They are discounting the Mavic Air because I can only guess not many people buy drones in the first months of the year, after the holidays and when it's really cold outside.

I am sure they are working on a Mavic Air 2, and the most likely upgrade is a better video transmission, maybe slightly improved batteries and other software features like waypoints and motion lapse. All other upgrades would probably mean a less compact drone, and they already have other models for that.

On the other hand, DJI's priority is probably to want the drones to remain legal and not being forbidden in many countries, and the current video transmission for the Mavic Air is already more than enough.

My main issue with the Mavic Air is the noise (compared to larger drones), but I don't think they can do much about it, while keeping the drone small and folding, unless they make the propellers larger and removable.
Given the bad press about drones currently, I am sure making them quieter and safer is DJI's priority.

Boffin Posted at 1-27 04:14
One question remains for me. Is this technology is developed by DJI or someone else?

Occusync is a later development of Lightbridge.

Thanks for your explanation. No, you are right MA doesn't have this power.

A CW Posted at 1-27 00:01
It is a difficult one to decide when to buy so you don't end up with buyers remorse given an imminent new release just after. Hard to say when or even if a Mavic 2 Air will hit the market. Given how much you love the original Mavic Pro I would stretch the budget and buy an M2 Pro or Zoom given that the chance of an M3 being released this side of 2020 is slim.

I think the reason for the price drop is that nobody is buying the Mavic Air now - it's more than a year old and the Mavic 2 models have blown it out the water. DJI are not even investing FW updates in it either despite the software issues reported en masse. The M2 Pro has dropped £50 here too from £1349 to £1299 on Amazon but that is clever marketing as it was priced at £1299 when first released 5-6 months ago.

Nobody is buying the Mavic Air now? I think not many people are buying a Mavic Pro 2, given its high price.

The Mavic Air is half the price, and can do the vast majority of what a MP2 can do...

TedBob Posted at 2-4 20:20
Nobody is buying the Mavic Air now? I think not many people are buying a Mavic Pro 2, given its high price.

The Mavic Air is half the price, and can do the vast majority of what a MP2 can do...

Do you own a Mavic 2 Pro? I guess not to make such a statement. One thing I have learned in this hobby is never to judge a drone/product until I've owned it and used it. I've owned the Mavic Air and can assure you in my personal experience that there is huge difference between them. The Mavic Air is now being discounted everywhere to maintain sales - at 12-13 months old it has become old tech. Fact!

Well I for one hope they do because I will buy one so my vote is more wishful thinking than being based upon reality!

The size of the Air appeals to me but the thing is I bought the M2P with Smart Controller so would only entertain the thought of a second DJI drone if I could control it with my existing Smart Controller.

Even if they do release a Mavic Air 2 I bet I wouldn't be able to just purchase the aircraft on its own though...

-=Glyn=-

The Mavic Air becomes appealing to me based on the style to some of my flights.  I have a Spark and Mavic Pro, and to be honest, I live and my backyard is next to a completely empty area that promotes drone flying, so generally I like to get in a flight from my backyard every so often. The Spark can cover much ground and it has worked well, jus not the stability and control of the Mavic Pro, but I like how the Spark gets up and going so quickly and it can travel at 30-31mph, while the Mavic Pro is not really designed to fly in Sports Mode and therefore I feel like the Mavic Air would perform just like my Spark flying this same flight pattern, except the Mavic Air can fly 45mph, so I believe then there would be excellent ground footage and covered area by the Mavic Air, obviously the Mavic Pro can do whatever the Mavic Air can and better, it's just that putting up the Mavic Pro form my backyard sometimes feels like it's a little more of a production than my Spark, which the Mavic Air would also probably act like except I'm weary how loud it can be. I just got from DJI the low-noise Mavic Pro gold tip props that literally nobody near my home even can hear the Mavic Pro take-off or fly in the air. It's amazing how quiet these props can make the Mavic Pro.

A CW Posted at 2-5 00:29
Do you own a Mavic 2 Pro? I guess not to make such a statement. One thing I have learned in this hobby is never to judge a drone/product until I've owned it and used it. I've owned the Mavic Air and can assure you in my personal experience that there is huge difference between them. The Mavic Air is now being discounted everywhere to maintain sales - at 12-13 months old it has become old tech. Fact!

I don't owe a Mavic 2 Pro (and will never at the current price, as a matter of principles) but you are the one being loose with facts, making sweeping statements like "nobody buys a Mavic Air anymore". Was that a fact? You are just inferring that, because the Mavic Air price has dropped, nobody buys it.

I am pretty sure DJI is selling more Mavic Airs than Mavic 2 Pros.... Until something else comes on the market with the same form-factor but with higher spec (either from DJI or competitors), it's not really old tech...

In term of value for money, the Mavic Air is outstanding. I am always amazed about the quality of the video footage on mine, and I am not convinced the videos recorded would have been dramatically better on a Mavic 2 Pro, costing more than twice the price.

davidmartingraf Posted at 2-5 11:47
The Mavic Air becomes appealing to me based on the style to some of my flights.  I have a Spark and Mavic Pro, and to be honest, I live and my backyard is next to a completely empty area that promotes drone flying, so generally I like to get in a flight from my backyard every so often. The Spark can cover much ground and it has worked well, jus not the stability and control of the Mavic Pro, but I like how the Spark gets up and going so quickly and it can travel at 30-31mph, while the Mavic Pro is not really designed to fly in Sports Mode and therefore I feel like the Mavic Air would perform just like my Spark flying this same flight pattern, except the Mavic Air can fly 45mph, so I believe then there would be excellent ground footage and covered area by the Mavic Air, obviously the Mavic Pro can do whatever the Mavic Air can and better, it's just that putting up the Mavic Pro form my backyard sometimes feels like it's a little more of a production than my Spark, which the Mavic Air would also probably act like except I'm weary how loud it can be. I just got from DJI the low-noise Mavic Pro gold tip props that literally nobody near my home even can hear the Mavic Pro take-off or fly in the air. It's amazing how quiet these props can make the Mavic Pro.

The noise, transmission glitches and compass issues were the main reasons I sold my Mavic Air. Lots of good prices on it now - though I expect it will be discontinued later this year mate so will undoubtedly price drop even more.

One local retailer (a friend) has stopped stocking/selling DJI drones in a large country town near where I live.
When I asked why (over a few beers) he said that he had too many support issues with people returning them or asking for help (many with basic beginners errors, unsuitable phones etc).

Due to Australian consumer laws, he was obliged to repair, replace or refund (customer's choice)!

I showed him my CASA app Can I Fly There? and pointed out that his shop and most of the town where many of his customers came from was in the middle of a large NFZ  (Airport, hospital and firefighting helipads all over the place). No wonder these people could not fly!

The Gatwick 'incident' and the adverse publicity resulting in that new Australian laws were announced in the media within 24 hours meant that sales nose-dived over Xmas.

Only good thing to come out of it is that he has some spares (props and batteries) that I can purchase at a massive discount and as I live well outside the local NFZ I might have to take them off his hands

No drone deserves wifi over ocusync.... but only the time will tell if dji is willing to risk somewhat lower margins for the hopes of better sales and gain in absolute profit.

Boffin Posted at 2-6 00:34
One local retailer (a friend) has stopped stocking/selling DJI drones in a large country town near where I live.
When I asked why (over a few beers) he said that he had too many support issues with people returning them or asking for help (many with basic beginners errors, unsuitable phones etc).

Rip, but hey I guess thats to your benefit!

Doubtful, just because the Air is already very popular because of the price. If DJI introduces a new Air with OcuSync, the price will increase. While I wish it used OcuSync, I don't think DJI would undercut M2 with an updated Air.

J AV10 Posted at 2-11 14:06
Doubtful, just because the Air is already very popular because of the price. If DJI introduces a new Air with OcuSync, the price will increase. While I wish it used OcuSync, I don't think DJI would undercut M2 with an updated Air.

You are right. They won't want to undercut the Mavic 2 Pro, as they must be making a much larger margin on that drone.

I am not sure a Mavic 2 Pro costs significantly more to manufacture than a Mavic Pro or Mavic Air, but sold at twice the price.

I think they will release a Mavic Air 2 with improved sensors (side and top sensors, cheap to do), some of the software features previously omitted artificially (e.q. hyperlapse, way points) which will cost hardly nothing, and maybe removable lower noise propellers (given their shape, won't be able to dock easily)...
Something the size of a Mavic Air is never going to have a 25 min battery life, and therefore doesn't need to be able to fly miles away anyway.

TedBob Posted at 2-11 19:52
You are right. They won't want to undercut the Mavic 2 Pro, as they must be making a much larger margin on that drone.

I am not sure a Mavic 2 Pro costs significantly more to manufacture than a Mavic Pro or Mavic Air, but sold at twice the price.

The Mavic 2, in my opinion, is more designed for semiprofessionals than the Air. If DJI releases an Air with the capabilities of the MP2, they will have to start over with a consumer priced drone. So yes, I agree with you on your points.

I think the reason the wifi drones(spark/air) have wifi connection is due to shorter battery life compared to the MP/MPP/M2pro/zoom.  If the Spark/air had ocusyn and fly it further it would most likely force land due to the battery life.

Lucas775 Posted at 2-13 16:54
I think the reason the wifi drones(spark/air) have wifi connection is due to shorter battery life compared to the MP/MPP/M2pro/zoom.  If the Spark/air had ocusyn and fly it further it would most likely force land due to the battery life.

I think OcuSync will not change the total distance the drone can travel, by much - OcuSync makes the connection stronger and better to control the drone in broader spaces.

davidmartingraf Posted at 2-13 23:09
I think OcuSync will not change the total distance the drone can travel, by much - OcuSync makes the connection stronger and better to control the drone in broader spaces.

Yes.  You can fly further, but the battery does not have enough power to fly further and comeback before it runs out of juice.

It will take more than a FW update to turn it into ocusync.

Lucas775 Posted at 2-14 16:54
Yes.  You can fly further, but the battery does not have enough power to fly further and comeback before it runs out of juice.

Which of your drones is your favourite?

Lucas775 Posted at 2-14 17:17
It will take more than a FW update to turn it into ocusync.

Yeah, probably not possible to do such a transformation.

davidmartingraf Posted at 2-15 15:05
Which of your drones is your favourite?

M2pro, MPP, MP, Inspire 1(not pictured, purchased used), P4, Mavic Air then Spark In that order.

davidmartingraf Posted at 2-15 15:05
Yeah, probably not possible to do such a transformation.

Im not sure about that.  I'm not an electrical engineer.

Quick answer: No

Lucas775 Posted at 2-15 16:51
M2pro, MPP, MP, Inspire 1(not pictured, purchased used), P4, Mavic Air then Spark In that order.

I think that's a good judge of order, I only have my Mavic Pro and Spark so far, but I'm going to say if you put OcuSync and 3-axis gimbal on the Spark, I'd choose the Spark over Mavic Pro.

The Spark is almost my top choice, because I like the fact you can charge the Spark only with micro-usb cable connecting it to a battery hub or car charger, plus I've gotten out almost 11,000 feet with my Spark, just a few thousand feet less than I've gotten my Mavic Pro.

The Mavic Pro flies amazing, it an travel perfectly still and stable for long distances and tends to hug the air, from my early views comparing it to the Mavic 2 Pro/Zoom, I just think the Mavic Pro has had over two years of firmware updates for DJI to refine and perfect it whereas the Mavic 2 only has had approx. 6 months, and DJI will only be perfecting key features, like omni-directional avoidance where I think right now the Mavic 2 doesn't fly as smooth as it perhaps can with future firmware updates?..

Lucas775 Posted at 2-15 16:51
Im not sure about that.  I'm not an electrical engineer.

I'm only a financial engineer..

CrazyPup Posted at 2-15 19:46
Quick answer: No

I don't see how DJI doesn't eventually release a smaller form factor with OcuSync technology considering we've seen a smaller Mavic Pro with OcuSync become larger with the Mavic 2?

What about that 150M employee theft story that came around in January? Do you think it will decrease the retail prices of DJI products in the near future?

Cheerio Posted at 2-20 05:54
What about that 150M employee theft story that came around in January? Do you think it will decrease the retail prices of DJI products in the near future?

Unfortunately if there was straight intent and success of the DJI employees to realize intentional deceit to personally profit by selling and marking up DJI drone replacement parts, then the short answer is the loss of profits and increased costs on DJI's part likely will most times than not need to pass those increases along to the customer, meaning you and me. Frankly, I had to justify purchasing my drones for their costs at the time, which DJI seemingly has issued price increases for its Mavic 2 when compared the cost to manufacturer shouldn't be too much more than the cost to produce the original Mavic Pro, yet 50% price increase made me unable to justify spending that much more for new tech when I've always looked to spend the same, if not less, for improvements of newer generations. I just feel like with drones and DJI's policy, there's always the likelihood that you spend $1,499 on a new drone, fly it once, and have the unfortunate mishap it never returns? If there was a way to combat and offset this risk that customers take, then I'd be more inclined to reconsider my stance but it's just little difficult to justify the outlay, unless you're a business, fly commercially, and appetite for risk is higher than the average everyday consumer?

HereForTheBeer Posted at 1-26 19:31
occusync 2.0 uses 2,4 Ghz and 5.,8ghz but is SDR based (software defined radio).  and it just vastly more efficient, can change bands and channels and frequencies on the fly, change bandwidth, split the load between frequencies and it can do this many times per second..

to achieve this range is specifically down to efficiency of how Occusync works..how it can see interference and proactively change channels and frequencies and even split bands as needed...   the output power is actually similar to FCC mode of enhanced wifi..  ~1 watt

so soft driven variable oscillatory drive transmission reception ocusync principle of operation.
mavic air has variable transmit receive oscillatory drive but i read it is dual 2.4 and 5.8, nothing analog continuity in between.
isn't it the profit principle not to improve upon the existent model's debut features of what will endorse client favor?
of course this thread creator would favor ocusync migration onto qualifying hardware.
if qualifying hardware prerequisite met, don't you believe corporate  will lose gains $$$ on scheduled forefront model debuts??

cutis Posted at 2-23 15:34
so soft driven variable oscillatory drive transmission reception ocusync principle of operation.
mavic air has variable transmit receive oscillatory drive but i read it is dual 2.4 and 5.8, nothing analog continuity in between.
isn't it the profit principle not to improve upon the existent model's debut features of what will endorse client favor?

recall when adolescent re-winding the slot car motor?
well, that substantially escalates perform.
so manufacturer counters lost revenue of high ended motors sealing armature winds from being tampered.
that is disdain yet survive in business growth expansion ultimately sought

HereForTheBeer Posted at 1-26 19:31
occusync 2.0 uses 2,4 Ghz and 5.,8ghz but is SDR based (software defined radio).  and it just vastly more efficient, can change bands and channels and frequencies on the fly, change bandwidth, split the load between frequencies and it can do this many times per second..

to achieve this range is specifically down to efficiency of how Occusync works..how it can see interference and proactively change channels and frequencies and even split bands as needed...   the output power is actually similar to FCC mode of enhanced wifi..  ~1 watt

considerable energy per unit time will be needed.
everyone compares against proofed gold standard. but surprises of even better transcommunication schemes will debut.
the ill is intensification of flying interferences that weren't irritating prior to expansive infrastructure interference escalation of recency.
obsolescence is thus loosing money.

boils down to price challenged from competitors. but is this entity untouchable of its features regardless?
who are the competitors? england? usa? japan? israel? germany?
or they take turns?
do they collaborate sequencing model releases ?
do they share applyable discoveries inventions?
same thing occurs in pc motherboards right?

after stepping back a little while, thinking about it more and more, i think answer is yes, i think DJI will push occusync across entire product line at some point it will likely arrive on all their drones.. DJI has been slowly integrating Occusync across their product lines.  i just realized a few refreshed enterprise drones (Matrice line) that dropped Lightbridge and pushing Occusync 2.0, we seen Phantom 4 Pro's latest iteration (P4PV2) push Occusync, im sure Inspire 3 whenever that comes out will use Occusync of some sort, probably 2.0 or 2.5..im sure if there is a phantom 5 series they will push Occusync. i think maybe mavic air 2 may have occusync.   

many reasons why i think dji will push occusync to mavic air 2.. but consider this, a lot of us have agreed, mavic air size is nearly perfect but has one very common complaint almost universally understood, Wifi is the wrong wireless communication protocol for such a device...just too prone to interference, drop frame and all signal very easily.  plus lack of integration with rest of mavic platform..   again mavic air feels like a spark pro when line it up against other mavics, just no product integration with other mavics... just a product to fill a void, but in doing so it alienates itself apart from the other Mavics..

I may just be an unfrozen_caveman-recreational drone pilot...but I do know one thing... lawyers! Lawyers and our litigious society that we live in will soon dictate that in order to protect your business, any drone you are manufacturing will have to have the SAFEST and latest technology. The safest technology available will have to be used or you'll face too much exposure to litigation. So this Occusync will probably be the norm going forward. I hope DJI continues to support older hardware years down the line.

i disagree of trending wifi interfere abate mitigate movement.
consider the most important foundation of mavic air: energy to do work
part of work is this transception dedication between the two.
well, believe it or not, the interference is being sampled, analyzed, and countermeasures prescribed, on the fly, permitting link continuity with sufficient thruput.
this is not the same thing radio controlled toys do.
but my point is the toy link isn't burdened (energy costings) computing executing countermeasures permitting penetration thru adverse broadcasts obstructs.
as i see it, a breakthru discovery, in link communications must be found.
the sciences to do it is now available to do it.
but whats happening is lead designers are utilizing whats available in technology preexisting.

Well the post still sides to posters transcept schema. What fails are energy concepts for it.
Regardless schema crafted as bulletproof, it comes with a higher energy guzzle.
So mavic air battery or entire craft must be accordingly fitted.
It be nice to retain mavic air size.
Do you think there's room? Consider the waste heat, the radiator, the blower, the transcept circuit board enlarge, and compatibility interfaced with adjacent circuitry

cutis Posted at 5-17 16:15
Well the post still sides to posters transcept schema. What fails are energy concepts for it.
Regardless schema crafted as bulletproof, it comes with a higher energy guzzle.
So mavic air battery or entire craft must be accordingly fitted.

I'm sorry i don't know what to say?

David Martin Graff Posted at 5-18 07:02
I'm sorry i don't know what to say?

The transception (meaning bi-directional communication between drone and rc), called occusync will burn more heat costing battery taxation.
It is burning precious battery energy doing myriads of duties hunting and auctioneering best method for dedicated undisrupted flow of information bi-directionally (either side has transmit and receive capability)

Can I use the new flight controller with built in display with my Mavic Pro Platinum?

What's this going to be?
https://www.dji.com/trailer?site=brandsite&from=homepage