Got my spark and plan to open it at Chirstmas. Been reading this forum and many flayaway cases due to users, AC issues and many unknown things. Made me yo hsve second thought.

If users mistakes is the main flayaway, but how come not many flaywaway cases on mavic forum. Looks like mavic more stable and have stronger gps signal lock?

Can someone that have mavic & spark to confirm ?

Thanks

The Spark isn't even comparable to the Mavic.
Here's why: The Spark has literally half of Everything the Mavic has..(maybe even less)
First of all, the obstacles avoidance max range of spark is only 5 m (16ft) compared to 15 m (48ft) of Mavic. The Spark Cannot avoid obstacles if it is further than 100 metres (320 ft) away from your Home Point which could result in a crash if the RTH height is not set high enough.
The Mavic has twice as many Sensors compared to the spark. Whereas, Spark only a 1 of each which might cause your Spark to fly away if there are interference. These Sensors are Barometer, Accelerometer, gyroscope and most importantly, the Compass. This usually cause the spark to lose GPS positioning and cause it to drift away.
The Mavic's propulsion system is over powered and is very efficient while Spark is slightly underpowered and not that efficient which could easily get blown away by a strong wind. I occasionally get the "Max motor Speed" message with the Spark but have not even once experience this with my mavic.
The Mavic has ocusync which means it can resist much more interference and doesn't glitch out as the remote controls signals and video signals are separately transmitted. The Spark just have Wifi technology which is very prone to interference and quite unreliable and the range is way shorter. Some flyaway could have been avoided if the spark had longer range.
The Mavic battery is placed on top which means it is very unlikely it's going to fall out but the Spark's battery is at the bottom which could very likely fall out as it could shake itself out (remember those Sparks that fell out of the sky like a rock....)
The Spark only has one camera at the bottom for the actual VPS
so it's unreliable when there's no GPS (keeps switching to ATTI mode). The Mavic uses both the downward Vision sensor and the forward vision sensor for VPS (consisting of 4 cameras in total) so even if there isn't GPS, the Mavic just flies like a charm and doesn't just drift away.
Many Birds are not intimidated by the spark and they can easily knock it out of the sky.
So yes the mavic is less likely to fly away compared to the spark in any circumstances

Hi, Whosin. We would recommend users fly in recommended environment and place with good GPS signal. Please do a pre-flight check before flight. If your drone is under warranty, you  follow all the recommended suggestion and the accident is not caused by pilots, DJI will be responsible for the loss of users. Thanks for your support.  

I was in doubt for a very long time, but chose Mavic.
For me the Mavic has some advantages over Spark.
- Camera settings that can be changed (framerate, resolution, picture style etc) this was my main reason not to buy Spark.
- Controls can be adjusted in many more ways (for smooth motion)
- Second control dial on the remote (for adjusting the exposure / compensation)
- More flight modes that give some great results (home / course lock)
- Longer battery life

That is why I did not go for Spark.
BUT
Spark is a great piece of equipment for what it is designed to do. I think you can have a lot of fun with it and won't regret starting with the Spark if you don't need the first point I mentioned.
And Spark is much cheaper (also the batteries) and lighter (more easy to take with you.) and smaller when in the air (tight spaces)
So if I was not so keen on the first point, I would have bought Spark for sure!

Oh and Fly aways are probably not as common as you might believe when reading this forum.
Most owners won't tell how happy they are.
Just when something happens they come here.
(that is perfectly fine, but it might give some negative feeling about Spark)

And when analyzed, a lot of these cases have some user error involved.
I know a lot of happy Spark users that don't have their bird fly away.

What do you plan on doing with your drone?  My use is videos and photos of my family, pets, and property.  The drone is within eyesight, over lawns and farm fields, and flown with the same risk considerations I have for my RC model airplanes.  

Videos are of me painting the house's door trip while the Spark does a dronie.  Or a rocket video of us changing the shocks on the truck with our feet sticking out from under it.  I use it like a tall crane with a camera on it for snapshots of memories.   So the Spark is right for me.   I don't need the Mavic's extra abilities.  

Additionally, angry anti-drone people (I'm one) can be told the Spark is an air hogs toy that came with my kid's Spiderman playset.  It's just a toy.

Don't fly what you can't afford to lose is a rule for RC aircraft.  I can afford to lose a Spark.

djiuser_0VnFRZ5 Posted at 2017-12-19 20:24
The Spark isn't even comparable to the Mavic.
Here's why: The Spark has literally half of Everything the Mavic has..(maybe even less)
First of all, the obstacles avoidance max range of spark is only 5 m (16ft) compared to 15 m (48ft) of Mavic. The Spark Cannot avoid obstacles if it is further than 100 metres (320 ft) away from your Home Point which could result in a crash if the RTH height is not set high enough.

I think this is sum it up on why mavic more stable against interference that cause flyaway case. Thanks man. Need to exchange spark to mavic..

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-12-19 23:30
I was in doubt for a very long time, but chose Mavic.
For me the Mavic has some advantages over Spark.
- Camera settings that can be changed (framerate, resolution, picture style etc) this was my main reason not to buy Spark.

Additional feature that i might need for future enjoyment..  Thanks..

Gunship9 Posted at 2017-12-20 00:32
What do you plan on doing with your drone?  My use is videos and photos of my family, pets, and property.  The drone is within eyesight, over lawns and farm fields, and flown with the same risk considerations I have for my RC model airplanes.  

Videos are of me painting the house's door trip while the Spark does a dronie.  Or a rocket video of us changing the shocks on the truck with our feet sticking out from under it.  I use it like a tall crane with a camera on it for snapshots of memories.   So the Spark is right for me.   I don't need the Mavic's extra abilities.  

I am in agreement with you Gunship9 as the original plan is to have fun, families photo and try to avoid making scene - angry anti drone people

But the more i read this forum the more i scare of flyaway drone case..  The chance of flyaway is very high which thinking to upgrade to mavic..

More over the more you fly the drone, more enjoyment and the more you want to take it higher ground ... which spark doesn't fit to this long plan...

Whosin Posted at 2017-12-20 05:54
Additional feature that i might need for future enjoyment..  Thanks..

You're welcome.
Good luck with 'the choice'

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-12-19 23:32
Oh and Fly aways are probably not as common as you might believe when reading this forum.
Most owners won't tell how happy they are.
Just when something happens they come here.

So true. People are quick to spread negativity, but not as fast to give out the positives

jksphoto Posted at 2017-12-20 06:35
So true. People are quick to spread negativity, but not as fast to give out the positives

I can understand that.
Most people will go to a forum to ask about a problem.
So you will read mostly about issues here.
Simple logic.
But that is definitely not the whole story.

If its not the spark it would be something else, fly aways  are not limited to sparks only or even DJI, just pay attention to your surroundings and your satellites and learn to fly manually.

I hope you keep the spark. The spark is not a bad drone by all means. It's just different from the mavic. I love both the mavic and the spark as they're unique in their own ways. If you're an experienced pilot (who've flown those non-gps toy drone), you've no need to worry about flyaways as you can prevent it most of the time.
Remember: Flyaways are caused by user error (Not knowing what to do) and/or aircraft error (Interference). Usually it's a combination of both.
To prevent a possible flyaway, you need to keep your orientation of where the drone is and the orientation of the drone itself. You'll also need to know where you've taken off visually (by looking at your video transmission and see the take off location from above). You'll need to know to fight your drone back (like switching to sport mode and fly the right direction).
If all of them know how fly in ATTI mode and keep their orientation, flyaways would never occur.I hope you keep the spark. The spark is not a bad drone by all means. It's just different from the mavic. I love both the mavic and the spark as they're unique in their own ways. If you're an experienced pilot (who've flown those non-gps toy drone), you've no need to worry about flyaways as you can prevent it most of the time.
Remember: Flyaways are caused by user error (Not knowing what to do) and/or aircraft error (Interference). Usually it's a combination of both.
To prevent a possible flyaway, you need to keep your orientation of where the drone is and the orientation of the drone itself. You'll also need to know where you've taken off visually (by looking at your video transmission and see the take off location from above). You'll need to know to fight your drone back (like switching to sport mode and fly the right direction).
If all of them know how fly in ATTI mode and keep their orientation, flyaways would never occur.I hope you keep the spark. The spark is not a bad drone by all means. It's just different from the mavic. I love both the mavic and the spark as they're unique in their own ways. If you're an experienced pilot (who've flown those non-gps toy drone), you've no need to worry about flyaways as you can prevent it most of the time.
Remember: Flyaways are caused by user error (Not knowing what to do) and/or aircraft error (Interference). Usually it's a combination of both.
To prevent a possible flyaway, you need to keep your orientation of where the drone is and the orientation of the drone itself. You'll also need to know where you've taken off visually (by looking at your video transmission and see the take off location from above). You'll need to know to fight your drone back (like switching to sport mode and fly the right direction).
If all of them know how fly in ATTI mode and keep their orientation, those flyaways would never have occured.

I’ve complained here about the issue with the Android app, but in the end it was a $30 fix, which some of the larger drone owners also deal with.  Think part of the problem is these drones are complex and there is little support, as you can’t go back to the Amazon store and ask someone for guidance.  There would be fewer issues in the other drone forums as people buying the bigger drones have probably been through the set up, when not to fly and what not to do learning curves with smaller drones.

I’m happy with the Spark.  It’s easy to fly, stable, not so big and intrusive, with the prop guards on not as dangerous if it hits something or someone, takes nice pictures and video.  For me the Spark is a better less costly drone to learn with, and will likely be all I need.  More options and buttons is not always a good thing.

On xmas day you will be unboxing your first drone and want it in the air asap.

Whosin Posted at 2017-12-20 06:00
I am in agreement with you Gunship9 as the original plan is to have fun, families photo and try to avoid making scene - angry anti drone people

But the more i read this forum the more i scare of flyaway drone case..  The chance of flyaway is very high which thinking to upgrade to mavic..

If you are worried about it, the Mavic might be for you.  It has a more robust radio connection, more power to fight winds, and I think it has dual compasses so it won't go into ATTI mode as often or as easily.

The Spark would be no fun if you were constantly worried about it.  I'm not worried because my long time RC pilot skills can handle it if it tries to fly away or disobey me.  ATTI mode or compass errors won't bother me where I fly.  I don't fly over water