Phantom 4 vs Mavic Pro - Which Drone Should You Buy?

Phantom 4 vs Mavic Pro - Which Drone Should You Buy?
Marketing Originet

 

Drone pilots of all levels are well-familiar with the popular Phantom 4 − a drone in a class of its own. Well, at least until recently, when DJI created a worthy competitor that brings aerodynamic design, portability, and a truly sophisticated system. With the Mavic Pro release, the question arose – will it take the Phantom 4’s place? Will Mavic Pro reign supreme? Which drone should you buy? To help your Phantom 4 vs. Mavic Pro dilemma, we’ve compared these top-of-the-line drones.

Phantom 4 vs Mavic Pro — Price

The first category we’ve covered is the cost of both drones − the Phantom 4 will set you back $1,499, while Mavic Pro costs only $899. If your main concern is budget, then the winner in this category seems pretty obvious, since Mavic Pro is much cheaper while it offers portability and a powerful system. However, price is not always the determining factor, so we do recommend you check out both models and their features before making a decision.

DJI Phantom 4

 

Phantom 4 vs Mavic Pro — Design

Once you place these two drones next to each other, you’ll instantly see that difference in design is more than obvious. Phantom’s sleek and clean looks contrast Mavic’s dark and toned-down design. We love both, so it’s up to your personal preference to judge on the appearance. Besides aesthetics, the design also brings some features to the table, like Mavic Pro’s fold-down design which allows for great portability. Once you fold it, it will easily fit in your hand and allow you to carry it anywhere. It also features foldable propellers. The entire design makes Mavic Pro a conveniently portable and aerodynamic drone. On the other hand, Phantom 4 is heavier, which is less attractive for some pilots, but appealing to others for speed and stability reasons. Phantom is made of top-notch magnesium, leading to reduced air vibrations and better stability. Plus, the rugged design is certainly helpful if you come across some obstacles – Phantom 4 performed just fine even after crashing into a tree several times – although we’d certainly like you to trust us on this and don’t smash your Phantom for checking. For pilots bothered by propellers showing in the video, the good news is that Phantom 4 has raised motors so they’ll show much less. Note that Mavic will mostly not show propellers. Overall, we find both designs pretty impressive, but Mavic may have a slight advantage because it’s smaller and lighter, making it more portable.

DJI Mavic Pro

Phantom 4 vs Mavic Pro — Obstacle Avoidance

Speaking of obstacle avoidance, both drones feature it, but we’ll give an advantage to Mavic Pro. The reason for Mavic winning in this category is because the system is just better – features a wider range of technology, including top camera, bottom camera, main camera dual-positioning, 2 ultrasonic sensors, redundant sensors, and that’s not even all of it! Mavic Pro creates a 3D map to figure out the next obstacle and avoid it before it’s close and it will figure out the obstacle even up to 50 feet in front of it. You think that’s quite impressive? We totally agree. That doesn’t mean that Phantom’s avoidance system is bad – it still is a sophisticated system with both front-facing and bottom sensors. So, there’s nothing wrong with Phantom 4’s obstacle avoidance, many pilots are happy with it, but for the purposes of this article alone, we wanted to see how it compares to Mavic Pro. 

Phantom 4 vs Mavic Pro — Camera

Lots of drone users consider video quality to be the most important feature, so let’s take a closer look at camera performance. Both models are great for making footage less shaky, thanks to stabilized 3-Axis gimbal. The difference is that Mavic has a camera and gimbal attached while Phantom 4 has a u-frame. When it comes to video quality, there are some similarities and some differences. For starters, the camera is the same, but Mavis Pro’s smaller size means that your field of view will be more narrow compare to Phantoms. Next, Phantom 4 has auto-focus, while Mavic Pro doesn’t, which can make a huge difference for some pilots. Display on Mavic will allow you to manually focus a specific area by tapping, while Phantom 4 will shoot in full auto-focus. Then again, Mavic performs slightly better in low light. When looking into the quality of the footage, Phantom 4 shoots 4k at 30 fps or 1080 at 120, while Mavic Pro does quite similarly – it shoots 4k at 30 fps and 1080 at 96 fps. The bottom line is – both drones will let you have fantastic shots.

DJI Phantom 4 Camera

Phantom 4 vs Mavic Pro — Flight and battery life

Things look quite similar with flight time – Phantom 4 will fly up to 28 minutes while Mavic Pro will let you have a max of 27 minutes flight time. So, a tiny difference but nothing so relevant to determine which drone you should buy − both drones can carry out long flights at high speeds. Mavic Pro also has the Intelligent Flight Battery which, besides other features, lets you monitor the battery and know when the time to head back home is – you can now focus on flying instead of worrying about the battery.

Phantom 4 & Mavic Pro - Remote Controllers

The revolutionary foldable design of the Mavic Pro is certainly something that many drone pilots find attractive. You can store it in any bag or carry it in your hand, making it super handy for hobbyists, travelers, or commercial operations. Mavic Pro’s foldable design is indeed revolutionary. Plus, at a decent price point, it really makes a great choice for any drone pilot. On the other hand, we love Phantom 4 as well. We recommend you go for it if you’re catching fast movements, such as making sports footage. After DJI experienced a shortage of parts from the supplier and announced that Phantom drones will be discontinued, many pilots felt that there is a gap in DJI's lineup. Luckily, good things happen to those who wait, and so in 2020. DJI was happy to announce that the lineup is back with their Phantom 4 Pro V2.0. 

DJI Mavic Pro with a Foldable Design

A drone choice depends on your needs. For instance, there are things to know before buying a drone for photography. The same goes for other purposes too. Getting relevant info is essential before purchasing. To figure out which drone you should buy, check out DJI’s state-of-art drone technology − visit our online DJI NYC store or go for a hands-on experience instead.

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