My comparison against other drones.
Why did I choose the Mavic Pro?
Now this not a recommendation to go out and buy the Mavic right now because I said so and I'm not a die-hard brand "fan-boy" that follow DJI like some sort of fanatic and is totally blinkered to the world.
In this posting I'm going to go though the justifications that I went though when I wanted to look for a drone that is suitable for me and my applications.
In this posting I'm going to go though the justifications that I went though when I wanted to look for a drone that is suitable for me and my applications.
Size:
The Mavic is one of the smallest "proper drones" out there.
As you can see it folds away in to a small compact unit when not in use.
The GoPro Karma also has a small footprint but I found that in comparison that the Mavic is just that bit more portable,
GoPro Karma:
Length: 362.2mm
Width: 224.3mm
Height: 89.9mm
VS
DJI Mavic Pro:
Length: 198mm
Width: 83mm
Height: 83mm
Other drones tend to be on the larger side, for example DJI Phantom range are just plan massive you have to walk around with a bag the size of a trecking backpack just for the drone!
UPDATE: DJI's Spark Air came out after I started typing this posting (I have put making this blog off for a while), its a good drone but I feel its more suited to the entry level every now and then flyer rather than producing "worthy of selling" photos and videos. (I know there will be massively varying opinions on that one but that is for another time!)
Flight time:
The Mavic has 27 minutes advertised time and I will compare other drones to there advertised times in optimal conditions rather then what you get in the real world!
DJI Mavic Pro: 27 minutes
GoPro Karma: Up to 20 minutes
DJI Phantom 4: 28 minutes
Parrot Bebop 2 Power: 25 minutes
The Phantom takes the lead by a single minute but due to its size I feel that it was just not worth it with the portability the Mavic offers.
Camera:
This is not as straight forward as I would have hoped it to have been. The three drones that I considered at the time of my purchase where two options from DJI and the GoPro Karma.
The cameras offered from DJI are much the same but with the Phantom 4 taking the edge, GoPro's Karma is completely different.
The Karma makes use of two GoPro products, the GoPro action camera and the Karma grip and stabiliser. The grip and stabiliser some with the drone but you have to have a GoPro action camera as well, sold separately. This was just too much for me, I do have a GoPro Hero 4 but I could not be fussed with the effort of having to clip in all the extras and put the camera on rather than opening the drone and flying!
Controller:
Again keeping with the the three on the short list I will do a comparison.
Starting with the two DJI modles; they both require a phone or small tablet to act as a screen to make full use of all the features with the DJI app installed. This was a bit off putting to begin with as it meant that I had yet another task for my poor phone to do.
The controller for the Mavic is pretty small and easy to use. The phone mounts to the bottom of the controller and becomes part of the extended hand grip. The controller has a small easy to read screen that shows live data about the drone which takes away valuable viewing space on the phone and leaves it for live video feedback from the drone.
The Phantom is a completely different story! Its massive there are different options but I have handled only the version that used your own phone or tablet, it just feels clunky and almost like they couldn't be bothered to make it smaller. One thing to give it credit is that you can use a small tablet with the controller giving a bigger viewing screen.
Width: 83mm
Height: 83mm
Other drones tend to be on the larger side, for example DJI Phantom range are just plan massive you have to walk around with a bag the size of a trecking backpack just for the drone!
UPDATE: DJI's Spark Air came out after I started typing this posting (I have put making this blog off for a while), its a good drone but I feel its more suited to the entry level every now and then flyer rather than producing "worthy of selling" photos and videos. (I know there will be massively varying opinions on that one but that is for another time!)
Flight time:
The Mavic has 27 minutes advertised time and I will compare other drones to there advertised times in optimal conditions rather then what you get in the real world!
DJI Mavic Pro: 27 minutes
GoPro Karma: Up to 20 minutes
DJI Phantom 4: 28 minutes
Parrot Bebop 2 Power: 25 minutes
The Phantom takes the lead by a single minute but due to its size I feel that it was just not worth it with the portability the Mavic offers.
Camera:
This is not as straight forward as I would have hoped it to have been. The three drones that I considered at the time of my purchase where two options from DJI and the GoPro Karma.
The cameras offered from DJI are much the same but with the Phantom 4 taking the edge, GoPro's Karma is completely different.
The Karma makes use of two GoPro products, the GoPro action camera and the Karma grip and stabiliser. The grip and stabiliser some with the drone but you have to have a GoPro action camera as well, sold separately. This was just too much for me, I do have a GoPro Hero 4 but I could not be fussed with the effort of having to clip in all the extras and put the camera on rather than opening the drone and flying!
Controller:
Again keeping with the the three on the short list I will do a comparison.
Starting with the two DJI modles; they both require a phone or small tablet to act as a screen to make full use of all the features with the DJI app installed. This was a bit off putting to begin with as it meant that I had yet another task for my poor phone to do.
The controller for the Mavic is pretty small and easy to use. The phone mounts to the bottom of the controller and becomes part of the extended hand grip. The controller has a small easy to read screen that shows live data about the drone which takes away valuable viewing space on the phone and leaves it for live video feedback from the drone.
The Phantom is a completely different story! Its massive there are different options but I have handled only the version that used your own phone or tablet, it just feels clunky and almost like they couldn't be bothered to make it smaller. One thing to give it credit is that you can use a small tablet with the controller giving a bigger viewing screen.
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