Review of DJI Goggles After 2 Weeks
3844 19 2017-7-18
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TheMann58
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Background: I own the DJI Goggles, P4Pro and P4 and all have been updated to the latest firmware versions available as of the date of this post.  I have been flying DJI aircraft for over 2 years and have over 7 million feet and 86 hours of flight experience.

What I like about the DJI Goggles:
1) DJI Goggles LCD image is bright and clear, especially when the Goggles are connected to the HDMI port on a P4 or P4Pro equipped with an HDMI module. The apparent resolution of the live video image displayed in the Goggles is acceptable (720P), relatively non-pixelated, and refreshes quickly when flying with the Goggles connected to P4/P4Pro RC HDMI port and, especially when flying the P4Pro in 5.8 GHz Auto HD mode, which yields the highest quality live video image with the P4Pro at distances up to several miles from the RC.
2) Goggles are well-designed and balance well on the head with the battery weight in the back of the head band counterbalancing the weight of the large Goggles element in the front. The padding on the DJI Goggles headband is high quality, generous and feels very comfortable. The ability to adjust the head band size for a comfortable, custom fit using a wheel on the top or bottom of the head band works extremely well and can be quickly changed for another user.
3) The ability to flip the Goggles up with one hand to be able to check your tablet (when flying in HDMI connection mode) or to do any work requiring a view of your surroundings is a very useful (can't live without it) feature. Unfortunately, flipping the Goggles back down over your eyes is a two-handed operation with one hand pulling the Goggles down and the other hand holding on to the headband in the back.
4) Both Head Tracking Gimbal and Head Tracking Flight modes work with my P4Pro (but note comments below).
5) Head Tracking Gimbal mode works with my P4, but Head Tracking Flight mode does NOT currently work with my P4. This has been confirmed by at least two other P4 owners on these forums.
6) The built-in DJI GO flight app and touch pad interface are well thought out and together these features mean you are getting a touch-interface mobile device and superior Goggles for a relatively cheap price of US$450. However, you will need to spend several hours getting familiar with how to navigate intelligently through the flight app menus using the touchpad menu system and to gain familiarity with where all the camera options, HDMI connection options, Record Stop/Start, Auto Take-off, Camera Focus, etc. features are located.
7) Battery life of the DJI Goggles is more than acceptable - good for several hours of flying time.
8) DJI includes both a right-angle full-size to micro HDMI cable and a full-size to mini USB cable in the box. You will need an adapter to connect the HDMI cable to the mini HDMI port on the DJI HDMI module accessory add-on for the P4/P4Pro RC. The supplied USB cable can be connected directly from the DJI Goggles to the full-size USB port on the P4/P4Pro RC (with or without an HDMI module accessory).
9) It is possible to Focus the P4Pro camera using the "Function" button on the bottom of the Goggles to display the focus cursor, then move your head around to adjust the focus point, and then tapping the touchpad to focus camera lens at the desired point on the screeen. It is CRITICAL that you learn to do this at the beginning of (and during) every flight because it is not easy to determine if the image is properly focused just by looking at the live video image displayed on the Goggles. I strongly suggest you activate Continuous AutoFocus option with the RC connected to your tablet as I have not found this feature ON/OFF switch in the Goggles menus.

What Could be Improved / Better Implemented to Improve User Experience with DJI Goggles:
1) I find that, currently, Head Tracking Gimbal and Head Tracking Flight modes are only a gimmick - something fun to try maybe once or twice. Head Tracking Gimbal mode can also be entertaining for a friend to wear the Goggles while you fly it LOS and they can "look around" while you fly the aircraft.  However, neither of these Head Tracking modes can currently be used for recording any serious, cinematic video. Why? - because the P4/P4Pro gimbal appears to respond digitally to even tiny head movements - that is, gimbal movements appear to be incremental (step-based) and not smooth relative to head movements - no matter how slowly you move your head.  
2) With current firmware limitations, you must first connect your iOS or Android tablet to the P4 or P4Pro RC, power up both the RC and the P4/P4Pro, and then switch the USB cable connected to the RC from the tablet to the DJI Goggles in order to get past the 150 feet max distance from home point "Beginner Mode" limitation.
3) In my experience, the current apparent live video quality/resolution of the DJI Goggles when connected to the USB port on the P4 or P4Pro is poorer and more pixelated than the live video image displayed on my iPad Air 2 or iPad Pro 10.5" tablet when connected to the same RC USB port. I don't know why. The 720P/30 live view mode actually looks better than 720P/60 Smooth mode or the 1080P mode due to increased pixelation at what should be higher resolution modes. The apparent resolution of all three modes, in my opinion, looks more like 640x400 (or worse) based on the gross pixelation that occurs when the P4 or P4Pro is flying and the live video image does not appear to be able to refresh quickly enough to produce a decent image. There appears to be significant image compression occurring with the DJI Goggles connected to the RC USB port. Hopefully, firmware updates will improve/optimize this video quality issue going forward.
4) If you select 720p/60 Smooth Mode or 1080/30 HD live view mode with the DJI Goggles, you are restricted to filming in 1080p mode on the P4 or P4Pro (i.e., 4K video recording is not available in these live view modes). NOTE: The best quality image with the DJI Goggles with minimal pixelation and image compression is obtained by connecting to the HDMI port of the P4 or P4Pro RC equipped with an HDMI module and operating (on the P4Pro) in 5.8 GHz Auto HD mode. However, with the DJI Goggles connected to the HDMI port on the RC, you will also need to connect a tablet to the RC so that you can control the aircraft with the DJI GO 4 app running on the tablet.
5) I have been unable to successfully upload Flight Records that appear to be stored on the DJI Goggles (and only on the DJI Goggles) from flights where the Goggles were connected to the RC USB port and no tablet was in use. There is an Upload Records option on the DJI Assistant 2 app that displays a list of what appear to be Flight Records (file names all start with FlightRecord...) with the Goggles connected to the PC with a USB cable, BUT selecting the check box next to one or more of these records and hitting Upload Records results in "Upload Failed" message with EVERY attempt.

Overall, based on current firmware and DJI Goggles app software limitations, using the DJI Goggles is not the most user-friendly, immersive experience. Hopefully, DJI will continue to improve the firmware to remove above limitations and improve the user experience, just as they have done with all the DJI Phantom and Inspire aircraft I have owned over the past 2-1/2 years.


2017-7-18
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Aardvark
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A well written and thought out report on the Goggles. My experience with the Goggles (albeit more limited than yours) used with my Phantom 4, has been similar in almost every detail. Raising the Goggles with one hand works for me, but pulling down back into place I need to use two hands, one to hold headband in place.

With the two immediate problems of:-

'Head tracking flight' not working correctly (Gimbal moves vertically but aircraft does not 'Yaw' with horizontal head movement.

And the flight logs gathered by Assistant 2 not uploading to DJI Cloud.
2017-7-18
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TheMann58
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Aardvark Posted at 2017-7-18 07:50
A well written and thought out report on the Goggles. My experience with the Goggles (albeit more limited than yours) used with my Phantom 4, has been similar in almost every detail. Raising the Goggles with one hand works for me, but pulling down back into place I need to use two hands, one to hold headband in place.

With the two immediate problems of:-

Aardvark,

Thanks for the compliments.  I agree with your comment that pulling the Goggles back down over your eyes after raising them is a two-handed operation, which gets really complicated if you also have a tablet attached to your RC. You need at least three hands to keep the RC/tablet from tipping over while attached to the lanyard while futzing with the Goggles.
2017-7-18
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Steve.Davis717
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I can confirm the exact same experiences with my P4, disappointing but tolerable I guess. Where are you finding the Flight data on the goggles?
2017-7-19
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TheMann58
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Steve.Davis717 Posted at 2017-7-19 06:01
I can confirm the exact same experiences with my P4, disappointing but tolerable I guess. Where are you finding the Flight data on the goggles?

To access Flight Records on the DJI Goggles, connect your P4 or P4Pro to your PC with a USB cable and open DJI Assistant 2 program.  Click on your aircraft on the left side of screen. Then on the left side of program screen you will see an Upload Records option.
2017-7-19
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Aardvark
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TheMann58 Posted at 2017-7-19 08:08
To access Flight Records on the DJI Goggles, connect your P4 or P4Pro to your PC with a USB cable and open DJI Assistant 2 program.  Click on your aircraft on the left side of screen. Then on the left side of program screen you will see an Upload Records option.

Now that's interesting, I thought I was looking at the flight records when I plug Goggles into PC and Assistant 2. I'll have to recheck.

Edit:- Perhaps a duplicate of what's recorded on aircraft.
2017-7-19
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Steve.Davis717
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TheMann58 Posted at 2017-7-19 08:08
To access Flight Records on the DJI Goggles, connect your P4 or P4Pro to your PC with a USB cable and open DJI Assistant 2 program.  Click on your aircraft on the left side of screen. Then on the left side of program screen you will see an Upload Records option.

I am running DJI Assistant 2 on the mac so maybe mine is a little different. When I get to the data upload page, I just getting a spinning cursor like it's thinking but not showing any data.
2017-7-19
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Steve.Davis717
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Aardvark Posted at 2017-7-19 13:58
Now that's interesting, I thought I was looking at the flight records when I plug Goggles into PC and Assistant 2. I'll have to recheck.

Edit:- Perhaps a duplicate of what's recorded on aircraft.

Found the flight data on the goggles. I was able to upload it to DJI, at least I think that's where they went. Lol. However about about 20 minutes, I can't seem to sync that uploaded data in DJI GO app.
2017-7-19
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TheMann58
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Steve.Davis717 Posted at 2017-7-19 15:50
Found the flight data on the goggles. I was able to upload it to DJI, at least I think that's where they went. Lol. However about about 20 minutes, I can't seem to sync that uploaded data in DJI GO app.

Well, I guess that's not too surprising that you can't sync the DJI Goggles flight records in the DJI GO 4 app after successfully uploading them from the DJI Goggles using the DJI Assistant 2 app.  

When I upload flight records created while using an Android tablet running DJI GO 4 those flight records will NOT show up in the DJI GO 4 app running on an Apple iOS iPad no matter how many times I sync all records on both devices. However, flight records created while running the DJI GO 4 app on the iPad WILL sync and show up later in the DJI GO 4 app running on an Android device.  I love inconsistency.
2017-7-20
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DJI Thor
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Thank you for the feedback, I'll transfer these to our engineers.
But for the point 2, I would like to explain this. If the drone had not connected to the DJI GO 4 app with a login account, the drone will be limited as the same case as users had not logged in the app.
I'll inform this case to our engineers, too.
Should you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us. We'd glad to help.

2017-7-25
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TheMann58
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DJI Thor Posted at 2017-7-25 01:38
Thank you for the feedback, I'll transfer these to our engineers.
But for the point 2, I would like to explain this. If the drone had not connected to the DJI GO 4 app with a login account, the drone will be limited as the same case as users had not logged in the app.
I'll inform this case to our engineers, too.

DJI Thor -

Thanks for the reply and for passing on my feedback to your engineers.  I have been flying DJI Phantom aircraft for 2.5 years (Phantom 2 V 3+, Phantom 3 Pro, Phantom 4, Phantom 4 Pro) and I have an Inspire 1.  I love flying these aircraft and recording amazing video and I believe the DJI Goggles will ultimately prove to be a valuable tool in my cinematic recording endeavors.  The firmware on all my DJI hardware has improved over time - I'm sure this will be true for the DJI Goggles as well.
2017-7-26
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DJI Thor
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TheMann58 Posted at 2017-7-26 23:32
DJI Thor -

Thanks for the reply and for passing on my feedback to your engineers.  I have been flying DJI Phantom aircraft for 2.5 years (Phantom 2 V 3+, Phantom 3 Pro, Phantom 4, Phantom 4 Pro) and I have an Inspire 1.  I love flying these aircraft and recording amazing video and I believe the DJI Goggles will ultimately prove to be a valuable tool in my cinematic recording endeavors.  The firmware on all my DJI hardware has improved over time - I'm sure this will be true for the DJI Goggles as well.

Thanks for the support to our product, and appreciate the feedback after using it, that means a lot to us. We will keep moving to optimize the products.
2017-7-28
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Genghis9
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Thanks for your thorough review.  I just received my goggles, before my aircraft has arrived (yes cart is before the horse) and I'm interested in getting them set up and updated (if needed).  Can you provide any newbie pointers and gotchas I should look out for?  Also, with all these recent updates can you confirm is this Flt Log upload issue still a problem or is there an explanation for it, I'm a little confused about what the problem might be based on reading the below threads?

Thank you
2017-8-3
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TheMann58
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Genghis9 Posted at 2017-8-3 10:21
Thanks for your thorough review.  I just received my goggles, before my aircraft has arrived (yes cart is before the horse) and I'm interested in getting them set up and updated (if needed).  Can you provide any newbie pointers and gotchas I should look out for?  Also, with all these recent updates can you confirm is this Flt Log upload issue still a problem or is there an explanation for it, I'm a little confused about what the problem might be based on reading the below threads?

Thank you

Still no success in uploading flight records from the DJI Goggles to my DJI account with the DJI Goggles connected to the DJI Assistant 2 program running on my PC.

One additional tip - if you currently need reading glasses (or if you don't need reading glasses to read a newspaper BUT you are over 50), you will likely need reading glasses to see the DJI Goggles LCD screens clearly. You will typically need reading glasses about 0.75 to 1.0 diopter STRONGER prescription than normal reading glasses to clearly see the screens. There is no diopter adjustment for the LCD screens.

Easy way to determine if you will need reading glasses to clearly see the DJI Goggles LCD screens is to hold a magazine or other small print about 4 inches in front of your face. If you can't clearly focus on the small print at that close range, you will also have problems focusing on the DJI Goggles LCD screens, which are the equivalent of about 4 inches distance from your eyes.  You can buy a cheap pair of readers at you local drug store or I just ordered this solution for the DJI Goggles called Focus Fixers from an enterprising end user: https://www.focus-fixers.com/
2017-8-5
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Agent7837
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Do you know for user over 50 YO if the lense focus is adjustable enought to get close to 5.0 lense focus? Can you elaborate on this side?
2017-8-5
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TheMann58
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Agent7837 Posted at 2017-8-5 15:49
Do you know for user over 50 YO if the lense focus is adjustable enought to get close to 5.0 lense focus? Can you elaborate on this side?

There is no manually adjustable lens focus (diopter adjustment) whatsoever provided on the DJI Goggles. So, if you currently wear reading glasses or have any difficulty focusing on tiny print 4 inches from your eyes, you will either need to wear reading glasses or install the after-market option I noted in earlier post (called Focus Fixers) in order to clearly see the LCD screens in the DJI Goggles.
2017-8-5
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Genghis9
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TheMann58 Posted at 2017-8-5 13:38
Still no success in uploading flight records from the DJI Goggles to my DJI account with the DJI Goggles connected to the DJI Assistant 2 program running on my PC.

One additional tip - if you currently need reading glasses (or if you don't need reading glasses to read a newspaper BUT you are over 50), you will likely need reading glasses to see the DJI Goggles LCD screens clearly. You will typically need reading glasses about 0.75 to 1.0 diopter STRONGER prescription than normal reading glasses to clearly see the screens. There is no diopter adjustment for the LCD screens.

  
TheMann
  
Got it, and thanks!
  
I've already addressed my need for readers, I do need them, but I will look at the link you supplied.  I am looking to buy a set just to put with my goggles so I'll have a pair handy and ready for use.  I've had this problem with other viewing devices before so I'm not surprised about the need for this item too.  It would be nice if they had built in a way to adjust for that, but the workaround is easily used and the addition of that capability to the goggles would likely drive the cost up more.
  
If you think of anything more or useful to pass along please do.
  
Fly Safe!
2017-8-5
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Aardvark
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I will be getting a pair of reading glasses made up, optician said it should be straight forward, same prescription as previous (9 months ago, no problems since), but with an adjustment to reading distance needed.
2017-8-6
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neonadler
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Thanks for your wonderful and detailed experience description.

For the part "What Could be Improved / Better Implemented to Improve User Experience with DJI Goggles":
1) We have done some optimizations on head tracking features in the comming firmware release. Please upgrade to that firmware version.

2) This is due to security consideration. Drone users are required to do identity authentication before leaving Beginner Mode.

3)  We are checking this.

4) This is limited by Drone performance.

5) Could help to provide your firmware version?
2017-8-16
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bnewman
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Why in the world does the exposure wheel on the controller not work with the DJI Goggles when they are plugged into the USB port?   I have no desire to take my hand off the controller and reach up to navigate through the goggle menus just to change shutter speed, ISO, etc. (which I do very frequently).  
2017-12-20
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