Hello Everyone. I see that there are a fair number of issues concerning the
DJI Smart Controller. In general is it worth getting a new
smart controller with the purchase of a Fly More Combo (
MA2) or would you recommend just sticking with the original controller when purchasing a new
MA2? I suspect that I would save some money on the price of the
Smart Controller when having it bundled up with the Fly More Combo ? Maybe the simple plain controller might be a safe way to go. Any comments?
I've had all the controllers in the Mavic series (Pro, Spark, Mini-old style) with the exception of the "stock" version for the
MA2. After reading the comments here (and the dribbles and whines on the DJI Forum), then watching a half dozen "reviews" on YouTube, I decided to purchase one as a part of the Bundle with the
MA2. I rationalized ( nay, mitigated the increased price ) by taking advantage of the DJI buy-back when they offered a 20% premium (on the buy-back). I 'sold' them my Mini and Alpine Pro, and the buy back allowed me to upgrade the purchase to the Smart bundle.
Worth every every penny. No struggling with cables and connecting the cable; no messing with keeping the phone/ipad charged and separately updating the app(s); the screen brightness, size, and responsiveness is ideal. Turn on the aircraft, turn on the
SC, they hug each other and Fly loads automatically (it recognizes which aircraft was last flown), tap Go Fly, and it's in the air. While slightly heavier than using a phone, the trade off of convenience and much brighter screen is worth it.
As a "hater" of Android operating systems, spending an hour or so messing with the app (after watching a few YouTubes on software updating, navigation and the like) made it seamless, for me. Since purchasing I've had two aircraft firmware updates, and two Fly updates, one round of battery updates, and two
SC firmware updates... slow (my rural internet connection is pathetic) but being patient, following directions, using the DJI based downloads, being methodical, worked most of the time... no different from firmware updates using other controllers.
No regrets; only one disappointment... no offline maps like what's available in DJI Go4. FWIW, that's not available with the "stock" controller, so not really a
Smart Controller issue. However, I would have expected that to be a major benefit for a premium accessory.