I love flying the Avata, but after 6 flights I've had to send it back to DJI.  They don't think there's anything wrong with it, but I've asked them to check some more.

I'm in Australia (FCC) and have been flying P4Ps for more than five years, the last two years on a v2 (Ocusync 2.0).  I quickly discovered that the signal strength with the Avata is worse than my P4.  Surely, that can't be right?  The Avata uses Ocusync 3.0+, the same as the Mavic 3 lineup, and two generations ahead of the P4Pv2.


Flying the P4 I mostly use the 2.4 Ghz channel, but have some experience on 5.8 Ghz.  The type of signal responses I'm getting on the Avata is similar to what I what I would expect to be getting on the P4 if using 5.8 Ghz.  While not having undertaken a specific range test, with unobstructed line-of-sight the range seems to be okay (not great).  However, with trees and terrain in the way, the signal starts to degrade quickly - which is typical 5.8 Ghz behaviour.  2.4 Ghz has far better penetration and bend-ability :-).

To give you an example, in one location where I fly, 125 metres from the controller, with a couple of trees and bushes in between, is a narrow gully.  As soon as I send the Avata into the gully and drop below the surrounding ground level, the signal disappears and RTH initiates.  With the P4 (on 2.4 GHz), I can bottom out - perhaps 2.5 metres down, and experience no noticable change in signal strength - not even a flicker on my screen!

This is not what I was expecting.  Before buying an Avata I watched a reviewer on YouTube with self-build FPV experience, marvel at the strength of the signal as he flew his Avata behind a large building and deep into a thickly wooded forest.


My understanding is that the Avata will choose the band with the best signal strength - but how can I confirm if 2.4 GHz is being used and at the right power setting (i.e. FCC, not CE)?  There's an option to manually select the band and channel within the band (unsure re terminology?).  However, in the manual selection menu, only 5.8 GHz is present.  This is how it's supposed to work, I'm told by the repair centre here in Melbourne... you can't manually select 2.4 GHz, but it's there and the drone will use it if it provides the stronger signal.

Guys, if you've previously flown an Ocusync 2.0 drone (Mini 2/2 SE/3, Mavic 2/2 Pro/2 Zoom/Air 2, P4 Pro v2), how would you compare that transmission to the Avata's?  Do you think my new drone is faulty, and if so, how do I get DJI to admit it?

All I can say is that the Avata has far better transmission than any of my O2 birds, back to my P4A. Matter of fact, I mostly fly the Avata in wooded areas.

KLRSKIR Posted at 12-14 04:52
All I can say is that the Avata has far better transmission than any of my O2 birds, back to my P4A. Matter of fact, I mostly fly the Avata in wooded areas.

Thanks.  That's exactly what I would have expected.

Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. This is not the experience we want you to have. Rest assured that our team will conduct further testing as you request to identify the main cause of the issue. Please note that the DJI Avata uses the O3 image transmission standard which is much better than the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 O2 video transmission. If you have inquiries about your existing repair case, please don't hesitate to reach us. We appreciate your understanding and support.