DJI Mavic Air Lightweight Panoramic Drone
Last updated: February 2, 2022
The DJI Mavic Air is a great drone for pilots who want 4K-resolution video in a portable format. You'll be able to capture high-quality photos and video and easily share them on social media. The app gives you all the control you need to adjust the camera as you're flying, and you'll average 15 to 18 minutes of flying time before you'll need to charge the battery.
We looked at the top Drones and dug through the reviews from some of the most popular review sites. Through this analysis, we've determined the best Drone you should buy.
Product Details
Key Takeaway: Equipped with a mobile app that lets you control the camera while flying the drone. Capture high-quality photos and videos, then easily share them on social media.
In our analysis of 94 expert reviews, the DJI Mavic Air Lightweight Panoramic Drone
placed 9th when we looked at the top 14 products in the category. For the full ranking,
see below.
From The Manufacturer
32.0MP sphere panoramas – In addition to horizontal, vertical, and 180° panoramas, Mavic Air stitches 25 photos together in just eight seconds to create crystal clear 32.0MP sphere panoramas.
Lightweight and compact foldable design – You can take it anywhere with you.
Supports 4K video at 30 fps – The 12.0MP camera with Adobe DNG RAW support is ready to shoot. The three-axis gimbal is capable of stabilizing the camera even during high-speed motion for smooth video and sharp photos.
Control your drone from up to 6562′ away – The Mavic Air Intelligent Flight lithium battery provides up to 21 minutes of flight time per charge.
Dedicated remote controller- Features a foldable, low-profile, ergonomic design to hold your smartphone for maximum convenience. The detachable control sticks store inside the remote controller to pack more comfortably on the go.
Fly by phone – Set up tracking to shoot a friend, or head skywards for a quick flight using your smartphone instead of controller.
Share with your friends – Shoot an incredible scene and edit it with just a few taps in the DJI GO editor, and share it instantly for everyone to see.
Expert Reviews
What reviewers liked
Deliver 4K images and its speedy, it can fly to 42 mph. Portable and easy to fly and control.
Drones easily slip into a backpack and shoot comparable video and stills, but the Mavic Air’s trump card is its obstacle avoidance, which is something the Parrot Anafi lacks. This is a really useful safety net for novice flyers and for shooting quick, set piece scenes.
The Mavic Air was an incredibly easy drone to fly. It hovers well in all but very strong wind gusts (the app will warn you if it's too windy) and zips around effortlessly.
The DJI Mavic Air's folding design makes it great for travel while its 4K-resolution camera and three-axis gimbal capture nice-looking photos and video. Automated shooting options and obstacle avoidance make it easy to get good results fast.
The Mavic Air also sports a 4K camera capable of shooting UHD video and 12 megapixel stills.
The Mavic Air footage, however, looks great without you really having to do anything. It has a slightly wider angle lens (24mm versus the Pro's 28mm) which is better for capturing sweeping landscapes. You don't have to tap to focus. And oh yeah, it shoots 4K video at 100Mbps
The Mavic Air is DJI's smallest, most portable drone, and is just as full-featured as its larger siblings.
The thumbsticks are now removable and can be stored under the arms that hold your phone. This makes it much easier to stow the remote in the Air’s included bag.
The Air has a much better camera and takes up the same amount of space in a bag. The Air will not disappoint if you're looking for something that can be tossed into a backpack and carried to even the most remote locations.
What reviewers didn't like
Flight times per change could be longer.
Annoyingly, though, going between the two control methods required re-linking the drone to the remote control, which makes it far less convenient for when you want to go back to more nuanced controls.
Through the DJI app, you get pretty granular controls over the camera, letting you adjust exposure, shutter speed and more. However, it became a bit annoying to dig through menus to find things such as the panorama or spherical mode for the camera.
Flight time is typically between 15 to 18 minutes, so expect to buy extra batteries. Piloting by app can be frustrating, especially on smaller screens. Obstacle avoidance doesn't cover you from the sides or top.
Touchy camera controls, unless you’re in Cinematic mode
despite only being 20 yards away from me, the drone lost radio contact and attempted to land itself at the point where the flight started
Doesn't support USB charging. No 4K DCI video.
Sadly, it’s not quite up to snuff for demanding droneographers
Expensive and relatively short battery life.
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