DJI Mavic Air Review
A short review of the Mavic air, from someone who's never flown a drone before.
This review of the DJI Mavic Air is also my first experience with a drone, I've never flown one before so this is all from zero experience, to learning the controls to hopefully starting to master them.
I got my Air from DigitalRev [Cheaper] and chose to get the 'fly more' kit, this is a bit pricer, but you get the sweet bag, some spare blades and most importantly 2 extra batteries, with about a 20 minute flying time for each battery this gives you about an hour of flying before having to hit up some power.
First Flight:
So I really can't stress just how easy this thing is to get up and running, the design, the tech and the app are all made to make this an easy experience while being safe and ensuring that you don't crash your drone right off the bat.
Download the app. Plug the phone into the controller. Link it all up via the app. Unfold the drone. Press the take off button.
You get a beginner mode when you first fly which limits your range, speed and altitude, this is a good place to start as you get used to the controls, video is done at the press of a button as are stills and all the interface is in the app.
The six cameras [not including the main one] on the drone help tell it where it is and whats around, as such it stop you flying it into walls or bringing it down too hard. It warns you when the wind is high, when GPS is bad and when the battery is low. Once the battery reached critical levels it will send an array of beeps at you before engaging the 'return to home' mode and flying your done back for you. Landing is simple, hover over a clear spot and press the land command and the drone takes over and lands itself for you.
Photos:
Below are a few shots my my recent trip to Iceland, I haven’t got around to editing the video but from the transmitted footage it;’s looking great:
Iceland is the perfect place for getting the drone out!
Smart Features:
As well as the drones built in self preservation features it also has some really nifty modes to get awesome shots, it's 'Active Track' can lock onto and follow a subject, it can do a fly around of a chosen area and has some nice panoramic features.
You can knock it into sport mode where this thing can really move, with a top speed of 40mph and much more responsive handling, however is you are gonna crash it this is when, while it can stop itself at a wall if you go full speed towards it your'e probably gonna have a bad time.
Above: The Mavic Air next to an SD card should give you an idea as to just how small it is, and this is it unfolded. Also the bag which comes with the pricier kit, this has the drone, controller, 3 batteries, a spare set of propellors and all the chargers and cables you need, overall the whole kit is very small and super easy to trasnfport.
Overall:
Great bit of kit for the money, fun as all hell to fly and great features, the video quality is great and the fact that it really is so easy to fly is just a bonus.
I can't wait to take this little beast to Iceland in the summer.
I hope you enjoyed this little review, feel free to leave any comments or questions below.
Cheers,
Col-
ICELAND!