When DJI launched the compact Mavic Air drone in January for $800, it seemed like there was no longer a compelling enough reason to splash money on the older, larger, and more expensive Mavic Pro quadcopter.
But a report earlier this month claimed DJI hasn’t given up on the Pro as the company plans to launch the “Mavic 2” with several new features that could turn heads. And now an accidental leak (below) by British retail store Argos confirms this to be the case.
@OsitaLV better quality image pic.twitter.com/UWuj6k56WE
— Monty_f (@monty_f) July 28, 2018
According to a listing published by the store this week, the Mavic 2 will come in two versions, the Pro and the Zoom. The Mavic 2 Pro features a “Hasselblad camera” with a larger, 1-inch sensor, while the Mavic 2 Zoom comes with a 24-48mm zoom lens. So if you’re interested in the Mavic 2, you’ll need to decide which is more important — image quality or the ability to alter focal length.
The Mavic Pro’s image quality has received mixed reviews, so the Hasselblad camera with a 1-inch sensor is certain to give hope to budding filmmakers and the like who are interested in a compact and portable quadcopter capable of delivering decent image quality. The zoom capability, on the other hand, will offer pilots more versatility for grabbing different types of shots.
Enhanced obstacle avoidance
In line with the earlier report, the Argos listing confirms that the Mavic 2 will also feature “omnidirectional obstacle sensing” (also known as 360-degree obstacle avoidance) that gives the new machine greater situational awareness than the Mavic Air, which has sensors on the front, underside, and rear. Such technology will provide even greater reassurance to drone novices afraid of accidentally flying their drone smack into a building or some other obstacle.
The new machine can fly for 31 minutes on a single charge, which is longer than both the Mavic Pro (27 minutes) and the Air (21 minutes). And at 45 mph, its top speed is 5 mph faster than the Mavic Pro and 3 mph faster than the Air.
But the listing says nothing about the price of the new drone, so on that we’ll just have to wait and see.
DJI was expected to unveil the Mavic 2 at a special press event on July 18, but it postponed the gathering without offering a new date.
The company said it decided to delay the event so that it could “deliver according to our standard of innovation.” Yes, it sounds rather like it has hit a snag with its technology and needs to sort it out first.
Updated on July 31, 2018: Added information about Argos leak.
