I took DJI’s Mavic Mini drone along for a weekend getaway bent rural eastern Oregon. While there, I stayed during a small bed and breakfast and used that as my base of operations while I ventured out for a series of flight tests.
My time with the Mavic Mini mirrors my time at that rustic lodge. Refreshingly simple and basic – but not something I’d want to be cursed with . Here’s why.
Back to Basics
The Mavic Mini is that the lightest drone within the Mavic line. this is often true not only in terms of weight, but also in features and price. It’s the foremost affordable, stripped-down drone within the family.Most of this was wiped out the name of weight. DJI visited great lengths to urge the Mavic Mini down below 250 grams because drones beneath this weight threshold don’t got to be registered with the FAA before flight.
It’s the difference between popping over to eastern Oregon for a retreat, as I did, and traveling to Japan. Japan is great. It’s an exquisite place to go to . But getting there means taking an upscale 10 hour flight with customs checks on both ends. Flying the Mavic is as simple as driving to a bed & breakfast and forking over the modest nightly fee.
However, that ease comes with its own problems. DJI had cut out a couple of notable features that were present in earlier (and heavier) Mavic drones.
The Mavic Mini doesn’t include an obstacle avoidance system. It also doesn’t have DJI’s object tracking, gesture recognition, and auto-follow modes — all of which are computation intensive tasks that not only require a faster processor with more robust cooling.
Other features make compromises to scale back the worth . The Mavic Mini doesn’t have a 4K camera on its nose, and instead boasts a maximum video resolution of two .7K. And you won’t find DJI’s proprietary Ocusync or Lightbridge transmission technologies. The drone instead flies employing a cheaper and slightly-less-reliable Wi-Fi-based system that creates the drone vulnerable to interference.
Simple pleasures
So, the Mavic isn’t fancy. Yet fancy isn’t always needed to possess an honest time. A weekend trip may be a an honest time with minimal hassle. The Mavic mimics that. It lacks bells and whistles, but it’s still fun to fly.
DJI didn’t make any compromises on the Mavic Mini’s core flight performance. It’s equally as quick, stable, and responsive within the air as its larger and costlier predecessors. The crazy low weight doesn’t seem to be a problem . Even in windy conditions, this drone holds position sort of a spartan, and only goes where you command it to together with your joysticks.
It also features a refreshingly streamlined feel. There’s just less stuff to stress about. Without all the buttons and extraneous menu options cluttering the flight interface, you'll focus in on the basics of flying and filming.
This is less a hobbyist device and more of a toy. That’s fine. Even great. DJI already makes a fleet of fantastic high-end drones. The Mavic Mini add an approachable option the corporate lacked.
Streamlined yet stunted
Simple is good for awhile, but there’s a reason a weekend getaway only lasts a weekend. Eventually, simple can become dull, repetitive, and overly familiar. That problem is that the Mavic Mini’s most serious flaw.After a couple of flights, I found myself looking for a number of the features that come standard on DJI’s higher-end drones, like interference-free flying and obstacle avoidance.
Obstacle avoidance may be a lot like internet connectivity. You don’t need it to survive, and it’s not too difficult to travel without it for a couple of days. But it does make life easier, and once you’ve grown familiar with having it, its absence causes you to feel uneasy. I felt that uneasiness while flying the Mavic Mini.
The Mavic Mini may be a cabin within the woods.
More than once, I worried i'd clip a close-by limb . The Mavic Mini doesn’t have sensors to guage how close i used to be , to offer the tree a good berth just to be safe. Had I been flying the other Mavic drone (or even DJI’s Spark), this wouldn’t are a problem . Those drones all have environmental sensors that prevent crashes.
I also wish the Mini had Ocusync, DJI’s video transmission that’s protected against interference and feeds a real-time video feed from your drone in 1080p. The Mini’s Wi-Fi based transmission outperforms many other non-DJI drones when it involves transmission quality and range. But fundamentally, this technique is more vulnerable to interference. I experienced a couple of glitches and stream skips. That doesn’t inspire confidence.
Our take
The Mavic Mini may be a cabin within the woods. It’s refreshingly simple and has all the items you would like to survive, but I wouldn’t want to measure there full-time. The Mavic Mini is missing too many of the fashionable conveniences i really like . Specifically, 4K video capture and automatic obstacle avoidance.
Is there a far better alternative?
No. Not at this price, anyway. The Mavic Mini is certainly the simplest drone you'll get for 400 bucks.
DJI’s Spark is slightly cheaper ($330 on Amazon) and does have a forward obstacle avoidance sensor, but it’s also a big step down in terms of video capabilities, range, and battery life. So if price is your main concern, Mavic Mini will still get you more bang for your buck.
If the camera is what matters to you most, I suggest saving up and getting either a Parrot Anafi or DJI’s Mavic Air. For $700, Parrot’s drone boats a singular 4K HDR camera on a 180-degree gimbal that provides you the power to film upward. Unfortunately, very similar to the Mavic Mini, it isn’t equipped with any quite obstacle avoidance.
If you’re like me and you would like a drone with both 4K video abilities and obstacle avoidance, then the simplest option is DJI’s Mavic Air. It’s slightly bigger than the Mavic Mini, but offers nearly double the video resolution and features a forward/backward/downward vision system that permits you to fly super confidently in any environment. the sole downside is that it costs twice the maximum amount ($800).
Should you buy it?
Only if this is often your first drone. Otherwise, stick with DJI’s costlier and feature-rich options.
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