DJI’s Mavic Air 2 Hits the Sweet Spot for Dronepreneurs
Image Credit: DJI
DJI’s newest consumer drone offers a perfect balance between value and quality, making it a great intermediate option between higher-end prosumer drones like the Mavic 2 Pro or the Inspire Series and less expensive selfie drones like the Spark.
Up until now, the Mavic Air was the drone that hit this sweet spot.
But the Mavic Air 2 beats its predecessor in every way that counts, offering a much longer flight time, better camera, and smarter features for those looking to take high quality aerial stills and video.
This means that any drone videographer looking for a new platform in this price range will probably overlook the original for the newest model, even if it does cost a few hundred dollars more.
Mavic Air 2 Offers Low Price, High Value
One of the most striking things about the Mavic Air 2 is its low price point.
Image Credit: DJI
Pictures and information about DJI drones are almost always leaked before they get released but the Mavic Air 2 may have seen the most leaks ever, with not only images but the entire quick start manual leaked out of Brazil a week before it launched.
Using this information, writers in the drone industry guessed that the Mavic Air 2 would be priced between $1,000 and $1,200, since its features landed it squarely between the Mavic 2 Pro ($1,599) and the Mavic Air ($599).
But the price is $799—a great value for everything that comes with it.
Image Credit: DJI
Mavic Air 2’s Main Features
Here are the standout features of the Mavic Air 2:
Longer flight time
Using new battery technology, new motors, and an improved design, the Mavic Air 2 can stay in the air for up to 34 minutes—13 minutes longer than the Mavic Air’s max flight time of 21 minutes.
Improved camera
The camera on the Mavic Air 2 comes with a ½” sensor—a noticeable if not ground-breaking step up from the original’s 1/2.3” sensor—and has the following features:
Video—shoots video in 4K at 60 fps and records video at 120 Mbps bitrate (up from 100 on the Mavic Air).
Stills—captures 12- and 48-Megapixel images (the Mavic Air only offers 12MP). 48-MP images are enabled by a Quad Bayer color filter array, which is the same tech used in many Android smartphones, allowing you to capture highly detailed high-res stills.
Slow-motion—slow-mo 1080p video at 120 and 240 fps.
New Smart Options
The Mavic Air 2 comes with new smart features to help pilots get incredible aerial shots, including:
SmartPhoto—this brand new feature automatically recognizes a scene and optimizes the camera’s settings for it, letting you point and shoot just as you can with a smartphone. It includes HyperLight for low-light settings and general object recognition for things that appear in the shot, like sunsets, trees, or snow.
HDR—comes with several HDR (High Dynamic Range) features, including HDR video with a max resolution of 4K 30fps and HDR panorama.
APAS—proprietary detect and avoid system from DJI created to support autonomous flying, with flight path algorithms designed to create smooth transitions around objects.
ActiveTrack 3.0—automatically follow a subject with ActiveTrack, with new improvements in the 3.0 version that include the ability to re-track a subject if they temporarily disappear behind an object;
8K HyperLapse—this is the first time a drone has offered 8K hyperlapse ever, allowing for new opportunities to capture incredible footage.
A note on the last feature listed above—according to DroneDJ, there are several issues with the Mavic Air 2’s 8K HyperLapse. A firmware update is supposed to come out right around now that should address some of them, but for now it seems like the claim that the Mavic Air 2 is the first drone to offer 8K HyperLapse may be premature.
Watch this video from DJI to learn more about the Mavic Air 2:
