I've just purchased an Air 2S and I started flying with my iPhone 12 Pro connected to the RC-N1. I'm not experiencing any issue, but I'm thinking to move to a dedicated RC setup (the iPhone is provided by my employer and I'd like not to use for flying the drone). I'm just wondering if the best solution can be to move to DJI RC (assuming that it will be made compatible with the Air 2S) or to purchase a Android phone dedicated for this purpose. I'm thinking about the Samsung Galaxy S20 (refurbished) that can be purchased at a similar price than the DJI-RC. What do you think about ? What are your experiences about the S20, in particular the brightness of the screen ?

My preference is an RC Pro
I was using a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra with my Air 2S, but it had issues. The screen would go dark in warm weather. And the phone is difficult to see in bright sunlight. I bought a surround for the controller, but is was unpleasant to use. And it was annoying getting messages from friends popping up too.
The RC Pro is amazing, the bigger screen always stays bright and can be seen in sunlight, and no more fiddling with the phone to connect it and disconnect it.

ReproRetro Posted at 9-14 06:02
My preference is an RC Pro

Sorry but your answer is not too much useful. It's the same as if I was asking what to choose between a BMW and a Mercedes and you answered a Lamborghini...

FabioV Posted at 9-14 06:05
Sorry but your answer is not too much useful. It's the same as if I was asking what to choose between a BMW and a Mercedes and you answered a Lamborghini...

Sorry, I got lost in your question, a more succinct one would have been good.
Are you saying you wanted to use a DJI RC, which I don't think is compatible with the Air 2S rather than an RC Pro which is?

FabioV Posted at 9-14 06:05
Sorry but your answer is not too much useful. It's the same as if I was asking what to choose between a BMW and a Mercedes and you answered a Lamborghini...

And as I said, I found problems with the S22 Ultra going dark. I had a Galaxy Note 8 at first, which kept going dark, so I upgraded to the S22 Ultra, but it behaved he same way

I would look for a phone that will not have any more OS upgrades. The Galaxy S10 is a great phone and much cheaper than a S20.

ReproRetro Posted at 9-14 06:11
Sorry, I got lost in your question, a more succinct one would have been good.
Are you saying you wanted to use a DJI RC, which I don't think is compatible with the Air 2S rather than an RC Pro which is?

Probably my question was too long ... But I also made the assumption that the DJI RC will be made compatible with the Air 2S. If it won't happen, I'll have to chose a phone. From my point of view it does not make sense to purchase the RC Pro for flying a single drone for a non-professional use.

Mobilehomer Posted at 9-14 06:14
I would look for a phone that will not have any more OS upgrades. The Galaxy S10 is a great phone and much cheaper than a S20.

Yes, this a good insight. Please consider that my requirement is quite basic: I need a phone able to run the DJI Fly app with a screen bright enough for summer outdoor activities. And possibly that don't go out of support from DJI in the next couple of years. I'm planning to use it only as a screen for the DJI RC-N1, no phone nor other applications.
From information I collected, it seems that the S20 has a very bright screen ... But I wanted the opinions of some users.

Hello there FabioV. Good day and thank you for reaching out. For reference, the DJI RC is designed to maximize your outdoor flying experience and a 5.5-inch FHD built-in screen displays clear, bright images, even under challenging conditions. In addition, I hope that our fellow DJI Co Pilots can also share there valued insights with regards top this matter. Thank you.

What I suggest is even though I think that the Dji Rc is an amazing product worth every penny, for your situation I would probably consider getting another phone or maybe possibly a refurbished iPad mini for its bigger screen. My reasons are because whenever I want to download photos or videos unless you use a computer I have to use my phone anyway for quick transfer. As that’s the quickest way to download photos or videos from your drone. And as you said you don’t want to use your phone for flying your drone and if you get the Dji Rc you still have to use your phone. And also there is the fact that as of right now the Dji Rc is not compatible with the Air2S and while I do believe that Dji will make the Dji Rc compatible with the Air2S it’s still unknown.

Fred Fred Fred Posted at 9-14 20:31
What I suggest is even though I think that the Dji Rc is an amazing product worth every penny, for your situation I would probably consider getting another phone or maybe possibly a refurbished iPad mini for its bigger screen. My reasons are because whenever I want to download photos or videos unless you use a computer I have to use my phone anyway for quick transfer. As that’s the quickest way to download photos or videos from your drone. And as you said you don’t want to use your phone for flying your drone and if you get the Dji Rc you still have to use your phone. And also there is the fact that as of right now the Dji Rc is not compatible with the Air2S and while I do believe that Dji will make the Dji Rc compatible with the Air2S it’s still unknown.

The Air 2S does not support the Quick Transfer, as the Mini 2 does. I always extract photos and videos connecting the drone to a Mac, or moving the SD card to an adapter. I like the idea of an iPad mini (I'm fully engaged into Apple ecosystem), but I'm in doubt because of the screen dimming effect that all the iOS devices seem to suffer. And, based on the specifications, the iPad mini screen has only 500 nits of brightness.
Thanks for your suggestions.

FabioV Posted at 9-14 22:57
The Air 2S does not support the Quick Transfer, as the Mini 2 does. I always extract photos and videos connecting the drone to a Mac, or moving the SD card to an adapter. I like the idea of an iPad mini (I'm fully engaged into Apple ecosystem), but I'm in doubt because of the screen dimming effect that all the iOS devices seem to suffer.
Thanks for your suggestions.

Sorry, I had no idea about the Air2S not supporting quick transfer. However, I know that a few times I’ve used my iPad Pro for flying my drones and the screen has never dimmed so maybe the iPad mini will to, I don’t know for sure though I’ll probably have to YouTube but I also know a way around the screen dimming on my iPhone and that is I just turn it on airplane mode and that seems to do the trick. But before I do that I also first scroll around on my maps to download the map around the area I’m going to fly. So maybe try that on your phone and then see if it works and then maybe a iPad mini is right for you, I mean, bigger screen then using a phone or the Dji Rc, brighter display then the Rc, it’s apple and you can’t go wrong with them, and after you fly and you download your photos or videos to your iPads photos they will automatically be on your iCloud where you can then view them on your iMac, its a win win.

Fred Fred Fred Posted at 9-14 23:22
Sorry, I had no idea about the Air2S not supporting quick transfer. However, I know that a few times I’ve used my iPad Pro for flying my drones and the screen has never dimmed so maybe the iPad mini will to, I don’t know for sure though I’ll probably have to YouTube but I also know a way around the screen dimming on my iPhone and that is I just turn it on airplane mode and that seems to do the trick. But before I do that I also first scroll around on my maps to download the map around the area I’m going to fly. So maybe try that on your phone and then see if it works and then maybe a iPad mini is right for you, I mean, bigger screen then using a phone or the Dji Rc, brighter display then the Rc, it’s apple and you can’t go wrong with them, and after you fly and you download your photos or videos to your iPads photos they will automatically be on your iCloud where you can then view them on your iMac, its a win win.

Now I'm flying using the iPhone 12 Pro and I usually do in the same way as you: map caching and airplane mode. I just want to have a setup completely independent from the my job's phone, without spending too much for another  iPhone.   

I have the Samsung Galaxy S20 Note.

By my standards, the screen isn't close to bright enough to operation in direct sunlight.

On the other hand, I have no interest in and RC that has the screens below the control sticks. Both my Mini-1 and Mini-SE use that configuration , and I just hate it.

I haven't found a good solution yet...other than FPV goggles, of course!

;-)

TCS

Chaosrider Posted at 9-15 10:17
I have the Samsung Galaxy S20 Note.

By my standards, the screen isn't close to bright enough to operation in direct sunlight.

Yeah, I agree ! The screen below the control sticks is not a good idea !

I use the s20 for my air2s, I never have any problems and the screen is bright.  You can't use a thick case over the phone or the stock cable won't plug in.

CC Photography Posted at 9-16 04:19
I use the s20 for my air2s, I never have any problems and the screen is bright.  You can't use a thick case over the phone or the stock cable won't plug in.

Thanks for the information. I always remove the case before mounting the phone into the RC.

FabioV Posted at 9-15 11:07
Yeah, I agree ! The screen below the control sticks is not a good idea !

My biggest problem with it is that I haven't been about to find a sunshade that works with the screen below the sticks. There are a number of good shades available for the Mini-2 RC-N1, which has the screen properly on top.

I'm really picky about screen brightness and an absence of glare. What I really want is a screen that's bright enough to pass the aviation standard for "sunlight readable". I don't know if those devices even exist.

The FPV and Avata, of course, just make the problem go away!

:-)

TCS