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DJI just took the wraps off their latest consumer drone — the Mavic Pro. This is a reimagination of the drones they usually make. Whereas the drones from the Phantom series are usually beast-like in size, the DJI Mavic Pro can fit into a roomy pocket.
The drone takes on a bit of the design GoPro debuted with their Karma drone, with DJI opting to use foldable arms to create a compact design for transport. The difference here is that it’s so compact that you can probably carry it around on a daily basis and not even notice. iJustine paraded around on-stage at DJI’s event with the drone inside an ordinary purse, and at just about 1.62lbs it’ll tug at you a little, but not so much that you wouldn’t leave the house with it on a random occasion.
Look how small that thing is!
At the same time, DJI retained their world class suite of smart flying features. The Mavic Pro is equipped with a full flight system that offers up the bells and whistles that we’ve enjoyed on bigger units, such as a bottom-mounted camera that shoots at up to 4K @ 30fps, GPS positioning, ActiveTrack vision-based positioning, 27-minute flight times and fast performance of up to 40MPH in sport mode.
But it also gains a few new tricks that even the bigger guys don’t have. A gesture-based control system lets you perform simple actions with your drone without even having to touch a controller. Waving your arms and doing a really bad rendition of the Hokey Pokey in front of the drone can make it reposition itself and follow you around. Doing a snapshot gesture with your hands can take a selfie of you, too. You also gain access to a new TapFly feature which lets you point to a location on your phone and have the drone fly there, all the while its obstacle avoidance system makes sure it doesn’t suffer a crash.
All the action can be controlled by your smartphone thanks to DJI’s app, which is what you’ll also use if you want a real-time 1080p feed (which is beamed to your phone at up to 7km away). There’s also an optional controller you can add that has room for a smartphone to be mounted, so if you need more precision control you can opt to snag one of those.
Another cool accessory you can grab is a headset that’ll give you a front-row view of the action from the camera. Think VR, but what you’re seeing is whatever the drone is seeing. The goggles’ two 1080p displays get their feed straight from the Mavic Pro so you can feel like you’re flying just as high as the drone is.
Think about how useful this could be for drone racers or people who simply want a more immersive view of what their drone is capturing, all in real time. Plus, 2 buddies can use 2 different paires of Goggles and accept feeds from the same Mavic Pro.
Perhaps most impressive is the price. At $750 for the drone itself, you’re getting a fully functional drone with a camera. That’s cheaper than the $999 Karma + Hero Session bundle you can get, but don’t forget that the Karma also comes with a backpack, remote, and a gimbal mount as standard.
DJI will offer up similar accessories for the Mavic Pro, with a Mavic + Controller bundle starting at $999. For $1,300, you can add a backpack, extra propellers, two extra batteries, a charging station, a charging adapter, and a car charger. Pricing for the headset hasn’t yet been revealed, but we’ll update you with that info once it’s made available. Expect to see the Mavic Pro ship to your doorstep starting mid-October. Head to DJI’s site for the pre-order.
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