djiuser_2ayN8FL3bH8V Posted at 10-30 10:37
The max speed is 13m/s in sport mode , that is good!!

I wonder how it will perform in some wind.

HowNotToDrone Posted at 10-30 11:49
Are you guys crazy?! Of course, it's a HUGE improvement! 30 min flight time, 2.7k video, no law restrictions, and it's super fast! Who cares about the sensors, or bracketing... If you know how to shoot you will get much better pictures than with the spark.

Also, spark is freekin noisy!

I agree on most parts.
Only the bracketing is really a must for me.
That is the mode I use the most with my MP.
Usually the contrast up in the sky is way too high for a single exposure.
Even at d-log profile.
So if it does not have AEB-5 I will skip the mini probably.

tvon Posted at 10-30 12:49
No mention of WiFi vs Occusync?   I've always had wifi reception problems with the Spark and limited range.  Occusync and 4k would make me get this on day one.

Wifi it is.

Johnny C! Posted at 10-30 13:13
Oof!

I would miss the AEB on the MM.

True.
AEB is a showstopper for me.

Cavids Posted at 10-30 13:17
Again, price is king, they made a entry drone for 399, less than the spark.  It is in most respects better than the Spark, the one exception being the obstacle avoidance.    The positives, size, size, size........ 3 axis gimbal, 2.7k video......... and ..... 30 minute flight time.   Mine is ordered and my spark and mavic will be on Ebay tonight.   I really only use mine for travel anymore, so Mavic Mini is King!!!

I really think DJI did a great job with the mini!

HowNotToDrone Posted at 10-30 13:42
Occusync and 4k  would make it a Mavic Air killer, and that's not the purpose of this drone. Mavic Mini was made to replace the spark on the market. And it did that perfectly.

Very true indeed!

I had a spark and loved it but the range drove me nuts. I was struggling to get good solid feed to the app if I fly around where I live. Its not very built up but my mavic did not have any problems and I know you cannot compare the two. But I loved the spark for the quick get in the air and go but the range was a deal breaker for me. How can they get more range out of the new one as it looks like its using the same technology 2.4 and 5.8

I still prefer the Spark!

Cravenfan Posted at 10-30 09:39
I'm a pondering amateur photographer and Spark owner as well...first reaction was to sell the Spark and buy a Mini.  Then...I came up with the positives and negatives from my view of both, without flying it;

Positives - More compact, lighter, 3 axis gimbal, 2.7k vs. 1080, higher bitrate.  I like being able to fold it up and put it in my camera backpack.  The Spark fits in there on its side, but always worried about crunching the arms.  Increased flight time from some 15 minutes on the Spark to 30 on the mini, wow!  Also cheaper than the Spark offering.

Also a Spark owner and after looking at the comparisons don't see any significant advantage for selling the Spark in order to get a Mavic Mini. I see losing the front and down obstacle avoidance as a negative, especially for training beginners. The Spark's limited gimbal is easy to work around.

The only real advantage I see is the compact size. I'm not buying 30 min of flight time, especially if the hover time is only 16 minutes as reported elsewhere.  

For a new buyer, it is a step up, but not enough for me to "trade up" from a Spark. Anyone with a Spark wanting to upgrade should go at least to the higher end Mavic.

Oh yeah, that claim of no more regulations... go ahead and try that with the national park service or other locations with rules about drones landing or taking off.

I think it's impressive, 3D gimbal, 2.7k, under 250g, 30 min of flight time, and $499 for the fly more combo...less cost than what the Spark was out of the gate.  I will not be buying it but I now have a drone I can recommend to friends and coworkers that want something above the cheap stuff they already crashed and destroyed.  I still have a tough time trusting active track, I know it works better than it used to but I still fly without it and without sensors because I frequently land in tight spaces that sensors will not let me get into.  I think this will make for an awesome travel drone, though it will not be joining or replacing my MA for travel.  This makes me excited to find out what may lie ahead on the MA(2) platform.

maxheadroom Posted at 10-31 04:12
I had a spark and loved it but the range drove me nuts. I was struggling to get good solid feed to the app if I fly around where I live. Its not very built up but my mavic did not have any problems and I know you cannot compare the two. But I loved the spark for the quick get in the air and go but the range was a deal breaker for me. How can they get more range out of the new one as it looks like its using the same technology 2.4 and 5.8

[view_image]

I had initial frustrations with the range of the Spark but worked it out when I stopped trying to fly it with Android and went to iOS (iPad Mini).  I really did not want to but it made flying so much better for all my DJI drones.

fans99178fb3 Posted at 10-30 09:01
Flight time is the key point!!! The flight time of Spark is too short!

I liked the Spark for what it was.  The flight time is short but I had a lot of fun with it especially compared to FPV racing drones I had that were maxing out at around 6 minutes for the longest run time one had.

djiuser_2ayN8FL3bH8V Posted at 10-30 10:37
The max speed is 13m/s in sport mode , that is good!!

13m/s is just barely over 29 mph.
Spark is 31 mph.
MA is 42.5 mph.
M2/Z is 44.7

So, I have only had one drone get taken by the wind on me and that was the Spark in P-Mode on a very windy day...I switched to Sport Mode and brought it right back.  I would think 29 mph would be enough to overcome the same situation as 2 mph on the top speed would not have made a difference that day.

Montfrooij Posted at 10-31 02:29
I wonder how it will perform in some wind.

I would anticipate it being very similar to the Spark in wind...which I thought did pretty well.

maihem.rc Posted at 10-31 05:41
I would anticipate it being very similar to the Spark in wind...which I thought did pretty well.

Time will tell

maihem.rc Posted at 10-31 05:27
I had initial frustrations with the range of the Spark but worked it out when I stopped trying to fly it with Android and went to iOS (iPad Mini).  I really did not want to but it made flying so much better for all my DJI drones.

Yes I tried all three, and not had much luck. I just went back to my Mavic Pro and sold the spark on Ebay. I will keep my eye on this one to see what the range is when more people gets there hands on them. Small drone that can fit in my camera bag is a win for me.

maxheadroom Posted at 10-31 06:31
Yes I tried all three, and not had much luck. I just went back to my Mavic Pro and sold the spark on Ebay. I will keep my eye on this one to see what the range is when more people gets there hands on them. Small drone that can fit in my camera bag is a win for me.

Hands down on the range of the MP vs the Spark, I see your point there...I sold my Spark for the MA and my MP for the M2Z.  I do not regret any of my DJI purchases...er, I do sorta regret the OSMO Mobile 2 but the OSMO Pocket made up for it.  I had a lot of fun with the Spark and it got me back to flying more frequently than I did with the P2V+.

maihem.rc Posted at 10-31 06:44
Hands down on the range of the MP vs the Spark, I see your point there...I sold my Spark for the MA and my MP for the M2Z.  I do not regret any of my DJI purchases...er, I do sorta regret the OSMO Mobile 2 but the OSMO Pocket made up for it.  I had a lot of fun with the Spark and it got me back to flying more frequently than I did with the P2V+.

So true on the flying side, I loved the ease of getting the drone in the air compare to my Mavic pro. The Mavic pro does feel a bit more of an event to get it out and get going where the Spark was up and running without people noticing.

Keep my eye on this little one. That flight time is also going to make a big difference for me.

maxheadroom Posted at 10-31 04:12
I had a spark and loved it but the range drove me nuts. I was struggling to get good solid feed to the app if I fly around where I live. Its not very built up but my mavic did not have any problems and I know you cannot compare the two. But I loved the spark for the quick get in the air and go but the range was a deal breaker for me. How can they get more range out of the new one as it looks like its using the same technology 2.4 and 5.8

[view_image]

That's just the frequency, what matters is the signal strength.

UnlimiteDrone@gmail.com Posted at 10-31 07:21
That's just the frequency, what matters is the signal strength.

Which will be way more limited by hardware, forever, if you buy a European unit   (compared to a FCC unit)

maxheadroom Posted at 10-31 06:31
Yes I tried all three, and not had much luck. I just went back to my Mavic Pro and sold the spark on Ebay. I will keep my eye on this one to see what the range is when more people gets there hands on them. Small drone that can fit in my camera bag is a win for me.

That size sure is tempting. But my guess is that the connection will be sort of like Spark

maxheadroom Posted at 10-31 06:49
So true on the flying side, I loved the ease of getting the drone in the air compare to my Mavic pro. The Mavic pro does feel a bit more of an event to get it out and get going where the Spark was up and running without people noticing.

Keep my eye on this little one. That flight time is also going to make a big difference for me.

Yeah, the 4 legs and folding props make all the difference
(at least 15 seconds)

UnlimiteDrone@gmail.com Posted at 10-31 07:21
That's just the frequency, what matters is the signal strength.

There are some factors regarding the frequency too.
- 2.4ghz is a lower frequency so it's less directional than 5.8ghz. Meaning, 2.4ghz radio waves will go around and through objects a bit better than 5.8. So if you start to descend below the horizon, or a bunch of trees gets in between you and the drone, etc., 2.4ghz will be a little more forgiving. 5.8ghz, OTOH, will tend to do the opposite; it's more easily blocked by obstructions, hills, etc. that intervene between you and the aircraft.
- more bandwidth is available on the 5.8ghz band, I believe, so the transmission will be a little better quality. At least in theory, I haven't actually tested this yet with my P4P, but it makes sense.
- 5.8ghz has less other traffic on it than 2.4ghz, so you're less likely to encounter interference on the 5.8ghz band.

CemAygun Posted at 10-31 07:50
Which will be way more limited by hardware, forever, if you buy a European unit   (compared to a FCC unit)

Honestly, I don't think the FCC or European units matter anymore, the older P2V+ had settings that were user changeable.  I have a MA that I have taken to Europe and Mexico, when I turn it on, it knows where it is and resets everything automatically.  I do not have an option to bypass or override allowable distances, which sorta sucked in Greece (EU), the distance was really short.  I did not notice the distance being as short in Mexico.  When I turn it on at home, it changes the allowable distances back on its own. I would think an EU sold drone would have a greater allowable distance if used in the US.

Montfrooij Posted at 10-31 07:54
Yeah, the 4 legs and folding props make all the difference
(at least 15 seconds)

I believe to part of maxheadroom's point, I noticed a marked difference in the general reaction of people toward the Spark vs the MP or any of the Phantom series.  When flying a larger drone, people had interest but it was with skepticism and sometimes outright contempt.  When I flew the Spark, it was smaller and quieter; people thought it was cute and were not taken aback by it at all.  It literally drew people in and everyone I encountered was positive toward it.  An argument could be made that people were just more used to them by the time the Spark came out but I still run into not so enthused individuals when flying a larger drone.  Oddly enough, people seem pretty ok with the MA though it has a very loud sound signature, so perhaps size matters.

maihem.rc Posted at 10-31 10:02
I believe to part of maxheadroom's point, I noticed a marked difference in the general reaction of people toward the Spark vs the MP or any of the Phantom series.  When flying a larger drone, people had interest but it was with skepticism and sometimes outright contempt.  When I flew the Spark, it was smaller and quieter; people thought it was cute and were not taken aback by it at all.  It literally drew people in and everyone I encountered was positive toward it.  An argument could be made that people were just more used to them by the time the Spark came out but I still run into not so enthused individuals when flying a larger drone.  Oddly enough, people seem pretty ok with the MA though it has a very loud sound signature, so perhaps size matters.

Yeah. The MP looks somewhat aggressive even.

Great looking little drone but I'll be sticking with my Spark for now as this Mini does not have active track which I use when I go snowboarding all the time.

I also haven't seen that it does the composite photos (where it stitches multiple photos together for a wider view)

ssylca44 Posted at 10-31 04:43
I still prefer the Spark!

Can you explain why?

maihem.rc Posted at 10-31 09:13
Honestly, I don't think the FCC or European units matter anymore, the older P2V+ had settings that were user changeable.  I have a MA that I have taken to Europe and Mexico, when I turn it on, it knows where it is and resets everything automatically.  I do not have an option to bypass or override allowable distances, which sorta sucked in Greece (EU), the distance was really short.  I did not notice the distance being as short in Mexico.  When I turn it on at home, it changes the allowable distances back on its own. I would think an EU sold drone would have a greater allowable distance if used in the US.

Unfortunately this is not the case with the Mini. Versions are different at hardware level and they are not even compatible with each other (you cannot use one's remote with the other etc.)

Please check Post 11 from DJI Mindy...

https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=200911&extra=page%3D1%26filter%3Dtypeid%26typeid%3D712%26typeid%3D712

Anybody knows if the mavic mini works with smartcontroller?

Njw83 Posted at 10-31 14:36
Great looking little drone but I'll be sticking with my Spark for now as this Mini does not have active track which I use when I go snowboarding all the time.

I also haven't seen that it does the composite photos (where it stitches multiple photos together for a wider view)

Hi there
Im a spark owner and want to use it to track me mountain biking but wonder how does it react when you travel below its start height which i guess it does when snowboarding.
Also im not convinced the mm is worth the change.
Cheers Dave

Seems like a great improvement

UnlimiteDrone@gmail.com Posted at 10-31 21:54
Anybody knows if the mavic mini works with smartcontroller?

I am sure it doesn't.

UnlimiteDrone@gmail.com Posted at 10-31 16:25
Can you explain why?

The spark is superior all-around other than battery life and 3 axes gimbal (however  the 2 axes are quite good)

From the specs ( https://www.dji.com/mavic-mini/specs )

We can see that there are 2 type of batteries: One 2400 mAh with a weight of 100gr, another one 1100 mAh that is only 50 gr.
I am quite sure that the 30 minutes flight time is with the big battery, but that one makes the craft 299 gr at take off !

Cravenfan Posted at 10-30 09:39
I'm a pondering amateur photographer and Spark owner as well...first reaction was to sell the Spark and buy a Mini.  Then...I came up with the positives and negatives from my view of both, without flying it;

Positives - More compact, lighter, 3 axis gimbal, 2.7k vs. 1080, higher bitrate.  I like being able to fold it up and put it in my camera backpack.  The Spark fits in there on its side, but always worried about crunching the arms.  Increased flight time from some 15 minutes on the Spark to 30 on the mini, wow!  Also cheaper than the Spark offering.

I would think the follow mode was a software thing soo it could still come

CyberNorris Posted at 10-31 05:12
Also a Spark owner and after looking at the comparisons don't see any significant advantage for selling the Spark in order to get a Mavic Mini. I see losing the front and down obstacle avoidance as a negative, especially for training beginners. The Spark's limited gimbal is easy to work around.

The only real advantage I see is the compact size. I'm not buying 30 min of flight time, especially if the hover time is only 16 minutes as reported elsewhere.  

I have seen multiple people get 29 min of hover.  As for the obstacle avoidance I would rather not have it

UnlimiteDrone@gmail.com Posted at 10-31 21:54
Anybody knows if the mavic mini works with smartcontroller?

No it does not

PS013 Posted at 11-1 14:44
From the specs ( https://www.dji.com/mavic-mini/specs )

We can see that there are 2 type of batteries: One 2400 mAh with a weight of 100gr, another one 1100 mAh that is only 50 gr.

I think that 1100 one is the japanese drone which has 199g (japan has a weight limit of 200g)

I had a Spark on 2 holidays. Mainlu use for quick video or selfie without phone, just with gestures becquse of time.

I sell Spark because i thought about new drone that should be better. But not.

Mavic Mini: no sensors, no tracking, no manual white balance in video, ...ty bitrate, no gestures?, no possibility to use without controller..