I wrote this comparison to help me decide if I should buy a Mavic Air as an owner of a Mavic Pro. Hopefully this will also be useful to those in the same situation as me.
Battery Life
The Mavic Pro is the winner with 27 minutes flight time or 30 minutes of the Platnium version. The Mavic Air has a claimed 21 minutes. In real world use with my Mavic Pro, I find 27 minutes to be more then I need. Even when “free/fun flying” I finish up well before the battery is fully depleted. I don’t think the reduced Mavic Air battery capacity would affect my use. Additional time can be achieved with a battery swap. I run 3 batteries on my Mavic Pro which I almost never fully use.
Portability
A win here for the Mavic Air which claims to be about half the size of the Mavic Pro. I personally have never considered the Mavic Pro large or difficult to carry around. Size has always been important to me, and for this reason I welcome to size of the Mavic Air. I own an Inpire 1 which is rarely use due to its size. I can’t say the same for the Mavic Pro which has followed me everywhere I have needed it. Perhaps the Mavic Air will be small enough to be part of my EDC bag. This would offer a benefit to me over the Mavic Pro as it would be always on my person and ready for fun or quick videos.
Camera/ Gimbal
Fairly like-for-like between the Mavic Pro and the Mavic Air, with a slight edge to the Mavic Air. The Mavic Air has a more compact and protected 3 axis gimbal when compared for the Mavic Pro. Additionally the Mavic Air will achieve slightly higher detail shooting at 4K 100mb/s compared the the Mavic Pro’s lower 4K 60mb/s. In my own real world use I have been satisfied with the overall image quality of the Mavic Pro and haven’t felt the need to upgrade. One sore point is the difficulty removing and reinstalling the gimbal clamp and protector on the Mavic Pro. This has now been resolved with the Mavic Air with a single simple protector making this a nice small win for the Mavic Air.
Range
The Mavic Pro is the clear winner with Occusync allowing for 7km transmission range. The Mavic Air is more susceptible to interference as it uses WIFI and has a claimed range of 4km. I do reach the range/ interference limit of my Mavic Pro making range an important factor to me.
Noise Levels
The Mavic Pro/ Platnium is the winner here. From initial reviews the Mavic Air looks to be noisier then the Mavic Pro. This is an important factor to me when piloting my drone as I don’t want to draw a crowd as I did previously with my Inspire 1. The quietness of the Mavic Pro is what lead me to purchasing the Mavic Pro and I have not been disappointed. I’m more then satisfied with the Mavic Pro as I can take off and fly discreetly without any passerby’s noticing. Time will tell if this is possible with the Mavic Air.
Battery Life
The Mavic Pro is the winner with 27 minutes flight time or 30 minutes of the Platnium version. The Mavic Air has a claimed 21 minutes. In real world use with my Mavic Pro, I find 27 minutes to be more then I need. Even when “free/fun flying” I finish up well before the battery is fully depleted. I don’t think the reduced Mavic Air battery capacity would affect my use. Additional time can be achieved with a battery swap. I run 3 batteries on my Mavic Pro which I almost never fully use.
Portability
A win here for the Mavic Air which claims to be about half the size of the Mavic Pro. I personally have never considered the Mavic Pro large or difficult to carry around. Size has always been important to me, and for this reason I welcome to size of the Mavic Air. I own an Inpire 1 which is rarely use due to its size. I can’t say the same for the Mavic Pro which has followed me everywhere I have needed it. Perhaps the Mavic Air will be small enough to be part of my EDC bag. This would offer a benefit to me over the Mavic Pro as it would be always on my person and ready for fun or quick videos.
Camera/ Gimbal
Fairly like-for-like between the Mavic Pro and the Mavic Air, with a slight edge to the Mavic Air. The Mavic Air has a more compact and protected 3 axis gimbal when compared for the Mavic Pro. Additionally the Mavic Air will achieve slightly higher detail shooting at 4K 100mb/s compared the the Mavic Pro’s lower 4K 60mb/s. In my own real world use I have been satisfied with the overall image quality of the Mavic Pro and haven’t felt the need to upgrade. One sore point is the difficulty removing and reinstalling the gimbal clamp and protector on the Mavic Pro. This has now been resolved with the Mavic Air with a single simple protector making this a nice small win for the Mavic Air.
Range
The Mavic Pro is the clear winner with Occusync allowing for 7km transmission range. The Mavic Air is more susceptible to interference as it uses WIFI and has a claimed range of 4km. I do reach the range/ interference limit of my Mavic Pro making range an important factor to me.
Noise Levels
The Mavic Pro/ Platnium is the winner here. From initial reviews the Mavic Air looks to be noisier then the Mavic Pro. This is an important factor to me when piloting my drone as I don’t want to draw a crowd as I did previously with my Inspire 1. The quietness of the Mavic Pro is what lead me to purchasing the Mavic Pro and I have not been disappointed. I’m more then satisfied with the Mavic Pro as I can take off and fly discreetly without any passerby’s noticing. Time will tell if this is possible with the Mavic Air.
