust as I see it on the Matrice 300. Picture quality is great, fluid and everything feels snappy. And this is the FIRST Version of DJI Fly on this controller. As we know DJI, most of the time it just gets better from here on. Gone are the times where I had to rearrange the controller to get a picture.
But, let's see what the numbers tell us. I installed Geekbench 5 on the old Smart Controller and the new RC Pro and ran some benchmarks. I also ran benchmarks on my iPhone 13 Pro and the newest M1 iPad Pro. Just for comparison. Last on the list is the actual benchmark leader in Geekbench for Android devices and that is the Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G.
I mean... there is a 4x single core and a 5.5x increase in Multicore-CPU performance, which puts the RC Pro in the realm of the insanely powerful iPhone 12. But, it even beats the fastest Android (Smartphone) on the market right now. These are not just numbers, you instantly feel it the moment the RC boots up. There is no loading time. DJI Fly app comes up in seconds, connects to your Mavic 3 and you are ready for take-off in under 30s.
So, the biggest problem the old Smart Controller had, was the subpar hardware they used. Even for the time the SC was released, the used hardware was outdated and slow. This time, it is different. There is a LOT of headroom to play with now. Even going into the future. I am not saying the RC Pro will be THE Remote controller you use for the next 10 years, but I think there is a pretty good chance you can use it a lot longer than the current SC. It's fast, built like a tank and usable in extreme temperatures and lighting conditions without a hitch.
Would it be great if we could use the RC Pro for our "old" drones? Yes of course it would. Will this be a priority for DJI? Probably not. But will new drones be compatible with the RC Pro? That is a profound YES from my side.
I hope this perspective helps some of you get a different view on what DJI had done and maybe has planed for the future of the Smart Controller Let me know what you think!
there is a lot of talk about the new DJI RC Pro. While I definitely get where you are coming from, especially if you already own (like I do) the original Smart Controller, I'm thinking DJI has good reasons not to try to make the Smart Controller compatible with Mavic 3.
I'm using the RC Pro for a bit over 2 weeks now and I am blown away. It is like the Smart Controller should have been, but sadly wasn't. It may look identical on the outside, but inside it is really a totally different kind of beast.
Battery life is fantastical. I was using it outside in -8°C weather for hours and it never gave up. I easily installed Adobe Lightroom and with the help of a mobile AP, every picture I take gets synced to Creative Cloud without ever taking out my mobile phone. With WiFi 6 coming, I guess even the transfer of video files is feasible without taking out the SD Card.
Would I edit my picture on this device? Probably not. But I tried and it worked flawlessly.
Charging is equally impressive. If you use the right charging equipment (that means a USB-C PD with >=65W) the controller charges from 10% to 50% in less than 15 minutes and takes about 1:10h to full charge. And It works while plugged in. So, using power banks essentially gives you unlimited runtime.
The signal is as robust as I see it on the Matrice 300. Picture quality is great, fluid and everything feels snappy. And this is the FIRST Version of DJI Fly on this controller. As we know DJI, most of the time it just gets better from here on. Gone are the times where I had to rearrange the controller to get a picture.
But, let's see what the numbers tell us. I installed Geekbench 5 on the old Smart Controller and the new RC Pro and ran some benchmarks. I also ran benchmarks on my iPhone 13 Pro and the newest M1 iPad Pro. Just for comparison. Last on the list is the actual benchmark leader in Geekbench for Android devices and that is the Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G.
ID | Name | Platform | Architecture | Single-core Score | Multi-core Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
11369726 | OLD DJI rm500ARM ARMv8 1416 MHz (6 cores) | Android 64 | aarch64 | 248 | 602 |
11358618 | NEW DJI DJI RC ProARM Qualcomm 1804 MHz (8 cores) | Android 64 | aarch64 | 926 | 3265 |
11369473 | iPhone 13 ProApple A15 Bionic 3230 MHz (6 cores) | iOS 64 | aarch64 | 1036 | 4135 |
11369381 | iPad Pro (11-inch 3rd generation)Apple M1 3190 MHz (8 cores) | iOS 64 | aarch64 | 1700 | 7272 |
SAMSUNG S21 | Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G | 965 | 3044 |
I mean... there is a 4x single core and a 5.5x increase in Multicore-CPU performance, which puts the RC Pro in the realm of the insanely powerful iPhone 12. But, it even beats the fastest Android (Smartphone) on the market right now. These are not just numbers, you instantly feel it the moment the RC boots up. There is no loading time. DJI Fly app comes up in seconds, connects to your Mavic 3 and you are ready for take-off in under 30s.
So, the biggest problem the old Smart Controller had, was the subpar hardware they used. Even for the time the SC was released, the used hardware was outdated and slow. This time, it is different. There is a LOT of headroom to play with now. Even going into the future. I am not saying the RC Pro will be THE Remote controller you use for the next 10 years, but I think there is a pretty good chance you can use it a lot longer than the current SC. It's fast, built like a tank and usable in extreme temperatures and lighting conditions without a hitch.
Would it be great if we could use the RC Pro for our "old" drones? Yes of course it would. Will this be a priority for DJI? Probably not. But will new drones be compatible with the RC Pro? That is a profound YES from my side.
I hope this perspective helps some of you get a different view on what DJI had done and maybe has planed for the future of the Smart Controller Let me know what you think!
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