Hi Guys. Just thought I'd share my thoughts and experiences after upgrading from a Spark to a Mini. Expectations were high as I think the spark is an awesome entry level drone for videography/photography
Battery Life: Wow...huge difference, at least double, almost triple. I now fly, then put it away and fly again without having to recharge every time. Huge advantage.
Startup: Pretty easy...faster than Spark as the OTG is now integrated vs feeling something like a hack job.
Flight Characteristics: I haven’t flown a lot, but I do feel the spark is a little more responsive. The Mini just feels a little sluggish. Given this is a camera drone and not an FPV racer, that doesn’t really bother me. It also could just be me getting used to a new drone. It's lower powered with smaller motors, so that is probably the reason.
Wind Performance: Good...pretty much same as spark. Amazing for something sub 250gms
Charging time: Painfully slow. Seems to be about 2 hours per battery. Rated charge time is 4.5hours for all 3. With a flymore combo and 3 batteries, not such a huge issue as you have almost 1.5 hours of flight time. I plan to get a 4th battery, which takes up to 2 hours. More than enough for a day trip
Weight: Yep, it’s light, not significantly lighter than the spark. I really don’t care about how heavy or light it feels, the only benefit is about registration. The Spark felt solid, the Mini does feel plasticky.
Video/Photos. Seems sharper than the spark? Not much in it though....especially when I publish in 1080. 2.7K or 1080p/60fps is definitely an upgrade. Gives me better options around cropping and slow motion.
Case: The case is well designed. Small but fits everything you need. (I can get my drone phone in there as well). So you just need to grab one case if you go away, you don’t need to get the case and a bunch of other stuff as well. The Spark bag was pretty good, but you couldn't get everything in there for a holiday (ie the charger took up too much space.
DJI Fly App: Seems OK. I thought I would miss the sports button, but the way you can go from P-C-S is actually pretty easy. Needs work on the display. Can be very hard to read the top messages, particularly with a white background. Needs to have a dark background I think
What I miss: Pano shots and Active Track. I knew it didn’t have it before I bought it so accept that, but also hoping they will introduce it at a later date. It’ just a software/app update there is no hardware reason it couldn’t. I also miss my portable charging station, but to be fair, with 1.5 hours of fly time on the mini, you don’t really need it.
Issues so far: - Flew 1.2K and disconnected then RTH’d. Far short from the 4K. Conditions weren’t ideal. I was in open land, but adjacent to housing, so could be a lot interference. 1.2K is plenty of distance, but it would be nice to know you had more buffer than that. Really need to test across water I think.
- “Aircraft Power Insufficient” warning message keeps popping up during flight. I see others are getting this message as well. Doesn’t affect flight at all, but annoying and a little concerning.
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