Courtesy: Gadgetbyte Nepal
Kathmandu
Even with strict regulations in place regarding the use of drones in Nepal, the devices are gaining popularity among people from all walks of life. Price-wise, the quadcopter isn’t really for everyone, but for a certain group of people, it is turning out to be an absolute necessity.
The DJI Mavic Pro, like most drones available in Nepal, is expensive. It is however a foldable and one of the most portable quadcopters I have ever seen.
Before starting the review, I would like to emphasise the fact that Nepal Aviation Authority has restricted the use of drones without an official permit. Other rules — such as not flying drones above anyone’s private space, near an airport, or even over a crowd of people — also apply.
Build and Design
The DJI Mavic Pro boasts a top-notch build quality even with its plastic body. This material has made the device quite sturdy and rugged. In hand, the Mavic Pro feels premium and even upon abrupt use can withstand almost anything.
What I like best about the Mavic Pro is its foldable hinge mechanism which has, in turn, made it quite portable. I could fit the drone anywhere and didn’t feel the heft while carrying it in my backpack. It is quite small when folded and weighs just 739 gm. But this lightness results in a small issue which I will cover in the performance section.
The propeller on the Mavic is also foldable which really helps when it runs into an obstacle. While reviewing the device, my fingers got caught in it, but due to the folding mechanism, the drone could maintain its balance and stay put.
Performance
As I mentioned before, due to the low weight of the device, the Mavic Pro sometimes moves with a gust of wind. While products of the Phantom-series from DJI don’t really face this issue, the sheer fact that the quadcopter is light can be troublesome.
Other than this matter, I didn’t really find any other cons of the device. In DJI’s app, there are different flying modes to select from according to a user’s choice. My personal favourite is the Tripod Mode which focuses on smoothness and doesn’t let the drone pick up speed. There are other modes as well among which Sports Mode, Follow Me Mode, and Course Lock caught my eye. But since I don’t really have a lot of experience flying drones, I stuck with the Tripod Mode. The device can fly at a top speed of 65 kmph for around 25 minutes on a fully charged battery.
The DJI Mavic Pro has a maximum range of 4.3 miles. The camera, which is supported by a gimbal, can stream 4K video directly to your smartphone from the drone. A controller that weighs just around 316 gm has a smartphone dock which is a bonus.
The 4K video is captured by a 12.7MP camera on the device. There is also an option to manually control the camera as the user wishes. Other features worth mentioning are DJI’s ActiveTrack, an object tracking technology, and the Optical Flow System which spots obstacles through image recognition.
Price and Availability
The Mavic Pro I reviewed is the Fly More Combo variant which includes extra sets of propellers, two batteries, a battery charging hub, a car charger and an adapter to charge the quadcopter with a power bank. The battery charging hub is an intelligent piece of technology that can charge four of the drone’s batteries at the same time and adjusts its function to the amount of juice left in the battery. The Fly More Combo carries a price tag of Rs 1,62,999. But if you just want the regular version, it is currently available for Rs 1,35,299 at Evo Store.
Conclusion
The DJI Mavic Pro is a quadcopter meant for professionals. It is especially meant for videographers and photographers. Considering its performance and functionality, the Mavic Pro is worth every penny you pay.
The author is currently working as a tech reviewer and content writer for gadgetbytenepal.com. He is an ardent follower of developments in the smartphone world and a devoted fan of Arsenal FC.
Source: Technology
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