Smart Controller & Mavic 3 are not compatible

[Ian in London]

DJI admins have indeed confirmed the existing Smart Controller will not work with the new Mavic 3 for now. Which is pretty poor imho.....
If the Air 2S can link up, I would have thought they could have engineered the M3 to link up too....
Ian

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[jonatious]

It was intentional. Who would buy the RC Pro when costs $500 more then?

 

[brett8883]

DJI admins have indeed confirmed the existing Smart Controller will not work with the new Mavic 3 for now. Which is pretty poor imho.....
If the Air 2S can link up, I would have thought they could have engineered the M3 to link up too....
Ian

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Yea the video misunderstands a few things. Clearly the M3 is compatible with O2 controllers because the controller it comes with is an O2 controller…

I wouldn’t be surprised if DJI adds the ability for the M3 to work with the smart controller with the caveat that it would be using O2 only or something like that. Especially since they don’t offer a package that has the base model M3 with the RC Pro.

 

[eEridani]

DJI Fly 1.5.0 adds M3 compatibility ... according to the release notes. Since the guy in the video is focused on Occusync, which we all should know is backwards compatible since the M3 ships with an OS2 controller, and he doesn't mention the version of app he is using. Could also be the Go4 interface DJI uses on the SC to do some of the connectivity is also behind the times; but I'd expect that to be updated soon, too.

 

[Ian in London]

DJI Fly 1.5.0 adds M3 compatibility ... according to the release notes. Since the guy in the video is focused on Occusync, which we all should know is backwards compatible since the M3 ships with an OS2 controller, and he doesn't mention the version of app he is using. Could also be the Go4 interface DJI uses on the SC to do some of the connectivity is also behind the times; but I'd expect that to be updated soon, too.

The video is focussed on the specs for the Smart Controller and the RC Pro Controller, and the confirmation from DJI admins that the Smart Controller does not control the M3, despite the 1.5.0 update. We all know that DJI could make it work, even at a reduced capacity.

 

[eEridani]

The video is focussed on the specs for the Smart Controller and the RC Pro Controller, and the confirmation from DJI admins that the Smart Controller does not control the M3, despite the 1.5.0 update. We all know that DJI could make it work, even at a reduced capacity.

Have you ever talked to the support people at DJI? They are NOT product experts. I suspect the person at DJI who said the SC wasn't compatible was just another clueless person like the one that just told me yesterday -- insisted really -- I had to have an aircraft connected to my SC to calibrate the SC compass. I finally hung up on them and called back and got someone who knew what I was talking about.

 

[Ian in London]

Have you ever talked to the support people at DJI? They are NOT product experts. I suspect the person at DJI who said the SC wasn't compatible was just another clueless person like the one that just told me yesterday -- insisted really -- I had to have an aircraft connected to my SC to calibrate the SC compass. I finally hung up on them and called back and got someone who knew what I was talking about.

This is one of the admins on the DJI forum. They usually give the right details, but are always frustratingly vague.... see attached:

 

[matt66]

DJI admins have indeed confirmed the existing Smart Controller will not work with the new Mavic 3 for now. Which is pretty poor imho.....
If the Air 2S can link up, I would have thought they could have engineered the M3 to link up too....
Ian

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Very disappointed dji had done this to us I am new to this learning how to fly my mavic air 2 and using smart controller learning a lot from the forum. They are not looking out for us just there pocket book

 

[Starz]

Very disappointed dji had done this to us I am new to this learning how to fly my mavic air 2 and using smart controller learning a lot from the forum. They are not looking out for us just there pocket book

DJI has done nothing other than roll out another new product. The process they have used is very similar to what they have used for several years.
There isn’t someone in our room holding a gun to our heads screaming
“buy it”. If the product doesn’t meet your needs, there are others out there to choose from and DJI isn’t going to miss a lick.
If and when DJI thinks the new product missed the mark( and don’t be fooled, there was a mark),they will certainly roll out another one that makes the previous one less valuable and slightly obsolete.
Does DJI care about their pocket book? You be the judge.

 

[Ian in London]

DJI has done nothing other than roll out another new product. The process they have used is very similar to what they have used for several years.
There isn’t someone in our room holding a gun to our heads screaming
“buy it”. If the product doesn’t meet your needs, there are others out there to choose from and DJI isn’t going to miss a lick.
If and when DJI thinks the new product missed the mark( and don’t be fooled, there was a mark),they will certainly roll out another one that makes the previous one less valuable and slightly obsolete.
Does DJI care about their pocket book? You be the judge.

Not quite. We all know technology moves on, but they sold the Smart Controller on the basis that it would be future compatible with new models using OcuSync 2.0. The Mavic 3 works with the Mini 2 and Air 2S controller, so they could honour their commitment to previous buyers and support the M3 quite easily.
Many people expected the M3 to be controllable by their Smart Controller because the specs show it's transmission is O2.0. If they really wanted to make the new product worth buying, they would make the RC Pro compatible with the Air 2S and Mini 2....

 

[Ian in London]

Yea the video misunderstands a few things. Clearly the M3 is compatible with O2 controllers because the controller it comes with is an O2 controller…

I wouldn’t be surprised if DJI adds the ability for the M3 to work with the smart controller with the caveat that it would be using O2 only or something like that. Especially since they don’t offer a package that has the base model M3 with the RC Pro.

Just to confirm, yes, the Video transmission is O3+; the aircraft controls are O2 because as you say, it ships with an O2 controller. But despite this, whilst the 1.5.0 update gives the message 'support for Mavic 3', it does apply to the Smart Controller; so even when you get that message on your Smart Controller, it does not actually offer the M3 as an option or allow you to bind it to the M3.

 

[Droniac]

DJI has done nothing other than roll out another new product. The process they have used is very similar to what they have used for several years.
There isn’t someone in our room holding a gun to our heads screaming
“buy it”. If the product doesn’t meet your needs, there are others out there to choose from and DJI isn’t going to miss a lick.
If and when DJI thinks the new product missed the mark( and don’t be fooled, there was a mark),they will certainly roll out another one that makes the previous one less valuable and slightly obsolete.
Does DJI care about their pocket book? You be the judge.

Agreed. They might not have a gun to our head (refer to a post mentioning the “psychology of the buy/buyer”) this true. But imo they don’t mind shooting us in the foot much either.

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

As with all of the latest greatest things to buy, it always pay to just sit back and wait a month or more.
Wait for the hype to settle then decide if that is what you want.
Do you really want to be the very first one to buy something that may still have a few bugs to work out.
Same as people under the impression that because there is an update showing they have to update.
I bought the IPhone 12 Pro, a few weeks later the IPhone 13 came out. My phone still works, didn’t become obsolete overnight.
As Starz said, no one has put a gun to your head to buy.
Do your due diligence before putting the money down.

 

[Mavic Raptor]

I'm glad I came to this forum as I had this exact question

I will say, that I have a Mini2 and it took DJI like 9 months from the Mini2 release date to update the 'old' smart controller and the Mini2 firmware to support it. It works great now that they put the effort into it. It is certainly technically feasible (obviously only supporting the O2 protocol) it is just a question of IF they update the controller and Mavic 3 to work together.

I really like the smart controller and certainly am not going to fork out another $1100 for a new smart controller that really only adds an O3 protocol; the old smart controller is more than sufficient as designed.

 

[Hack43]

Another "out there" question. Any chance someone out there would know if the older Crystal Sky monitor could function as the display on the Mavic 3 RC-N1? I don't have the M3 yet, so I can't try it out. Would be great if it would work, so great, as a matter of act, that it probably won't!

 

[MRomine]

DJI admins have indeed confirmed the existing Smart Controller will not work with the new Mavic 3 for now. Which is pretty poor imho.....
If the Air 2S can link up, I would have thought they could have engineered the M3 to link up too....
Ian

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There is no doubt in my mind that this was done intentionally. Currently I commercially fly my Mavic 2 Pro with the SC and love it. I have no desire to go back to using a smart phone. If the SC is not made compatible with the M3, even with less functionality, then I will not be buying an M3.

 

[Hack43]

I definitely agree, MRomine. I bought the very expensive Smart Controller for my M2 Pro, thinking it would be good for a very long time. By the way, I love this SC, great screen, no phone/tablet, etc. What a HUGE disappointment that it's only going to be usable, for me, on the M2. I'm definitely and reluctantly not buying the M3 if and until this changes. Why spend more to get an SC that does less than what I have, and is only useful for that particular done!!! This is crazy.

Another thing I'd like to point out. I've been into Radio Control planes, boats, cars, and helicopters for many years, that's how I got interested in drones. Although it's not an apples-to-apples comparison, the array of incredible, multifunctional RC transmitters (i.e. SCs) available is mind boggling and widely available at a very small fraction of the cost of DJI SCs! The technology does not cost an arm and a leg! This is the main problem I have with DJI - it is not so much COST as it is VALUE, and value is what we're not getting.

 

[Hack43]

BTW, the first "proportional" RC system I had was a Heathkit kit out of Benton Harbor, MI. And, yes, you actually built it yourself (it was a kit for goodness sakes). The thrill of controlling something remotely in flight was then, and is still now, an exhilarating experience!

 

[GadgetGuy]

I definitely agree, MRomine. I bought the very expensive Smart Controller for my M2 Pro, thinking it would be good for a very long time. By the way, I love this SC, great screen, no phone/tablet, etc. What a HUGE disappointment that it's only going to be usable, for me, on the M2. I'm definitely and reluctantly not buying the M3 if and until this changes. Why spend more to get an SC that does less than what I have, and is only useful for that particular done!!! This is crazy.

Another thing I'd like to point out. I've been into Radio Control planes, boats, cars, and helicopters for many years, that's how I got interested in drones. Although it's not an apples-to-apples comparison, the array of incredible, multifunctional RC transmitters (i.e. SCs) available is mind boggling and widely available at a very small fraction of the cost of DJI SCs! The technology does not cost an arm and a leg! This is the main problem I have with DJI - it is not so much COST as it is VALUE, and value is what we're not getting.

The SC was primarily sold as a bundle. The 1000 nit screen is what most bought it for, not the radio control. It's now 3 years old, an in need of a serious upgrade. That's why the RC Pro was developed, to match the capabilities of OcuSync 3+ of the Mavic 3, which the SC cannot.

 

[MRomine]

The SC was primarily sold as a bundle. The 1000 nit screen is what most bought it for, not the radio control. It's now 3 years old, an in need of a serious upgrade. That's why the RC Pro was developed, to match the capabilities of OcuSync 3+ of the Mavic 3, which the SC cannot.

What needs to be upgraded, it seems to do everything that I need and more.