DJI Mavic Air Quadcopter with Remote Controller - Onyx Black

5.0 out of 5 stars

By J&A - Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2018

Top quality drone (Great purchase, No regrets) - Tips for potential purchasers

This was an awesome and extremely fun purchase. I've had it now for 2-3 months and have learned a few things that be a helpful to new perspective owners. This is the Fly More Kit, which differs from the standard drone because it comes with 2 extra lithium batteries and a really nice travel pack, which is designed to hold all of the equipment in one place. In my opinion, its worth the extra money to get the "Fly More Kit" as the batteries only last around 20 minutes each and take a little while to recharge. The "Fly More Kit" gives you an hour of flying time with 3 batteries. Also, the travel bag works well as it keeps all of the parts together and is essentially free for the price. The drone comes with an internal 8 Gb of storage, but you'll likely want to purchase a memory stick. I bought a Samsung 128GB Evo Plus Class 10 Micro SDXC from Amazon and it worked great with the Drone and my Imac and MacBook flawlessly. You'll also want to purchase a ND Polarizer filter right away as the footage won't look as good without one. I went a month without the polarizer and wish I would have purchased one right away. This is because there is a ton of light that effects the drone at altitude. Especially if you're shooting around the ocean. I purchased the PolarPro Vivid Collection Filter 3-Pack (ND4/PL, ND8/PL, ND16/PL) Cinema Series for DJI Mavic Air and it is top notch. Its recommended to shoot in manual mode with the mavic air to get the best video and photos. There is something called the 180 rule, which allows you to set your video settings correctly to get the best picture. However, if you're by the water, you can't adjust the drone to fit within the 180 rule settings without a ND filter. Pro: 1) Folds up extremely small (Smaller than all other DJI Drones) 2) Relatively easy to learn how to fly 3) Shoots 4K video, has a 28 Megapixel camera 4) This has collision avoidance cameras in the front, bottom and the rear to automatically prevent from colliding with objects. (This is important if you are new to drones to help prevent you from crashing). 5) Top quality design and construction Cons: 1) The Mavic Air works on a wifi signal and it works pretty well. I was able to fly my drone 5000 feet away, but it does seem to get interference often if you are by a city. Its not overwhelming interference, but it is a slight issue. In comparison, the Mavic Pro has an enhanced communications system that establishes a better / more solid connection with the drone, but the Mavic Pro doesn't fold up as small and is slightly more expensive. This was the biggest difference in my opinion. The Mavic Pro also will maintain a better connection when using "Active Track" due to the enhanced signal. I hope this helps your research!

1.0 out of 5 stars

By Hector L Lopez - Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2019

DJI beat the desire to drone out of my body...that’s how bad they are!

Got my MA last year (March), great for the first few weeks...then the nightmare began. If you happen to get a unit that was good off the assembly line you’re probably ok, I wasn’t that fortunate. I started experiencing connection failures between the bird and the remote which seem to be a pretty common flaw after looking up the issue online and on respective forums, so I communicated with DJI, went through a thousand hoops and procedures and finally got a RMA to ship it back (at my expense) for repair...got it back and after a couple of weeks -boom- the exact same issue again, but this time DJI wanted to charge me for the ‘repair’ they didn’t get right the first time alleging the drone was damage. I had disclaimed that the drone had a minor incident where the clipped a bush and landed on its back with absolutely no damage to the drone only very minor scrapes on the hull, but that it had work absolutely fine after that. The issue was the exact same issue that had not been resolved in the first place. The seller would not step in to help since he basically claimed -understandably- his relationship with DJI was more important than my issue and Amazon left me standing in the dark with this 1k paperweight because the a-b-c policy (or whatever it’s called) had ended a couple of days after. Don’t just take my word for it, look around, do your due diligence before handing these people your hard earned. Again, if you get a good bird out the box your probably golden, but if by any chance your encounter the need to deal with DJI customer service, take your meds, it might be a painful ride and learning experience. I love the bird and the whole droning concept, but their customer services’ contempt towards their customers is something I thought you wouldn’t find on a front like Amazon...I was wrong.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By Thomas - Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2018

Absolute Enjoyment

This is written after one week of ownership. I love it. I compared the Mavic Air to the Spark and the Mavic Pro. By most accounts, this was the best of both worlds. As an inexperienced flyer, I can say that this is incredibly easy to fly, the pictures and video are amazing. I have flown in winds up to 20mph and the video looks like it's a still day. The case that comes with this is excellent. it is small and compact and has plenty of space for your accessories. I purchased a hard case though, because it's what i wanted. I've flown approximately 15 times. Each time brings more joy. The controller is comfortable and easy to get used to. For anyone getting this drone, as a first timer, I would recommend watching some tutorials to prepare. I would also recommend getting an SD card to put in. Make sure you get one that is capable of writing at the speed necessary to write 4k video. (i purchased the SANDISK Extreme) **Update** After 3 weeks of ownership, I still feel the same. There is a lot to be said about this drone and it's portability. I keep it with me all of the time. I fly during my lunch breaks, and every day that I can after work. The intelligent flight modes make getting great cinematic shots a breeze. The advertised battery life of each battery is 21 minutes. Don't expect that to be the average. That is a maximum, and when you get to 19 minutes, you're going to be in prayer that it makes it back home to land safely. When flying with caution, you'll actually get closer to 16-18 minutes. This is because once it starts warning you about battery life, you'll bring it home and replace and start again. My recommendation is for you to stop reading reviews and buy it. You will not regret it.