DJI Mavic Pro

Wonderful drone, great videos showing a bird's eye view of the world. Still going strong after 6 years! – We recently dug out our old DJI Mavic Pro drone, which we had purchased from DJI in Melbourne Central in 2017. We have the drone itself, a remote controller and the huge white "goggles" (i.e. the headset, which gives you an immersive view). Our main purpose for buying the camera in 2017 was to record the installation of solar panels on our… Read more

extremely high 3-storey house, as well as to inspect the state of our gutters, to check for roof damage, etc. This capability is super-useful - especially after storms.

Then we began using it to fly around the neighbourhood to take fascinating shots of what the world looks like from a birds' eye view! It was especially interesting to see the different architectural designs of different houses, as input to our own planned rebuild.

Fast forward to 2023, and we again want to look at the state of our roof, gutters and solar panels. It had been three years since we had last used it. Sadly, the removable batteries were dead, but once we bought two more batteries on eBay, the drone worked perfectly!

One of the best things about the drone is the ability to control the gimbal (i.e. to swivel the small camera at the front of the drone up & down & around) from the headset.

When using the headset, we operate the drone with two people. One person drives the drone (up, down, rotate left, rotate right, forward, backward, left right). The second person wears the headset and then controls the gimbal - e.g. to swivel the camera DOWN at the solar panels while the drone is hovering still above the roof.

Other things we like include: * the safety features (e.g. its obstacle avoidance, the return-to-home feature on low battery, etc); * the very comprehensive DJI iPhone app, * the ability to change all sorts of settings, etc.

Downsides? Yes, there are two.

First, is it easy to use? Well, yes, eventually - but you will need to invest time into learning how to use it. The manual not great (it tells you all the features in detail, but not actually how to USE it). However, there are so many great videos on YouTube that anyone willing to put in an hour or two of learning will soon be flying it like a pro.

Second, the battery duration is not great. We haven't measured it precisely, but it seems to be about 20 mins. We'd love to have a battery that lasts for at least an hour.

Conclusion

When we were wondering whether to buy a new drone after finding we would need to get new batteries, we were advised that the quality of the original DJI Mavic Pro is so high we should stick to ours and just buy new batteries - as it remains a truly premium drone.

NB - We'll be adding some photos shortly.

Do not waste your money – Their customer service is nothing but a money grabbing robot. they read off a script, they deliberately change the firmware/ app to make it not work just out of warranty then say you need to send it back at your expense!!!then they just wrap you up in robot emails that go round and round and get no where. Show details

Very happy with my Mavic Pro – Had my Mavic Pro two years now, no problems, no accidents, always performs well, been over water many times, I’m very careful to keep my eye on battery levels when flying, bring it home well before battery levels drop. Show details

Terrible service – I see everyone has the same problems with there DJI mavic pro and yes they cost a lot and DJI dont want nothing to do with there stuff ups. They all say the same thing blame to operator not the drone. I had a mavic pro 3 days then it had a mind of its own and smashed into my house. I spoke to [name removed] from UAVME at browns plains in Logan QLD… Read more

who sold me the drone and go straight away he blamed me and said i dont know how to fly it They are good at taking your money but not good and fixing it unless you pay them through the nose. But when you look them up on youtube they are not hard to fix yourself and ebay have all the parts to build a new drone heaps cheaper then DJI charges

warning : drone can lose connectivity and go missing – Everything is great. Works well. Connects well. no dramas for me so far but it is early days. two of my friends had their drones lose connectivity mid flight and disappeared. Mavic says they cannot go back to the last known location and they both lost their drones with no compensation for a new one.

Mavic pro – The mavic pro is well engineered but the batteries are pretty poor 1 lasted 6 flights but buy that time it was out of 6 months warranty kept getting error when putting it into drone.l then purchesd another battery and after opening the box and putting it on charge it would only flash to the first led and not hold charge I sent that battery back… Read more

for refund apparently talking to the owner he said he has had quite a few return , now I will go to dji store to purchase another battery and get them to check it while I'm there This has been a real pain Fix your batteries dji

Not much after care – My Mavic Pro crashed over water and I lost it. It might have been operator error, it might have been a technical problem. Even though DJI requested the flight log etc, they later got back to me to say that they wouldn't investigate it as it was just out of its 12 month warranty. I then looked at getting a replacement and although one is listed… Read more

on their online shop (ie. drone without remote controller and without battery charger) it is only $100 less than replacing the entire kit! But, in any case, they are out of stock and I was told they didn't know when (or if) it would become available.

So my only option? Purchase another entire drone kit.

I feel like I've been conned.

Went rouge! – Update on review! We took our other one back got a new one, lasted 6 months than we flew it outside. It went up fast, slammed itself down , came back up than threw itself into the wall of the house than refused to land. Very DISSSPOINTED for a $2000 product! Flight data showed that no inputs made by the the person in control it went totally rouge. Lucky no kids around. Got a full refund!! THIRD one in 12months never had it in sports mode.  Show details

Think long and hard before your purchase. Very buggy device considering the cost – I would highly recommend you think very carefully before purchasing a DJI drone. Especially when you consider the high cost. They are buggy products with lots and lots of issues - read the forums. They fly away, they drop out, they are dangerous, they don’t work, they don’t connect, they do weird things - the list goes on. I read the forums and… Read more

thought it wouldn’t happen to me but I have had nothing but issues since the day I opened the box. I ask around and i discover many people have had dramas too. This product still needs at least another few generations before it’s worth buying IMO and the cost needs to come down.

Don’t think that you are buying a product that has the same kind of product support as apple etc either. Their product support and returns process etc is very amateurish - gives one the impression that it’s being run out of a garage. It doesn’t reflect the high cost of the product.

The other consideration is the restrictions on flying drones in urban areas. You really are limited to essentially flying it in rural areas.

Save your $2000 and buy something that works and won’t lead to hours and hours of immense frustration.

The DJI insurance is a complete scam – I've reported this to the ACCC but want to make sure that no-one else falls for the same illegal trap. When I bought my DJI Mavic Pro I thought the best way to insure it would be through DJI Insurance as there would be no confusion. WRONG! They accepted my money for the insurance for 2 years running and have subsequently told me the insurance is… Read more

not valid for their product. DJI Refresh insurance will not cover their DJI Mavic Pro??? This is nothing short of illegal and a complete scam. BEWARE.

They don’t want to know you – When I first bought the Mavic Pro it was fantastic! But it soon started to fail with updates, gimbal and battery issues. I bought the dji care package and when I sent it in, they just reset the drone and sent it back. From a thech company they do not notify you that your dji care is running out and give you the option of renewing it. You need to… Read more

do the hard work, go through there website and find out when this expires. You would think that this would show up on your app since they will be making money on people buying it. And when you try to speak to customer service to try and renew, they don’t want to know you. Poor effort dji.

AMAZING ENGINEERING – Ive had this little gem for about 3 months and it is amazing. You can tell alot of thought has gone into the design of this, all the way to the controller. The performance of the Air is great and the fact it collapses down to the size it does is perfect for travelling and generally taking it places  Show details

Mavic Pro still the winner – Launch of the recent DJI Mavic Air and the DJI Spark, but before that there was Mavic Pro which was the smallest camera-equipped quadcopter in DJI’s drone line-up. The Chinese company is best known for its Phantom range of affordable, easy-to-fly drones, and the Mavic Pro is designed to offer many of the same benefits which are decent flight… Read more

time, long-range remote control, a live video feed of the drone’s viewpoint beamed to your smartphone, and stable 4K video recording – but in a more easily portable package.

Priced at $1,299 the Mavic Pro weighs just 743 g and when folded down, measures only 83 x 83 x 198 mm – more than compact enough to slip into a small bag. It comes with a battery delivering around 25 minutes (depending on the wind speed and direction in which the drone is travelling) of flight per charge, plus it has a top speed of some 60 kph which is quite good if at a distance you will find it difficult to identify in day time due to it slim portable design, a 12MP camera mounted on a 3-axis gimbal, and a compact remote control that works in tandem with your iOS or Android smartphone or tablet but it works more better as per my suggestion with iOS device.

DJI has also released an updated model of the Mavic Pro, called the Mavic Pro Platinum. This has 60% quieter rotors and flight time of 30 minutes and have noise reduction blades fitted so the upgrade of these blades on the old Mavic Pro model is something which can be considered if your upgrading the blades.

Dji care refresh waste of money – Dji care refresh package total waste of money. Mavic pro unreliable. Had a collision over water which resulted in drone sinking and being unrecoverable. After losing battle trying to argue that dji care covers collision and aircraft was only lost due to the original collision they stayed firm saying aircraft must be returned. What a joke... i… Read more

purchased dji care refresh to give me peace of mind however they have so many exlusions its not worth a cent. They would not even look at flight log as aircraft was over 1 year old even when dji care refresh was still valid. When i asked for a price to purchase mavic pro without controller or or charger their price was dearer than buying from 3rd party who also includes charger and controller. When i asked for a discount as my dji care refresh was still valid they refused. No refund on care refresh etc. And basically no assistance given to someone who used to be a loyal customer. Dji you've lost me as a customer and i sure wont be recommending any dji products to anyone i know.

Bought this because didn't want to spend $$$$ on camera lenses – I ordered this thing back in October 2016, but got this late January 2017 due to a world-wide shortage. Whats more, as I photograph mostly landscape scenes, I didn't want to pay a lot for lenses and buying further accessories for my Sony Alpha A77. Again, I will be impartial to other reviewers, I'll quickly add a few points below in no specific… Read more ·  1

order and then elaborate upon them:

1. This is not a drone for beginners, it is and it isn't.

2. This drone has a very big learning curve.

3. Flying it where you should and shouldn't within moderation and respect for others.

4. The Mavic Pro vs Mavic Pro Platinum.

5. Battery life and charging

6. Flight modes

Explanations

1. I'd like to say that based on what I have said, flying the drone as it is my first, is good for beginners only factored on the forward and bottom facing sensors that prevents you from crashing it when also using the default mode (not Sport-mode).

This is good for adults not for children or teenagers because this aligns with point #3. The drone bundle pack costed me just over $2600 at the time. So when I say that it is not a drone for beginners, you need to be reminded of the price.

Like with ALL DJI products, they are far from being cheap. DJI is predominately the biggest and innovative Drone builder in the world. That being said, if you want a beginner drone, go buy yourself something way way cheaper....why? Would you want to crash or damage a $1500 drone??? Frankly I will certainly guarantee that you will even if it has safety systems built-in. And I have crashed mine unintentionally due to bad weather luckily with no damage.

So go buy a drone that you can learn to fly, crash and not have to worry about loss, because there is a difference between a <$500 drone versus a $1500 one.

2. Even with the different flight modes and features, there is and it is a complex time consuming process.

It will not be easy and requires a great deal of patience. If you don't have any of that, then don't buy this drone.

3. You need to be aware and update your understanding with the Australian CASA laws regarding drone flying and what you're using the drone for. Otherwise if you end up doing the wrong thing, you may be liable for up-to a $5000 fine.

Don't think you can get away with flying this because and not be aware. There is always some one watching. What I mean by that is: (1) DJI records your flight path at any time when it is flying in the air. It literally has a black box and also the Drone where you insert the microsd card into. If you shoot photos and video, it will record them into the drone and if you have your phones hooked up to the controller, it will also duplicate the record there as well; (2) DJI constantly updates the firmware and flight maps; (3) policing authorities can identify who you are because your DJI purchase requires them to hold your personal data and can correlate and track.

DJI has embedded a great deal of features to protect their reputation and use of their products.

4.If you are planning to buy a Mavic Pro, go buy the Platinum as it is not much more in price.

Although the if you still have a Mavic Pro, then don't foolishly upgrade to Platinum as there is not much of a difference.

Platinum

- extra flight time due to better batteries

- quieter by newly developed propellers so 40% quieter

- a bit faster

There are other features but the above are the main points of interest.

The propellers are interchangeable with the Mavic Pro, costing around $30 for 2 pairs or so.

5. If you get the bundle pack, I got 2 additional batteries and with the charger which can charge USB ported devices at the same time to charging all 3 batteries in a chronological order only. Charging capability for the car through the cigarette lighter port.

Like with all batteries avoid overcharging them otherwise you'll kill the overall longevity of the battery and replacing one costs over $230 each.

6. This has a lot of flight modes and requires a great deal of exploration to familiarise yourself with before shooting your moments.

In Summary

I bought this because of landscaping shooting. I am still an amateur of this device. I have flown on beaches, mountains and remote areas. This thing is still great.

Downside so far is needing a much larger storage capacity for the drone and phone because of 4K recording. A large learning curve and a great deal of patience is needed.

This is very expensive, so best to buy a much cheaper one to practice first.

impressive! very happy – im im pressed with this product. 5/5! However batteries even when fully charged don't hold charge so make sure you charge them up right before you wish to use them. My little rubber foot fell off in week one, the store couldn't help me find a new one and the online parts don't offer the feet as an option spare part. Lucky for me I ended up… Read more

finding it in the carry bag weeks later, bit of super glue and all fixed.

if you don't mind spending the $$ get one you'll love it! I do!

Almost perfect - the ideal drone – The Mavic Pro is the ideal drone as far as I’m concerned. I previously had a DJI Phantom, but the size made it cumbersome to carry around and travel with. The Mavic packs power and awesome features into a package which folds down to something small enough to throw in a backpack or carry-on luggage. It’s stable to fly and the controller has a… Read more

good, solid feel and also folds up small.

The ideal drone for a traveller or adventurer who wants to be able to carry something easily but also have a very capable camera and good battery life.

The 4K video looks great. Photos aren’t quite what you get with a Phantom 4 Pro+, but still very good.

I’ve had minimal issues, just had to do an IMU calibration, but this is easy and controlled through the DJI Go iPhone app.

I love it.

Great Drone - Great Fun - So easy to use – So easy to use - almost flies by itself !!! There are some great tutorials on "youtube" to watch that actually helped more than the DVD provided with the drone...take some time before you start to watch the content it makes it really easy to understand. We discover new things all the time. It takes great photos and footage, and I love the… Read more

follow me operation - took some great pics of the family in our boat !!! So happy with the drone - I bought extra batteries and really pleased we did as we only get about 20 minutes out of each battery.

Warning Great ideas that can quickly pear shaped - but terrible support from a company that ignores – They treat their customers as children to be ignored! blame all technical glitches on the customers without proper verification of flight log details etc. tend to deny any culpability despite rolling out product which still have bugs. These innocent 'geniuses' are too busy (working on the next best thing or coding something) to deal with trivial… Read more

after-sold issues like some ... 'kids broken toy'!

Back in the real world though....

Look out for those famous unexplained events called 'flyaways' and "the Flip of Death" not to mention the 'recurrent lost connections' c/f FPV screens and sudden update screw ups where the Drone suddenly declares a frightening handicap on the very next flight.

Good luck trying to get DJI interested in paying for the damages. Eventually you give in or have $1200-1500 worth of useless Shiny Plastic junk.

MUST Get a prop guard (Duh - cheapest insurance - more 'accidents happen on that steep learning curve) and Try really hard to be responsible.

Do Not to be impulsive - this may very well cost you much more than a just new Drone. Don't ruin a v good thing for everyone else.

Updated late 2017- new DJI model releases (crammed full of the good tech)

Spark out for quite a while. JB HiFi now have a big range of DJI & lotsa other stuff

Mavic Air

Mavic Pro mk2

Big price drops on Phantom 3s (Bargains being sold everywhere!)

Awesome fun & easy to use ! – This is so easy to use within an hour I was flying long distances and taking amazing shots. Love it would recommend to anyone read the instructions if you don't have drone experience especially the camera which is 4K and can take amazing footage ( photo & Video ) Syncs to I phone in seconds.  Show details

Best product Iv bought in a long time – The mavic pro is one of the most Versatel drone on the market, with many amazing features that will make it perfect for the everyday drone hobbyist all the way up to that semi pro photographer The reason for my purchase choice amongst all the different drones out there was the amazing quality of the footage but also the compact size. With… Read more

recording from 720-4K and still photos of 12mp you won't get a bad picture

It also folds up into a nice portable size so it's great for travelling, these two features alone are worth the money.

The mavic is so easy to fly with forward and downward facing sensors it makes it almost impossible to crash

Long battery life is always essential and there is no exception with a battery lasting around 27min depending on the setting you use (sports mode 22-23min)

Overall there are many drones on the market and plenty from DJI but the mavic was my choice and I couldn't be happier, it's a great product and high quality.

My advice if purchasing a mavic it's always worth spending the little bit extra on the combo pack, you will get an extra two batteries, carry case, multi charger, car charger, spare blades and power adapter for a power pack and 16gb micro sd

Just the batteries alone cover the extra you pay.

The Only accessories I'd recommend grabbing straight away are ND filters and a larger micro sd card

Cheers

Good - when it works – This is not a Mac Book or a VW Golf, it doesn't just work effortlessly all the time. When everything is running fine it is great, easy to control, great footage, long battery time and the fold-away compactness is fantastic. Problem is the Mavic is temperamental, fragile, prone to software problems, constantly needing big updates and… Read more

massively effected by minor environmental changes.

Every time I take the drone out it's a will it or won't it work situation. Today for example it was completely disconnecting from my phone and controller so sadly no footage.

My first drone so I don't know if there is anything 100% reliable on the market??

Horrible company – When I hit the home button the drone went into another direction and then dropped. I have called the company several times only to be transferred or told I would be called back. Which never happens. I had the drone only for a few days. We have sent the flight patterns in several times. Followed up with the company but zero response.  Show details

Great product even for beginners – with No personal experience of flying drones. I was surprised how easy it is to control the drone. The feature to come back home is quite precise . it ia fast in sport mode But it does not have rear camera which is available with DJI phantom 4 pro. does not have anti collision in reverse direction. Range is amazing . reception and display on my mobile screen of live streaming is remarkable. picture quality is amazing worth for its money  Show details

Address and business licence request – My mavic pro flew away on it own I sent a video of it to them and they say it was pilot error. I took the remote and the video to a flight analysis and they told me it got disconnected and flew away, I keep asking Dji for the address where to send s summons they will not provide the address or business license number. Buyer beware they are a bunch… Read more

of crooks oh and before I sent the video 7 times they said they were reviewing it when I called they said they didn't have it until I got the dept of consumer affairs and the better business bureau.

Amazing done – This drone is perfect for anyone from novice to professional level. It is stacked with features and is perfect for those looking for a new hobby to creating amazing cinematograph with its 4k camera, incredible radius range, 20 min flight time and incredible top speed in sports mode. To top it all off, it's so compact and easy to take with you… Read more

on your next holiday. I was overseas in Europe for 5 weeks and it was breeze to carry and fitted into the DJI mavic bag perfectly, which could be disguised as a mini DSL camera bag. Worth every dollar and highly recommend for anyone looking to invest in a drone.

Great drone – Excellent drone... love the portability as I have traveled with the drone without any issues and everything fits in the small bag that comes with the fly more combo ( wish the bag was slightly bigger tho ). easy to control and handles wind conditions well. Video quality is great but not so good quality photographs. The gimbal is very flimsy but works great. The legs could've been bigger as it's not ideal to land in dust.  Show details

Awesome! – This is an amazing little drone, capable of features other drones can't even dream of, yet portable enough to take anywhere with you. DJI is leading the UAV industry, and this drone is a perfect example why. It's fast, agile, smart, compact and most important of all very easy to fly. Lots of fun, highly recommended  Show details

Impress EVERYONE with the Mavic Pro – The DJI Mavic Pro will impress you from the moment you first unbox it. The quality is felt straight away, you know this is the real deal. My expectations were high due to the hype and the specs sheet. I mean, how can something this small fly so smooth, fast, controlled and so darn far. 7kms is the claim. The flying experience is great and… Read more

learning to fly is pretty easy. Think of it like this; when you put it somewhere in the air, it will stay there. The only time it will move is when you tell it to. The video and photo quality is better than I expected. You just need to look at the size of the camera to wonder how the Mavic produces such wonderful results. I have taken to creating short clips (edited) around 3 mins long, and when put to music, they hold interest and really do a wonderful job at bringing memories back – I think due to the added context that a flying camera captures. These new drones really should be thought of as a high quality flying camera system. If you want to just blast a drone around, there are probably cheaper options. But if you want to create some fantastic videos to remember happy times, then the Mavic Pro might be what you need. I would give it 6 stars if i could.