DJI’s new successor to the first Mavic Air, which was unveiled a couple of years ago, has been unveiled, it’s the Mavic Air 2. The new miniature drone comes with a bigger image sensor, opts for DJI’s own OccuSync transmission technology over WiFi, has an improvised flight time of 34 minutes, and offers a much-better redesigned controller.
While the previous Mavic Air carried a starting price tag of Rs. 1,28,250 in Nepal, the Mavic Air 2 could cost a tad bit more than its predecessor. With that said it’s available for preorder for $799 and will ship from May 11 in the US. And as usual, DJI has got new raft to push its price — the Fly More bundle, as the company calls, has ND filters with a carrying bag, prop guards, charging hub, and three batteries — increasing it to $988.
Besides, DJI says that the Mavic Air 2 is its smartest and safest drone yet as it comes with preset of scene detection modes for images including trees, snow, grass, sunsets, blue skies, and sunrises. Alongside, DJI’s all existing autonomous flying modes have also got a performance update.
The camera on it is getting an upgrade as well. The 48MP half-inch “Quad Bayer” sensor is pretty familiar to us as it has been available in smartphones for a year or two. Out of the box, the drone captures 12MP shots but can ramp it up to shoot in full-resolution. Behind the sensor is a fixed 28mm f/2.8 lens.
As for the video, the Air 2 can capture 4K footage at up to 60fps. There’s also HDR support for videos up to 4K 30fps as well as HDR panorama photos. The Mavic Air 2 can export 8K time-lapse videos, though, it’s not supported on all modes at launch, but it will be available at the end of June.
On top of that, the Mavic Air 2 also has AirSense technology — the first of its kind on DJI’s drone — that detects and warns the drone operator of nearby objects. The feature will first hit North America with other regions getting units with Airsense this summer, all due to the supply chain issue owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
For the sake of beginners as well as drone safety, the Mavic Air 2 comes equipped with obstacle sensors on either side to assist it from avoiding collisions. Plus, the bottom sensors next to auxiliary lights are there to help with landing in low light conditions. DJI has said that it comes with upgraded autonomous flight modes but also goes on to add that one should not expect it to perform as good as the Skydio drone in this model, which is acceptable, given its price.
About the drone’s design, there’s an added weight, plus a bigger frame over its predecessor, but it still manages to stay small in comparison to Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom. Also, we can finally say that all three are part of one lineup as they resemble each other in terms of design.
Talking about the controller, which is bigger in size, it looks minimal now that there are no visible antennas poking out on the top of the controller. In place of that, there’s a spring-loaded phone mount.
Although DJI is yet to reveal any plans regarding its international price and availability, including Nepal, we expect the Mavic Air 2 to cost around the mark of Rs. 1,40,000 in Nepal without the bundle.
