Xiaomi's entrance in the drone market. DJI should seriously pay attention to their customers now.

[Rob W]

I had the original Xiaomi Mi Drone before buying my Mavic.
The majority of people online were complaining that we were used as test pilots but the company didn’t support us.
In fact in the US and Europe you could not buy the drone through xiaomi and had to buy from 3rd party sellers, and Xiaomi I would NOT support someone in the US, only those purchased from Xiaomi in China.

 

[HighlandsVideo]

How is this a "rip off"? Most of the parts are quite different. Is it a rip off because it has propellers or because it folds?

It's not a rip off.

It most assuredly is a rip off and can be seen as nothing else.. Virtually every design parameter, every flight feature, every photo feature, everything is an unabashed copy of what has already been perfected by DJI who apparently failed to protect their intellectual property well enough. Cheap trick!!

 

[Skry]

xioami is making drones for years. I recall seeing their drone in 2015 already. those looked almost identical to phantom

 

[drakkor]

No 4K 60fps...I’ll pass.

The Autel Evo seems to be able to do 4k @60fp apparently !

 

[tcope]

It most assuredly is a rip off and can be seen as nothing else.. Virtually every design parameter, every flight feature, every photo feature, everything is an unabashed copy of what has already been perfected by DJI who apparently failed to protect their intellectual property well enough. Cheap trick!!

100% incorrect. If you'd like to provide some supports for your guesses, please feel free.

Flight features? Clearly incorrect. They are not the same. That is obvious. Photo feature? Flight modes are not proprietary in any way. You think DJI came out with these modes first? Nope!

 

[PhoebeSnow]

Just got mine last week and I'm very impressed. Where it has no obstacle avoidance it does have most of the features of the DJi Mavics. For $400 you can't go wrong and can fly almost anywhere as it doesn't have the same DJI NFZ's.

 

[deleted member 877]

Just got mine last week and I'm very impressed. Where it has no obstacle avoidance it does have most of the features of the DJi Mavics. For $400 you can't go wrong and can fly almost anywhere as it doesn't have the same DJI NFZ's.

I reckon you have made a great choice with the Xiaomi. Obstacle avoidance is overrated IMHO. Who really needs it?

 

[Cymruflyer]

It most assuredly is a rip off and can be seen as nothing else.. Virtually every design parameter, every flight feature, every photo feature, everything is an unabashed copy of what has already been perfected by DJI who apparently failed to protect their intellectual property well enough. Cheap trick!!

Every ford and Chevy and Chrysler and Hyundai and Kia drive, in general, the same way as a Honda or Mitsubishi or Toyota, and they mostly have the same features. How would the cars be any different from what we are speaking of here? A Piper and Cessna and Mooney, for example, have the same basic controls as each other and in general, all fly the same way (speeds vary of course), so again, how is this any different from these two drones we are speaking of? Who is ripping off who in the car and airplane game?

 

[deleted member 877]

Every ford and Chevy and Chrysler and Hyundai and Kia drive, in general, the same way as a Honda or Mitsubishi or Toyota, and they mostly have the same features. How would the cars be any different from what we are speaking of here? A Piper and Cessna and Mooney, for example, have the same basic controls as each other and in general, all fly the same way (speeds vary of course), so again, how is this any different from these two drones we are speaking of? Who is ripping off who in the car and airplane game?

Well said. Indeed DJI is not really an inventor - more an innovator. Be assured that they would have patented anything that was eligible. See following - the other side of the coin:-

DJI Sued for Patent Infringement by Its Chinese-backed American Competitor

 

[twoheadlines]

I have been a DJI exponent from day 1. However, looking at expanding my UAV business activities into 2020 got me looking beyond an aging Inspire 1 and my M2P to the Matrice range of aircraft. As much as I liked what I saw, I was pretty much at the point of compromising my development plans by only being able to consider adding the Mavic Enterprise Dual to my fleet, from a price point of view. A Matrice 201 RTK or the 600 pro, with camera and gimbal kit, were simply way too far out of my price range. The business argument to buy one of these types, and then be able to charge out the operating cost at a rate that would be acceptable to customers amongst the relatively small population catchment I would be working in simply wasn't going to stack up.
While I live in New Zealand, I do have family living in China and as such have taken the opportunity from time to time to buy from a DJI Superstore in the Guandong Province. Getting the goods shipped to an address in mainland China and then onto New Zealand has proved worthwhile from a cost point of view. Interestingly, the contact I use in China to help me buy from the DJI Superstore is also an agent for another Chinese developed and built UAV under the Yuneec brand. It was suggested to me I should look at the Matrice sized UAV sold by Yuneec as the price range was generally very, very competitive when comparing similar DJI and Yuneec aircraft and the respective payload accessories available. Sceptical at first, I did take a look at a several YT reviews around the Yuneec Tornado H920 and the Yuneec Typhoon H520. There are a number of very creditable reviewers who have posted their videos on YT, looking at Yuneec UAV alongside DJI counterparts that are well worth watching.
I thinking any DJI "buff" should take heart that there are other (Chinese) brands selling UAV products worldwide, in which the standard of design and capability are potential matches for pretty much anything DJI puts out to the market. To me this should translate into DJI needing to be very aware that others are "snapping" at their heals, so if they want to remain dominant in the UAV market, they need to do so through continued innovation, technology, design and price. Because if they don't, another brand such as Yuneec will be very capable of filling the gap - not years down the track, but very quickly.
My two cents worth on this particular subject! ??

 

[TheRoach]

It most assuredly is a rip off and can be seen as nothing else.. Virtually every design parameter, every flight feature, every photo feature, everything is an unabashed copy of what has already been perfected by DJI who apparently failed to protect their intellectual property well enough. Cheap trick!!

What's a rip off is DJI pricing. That's what we finding out here. Same functions, half the price. I left DJI last year, too many good alternatives now.

 

[Meta4]

too many good alternatives now.

Really?
Show me one with a camera to match the camera on the P4 pro or the Mavic 2.
Then tell me if it has an SDK and can run mapping apps like DroneDeploy.

 

[GFields]

I reckon you have made a great choice with the Xiaomi. Obstacle avoidance is overrated IMHO. Who really needs it?

Beginners

 

[GFields]

Really?
Show me one with a camera to match the camera on the P4 pro or the Mavic 2.
Then tell me if it has an SDK and can run mapping apps like DroneDeploy.

Exactly!

I doubt you get a reply lol

 

[Rich55]

What's a rip off is DJI pricing. That's what we finding out here. Same functions, half the price. I left DJI last year, too many good alternatives now.

It may be time for you to leave this group. Staying in a DJI forum with the attitude and opinion such as yours is not healthy for you or anyone in this forum. Just my 2 cents worth ?

 

[Rob W]

I had the previous MI DRONE.
It was ok but if you monitor their blog pages we had a lot of problems with the camera as well as other things and Xiaomi would not warrant anything other than Chinese purchased units.
Bang goods sells them here but good luck getting a warranty issue support.
The general consensus was that we were being used as unofficial beta testers and that most of the problems were not fixed.

 

[deleted member 877]

The general consensus was that we were being used as unofficial beta testers and that most of the problems were not fixed.

Well, that's not a new thing. DJI has made an art form out of using its customers as free beta testers. But at least they are OK when it comes to warranty support.

 

[FlyGuy8675309]

This guy got just over 10,000 feet range. Not too bad. May be worth getting just to have something outside the DJI universe. Price is good.

 

[Meta4]

Well, that's not a new thing. DJI has made an art form out of using its customers as free beta testers.

While that's a popular throwaway comment in forums, it's not at all true.
If you think the Mavic 2 arrived on the market without exhaustive testing you're very wrong.

 

[PhoebeSnow]

I've had the Xiaomi FIMI x8 SE for about a week now. We live on a lake and all the activity is on the other side - about a mile away. I added some parabolic antenna extenders modified from a pair for the Phantom 3 Adv cutting out a center portion to reduce the length. They dramaticlly improved the distance where I could easily go 2 miles + without a hiccup of signal loss. The FIMI has worked flawlessly producing stunning 4k video and hi res photos. I have the DJI Mavic Air, Zoom, Pro and Phantom 3 Adv for comparison. At only $400 I use the Xiaomi for high risk photos & videos as opposed to the more expensinve DJI drones. Also, it is handy in NFZ areas where you just want to get a few feet off of the ground for quick videos of riding on a bike trail at only a few feet off of the ground. Where it does not have obstacle avoidance if used conservatively it's fine. And it has most of the advanced features one desires in a portable drone. As one who has had only the costly DJI equipment I'm surprisingly impressed with this drone and would recommend it for first time users, those on a rigid budget, or those who want to take high risk videos.