I found a good deal on a used Mavic Air from Amazon, and since I have been thinking about getting one for a year now I tried my luck.
But as you might guess some Problems occured.
1) I can't connect my phone to the air, I go through the setup process in the app and after connecting I get a warning  'Change Wi-Fi Settings' and something about the region may be different. (I live inside the EU and the drone packaging also states EU), allthough connection through the controller worked so far.
2) I am a bit concerned about the age of the drone allthough the battery states 14 charging cycles it has some scuffs and scratches and the firmware on it is quite old. Is there a way to check for the date of the first activation and therefore the first time the original buyer tried it out? (My SN: 0K1DECL3AC0780)
3) Allthough having some expierience with racing drones (a few years ago) I have none with DJIs. Are there some key points to look out for regarding the 'ok-ness' of a used Air? like hidden damages that can occur in a crash or something?

Would be so greatful to hear back from someone soon since I am going on vacation 7 days and want to take the drone with me.

Hi,

1) connect your phone via cable to the RC, Change wifi settings etc, just click OK and settings will be set to EC and not FCC.
2) update FW using DJI assistant 2
3) what can you do...just visual check and if OK than start to fly in an open field...

PS read the manual, see lot of video about flying

Use a checklist, for example this one.

cheers
JJB

JJB* Posted at 4-4 23:16
Hi,

1) connect your phone via cable to the RC, Change wifi settings etc, just click OK and settings will be set to EC and not FCC.

Thank you for your answer,
regarding #2: I know that I can update the FW, that was just a hint for it's age. Guess newer drones also get shipped with new FW but this one was 0.6 if I remenber correctly. Just to know how old the drone may be would be great and since it has already been activated I guess that DJI knows when the S/N got activated.

Production date seems to be dec 2017:
http://tools.retroroms.info/djidecode.php

I had issues with image softness with the camera of a couple of different Airs of the first batches (before March 2018), but that may just have been bad luck.

Age itself does not necessarily mean anything. I'd update FW, and if you have no issues just enjoy!

jh8 Posted at 4-5 02:42
Production date seems to be dec 2017:
http://tools.retroroms.info/djidecode.php

Not the age on it's own but I would be interested guess if the drone is over a year old and has only 14 charges on the battery it might not have been used often but maybe stored too long without charge.

Image softness might have to do with the FW too I guess, or they might have changed the sensor/lens.

Will try it out the first flight today and see if everything works fine.

orso7 Posted at 4-5 02:55
Not the age on it's own but I would be interested guess if the drone is over a year old and has only 14 charges on the battery it might not have been used often but maybe stored too long without charge.

Image softness might have to do with the FW too I guess, or they might have changed the sensor/lens.

I would start with a reset to factory defaults in the DJI Assistant and then upgrade the all the firmwares.

Ok, the FW Version I have installed is V00.02.0044. So maybe quite old.

One thing I noticed the internal fan comes on after just a few seconds standing on my desk without doing anything than connecting to my pc.

fansa0222c1f Posted at 4-5 05:20
Ok, the FW Version I have installed is V00.02.0044. So maybe quite old.

One thing I noticed the internal fan comes on after just a few seconds standing on my desk without doing anything than connecting to my pc.

Fans are almost always running, normal.
Being new to the world of DJI, it’s highly recommend to invest some time with the user manual, DJI does not include a manual with the Mavic Air, it must be download from here https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic%20Air/20180525/Mavic%20Air%20User%20Manual%20v1.2.pdf
Best of luck, with your new hobby.

fansa0222c1f Posted at 4-5 05:20
Ok, the FW Version I have installed is V00.02.0044. So maybe quite old.

One thing I noticed the internal fan comes on after just a few seconds standing on my desk without doing anything than connecting to my pc.

Well, that normal when the fan starts spinning. its shown the Internal fan is working!!!!!Yes your firmware is OLD.
Update to the latest and the BEST

I'm seriously not trying to be a dick here, but it almost looks like you are LOOKING for a problem.  Perhaps buying a new product would have been a better move...

Damager Posted at 4-5 08:44
I'm seriously not trying to be a dick here, but it almost looks like you are LOOKING for a problem.  Perhaps buying a new product would have been a better move...

You are right, of course I am looking for a problem. Thats the best way to find one. After identifying most potential problems I can make a profound decision about keeping it or sending it back.

BTW, "maiden"- flight went good everything seems to work fine and I am going to keep it.

Thank you all for answering my maybe basic or stupid questions but the last time I had to do with DJI was with a Naza on a 450 Flamewheel about 2 Years or more ago (quite a difference to a mavic air ).

Pay attention even the 14 cycles of the battery, it might not have been stored as recommended, so prior any super-flights go for a hovering test in a room or yard to see where we are with the true capacity.

I would definitely go for a new one while testing.

elberti Posted at 4-9 03:24
Pay attention even the 14 cycles of the battery, it might not have been stored as recommended, so prior any super-flights go for a hovering test in a room or yard to see where we are with the true capacity.

I would definitely go for a new one while testing.

you mean indoor hovering the air and waiting for the battery to drain, I'll check that tomorrow.
First flight with the "old" battery was only about 8 minutes and drained to 50%

8 min to 50% is OK, bearing in mind we all usually go for a max flight of 16-17 min in perfect conditions and no pressure.

And yes, try to full cycle the battery (indoor or outdoor no matters) just to see whether is OK and stable.

https://store.dji.com/guides/battery-care-important-think/

Thank you for your advices. I tried the original battery as well as another new one I ordered through amazon.

Funny thing is the new one when it arrived had no charge at all in it (at list none of the lights lit up when I checked it) it also already shows some charging cycles in the app. I contacted amazon and the will replace it since it was no warehouse deal or marked as used. I was just curious if dji conditions them in some way before shipping? (box was sealed btw)