The mavic air is pretty hyped and exaggerated but is simply a spark improvement.
Air uses improved wifi and is limited to 2.5miles compared to the mavic which has almost 3x more. This matters a lot if there are obstructions, the pro can do the job but the air can't.

The mavic air's smaller size does not really matter in portability. Anything smaller than the mavic pro is pretty pointless. It does not open any new opportunities but rather to say you got an even smaller drone.

The mavic air is slightly louder than the regular mavic pro. So the platinum is simply much quieter, no competition there.

The flight time of the platinum is almost double.

The mavic air has no advantage except the cheaper price which may not be the case once the platinum gets discounted price. And the crash durability.

Nice opinion. I love my Air... If anyone out there actually reads this post and wants some real world clarification, i've posted a few videos I've done with my mavic air. Compare those to peoples Spark vids and form your own opinion. Happy flying

Whatever you need to think to make yourself feel better. How is 4 miles vs 2.5 miles 3x? Smaller isn't more portable?

We need some peanut butter for this Jelly.
'

CSMelzer Posted at 2018-3-5 18:58
Nice opinion. I love my Air... If anyone out there actually reads this post and wants some real world clarification, i've posted a few videos I've done with my mavic air. Compare those to peoples Spark vids and form your own opinion. Happy flying

There's opinion but it involves truth in battery, range and noise

Jeff7577 Posted at 2018-3-5 19:04
Whatever you need to think to make yourself feel better. How is 4 miles vs 2.5 miles 3x? Smaller isn't more portable?

We need some peanut butter for this Jelly.

A roach is more portable than an ant? Lol
Unless you're putting it on your underwear then yes that makes a difference

Range is double in real world test both stick without antenna

Jeff7577 Posted at 2018-3-5 19:04
Whatever you need to think to make yourself feel better. How is 4 miles vs 2.5 miles 3x? Smaller isn't more portable?

We need some peanut butter for this Jelly.

I don't feel better to see you pay twice a spark for a spark

Mavic air is just peanuts.
The platinum is the butter.
(Literally and truly)

There is always good and bad. Everyone will have their own opinion, by the way which Mavic you own?

kfloke Posted at 2018-3-5 20:38
There is always good and bad. Everyone will have their own opinion, by the way which Mavic you own?

About to get the platinum

djiuser_fiQgdFqHaUQg Posted at 2018-3-5 20:40
About to get the platinum

In your assessment of the Mavic Air vs the Mavic Pro, you seem to have done what a number of people have done and given a subjective opinion. Enjoy your Mavic Pro when you get it. It's an incredible machine and the best option if you want the increased flight time and range.

I looked at my options and decided to go with the Mavic Air and I'm not disappointed with my choice. There are more advantages to the Air than you are giving it credit for, but that's OK. It's probably just that those things aren't important to you, which is why the Mavic Pro is a better choice for you.

djiuser_fiQgdFqHaUQg Posted at 2018-3-5 20:40
About to get the platinum

Good choice . I'm debating to get Air or Pro and decided to go for Air due to the portability.

Even though my area have a lot of interference and cannot fly far, I still love the Air cos much more portable to bring around with me...

Tom_A Posted at 2018-3-5 20:58
In your assessment of the Mavic Air vs the Mavic Pro, you seem to have done what a number of people have done and given a subjective opinion. Enjoy your Mavic Pro when you get it. It's an incredible machine and the best option if you want the increased flight time and range.

I looked at my options and decided to go with the Mavic Air and I'm not disappointed with my choice. There are more advantages to the Air than you are giving it credit for, but that's OK. It's probably just that those things aren't important to you, which is why the Mavic Pro is a better choice for you.

I agree!!!

I have all 3 Mavics and even though I do agree the Air is somewhat 'hyped and exaggerated', but I'm afraid that I will pick the Air if and only if I were to choose only 1 out of the 3.

I can't believe this is still an ongoing discussion. People should get whatever they think fits better their needs. I watched the launch from the MA and decided I want to have the MPP so I went for it.

Thanks to you guys, poor OP is now thoroughly confused ..  he was better off just buying whatever he preferred rather than posting a comparison thread here..

If you ask me there is room for all the models right now.

If you want 'cheap' and 'fun' go for Spark. (with a decent camera as a bonus)
If you want a bit more control, flight range, higher bitrate etc. go for Mavic Air.
If you want to have all the flight modes, profiles, long flight time and better lens, go for Mavic Pro. (that one only lacks the 100Mb/s bitrate if you ask me)
And if you are really serious and don't mind the size etc, go for a bigger one!

Montfrooij Posted at 2018-3-5 23:20
If you ask me there is room for all the models right now.

If you want 'cheap' and 'fun' go for Spark. (with a decent camera as a bonus)

I think thats says it all

A CW Posted at 2018-3-5 23:32
I think thats says it all

Thanks!

For as much as I love the original Pro and the Platinum, the tilted horizon is becoming more and more unacceptable the more I use the Air. I really wish my Platinum had the Air’s way flatter horizon, and also the ‘reverse’ and ‘free’ modes in TapFly.

Wow, thank you for sharing this testimony and getting me off of cloud nine. I really wished you've elaborated this sooner because now you left me disillusioned...
Here I was, enjoying every aspect of my Mavic Air, thinking it would fit my every need, small enough to take it on every roadtrip, shooting great pictures and 4K video only to find out now that I merely bought an upgraded Spark. Oh boy, did I miss out....
Now I'm really puzzled, what should I do??? Please give me some advise Opening Poster, should I sell this piece of crap and buy a real drone that is worth buying???

LoSBoL Posted at 2018-3-6 01:13
Wow, thank you for sharing this testimony and getting me off of cloud nine. I really wished you've elaborated this sooner because now you left me disillusioned...
Here I was, enjoying every aspect of my Mavic Air, thinking it would fit my every need, small enough to take it on every roadtrip, shooting great pictures and 4K video only to find out now that I merely bought an upgraded Spark. Oh boy, did I miss out....
Now I'm really puzzled, what should I do??? Please give me some advise Opening Poster, should I sell this piece of crap and buy a real drone that is worth buying???

I went into the same trap and you see me devastated now in view of the brutal truth...

Wachtberger Posted at 2018-3-6 01:21
I went into the same trap and you see me devastated now in view of the brutal truth...

Looks like we're in the same boat Wachtberger... Now what should we do?  I'm afraid the word might be out now and nobody would be dumb enough to take it of our hands.

;)

LoSBoL Posted at 2018-3-6 01:25
Looks like we're in the same boat Wachtberger... Now what should we do?  I'm afraid the word might be out now and nobody would be dumb enough to take it of our hands.

;)

As I always say, there are things in life one has to go through and there are situations where only one thing helps, that is keeping your composure. ;-)

As I heard similar from another learned user...(It was funny...)

I will offer you my standard $100 recovery fee for your drones, as they are no longer compatible in todays world.
Please pm me your account details and passwords, and if you still keep your back door key under that plant pot on the left....

LoSBoL Posted at 2018-3-6 01:25
Looks like we're in the same boat Wachtberger... Now what should we do?  I'm afraid the word might be out now and nobody would be dumb enough to take it of our hands.

;)

It’s a crowded boat

Hmm, funny how people see how the different models fit.

From my perspective I watched all the product launches and only the Air piqued my interest enough to buy.

MP - nice but too expensive and big for my use, wont fit in my EDC pack along with my mirrorless camera to supplement it
Spark - great size but not as advanced as I needed and I didn't get why it wasn't foldable which would have made it even smaller. Also price goes up when you have to buy the controller
MA - perfect (for now) balance of size, image quality and price. Best fit for my current needs. Fits my pack, but has excellent 4k and photos. Can take it as an EDC but also good enough to stitch pics together and print them large for the wall.

I am also just barely getting by with my upgraded Spark. Having a higher frame rate camera, greater portability, 3 directional obstacle avoidance, higher bitrate, internal storage, faster high speed, gesture controls, and more quick shot features are just so utterly useless when compared to oh so superior Mavic Pro and Platinum. Excuse me, I have to go find the nearest Mavic Pro owner and bow to their superiority now.

Also where did the OP learn math. Almost 3x the distance??? Almost 2x more flight time????????

Hang on a minute.... the OP doesn't own either drone..... well I bow to his/her experience and join the crew of the sinking MA ship/boat.

I own a Platinum, an Air and a Spark. I love all of them but since getting the Air I fly it the most. I’m giving my Spark away to a friend. They all have their uses. I  love my Air the most.

Montfrooij Posted at 2018-3-5 23:20
If you ask me there is room for all the models right now.

If you want 'cheap' and 'fun' go for Spark. (with a decent camera as a bonus)

As my Dad always said "There's an ass for every seat" and my ass will fit in every seat I can afford !

QuadKid Posted at 2018-3-6 12:34
As my Dad always said "There's an ass for every seat" and my ass will fit in every seat I can afford !

Wise words

Theres always a trade off size/portability vs flight time/speed/performance.  While a lot of people have characterized the Mavic Air as a Spark II but I think that while the Spark 2 might get 4K, it probably will still only have a 2-axis gimbal and be limited 30fps and have its options limited, like .JPG only (no raw), no flat color profiles or D-log, etc. like the mavic air and mavic pro have.  

If you look at the new Ryze Tello, you can see what sort of capabilities of a drone using only image stabilization with no gimbal.  where you have to be careful is when the camera has a wide angle lens with a lot of distortion, so the image stabilization causes wierd distortions of the stabilized image.  

M2Wair Posted at 2018-3-6 10:53
Hang on a minute.... the OP doesn't own either drone..... well I bow to his/her experience and join the crew of the sinking MA ship/boat.

Very good observation that I had forgotten to mention in my responses. It must have been a great intuition that overcame OP and providing him superior wisdom while being deprived from first hand experience. A glass bowl (or other substances) might have helped him to achieve such an accurate assessment of the serious crisis we are facing now.

I have both MA and MP and I do agree that there was too much MA hype.
One example is comment about focus-free lens feature.
There is no such thing as focus-free lens, it is a fixed focus lens which means that you can't choose focus plane.
One other feature on MP that was often over looked is the remote.
MP remote has many more controls but only the only feature that was often mentioned was the "useless" or redundant built-in display.
I can go on but I will stop here.
I'm definitely looking forward for the real upgrade Mavic Pro 2.

2x more flight time?!?!? Stop spreading misleading information! If you wanna know the real number here it is: 27/21 ~ 1,29x, the Mavic Pro has about 1,29x more floght time. Not even close to 2x more flight time, actually in that case you are better off saying that the MP has the same flight time ;)

From my perspective (pretty neutral as I don’t own any of them) I would say that the MA is closer to the Mavic Pro than the Spark. The only part I can agree on is that the MA is overhyped but that is the importance of having the ultimate transmission signal aswell. Don’t take me wrong, it’s something to consider when buying but for some people, having 7km instead of 4km is dealbreaking even if they have to pay $200 more AND lose on other great features. Right now, the ONLY real advantage of the MP is video transmission type and MA is better in so many other ways. Right now for most people, MA is a better drone even if they were priced the same. It really outweighs it’s cons compared to the MP.

Jeff7577 Posted at 2018-3-5 19:04
Whatever you need to think to make yourself feel better. How is 4 miles vs 2.5 miles 3x? Smaller isn't more portable?

We need some peanut butter for this Jelly.

Lol. True . a case of drone elightism i suspect