DJI Mavic Air
THE POCKETABLE 4K DRONE YOU WANT IN 2018.
DJI’S MAVIC AIR is the near-perfect love child of the company’s very successful Mavic Pro and the compact and user-friendly Spark. By taking the tech and foldable rotor arms from the Mavic Pro and the small form factor and playfulness of the Spark — and then improving on both — DJI has produced its best drone yet for the everyman. It has just about every bell and whistle (though this drone certainly does hum) you could ask for — from 4K video and 32MP panoramic pictures to a 21-minute battery life. More importantly, the DJI Mavic Air is easy to pilot thanks to its object avoidance system and great gesture controls. It’s certainly appealing.
SWEET THING, SMALL PACKAGES
The Mavic Air might resemble the Spark in terms of size, but the new drone’s arms are foldable, like those of the Mavic Pro, taking portability to a whole new level. When folded up, the Mavic Air can quite easily slip into a large pocket — think cargo pants or a big jacket. And it’s zip-up case reinforces just how small it really is. Despite looking like a toy, the Mavic Air is robust and well-built. The recessed gimbal, with its clip-on camera cover, adds a layer of protection, making this a great companion while travelling.
The Mavic Air is the first DJI drone to introduce a USB-C interface for content transfer, but you can’t use the port to charge the drone. For that, you’ll need to lug around the proprietary charger. A welcome 8GB of onboard storage can be bolstered by a microSD card, so if you forget to carry a card or manage to fill it up real quick, you can quickly continue shooting by switching storage using DJI’s smartphone app.
The redesigned remote controller makes the drone even more portable. Out of the box, the joysticks for the controller are tucked neatly away under the foldable smartphone clips, so you can slide the flat controller into the pocket at the back of the drone’s case. Just remove and screw the sticks on, then unscrew and stow away as you please. The controller doesn’t have the Mavic Pro remote’s built-in screen for flight telemetry, and instead relies on your smartphone. Squeeze your handset into the foldable clips, and you have access to a live video feed and every other piece of piloting information that you need.
IN SPORT MODE, THIS POCKET ROCKET CAN REACH A MAXIMUM SPEED OF 68.4 KM/H. NOVICES DON’T NEED TO WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT THE DRONE ZIPPING AROUND, EITHER – THE MAVIC AIR IS HARDER TO CRASH THANKS TO ITS SEVEN-CAMERA VISION SYSTEM AND THREE-DIRECTION ENVIRONMENTAL SENSING.
FAST AND FUN
In flight the Mavic Air feels fast, partly because of its diminutive size. In Sport mode, this pocket rocket can reach a maximum speed of 68.4km/h. Novices don’t need to worry too much about the drone zipping around, either — the Mavic Air is harder to crash thanks to its seven-camera vision system and three-direction environmental sensing.
DJI’s brand-new Advance Pilot Assistance System (APAS) doesn’t just stop the drone in its tracks when it comes against an obstacle — it’ll chart an alternate route and continue flying safely.
The little quadcopter is surprisingly stable in the air as well, even in winds of up to 35km/h. The transmission range for the Mavic Air is limited to 4km using the controller. That’s double the Spark’s 2km range, but noticeably less than the far bulkier Pro’s 7km radius.
Like the Pro, the Mavic Air features a three-axis gimbal, but redesigned compared to its siblings and makes this new drone much more stable. Although gimbal control while panning sideways is smooth, moving the camera up and down is still jerky.
What made last year’s Spark a blast to fly were the gesture controls. DJI has taken those smarts and improved on them, giving the Mavic Air better SmartCapture functionality. The quadcopter can land and take off from the ground, fly towards and away from you, or follow you around with simple gestures. Making a peace sign takes a still shot, while holding your thumbs and forefinger in a frame will begin and stop video capture.
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY REDEFINED
Of course, top flying tech and a stable gimbal amount to nothing if the built-in camera isn’t up to the mark, and thankfully the Mavic Air’s does not disappoint. The Air shares the same 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor as the Mavic Pro, but has a narrower ISO range than its bigger brother, meaning it doesn’t do as well in low-light conditions. In well-lit conditions, however, the Air’s videos are crystal clear, with near-perfect saturation, and there’s plenty of dynamic range to work with despite the small sensor size. It’s capable of shooting 4K video at up to 30fps at a bit rate of 100Mbps. Drop the resolution and it can capture 2.5K at 60fps and Full HD at up to 120fps for slow motion. Those specs are great and it’s probably even overkill for all but the most dedicated YouTube channel.
While you can shoot 12MP stills in HDR, the Mavic Air is also capable of taking panoramas. In addition to the horizontal, vertical and 180-degree panos, the Air can take a series of 25 shots of a scene, then stitch them together in-camera to produce a 32MP panoramic image.
The Mavic Air is rated for up to 21 minutes of flight time, though, realistically, you’ll squeeze roughly 18 minutes of true flight time from a single battery before the the Air automatically starts to land. This makes the Fly More Combo — priced at $1,599 for three batteries in the box — a worthwhile investment. With three batteries (and a nearby outlet to charge them), you could run the Mavic Air almost non-stop. At least until the controller gives out in about three hours.
Despite the one shortcoming in its battery life, the DJI Mavic Air is the best choice for most people — you’d be hard pressed to find a better drone that packs up so neatly and has as many smarts as this one, making it fun for a weekend lark or holiday adventures. Our only complaint is that the Air is loud compared to the more expensive Mavic Pro Platinum which features low-noise propellers.