edit: i am closing the poll soon.  i feel we got a good spread of responses and a healthy split and divide amongst our community.  hopefully DJi takes this feedback and analyize it and make future decisions based on our feedback about pricing.   the thread however will remain open for feedback.   im not even sure i can close it anyway.

im conflicted, i feel like the price of the mavic mini vs its features offered is out of balance.  i asked a friend a neighbor who is much more of an entry pilot looking for their first proper drone that isnt some cheap knock off toy from walmart and they felt a bit torn as well between this and the spark actually and after discussing it he nailed it with saying that spark feels like better deal for similar price, actually lower infact, getting more sensors and security for same sorta price. and DJI is using their brand and the labeling of 249 grams to push a silly price point.

my vote is i feel like DJI missed a clever oppertunity for clever marketing here.  $249 for 249 grams...  and $349 for fly more with $399 kit including the desktop charging dome thing.   i dont think thats too agressive either as nothing really new here all this stuff been done for years and generations on end with DJI, and infact its very stripped out drone pretty much.   

Well in Canada is $349 for base kit and $449 for FMC, price in US is $50 more, maybe because of the trade war

It seems like a good deal to me.
Especially for a beginner.
Much better than Spark in many ways.
- Flight time almost double
- Weight < 250gr
- 2.7K
- 25 / 50fps
- 3 axis gimbal

You loose some things, I know. But for a beginner this feels like a very nice drone.

I have to agree it would've been nice to pay less for the fly more combo, but for the casual flyer like myself I say it is still a great deal. I honestly thought DJI was going to charge more for this combo.  If I were to fly more often, definitely the Mavic Air would be my choice.  The tax tariffs also affect the price.  

jacksonnai Posted at 10-31 06:08
Well in Canada is $349 for base kit and $449 for FMC, price in US is $50 more, maybe because of the trade war

the last option in the  poll was me removing ~15% off the price to account for the trade war BS.

Montfrooij Posted at 10-31 06:17
It seems like a good deal to me.
Especially for a beginner.
Much better than Spark in many ways.

im not so sure, while im cannot specifically speak for beginners given my position with drones im well outside of the entry market and im more of enthusiast they would buy this simply cuz its neat not because im target market.   

but asking one of my neighborhood friends who is a beginner he feels like mavic mini while marketing is hype AF the offering is blah.  spoke to him again today and he's sending me links for "lightly used" mavic air's for sale in general area, for $500 way better deal.

In the UK it's £369 for the Mavic Mini, £459 for the Fly More Combo, and a further £39 for the Charging Base.  Given the specs coupled with the lack of enthusiasm creeping into the UK market place due to all the bad press drones are getting and it seems just a little pricey.

Personally I like the idea of the Mini and will be watching what comes next, but the technical limitations of the launch version doesn't do it for me.  I would have wanted just a little more tech, and (as a product designer) I'm sure that if DJI had really wanted to include basic front facing sensors and incorporate more 'pro' focused software features they could have done so within the 249gram limit.  I'm hoping they're holding things back for a future upgrade (Mavic Mini Plus, perhaps!?)

Obviously that's just me, and what's on offer will suit the wishes of many other users, but I still think that £339 for the drone, £419 for the Fly More Combo, and £449 for a Deluxe Bundle including the Charging Base would have been more reasonable and financially attractive.  Add on front sensors, incorporate a 4k camera with D-log features, increase the flight speed somewhat and include a remote controller with an LCD screen and a few more buttons and I'd probably pay up to £479 for the drone, and £559 for Fly More Combo.

HereForTheBeer Posted at 10-31 07:27
im not so sure, while im cannot specifically speak for beginners given my position with drones im well outside of the entry market and im more of enthusiast they would buy this simply cuz its neat not because im target market.   

but asking one of my neighborhood friends who is a beginner he feels like mavic mini while marketing is hype AF the offering is blah.  spoke to him again today and he's sending me links for "lightly used" mavic air's for sale in general area, for $500 way better deal.

I tend to agree with that.
MA is a very nice drone for that pricepoint!
I bought a 2nd hand MP fly more combo for 'just' € 850,- with Polar pro filterset.
Best value I could find at that time

I think the price is reasonable, I think it's a little bit less than the Spark price when it first came out.

I'm fine with the price, will be picking one up as a travel drone as it looks perfectly suited for that.

dronespilot Posted at 10-31 08:07
I think the price is reasonable, I think it's a little bit less than the Spark price when it first came out.

also cheaper then a gallon of horse sperm and that doesn't make it any better value.  the spark was also overpriced at launch i felt like.  $550 for fly more and $350 for base without a controller.     

sure its less offensive vs the spark's initial launch price but doesn't make it a better value.

Definitely overpriced. I think $250-275 sounds right. Any newbie would be much better off with the Spark as it also includes sensors. The Mini I can already see the threads rolling in about the crashes.

Seems a reasonable price tag to me

50 / 50 split.  ill take it.. good results and im glad its split given that this community has a lot of experienced pilots spending a lot of money, this may seem tempting specially with recent price hikes, where freaking mavic air base model is like $1000 after taxes..what a world we live in.

A J Posted at 10-31 11:40
Seems a reasonable price tag to me

any additional thoughts on how its a reasonable price ?  being as you are well outside of the target market im curious of why you think its reasonable.

HereForTheBeer Posted at 10-31 09:38
also cheaper then a gallon of horse sperm and that doesn't make it any better value.  the spark was also overpriced at launch i felt like.  $550 for fly more and $350 for base without a controller.     

sure its less offensive vs the spark's initial launch price but doesn't make it a better value.

It does not mean that cheaper price makes it a better product. I was referring to the features in the Spark and in the Mini; you’re getting better features for less price and a compact drone.

dronespilot Posted at 10-31 16:13
It does not mean that cheaper price makes it a better product. I was referring to the features in the Spark and in the Mini; you’re getting better features for less price and a compact drone.

i dont know about better features... its fairly stripped out::   no AEB shooting modes, no color profile options, literally no exposure lock or ev compensation in video, no active track, no color profiles.  

sure it can fairly be missing all of these things, i have no issues with it missing above things and targeting entry market and even secondary drone market but i feel like they should also pricing like missing all of these things..

i know you me and many of the people here on the forum are not the target audiance for this drone at all...so it can be hard to see from a noob's prospective when we arent noobs and havent been for a good while now.  i mean i spent $1200+ on mavic 2 pro refurbished and $1200 total on my mavic air bundle i built out myself, $1400 on my mavic 1 Pro combo i built out myself..so ya its exicting to see a $400-$500 drone and not think much of actual value.

IMO although features are a great way of selling drones alas the majority of users buy to fly record video and take photographs many features are never used even the better ones are niche, I believe improved battery time improved connection improved transmission and overall stability is where the money should be spent, a good drone needs all of this, this drone effectively replaces the spark and it is hugely better with better tech and much better in fact twice the battery power and costs much less for the combo which includes 3 batteries where spark included 2 , so great value .

hallmark007 Posted at 10-31 20:07
IMO although features are a great way of selling drones alas the majority of users buy to fly record video and take photographs many features are never used even the better ones are niche, I believe improved battery time improved connection improved transmission and overall stability is where the money should be spent, a good drone needs all of this, this drone effectively replaces the spark and it is hugely better with better tech and much better in fact twice the battery power and costs much less for the combo which includes 3 batteries where spark included 2 , so great value .

it only has 1 IMU, 1 gyro, 1 accelerometer, 1 compass, has less shooting features then the spark does, no avoidance sensors, and i dont know what price point you found but $499 (us)  its only $50 less than initial cost of the spark which included 3 batteries, controller, carry case, car charger, charge hub and other stuff as well.   plus additionally it is using inferior battery technology using Li-ion instead of Li-Po  which is less energy dense, and less capable of sudden energy dumps and more sensitive to temperature fluctuations.   need proof of this just look at every other modern DJI drone.. 1/3rd of the weight is battery or about 30% of its weight. the mavic mini has a battery weight that consumes 40% of the drones entire weight.  also typical 18650 cell has about 4-6 amp max safe continious current draw rating per cell, really good cell may have 8-10 amps vs a typical low end flat pack li-po can do 30 amps safely and avg flatpack li-po can to 50 amps safely

the reason its likely to get rated 30 minutes of flight time is down to primarily the weight since much easier to lift 249 grams as well as less sensors and hardware functions to chew up SoC cycles.

as for extra stability..what the actual BS are you going on about?  not that stable..couple reviews i watched with mild wind it was bouncing around in while it yea holds its position thats nothign amazing anymore, just matter of allowing deeper angle of attack for most part since dji greatly limits this as well as power limited to absolute hell and back.  one guy, potatojet guy who got to review mavic mini was having issue with his holding its altitude on a small mountain (basically a hill)

HereForTheBeer Posted at 10-31 20:25
it only has 1 IMU, 1 gyro, 1 accelerometer, 1 compass, has less shooting features then the spark does, no avoidance sensors, and i dont know what price point you found but $499 (us)  its only $50 less than initial cost of the spark which included 3 batteries, controller, carry case, car charger, charge hub and other stuff as well.   plus additionally it is using inferior battery technology using Li-ion instead of Li-Po  which is less energy dense, and less capable of sudden energy dumps and more sensitive to temperature fluctuations.   need proof of this just look at every other modern DJI drone.. 1/3rd of the weight is battery or about 30% of its weight. the mavic mini has a battery weight that consumes 40% of the drones entire weight.  also typical 18650 cell has about 4-6 amp max safe continious current draw rating per cell, really good cell may have 8-10 amps vs a typical low end flat pack li-po can do 30 amps safely and avg flatpack li-po can to 50 amps safely

the reason its likely to get rated 30 minutes of flight time is down to primarily the weight since much easier to lift 249 grams as well as less sensors and hardware functions to chew up SoC cycles.

Spark combo only came with Two Batteries in combo, djis only combo package that didn’t contain 2 batteries and it cost €750 which is 50% more than this drone.
I still think people want to fly their drones manually for a lot longer than automatic and that’s why this drone on paper is much better .
I think if you read your first line again it resembles an M2

HereForTheBeer Posted at 10-31 12:11
any additional thoughts on how its a reasonable price ?  being as you are well outside of the target market im curious of why you think its reasonable.

Given that you'll get an official DJI drone that doesn't need to be registered with the CAA/FAA but is still capable of reaching miles in range whilst recording 2.7K QHD video and 12mp stills on a three axis gimbal and giving out 20 odd minutes of flight time per battery for a hundred quid less (as a fly more package) than the smart controller on its own and significantly less than the Spark flymore price tag back in 2017.

As for target market this is a drone for anyone - from beginners to learn on at a massively reduced price point compared to say the Mavic Air's thousand bucks to experienced pilots who want a 249g flying camera in the bag without any registration headaches or taking up too much room in the bag - even if just for the fun of flying such a small quad or when flying in confined space where, for example, Inspires won't be able to.

Less than £500 for all of that - thats a good deal!

hallmark007 Posted at 11-1 04:26
Spark combo only came with Two Batteries in combo, djis only combo package that didn’t contain 2 batteries and it cost €750 which is 50% more than this drone.
I still think people want to fly their drones manually for a lot longer than automatic and that’s why this drone on paper is much better .
I think if you read your first line again it resembles an M2

I agree mate - the Spark fly more combo cost £799 when released in April 2017 and that came with just two batteries with a flight time of around 12 minutes each. The MM fly more is £459 - that's £340 cheaper by my calculations with an extra battery or 43% cheaper with more than double the flight time - which is a massive reduction. The Mavic Mini looks like an excellent 'bang for buck' drone. I may get it just for the fun of it.

wow dji blocked my screenshot of spark order (with redacted personal info)  proving it was $550 ?   eff you

edit: did some resesearch and appears initial MSRP was higher than i remeber it was $650.   not sure why i paid so little so early on, maybe its my amazon business acount discount? i know i gotten a few crazy deals before but i was unaware dji spark was ever on it.   

anyway, im glad to see a 50 / 50 split still, that's a healthy divide that i think is a good for this community.  

A J Posted at 11-1 04:44
Given that you'll get an official DJI drone that doesn't need to be registered with the CAA/FAA but is still capable of reaching miles in range whilst recording 2.7K QHD video and 12mp stills on a three axis gimbal and giving out 20 odd minutes of flight time per battery for a hundred quid less (as a fly more package) than the smart controller on its own and significantly less than the Spark flymore price tag back in 2017.

As for target market this is a drone for anyone - from beginners to learn on at a massively reduced price point compared to say the Mavic Air's thousand bucks to experienced pilots who want a 249g flying camera in the bag without any registration headaches or taking up too much room in the bag - even if just for the fun of flying such a small quad or when flying in confined space where, for example, Inspires won't be able to.

wifi is yet to be proven, typically reviewers give overly glowing reviews and say everything is perfect while they are still only ones with these drones, remember almost every time a new dji drone comes out its always the new 10/10 recommended prefect golden example of what is drones while they are still only one with the drones.   so everything remains to be seen from wireless link quality compared to mavic air/spark to real world ungraded camera quality to flight times.   i dont trust it when every reviews throwing out same template of review and recommending it so heavily, that's suspicious to me,  

i noticed everyone seem to come up with same numbers and testing flight times in same ways in reviews again is suspicious.  they all doing hover tests and seeing approx 27 minutes, i yet to find someone objectively flying around how people will and do in the real world  with drones and and mapping out flight time.   but i do think it be better flight time overall then mavic air, its lighter drone, less sensors and stuff to clog up things. and only encoding at 40mbps which means less intense encoding on the processor.

zero range tests or link quality tests performed, everyone says same sorta thing that better then whatever and more then enough for how small it is sure can go over 1000 feet which point it disappears.. but that's not how people fly drones typically.  people dont always fly them within 1000 feet or without trees and stuff between them and the drone. maybe doing a clever chase video down a dirt road with trees flanking between operator and the drone, how would it handle that situation compared to the mavic air or spark. or hell how i crashed my mavic air, in a neighborhood at low level practicing to chase a car and al wifi bubbles around me causes multi second lag and i plowed into a light pole. would it have coped with that interference any better?

camera quality: this is a given, only 40mbps and yes doing an amazing job with this reduced bit rate, i have seen a few videos/photos directly out of the drone untouched that thankfully some people provided in their review (and sadly some even grade/edit theirs when you dump the metadata u see it was in premiere at some point) and few shots where quality isn't as good as it seems in reviews and where it shows isnt in fine details or deep shadows like spark did but rather in dynamic range, seems dji backed off of dynamic range some to allow it to encode more details but this means without color profiles baked in or at least ability to push up contrast and/or vibrancy in drone then def wanna do some post production work.  i imagine dji may actually step back on this and offer more in release product, at least one would hope that adjust existing profile or add a profile.

HereForTheBeer Posted at 11-1 09:06
[view_image]edit: did some resesearch and appears initial MSRP was higher than i remeber it was $650.   not sure why i paid so little so early on, maybe its my amazon business acount discount? i know i gotten a few crazy deals before but i was unaware dji spark was ever on it.

Yes because two months after release it dropped by $100 , and as I stated it only came with two batteries so it was 50% more expensive .

HereForTheBeer Posted at 11-1 09:06
[view_image]edit: did some resesearch and appears initial MSRP was higher than i remeber it was $650.   not sure why i paid so little so early on, maybe its my amazon business acount discount? i know i gotten a few crazy deals before but i was unaware dji spark was ever on it.

Did you buy on release date ?

hallmark007 Posted at 11-1 13:48
Total BEFORE Tax ?

was no tax being collected back then in 2017 in my state from online sales, so i assume that number is  the total +$7.99 shipping?

hallmark007 Posted at 11-1 13:48
Did you buy on release date ?

i got it about 2-3 months after..  

HereForTheBeer Posted at 10-31 07:16
the last option in the  poll was me removing ~15% off the price to account for the trade war BS.

Ya that's right, maybe they will reduce the price if the war end

jacksonnai Posted at 11-1 20:42
Ya that's right, maybe they will reduce the price if the war end

it would make it a bit more appealing for sure and a bit easier to recommend too !

A J Posted at 11-1 04:57
I agree mate - the Spark fly more combo cost £799 when released in April 2017 and that came with just two batteries with a flight time of around 12 minutes each. The MM fly more is £459 - that's £340 cheaper by my calculations with an extra battery or 43% cheaper with more than double the flight time - which is a massive reduction. The Mavic Mini looks like an excellent 'bang for buck' drone. I may get it just for the fun of it.

JFI, Spark fly more combo launched during 2017 in the UK at £699 and very quickly dropped in price to £599 in the ‘sales’ (that were pretty much always on) until the price became £599 as standard.

Tech quickly gets cheaper and, dare I say, what the mavic mini offers in 2019 is fairly basic stuff, though that doesn’t mean it’s a bad device. It’s just not a bargain.

MrTitan Posted at 11-2 02:12
JFI, Spark fly more combo launched during 2017 in the UK at £699 and very quickly dropped in price to £599 in the ‘sales’ (that were pretty much always on) until the price became £599 as standard.

Tech quickly gets cheaper and, dare I say, what the mavic mini offers in 2019 is fairly basic stuff, though that doesn’t mean it’s a bad device. It’s just not a bargain.

The official RRP was £799 for the flymore combo in April 17.

A J Posted at 11-2 02:27
The official RRP was £799 for the flymore combo in April 17.

Pretty sure launch was May 24 2017 and the price was £699.  Only going by the records I have access to.

MrTitan Posted at 11-2 02:58
Pretty sure launch was May 24 2017 and the price was £699.  Only going by the records I have access to.

[view_image]

Cool - either way it’s stills hundreds more than the Mavic Mini with half the flight time and an inferior camera - IMO the MM is much better value and a combo for less than £500 is a great deal.

MrTitan Posted at 11-2 02:58
Pretty sure launch was May 24 2017 and the price was £699.  Only going by the records I have access to.

[view_image]

£699 correct plus you buy third battery another £49 now your well into 700 and no case , spark initially was pretty expensive .

prices seemed to be all over the place very quickly with the spark.  

A J Posted at 11-2 04:27
Cool - either way it’s stills hundreds more than the Mavic Mini with half the flight time and an inferior camera - IMO the MM is much better value and a combo for less than £500 is a great deal.

I do get what you're saying, but the Spark was fairly new consumer tech in a never-seen-before small package.  2.5 years is a long time in tech and the Mavic Mini doesn't offer anything ground breaking 30 months later.  it's actually designed to be a compromise: fairly basic features to allow for a lower price point.

As I mentioned, I feel it's ever-so-slightly overpriced in the UK given the current state of the drone market (poor public opinion unfortuately), but I still think it will sell well enough at its launch price.  However, the Mavic Mini is by no means a bargain.  It's cheaper than the Spark because it should be.