DJI Mavic Pro front

There are a few great drone manufacturers on the market today, but there is only one that is absolutely dominating the market, DJI. Their latest drones are some of the best we’ve ever seen. In terms of cameras that take to the sky, DJI is leading the pack. One of their more advanced offerings in the consumer class for a long time was the Mavic Pro, a folding quadcopter that is extremely easy to fly and produces some superb aerial shots.

We spent some time with DJI for some hands-on flight training with the Mavic Pro in the early days, and we’ve been flying ours ever since. We are un-apologetically in love with this drone, but it’s not perfect. Let’s explore more in this DJI Mavic Pro review.

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[aa_editors_tip]We had been updating this article on a fairly regular schedule in order to share updates and moves in the market that changed our view of the Mavic Pro. As such, the release of the DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom are the change that will generally stop these updates. To be fair, DJI calls the Mavic 2 series the iterative update to the Mavic Pro, and what an update they are.

Bottom line, the Mavic Pro is still a fantastic machine, it flies extremely well, is very portable and has a lot to offer. The newer Mavic 2 drones have better cameras and more security features. The Mavic Pro is almost half the price of the newer machines now, so it’s totally worth considering, but for the best photos and video from the sky, Mavic 2 drones are the way to go.

Likewise, the DJI Mavic Air 2 is a fantastic replacement for the aging Mavic Pro.

More important, Mavic Pro availability is beginning to dwindle. You can still find it to purchase, but you’re now looking at packages put together by other vendors. In a manner of speaking, DJI has discontinued the drone, but it is still well supported, emulated and has a vast accessory market.[/aa_editors_tip]

Previous updates of note:

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DJI Mavic Pro one year review (2017)

If you are looking for all the juicy tech specs on the Mavic Pro, you are already reading the article you want, but if you want to hear how our first year experience has been with this craft, head on over to our Mavic Pro one year review. Perhaps better called our One year impressions. 

DJI announced the new Mavic Pro Platinum

Our opinions of the original Mavic Pro remain unchanged, as you’ll read below, but the new release of this machine packs more than a just a new color. The Mavic Pro Platinum improves software and some internals, plus introduces new propellers to increase flight time and reduce noise. We’ll be updating this Mavic Pro review with new info once we get the new propellers – that’s right, the new props fit the original Mavic as well. 

Stay tuned for more coverage of the new DJI Mavic Pro Platinum, we can’t wait to see how much better it is than the original.

Platinum Propellers on the original Mavic Pro

We flew the Mavic Pro with the new propellers from the Mavic Pro Platinum. We’re trying to figure out in a semi-scientific manner how much of an improvement the new props are. For now, join us to talk propeller science, we’ll have some Mavic Pro propeller info for you very soon. 

Update: This was a great idea, folks. If you were wondering, I highly recommend installing the gold (or silver) tipped propellers on your Mavic Pro. The ESCs are not fully tuned, but it reduces motor RPM by about 500 when the drone is at hover. That’s a great amount of power reduction and reduced wear and tear. They are quieter as well, but, I had to use sound recording tools and analyze the recording – let’s just say that they are quieter, but it is not likely you will hear that difference by ear in your normal flights. Still, we think it’s totally worth putting the Platinum props on your original Mavic.

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Original review from November 2016:

Design

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DJI Mavic Pro review

From the moment you receive your Mavic Pro, the box alone will have you wondering where DJI is hiding the drone. Unlike most high-end quadcopters on the market today, the Mavic Pro is very small. Able to easily slip into a larger purse, a smaller pocket on your backpack or even into most water bottle holders, this collapsing drone is one of the most portable flying units we’ve ever seen.

Where the small size may invite the expectation of low quality, we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised, this is a metal drone with impressive fit and finish. It is also a very thoughtfully engineered unit, look for quick release propellers, no tools required, and a slender controller with options beyond what you might expect.

DJI Mavic Pro review

Available in just one color, this slate grey drone arrives folded and requires just a few quick maneuvers to prepare for first flight. Fold out the front arms from the sides, then fold the rear arms from underneath.

The landing gear lives at the base of the front arms and on the fuselage near the rear. Clearances are minimal all the way around, including the landing gear, you’ll want to find flat and solid surfaces to take off and land on.

The battery is easily removed, simply pinch together the buttons on either side of the battery itself and pull up.

DJI Mavic Pro review

The front of the drone houses the 3-axis gimbal with 12MP, 4K camera. The optional plastic dome will keep things dry and safe, but go ahead and remove it if you find it to distort your images. Just above the camera is a pair of sensors, these help prevent damage to your drone, providing obstacle identification and avoidance.

As best we can tell, the Mavic Pro is a tiny super computer packed into an aircraft. Downward facing sensors compliment the front mounted sensors, combined with the camera, this drone is packed with intelligent, autonomous flight modes, self landing capabilities, dual-GPS radios for redundancy and absolute location precision and more.

DJI Mavic Pro review

Not only does the Mavic Pro have its own internal cooling fan to keep the computing electronics at optimal temperature, but the remote control does as well. This is no toy.

Finally, you’ll find red LED lights just below the front propellers, and a single large light at the very rear of the fuselage. This rear LED flashes different colors to let you know the status of the craft, just remember, green is good.


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Usability

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DJI Mavic Pro review

The key to the Mavic Pro, the shining mark by which DJI should be proud, this drone is one of the most user friendly quadcopters around. The small size, quick fold setup and easy pairing remote and smartphone app will get you from your backpack to the sky very quickly.

Beyond the basic setup, flying this drone is downright child’s play. Perhaps that was a poor choice of words, this really isn’t the drone you want for children, but we’ll talk about that later. My point is, the Mavic Pro almost flies itself, you do little more than tell it where to go.

[alert]Please do not expect this drone to actually fly itself, I highly suggest enjoying some test flights on a small, inexpensive trainer quadcopter first. I explain why in this cheap drone guide, but suffice to say, if you are destined to crash a drone, make it a $30 crash, not a thousand dollar crash.[/alert]

With the drone itself setup in just seconds, the remote control may take a few more, by itself, simply flip out the antenna and get ready to fly. The optional connection of your smartphone can add a bit of time, but the FPV is well worth the hassle.

As the Mavic Pro is easily considered more of a flying camera than it is a drone that has a camera, we must judge the photo and video features and capabilities as well. They’re good.

DJI Mavic Pro review

There are dedicated buttons on the remote control to quickly take either a photo or start/stop recording video. Photos are taken at 12MP of resolution and there is a 2X zoom to accompany full manual camera controls. In auto mode, simply tap the smartphone display to choose your desired focus and exposure points, or hit the left rear button on the remote to center focus, hit the right top trigger and enjoy your photo.

The right top spinning wheel control allows for quick exposure level changes. The top left spinning wheel tilts the camera up and down to help capture your target.

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Best Camera DroneVideo recording controls are a little more complicated, in one regard, otherwise offer the same one click operation with on-screen tap to choose focus. Changing between the video capture modes takes a moment to configure, select from 1080P, 2.7K or 4K recording at various framerate settings. I must remember to take the camera out of 1080P at 90FPS before I head back up. Slow-mo is great, but I like the 2.7K recording the best, just a preference.

Update: I have changed my opinion on video resolution, I shoot everything in 4K now. It is a little bit more intensive to edit and I find the need to do just a tad more color grading, but it’s 4K. Future-proofing my footage just makes sense.

I keep mentioning that the Mavic Pro nearly flies itself, this is a huge advantage over many other drones. The primary feature that makes the most impact on a successful flight is the ability for the Mavic Pro to remain at a stable hover. If you accidentally drop the remote, the drone will halt and hover in place, and with extreme accuracy. While DJI claims a hover within 10cm vertically and 30cm horizontally, my experience says more like 5cm and 10 cm, it’s pretty impressive.

Before you fly

In light of the recent legal situation regarding registering your drone with the FAA, DJI has enacted their own registration requirements. From here on, new owners of most DJI Drones will be required to register with the company to activate their flying machine before first flight. This can be annoying, and to many a huge invasion of anonymity, but if you are already signed in and registered, it’s nothing really new.

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[aa_editors_tip]

If you are flying for pay, or any other form of compensation, you must operate under a different set of rules and possess a commercial drone license. We call it the Part 107, it’s not too hard to get, but it will take some time to learn all the rules. We want to help you learn the rules and get your commercial license, check out our drone pilot training material.

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[/aa_editors_tip]

Flight characteristics

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There are four main flight characteristics that make the Mavic Pro an excellent drone for many users, and make for fantastic photography from the sky.

DJI Mavic Pro review

First up, the DJI Mavic Pro can takeoff and land all by itself. Well, not entirely by itself, you will have to tap the take-off and land buttons on the DJI GO mobile app, but that’s all there is to it. Even if you decide to take off or land manually, the smarts of the drone take over to ensure you land softly and get up to an appropriate height for the Vision Positioning to kick in.

Next on the list, something we touched on above, the ability for the Mavic Pro to hover with impressive stability. Beyond just the ability to stay in place, the fact that this is the default flight mode of this drone. Any early adopter or toy class drone pilot will tell you, these things don’t like to stay in place very well. Releasing the controller used to mean an undeniable crash, not with the Mavic Pro, it’ll just sit there until you move it or it runs out of battery and lands.

DJI Mavic Pro review

It would be wrong of me to call Tripod mode a beginner’s mode. Really, if you are looking to slow things down, keep movements as stead as possible, Tripod mode is the answer. Designed to create the most stable video capture possible, reduced flight sensitivity makes it a great mode for learning to fly.

Finally, the fourth feature that makes the Mavic Pro extremely valuable as a drone, the Return to home feature. Admitting that many drones offer this functionality today, keep in mind that the Mavic Pro utilizes its dual GPS modules to place an accurate mark, then takes accuracy down to within inches thanks to proximity sensor and camera capture of the surroundings of the drone. GPS gets you close, matching the exact view as when you took off will land you almost exactly where you took off.

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Aside from these key features the DJI packed the Mavic Pro with a ton of extra flight modes and built a rather exciting drone to fly.

First up, the Mavic Pro can fly at up to 40 MPH ground speed, while vertical travel is at 16.4 ft/s. I could tell you that that is roughly 11MPH, or I could tell you that it will take 24 seconds to get from the ground up to the 400 foot legal ceiling within the U.S.

DJI Mavic Pro review

The camera is the key to a handful of creative and automated flight modes, starting with a feature called Trace. Trace offers three ‘Follow-me’ modes, leading you from in front, following you from behind or circling you while it keeps you in focus.

The second mode is called Profile, think about your favorite old video games, the 2D side scrollers, that’s the idea here. The Mavic Pro recognizes your side and flies along sideways to capture your block breaking exploits. Please just keep an eye on things, the collisions sensors are on the front, not the back or sides.

DJI Mavic Pro review

The final mode is called Spotlight, this is the most fun you’ll have with your object focused videography. Not locking to a specific angle of an object, you take control of flight, the drone will keep the camera pointed at the subject. No matter where you or the subject of your video go, you fly the drone and the camera will keep a lock on the target.

Another handy tool is called Gesture control. Want to allow your friends to take pictures with your Mavic Pro, without handing over the remote? Gesture controls allow them to wave at the drone, it will see them and accept gestures to take a photo, follow them and more.

Related reading: 10 reasons to choose the DJI Mavic Pro

TapFly is an additional flight mode that allows you to point out a location on your smartphone display, then enjoy as your Mavic Pro autonomously navigates to that location. It flies, you control the camera.

Ignoring all these fancy figures and flight modes, I should mention that the Mavic Pro is very predictable in terms of take off and landing. Take off will bring you up to about 4 feet and enter a hover. Landing will get you down to about 3 feet, then halt, you can then hold down the joystick or use the automated landing mode to slowly touchdown.

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The latest DJI GO 4 app update added a few new features that seriously improves the value of the Mavic Pro, dual pilot control and a higher speed, for starters. One controller takes full control of the craft, the next logs in as co-pilot and can control as well. This is a full control setup, if the first pilot is off the controls for a few seconds, the second pilot completely takes over. Craft like the Inspire 2 have dual pilot setups, but in that case, one controller flies the drone, the other controller works the camera, sharing the load. While this is not true for the Mavic, at least the second controller can see the display, allowing it to be used as a monitor for non-pilots.

Update: The new Fixed-wing mode adds a great FPV aircraft feel to your flight. Looking the camera in a forward state, then tilting it side to side when the craft turns, you’d never know from the recorded footage that you were not flying a fixed-wing craft. If you are a fan of look of flying an airplane, but want to put your Mavic pro into the air, this is absolutely the tool for you.

Speaking of a monitor for a non-pilot, DJI has introduced the DJI Goggles. We went hands-on with them at NAB Show 2017 in Las Vegas, you should check that out. In short, the wearer enjoys full HD view from the Mavic Pro in an enclosed VR headset. This FPV gear can also take over control of the camera – active track control means when you look up, the camera gimbal on the drone tilts up, it can even turn the aircraft when you turn your head to the side far enough.

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Extra functionality beyond this increases the top speed of the Mavic Pro to 33.5 mph while in ActiveTrack mode, the drone’s total top speed remains unchanged. The new fixed wing flight mode is a fun addition, it adds a cruise control like flight mode, it locks the camera gimbal forward and when you turn, the gimbal turns a little emulating the look as though you were flying a fixed wing aircraft.

Update: More recent feature additions include Sphere photo modes, with 360 degree images and more. DJI also added Quickshots to the Mavic Pro, adding a number of self-piloting flight modes to capture various selfie-focused videos. 

Photo samples

The following are unedited photos taken by the Mavic Pro. We’ve re-sized them and cropped from 4:3 to 16:9 aspect ratio, but have not edited color, exposure or any other settings.

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Video samples

Stay tuned for a full DJI Mavic Pro camera review, coming soon Mavic Pro camera review out now! Until then, here is a quick sample of the raw vs color graded video capture from the drone. Captured at 2.7k and compressed to 1080p.

Specifications

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Accessories

Best Drone AccessoriesAnnounced in February of 2017, DJI has added a handful of new accessories for the Mavic Pro. We ordered ours the day they launched, the sleeve and remote control sun shade arrived in March, but the ND filters only just arrived here in April. We opted not to pick up the propeller guards or the advanced charger, and the rest most all came in our Fly More bundle. The sleeve is well built, provides a great layer of protection, even if only from dust and scratches.

The remote control sun shade is well built, I like the folding design but wish it folded just a bit more, so it fit in the carrying pouch. I will say, I am a little concerned with the long term effects of mounting the sun shade on the antennae, but so far no problems. Haven’t been many sunny days to fly around here lately, so I will revisit this sun shade opinion later, if anything changes. Thanks to that same lack of sun, I have not yet put the Mavic Pro into the air with the ND Filters installed. I took a peak at things here in the office, I’ll give the filters credit for handling bright scenes, but I have not yet tested for sun flare.

Stay tuned for an update here, the next time the Portland area is both sunny and not experiencing hurricane force winds (sadly, I mean that literally,) I’ll take to the sky.  Update: I have taken to the sky with the filters in place. Forgive the following video for being a little amateur, I fly when I can and capture what footage I can.

Science of Flight series

We have plenty more to read if you are interested in the science of drone flight. We are not physicists, but we know just enough to explain some of the basic concepts of how drones operate, how they fly and how to do so effectively. Be sure to check out our other Science of Flight articles to learn more.


Final thoughts on the DJI Mavic Pro

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DJI Mavic Pro review

We really are unabashedly smitten with this drone, DJI has packed an impressive amount of smarts and camera abilities into a very small package. Admitting that many of the features are, on paper, the same as many other top drone manufacturers, but real world testing proves that specs on paper do not explain the real value here.

A fast and stable drone, the Mavic Pro is fun to fly, but we still must consider it a member of a sub-class of drones I like to call ‘flying cameras.’ FPV racers will find the Mavic Pro both slow and expensive. Hobby flyers will also find this level of thrill and maneuverability in less expensive options, but consumer-level drone shoppers looking to get a camera into the sky will find few, if any, better drones on the market today.

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The DJI Phantom 4 Pro was recently released, packing superior flight options, particularly obstacle avoidance, and a far more powerful camera, but this remains on the large Phantom frame. Those looking for an ultra-portable drone should find the lacking features from the larger and more expensive drone are worth the convenience of the Mavic Pro.

The original selling price for the Mavic Pro was $999 for the base package, which includes the Mavic Pro, controller and one battery, with cables and charger. The Fly More combo brought the price up to $1299, adding on two more batteries, a couple more sets of propellers and a handful of battery charging options. As of July 2019, however, you can grab the drone for $819 and the Fly More combo for $929.

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This drone is an investment in high quality aerial photography. There are certainly far more capable drones on the market, such as the DJI Inspire 2, but we do not believe that any offer the same overall convenient package as the Mavic Pro, nor the bang for the buck features and flight capabilities.

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Any DJI Mavic Pro owners out there care to jump in – is there a better drone for the money on the market today?


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