There’s been speculation for some time now, but the wait is over. Today in Berlin, DJI made three major and exciting announcements about their line of drones. Specifically, they've introduced the new Mavic Pro Platinum, the new Phantom 4 Pro Obsidian, and an update to DJI Spark.
Let’s not bury the lead here. The centerpiece of this announcement is the Mavic Pro Platinum. The update features an eleven percent longer flight time as well as a sixty percent reduction in propeller noise. Add in a sleek new platinum paint job and the Mavic is looking (and sounding) better than ever.
While this isn’t a change in image quality or frame rate or the things we generally associate with camera updates, keep in mind that both of those updates make the Mavic Pro so much more usable on site. For me, the idea of being less intrusive with a drone is a dream that’s yet to come to fruition, but a sixty percent reduction in noise is an incredible claim, one that I’m excited to test for myself.
The Mavic Pro noise reduction comes via new propellers and internal speed controllers. For those of you who currently own a Mavic, you’ll be excited to know you can use these new propellers, but will still miss out on a good deal of the noise reduction via the internal speed controllers. For the full sixty percent, you’ll have to upgrade.
In addition to the serious upgrade to the Mavic Pro, DJI has also announced a new panorama function on the DJI Spark called “Sphere Mode.” This will allow the Spark to take panorama photos with a fisheye effect and push them directly to social media. The firmware update will be accessible for all DJI Spark pilots on the DJI GO 4 mobile smartphone app.
And finally, DJI announced a slick new “Obsidian” paint job for the Phantom 4 Pro. In addition to the new paint job, it also comes with an improved gimbal, now made out of magnesium and electroplated for fingerprint resistance.
Both the Mavic Pro Platinum and the Phantom 4 Pro Obsidian will be available for purchase this September, the Mavic Pro Platinum at $1,099 and the Phantom 4 Pro Obsidian at $1,499.
So no Phantom 5 then?
Not yet! But these updates do reflect a focus on the experience of operation and not just image related specs. Which, I believe will be incredibly important to the success of the Phantom 5.
Personally I am dosappointed. Not an update I was expecting. I was hoping they will release the Mavic Pro II. 11% longer battery...which is useless in cold temperatures. Less noise...ok, I will wait for the proper update.
I hear you. But I think that a proper focus on operation experience will actually suit them well after drones have fallen off the trend-wagon. They may be baby steps, but it feels to me like DJI has the right idea.
I'm really glad they worked on improving fingerprint resistance. It drove me crazy seeing them on my white P4P 400 ft up in the air...
Drones seem to catch up to smart phones regarding updates. Gone are the days of major updates. Now the updates will be minor compared to before. With some big updates farther between.