Hi there

I have a Mavic Air from march 2018. It has been used regularly.

But, why is it that a brand new charged battery only gives 13-14 minutes as soon as the drone is in the air ?

No wind, fairly warm outside, no sports mode ... just flying it as simple as possible.

Isnt 13-14 minutes disappointing, when in perfect conditions the drone is said to fly 21-22 minutes!

What are your experiences or is it me being paranoid ?

Yep, 13-14 minuntes at 30% battery left - actually tested yesterday. Max was 18 minutes, down to 15%.

But i have 13-14 minutes flat, from when I turn on the drone.

It has never shows 21 minutes from beginning.

Probably gonna test some more - but one of reasons for upgrade, was longer flight time :-)

specs say its 21 minutes while flying at constant 25kph speed above water, i managed to squize up to 18 minutes from 100 to 0%, fun fact: at 0% drone can stil fly but you will get message that battery can be damaged so batteries have some reserve below 0% in really emergency situations.

PiVoR Posted at 2018-10-15 08:41
specs say its 21 minutes while flying at constant 25kph speed above water, i managed to squize up to 18 minutes from 100 to 0%, fun fact: at 0% drone can stil fly but you will get message that battery can be damaged so batteries have some reserve below 0% in really emergency situations.

I am aware that those battery numbers are under certain conditions.

But when I turn on my Mavic Air and its connected (it takes maybe 1 minute in total) - the batteries are close to 100%, but DJI Go say 13-14 minutes available flighttime - even before the drone has started flying.

How come it does not say 21 minutes when its turned on, and if I then start out in hard wind, flying sportsmode, it will ofcource drop to much lower flight time right away.

But this is almost when the drone has just been turned on - and battery is 100%, but flight time is much lower that the promised 21 minutes.

TonyFonagerDK Posted at 2018-10-16 00:55
I am aware that those battery numbers are under certain conditions.

But when I turn on my Mavic Air and its connected (it takes maybe 1 minute in total) - the batteries are close to 100%, but DJI Go say 13-14 minutes available flighttime - even before the drone has started flying.

I could never reach more than 16 mins (18 % remaining power)

Just did a “hover test” - I got 18 min and 18 seconds until battery was 0% and it asked me to land the drone to avoid damaging the battery.

But isnt the DJI promised 21 minutes from flying 25 mph ?

I would think that hovering uses less battery than flying 25 mph ?

PiVoR Posted at 2018-10-15 08:41
specs say its 21 minutes while flying at constant 25kph speed above water, i managed to squize up to 18 minutes from 100 to 0%, fun fact: at 0% drone can stil fly but you will get message that battery can be damaged so batteries have some reserve below 0% in really emergency situations.

That's good to know...

TonyFonagerDK Posted at 2018-10-16 02:09
Just did a “hover test” - I got 18 min and 18 seconds until battery was 0% and it asked me to land the drone to avoid damaging the battery.

But isnt the DJI promised 21 minutes from flying 25 mph ?

Dude, that's under perfect laboratory conditions with a fresh drone and battery.
Those 21 minutes will never happen.

Have you ever bought a car which holds the "promised" fuel consumption?

Think it like that...

About the 0%, i wouldn't count on it.. maybe sometimes it workes, but if you are flying (and not testing) it can be different. With my mavic pro, I tried once what would happen, and with 0% it just fell out of the sky. (It was only 25 cm above grass, so no harm done)

TonyFonagerDK Posted at 2018-10-16 02:09
Just did a “hover test” - I got 18 min and 18 seconds until battery was 0% and it asked me to land the drone to avoid damaging the battery.

But isnt the DJI promised 21 minutes from flying 25 mph ?

Actually hovering uses more battery than flying slowly.
Google it if you don’t believe me

Fly safely
Alex

Alex B. Posted at 2018-10-16 06:32
Actually hovering uses more battery than flying slowly.
Google it if you don’t believe me

This issue has come up so many times! It appears that 21-22 minutes flight from a battery is a very rare occurrence. You have to wonder why a company would promote these numbers if users generally won't observe them. It only leads to support questions, product dissatisfaction, and casts doubt upon the company's general credibility. It would seem that publishing more realistic numbers would be the best thing to do for all concerned.

I use to get 15-18 minutes, averaging 16 on most flights but depended heavily on wind speeds.

TonyFonagerDK Posted at 2018-10-16 02:09
Just did a “hover test” - I got 18 min and 18 seconds until battery was 0% and it asked me to land the drone to avoid damaging the battery.

But isnt the DJI promised 21 minutes from flying 25 mph ?

Its most likely cause drone to move forward have to slow down front engines in order to gain speed.

And when its already in motion it uses force of momentum to maintain speed and slow down front engines even more.

Its like letting car go downhil on its own with a gear on, you save fuel cause lets say "car runs engine".

Max I ever got from my MA is 16 min, most of the time it was 14-15, with 25% return home left.

Max I had with mp1 is 20 minutes, had it twice. Mostly it's between 15 and 18 minutes, possibly because I fly where I want to go, make the picture, or movie, and get right away back