DJI Mavic Air 2
The best drone around for beginners and hobbyists.
Whether you’re looking for a camera, car or coffee machine, there is always a ‘sweet spot’ all-rounder that becomes the best choice for most people – and the DJI Mavic Air 2 is that model for drones.
This successor to the DJI Mavic Air from 2018 takes its predecessor’s overall concept – an easy-to-fly drone with pro-level features – and completely redesigns it from the ground up. The result is a smaller, more affordable version of the DJI Mavic 2 Pro that equals, and in some areas even trumps, its pricier sibling.
The Mavic Air 2’s completely new design looks like someone blasted the Mavic 2 series with a shrink ray, and it comes with a new controller too. But with a host of new features and technologies, it’s not merely a clone of its bigger brother – DJI claims that the Mavic Air 2 is also its smartest drone to date.
All aspects of the Mavic Air 2 – from the drone to the app that you use to control the camera and flight settings – have been redesigned with usability in mind.
Deficiencies in the design and performance of the original Mavic Air, and indeed Mavic 2 Pro models, have all been addressed. And while the Mavic Air 2 isn’t perfect, it certainly sets a new benchmark for what we can expect from DJI drones in the future.
Design and controller
The DJI Mavic Air 2 couldn’t look or feel more different to its predecessor. The drone has been completely redesigned to provide significant improvements in all areas, including image quality, speed and flight time, among others.
On the outside, the Mavic Air 2 looks like a miniaturised DJI Mavic 2 Pro and features the same folding design that sees the front arms swing out, and the rear arms rotate down and out, for flight.
This means the Mavic Air 2 measures a tiny 180 x 97 x 84mm when folded – roughly equivalent to a 500ml bottle of beer – and just 183 x 253 x 77mm when unfolded.
With a weight of 570g, it’s just over half the weight of the Mavic 2 Pro, making it a highly portable, and indeed powerful, drone for both photographers and filmmakers. Depending on where you live, it’s worth noting that this also means you may need to
The Mavic Air 2 features new motors, new electronic speed controllers, improved battery technology and enhanced aerodynamics. These combine to provide increased flight speeds of up to 67kph in Sport Mode and a flight time of up to 34 minutes.
register the Mavic Air 2.
In taking on the folding design of the Mavic Pro series, the Mavic Air 2 sits low to the ground on its rear arms. This means that when taking off in grassy areas you have to find flat ground with short grass to avoid trimming the grass during take-off and landing.
This can cause erratic flight and at worst, crashes. For this reason, it’s worth carrying a small landing mat that can be pegged to the ground to provide a clear and safe take-off area. On harder, flatter surfaces such as tarmac and concrete, this obviously isn’t a problem.
Features and flight
The Mavic Air 2 features new motors, new electronic speed controllers, improved battery technology and enhanced aerodynamics. These combine to provide increased flight speeds of up to 67kph in Sport Mode and a flight time of up to 34 minutes.
This is a big boost over the original Mavic Air’s 21-minute flight time and is even three minutes longer than the Mavic 2 models. While that doesn’t sound much, you really do notice the increased flight duration and slower battery drain. The controller also provides increased battery life compared to its predecessor.
Flying the Mavic Air 2 is just as easy as any other DJI drone thanks to the smart technologies employed. Not least the inclusion of OcuSync 2.0, which is a vastly superior method of transmission between the controller and drone than that used by the original Mavic Air.
OcuSync 2.0 supports 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz frequencies and can switch between the two when necessary. Anti-interference technology also helps block unwanted signals.
Despite all this new and improved technology, which keeps the drone and controller connected at distances of up to 10km, the video feed of the Mavic Air 2 still stutters and locks momentarily while the drone continues to move.
This was a problem with the original Mavic Air, and while it’s not the end of the world, it can slow you down when framing shots. This might be down to the pre-release version of the new DJI Fly app that we used for this review, so may be ironed out with firmware or app updates in the future – we’ll update this review if that’s the case.
Photo and video quality
The Mavic Air 2’s image quality is massively improved compared to its predecessor. This is, in part, thanks to the new 12MP 1/2-inch Quad Bayer sensor, which provides significantly cleaner images at all ISO levels. Still, like all drones with small sensors, noise is noticeable at even ISO 100, so ISO 400 is realistically the highest setting you’d want to use.
The camera lens provides a full-frame equivalent focal length of 24mm with a fixed f/2.8 aperture. But despite this limitation and the lens focus being set to hyperfocal distance, depth-of-field is large enough to keep close and even deep landscape scenes sharp throughout.
Images are sharpest in the center of the frame with a drop off the closer you get to image edges. This is the same with all Mavic drones, but the edge sharpness of the Mavic Air 2 is greatly improved compared to its predecessor.
The best drone for most people, the Mavic Air 2 is a significant upgrade on its predecessor and our new favorite flying camera. It offers improved range, a noticeably longer battery life, excellent 4K/60p video and a whole host of new shooting features, all for the same launch price as its predecessor.