So, I'm thinking of buying a phantom 3 quadcopter.  Last year I got a little syma quad to learn on, I got pretty good, but now it stopped working and instead of trying to fugure out whats wrong, I want to upgrade.  I heard that the phantom 3 standard is for beginners, but I also heard that the advanced is good because it has more features and more options as I develop as a pilot.  So I'm wondering what would be the best way to spend my money.  Is the $200 worth it for the feautres of the advanced for a fairly new pilot, or should I use that money to buy a case and extra batteries?  Also, I know you can't use an ipad with the standard, so does that play a factor with anyone elses decisions?  Thanks for the help!

I have a P3 Standard and am very happy with it. I am probably one of the lucky ones who got a good unit. It has performed flawlessly every time that I have flown it. If you think you will be happy with the specs of the Standard, then I would highly recommend it based on my experiences. It does everything I want to do, and more.
That being said, if you would consider it a stepping stone to a more advanced unit, (no pun intended), I would go right for the Advanced. The reason being that these things are so easy to fly that as long as you take a little time to get used to it, you'll do fine if you have any kind of experience with RC flying machines. My only experience was with a small Blade coaxial helicopter. My Phantom is so much easier to fly that after the first flight jitters, I've been doing things with it that surprise me.
Good luck, and have fun.

I had the S it was great but for a lil more I went w/ the A. more features.

My P3S works with my iPad mini. You just need a strong bracket to mount it on your RC. The stock mount is just too wigglely.

Would go for the Advanced over the standard.

Boblanglois52 Posted at 2016-4-29 22:35
I have a P3 Standard and am very happy with it. I am probably one of the lucky ones who got a good u ...

I would go for the advanced every time.  The only reason would be because it has a much longer range.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the range of the Standard, especially if you intend staying within visual line of sight, but at 500 metres away, the advanced will still have a much stronger signal & will be less affected by terrain, wifi, radio transmissions etc.  That alone will give you more confidence & therefore more enjoyment.

At least, that's my reasoning behind getting the P3P over the 4K.

Definitely go for the advanced. The extra range/better signal in different terrains is great. I was considering the standard at $670 canadian, i got the advanced for $1070, and glad i did. For you, it's only a $200 difference, I would definitely do it

I started with the Standard and very soon went to the Advanced.  And I have never regretted it.

For the distance/range alone, I would personally invest more in the advanced. The image quality is going to be pretty darn good with either, so I would look at other things than that .. and distance is huge for me. I'd go advanced.

I got my P3A for $649 on e-bay new in the box.......Keep searching E-bays daily deals.  My buddy got the P3P for $675.

I bought brand new Standard on the 20th April . Dropped signal at 20 meters . Return to home did not work . Crashed . DJI say I flew it in non optimal conditions . Will not even fix it for me . Customer service not good . Ken Tim and Paladin are nice guys here . But there people who they work for in Holland Germany are not nice .

I cannot accept they are telling me that if return to home and signal drops and so my done crashes I lose all my money . This is not good DJI . If anyone from DJI in California is reading this . Please  replace my drone .

05839 Posted at 2016-4-30 10:33
I bought brand new Standard on the 20th April . Dropped signal at 20 meters . Return to home did not ...

'But there people who they work for in Holland Germany are not nice .'

You have not worked out yet that DJI is a Chinese company? Holland and Germany are just service centres. Ken Tim and Paladin do not work for people in those countries at all.

Advanced is more, but what you get is lightbridge technology, so you do not use wifi for fpv, it's way more integrated and you get way better range; you also get 2.7K video.
Advanced also has VPS for flying inside, if you want to use that system.
Not sure if there are any other option differences, but this was enough for me to go to Advanced.
GT

my advice: advanced or soon, the pro as tjeir prices have already dropped significantly.

Hello, you can make a comparison here :http://www.dji.com/products/compare-phantom

Hi I'm flying a P3S and having lots of fun with it. I find the 500M range not a problem. It's just about the max distance you can still see the bird LOS.  The 2.7K camera is OK, not wonderful, but you can do some useful shots with it if you chose the right time of day (angel of sun). If your eventually going to want to do real video as a prime activity my opinion is learn with the P3S then go straight to the Inspire 1 with the new Zenmus 5 camera and do some real cinematography.

Also, the advanced shoots in 60 fps in 1080. The standard only shoots 60 fps in 720.

Another vote for the Advanced......Mainly because of the Lightbridge connectivity instead of WIFI connectivity.

I bought an Advanced and within the first week upgraded to the Pro. After realizing the potential the Phantom has and looking into the future in business opportunities, I made the upgrade to the 4K camera. I use the 4K quality to crop videos and photos if I need to with a minimum amount of resolution loss. If you are forward thinking...think about going beyond the Advanced. I live in farm country and survey crops  for farmers, make commercials and in a couple of weeks I will be shooting a motocross race and a commercial for a dairy.

The big issue is the "GO" program. You will be able to improve your skills much easier. There is a beginner mode that is enabled as default which will limit the distance and height. You can disable it once you become comfortable. The best tip for you is to use a large open area to practice in. You want to concentrate on flying and not avoiding objects.

rodger Posted at 2016-4-30 11:50
The big issue is the "GO" program. You will be able to improve your skills much easier. There is a b ...

There's a difference in the Go app?  In what way?

DNR Posted at 2016-4-30 17:30
Also, the advanced shoots in 60 fps in 1080. The standard only shoots 60 fps in 720.

The standard shoots in 2k the difference comes in the live streaming portion. I love my standard but for only $200 more I also agree it's worth the upgrade. My only caution would be that with more distance there is more opportunity for you to get disoriented and lost so start with short distanances first.

I agree with the stepping stone poster...if you can fly the syma x5c or whatever then you can easily fly any dji quad as they are far superior in every way.  If you freak out just let go of the sticks and it will stop and hover until you change your underwear.  A standard as a stepping stone is not necessary.

Advanced for sure.

ADVANCED!!!!! No question. They operate about the same but the range and Lightbridge is what you want!! If you go with the standard, you'll be ready to upgrade a lot sooner than you think!

If your going to spend the money.... you might as well get the best one you can afford. Why not move up and get the P3P with the better camera? I have one and love it.  This way you have all you need from the very beginning.

Rich

John Boy Posted at 2016-4-30 17:37
Another vote for the Advanced......Mainly because of the Lightbridge connectivity instead of WIFI co ...

I agree here. I had a lot of trouble with Wifi (it works well when it works). Lightbridge is the way to go.

Barney

I would definitely go for the advanced. Having that 2 or so miles of range is very nice when flying and is very reassuring. And the iPad clip is very nice to have as well.

nigelw Posted at 2016-4-30 08:35
There's a difference in the Go app?  In what way?

I could be wrong, I thought that the GO App didn't apply to the Standard. If it does I stand corrected.

The GO app is for the Standard.

Knowing what I know now, I would get the advanced if it is only $200 more than the Standard...I thought it was $300 more. It was $300 more than the Standard when I got mine. And I have been very pleased with it. I got a good one too, as I have been out well over 1 mile, 100% stock, with no issues. A dropout here and there but nothing worth mentioning beyond that.

I do love my standard, does all and more than what I need. The only difference is the distance and some extra buttons on the remote.

Again, for $200 more, get the Advanced. $300 more, you really have to do some figuring.

I use my iPad Air with the P3S, and it works great. I just had to build my own bracket for it.  I have also used a box with a neck strap which allows the iPad to be shielded from ambient light.