Everyone knows that the Phantom 4’s dual camera visual positioning gives it incredible hovering accuracy, making it easy to fly even in tough environments.

Taking off indoors then flying out through a window, from a low balcony and out, or in areas where buildings and structures may block GPS which if attempted by an inexperienced pilot would likely lead to a crash. Situations like these are why most new flyers are too worried about crashing to enjoy their flights. This is especially true of drones without stereo vision positioning, because these will drift unpredictably, making flying more dangerous and perhaps even putting people off flying.

Beginners really should take a close look at the Phantom 4, equipped with stereo vision positioning that makes flying easier and safer. It also has TapFly, ActiveTrack, built-in vibration absorbing systems and magnesium alloy material but these are icing on the cake.     

The technology behind making drones easier and safer to fly needs years of intense development. It isn’t as simple as adding some new and untested technology. For instance, some people think that hexacopters are more reliable, but is that really the case? Inside each aircraft are hundreds of circuits, and circuit failure can lead to a crash. Out of all crashes, it’s estimated that just 10% are the result of failures in the propulsion system. In contrast, a flaw in the flight controller can account for many times more crashes, so are the two additional rotors worth the risk of a new and untested flight controller? Once reliable vision positioning is added, that improves reliability even more.      

Foldable arms are handy for making an aircraft smaller, but to make an aircraft with foldable arms you also need to make it bigger which defeats the whole point of size reduction.  

Another hot feature at the moment is ultrasonic obstacle avoidance, which is great in theory but with a sensing distance of just 3 meters, and a 30 degree viewing angle what’s the point?     

Another impractical design is retracting landing gear and a 360° rotating gimbal. Why does anyone need that on a drone made for single pilots? If you’re flying on your own the best way to take a 360° shot is to simply yaw the drone in the air. It’s easier to do that while flying than to divide your attention between flying and gimbal movement.     

All these functions of debatable usability combined with exaggerated and misleading reviews are simply enlarging profit margins for dealers. It is effectively selling obsolete technology at premium prices to customers.      

If customers are smart, manufacturers will have no choice but to focus on developing new technologies for better products. But, if customers are easily fooled then manufacturers without the technical expertise will push out basic products for short term gain because they have no long-term strategy.   

  

Thanks for this production & following written description. ;-)

RedHotPoker

lol! Sorry DJI, but this video made me literally laugh out loud when I saw it just now. I don't know what batch of Phantom 4's you have, but mine does NOT react like that when doing the majority of the things you did in the video, using the VPS. If I were to hover, and try to pull it away from it's hovering position, it would not snap back into place. Same with flying full speed and stopping. Mine would drop until it almost or does hit the ground. Same with going under a bridge. In fact, there was a discussion on this forum less than a week ago where somebody posted a video of him flying under a bridge and losing GPS signal and his P4 crashing. He was wondering what went wrong. What went wrong is he lost GPS. I just can't believe this video man. This is NOT how my Phantom 4 reacts in almost all aspects. The bright side is I now believe you (DJI) that you cannot replicate the issues we're having. Your using perfect and brand new P4s. Maybe you guys should be testing "worn in" models to replicate these issues we are all having?? Please don't delete this post because you don't want people seeing it at the top of your new thread about VPS. But they deserve the real world experience, which is not what I just saw. Sorry, just telling what I (and many others) are experiencing with our P4s, and you put out this video..poor timing.

FatedFilmsNC Posted at 2016-5-11 08:11
lol! Sorry DJI, but this video made me literally laugh out loud when I saw it just now. I don't know ...

As a new P4 owner and a new flyer to any form of RC craft I am concerned by all the reports of issues others are having.  The reason I am concerned mostly is not the fact that a new product is having issues but the what appears to be a lack of response and attempt at resolving the issues.
Phantoms are not cheap items and I believe DJI customers deserve a bit better to be fair.

All of that said, I am extremely happy with my P4 to date and am enjoying the steep learning curve that I am on, but my mind would be very much easier if I could see DJI actively and openly responding to what seems like lots of same issues being suffered by many owners.

Great work in producing the fantastic products DJI but a little bit more transparent help will only give you street credibility and truly set you above your competition in every way.

Much as I applaud the industry leading advances built into the P4 I think that the post is going to encourage reckless flying.
Its good that DJI builds in redundancy in IMU and has collision avoidance but I've heard of new flyers who just take their craft beyond VFR range before they have mastered flying and just blindly trust RTH. In one case, this reportedly resulted in a crash into a building because line of sight was through the building - signal being lost because the flyer went behind that building.

There are enough adventurous people out in the wild who already push the limits.

Does DJI want short term gains so much that they are willing to have sanctions / restrictions on multi rotor usage thrown at everyone, everywhere on account of a few irresponsible adrenaline junkies?

Another example of a case in Asia where a pilot of a P2 boasted online with an accompanying video about how close he got to a landing Airbus A320. He was arrested and then offered to the authorities his skills for flying high risk missions for marketing purposes. Is this the kind of customer you want to encourage?

Mike-the-cat Posted at 2016-5-11 10:12
Much as I applaud the industry leading advances built into the P4 I think that the post is going to  ...

Would you rather not have had the additional features or the instructional video ?

"Another example of a case in Asia where a pilot of a P2 boasted online with an accompanying video about how close he got to a landing Airbus A320. He was arrested and then offered to the authorities his skills for flying high risk missions for marketing purposes. Is this the kind of customer you want to encourage? "

There will always be idiots out there, for some, stupidity is not optional

I am new to flying P4 but most if not all I have seen in the video, I have tried and with a little patience my P4 acts exactly same Love it...

My Flying Eye Posted at 2016-5-11 15:41
As a new P4 owner and a new flyer to any form of RC craft I am concerned by all the reports of issu ...

There are a lot of people who complain loudly in this forum.

That does not necessarily equate to a large percentage of P4 owners who are unhappy.

It's just that the unhappy ones - justifiably and not - are prolific and conspicuous.

I had a P2 V+ and I now have a P4.

I've flown a lot, I've crashed, I purchased my P4 from Apple retail and bought other items/services from DJI, and I've had my P2 V+ serviced by DJI.

I really have no complaints.

Good luck.

Aardvark Posted at 2016-5-11 18:49
Would you rather not have had the additional features or the instructional video ?

"Another exampl ...

The video is great but the text is a little edgy.

The engineering on the P4 is superb but I would suggest that these features be viewed 'defensively' as 'added safety' rather than: 'I'll jump off the cliff and it should be fine now..." and if anything happens, I'll just initiate a class action law suit against DJI for false claims"

Mike-the-cat Posted at 2016-5-11 15:46
The video is great but the text is a little edgy.

The engineering on the P4 is superb but I woul ...

" but I would suggest that these features be viewed 'defensively' as 'added safety' rather than: 'I'll jump off the cliff and it should be fine now..." "

Agreed and that is hopefully how most experienced (or older ) pilots would treat it , erring on the side of caution.

markdaviesmedia Posted at 2016-5-11 13:25
There are a lot of people who complain loudly in this forum.

That does not necessarily equate to  ...

Thanks for the reassuring post Mark.  

My Flying Eye Posted at 2016-5-11 15:41
As a new P4 owner and a new flyer to any form of RC craft I am concerned by all the reports of issu ...

Hi
You shouldn't be concerned for all the other problem reports as most of the problems are user induced!
Enjoy your p4, I enjoy my p3p, they are great units when setup, maintained and flown correctly.

markdaviesmedia Posted at 2016-5-11 06:25
There are a lot of people who complain loudly in this forum.

That does not necessarily equate to  ...

Markdaviesmedia, I would agree with you.  I also have had a P2V+ as well as a P3Pro and not a P4...I have crashed the P2 countless times, and the P3P once, AND so far the P4 ZERO times.  We all know that we can not fix stupid, BUT as a novice RC guy just getting into it (about 8 months total flight times from the P2 to the P4) it helps.  With that said, I notice that I am flying more and more out of GPS and into ATTI mode to get cleaner and better video's/pics then when I first started.  I also agree with the FAA that you should NOT fly our of visual range...it's an accident waiting to happen AND will cause more laws and regulations for those of us who fly "safe".

rayrokni Posted at 2016-5-11 13:24
Hi
You shouldn't be concerned for all the other problem reports as most of the problems are user i ...

rayrokni, I would agree with you completely.  Thanks.

Sounds like you're having a go at the Typhoon H
lol

Aardvark Posted at 2016-5-12 00:02
" but I would suggest that these features be viewed 'defensively' as 'added safety' rather than: ' ...

Yep. Agree completely!

Aardvark Posted at 2016-5-11 17:02
" but I would suggest that these features be viewed 'defensively' as 'added safety' rather than: ' ...

Perfect word.....

That exactly is where new pilots put too much trust that things can never fail....

Linolens Posted at 2016-5-12 12:09
Sounds like you're having a go at the Typhoon H
lol

Exactly, the post reads like a fanboy who bought a Phantom 4 then saw the Typhoon H... I'm sorry but I find this post extremely unprofessional. There are constant references to the Typhoon H and assumptions about its functionality and how it'd be impractical or useless for people. You should never highlight the perceived failings of your competitor, you highlight the advantages of your product.

The Phantom 4 has a lot of interesting and unique features, there's no need for this kind of insecure post and I can't believe something like this came directly out of DJI. What are they thinking?

Not only that, most of what they say applies equally to DJI: "Another impractical design is retracting landing gear" What, like the Inspire 1 and the other high-end DJI drones?

All this post says to me is the Typhoon H terrifies DJI. Why? I'm not sure. I'm not interested in getting one and never have been but after reading this, I'm sure a lot of smart people will certainly be a little more curious...

Wow. I didn't realize there was so much more tech in the P4 and I like the idea of being able to fly out of enclosed spaces since living in a city has very few places to take off from. Thanks for sharing, I'm saving up for my P4

Another impractical design is retracting landing gear and a 360° rotating gimbal. Why does anyone need that on a drone made for single pilots? If you’re flying on your own the best way to take a 360° shot is to simply yaw the drone in the air. It’s easier to do that while flying than to divide your attention between flying and gimbal movement.     



Speak for yourself, after having a Phantom Vision 2+ and moving to an Inspire 1 I prefer 360 degrees of rotation with the camera, which the retractable landing gear provides. Anyway I use both Autopilot and Litchi and with the myriad of flight options they both have that take advantage the camera's 360 degree range of movement, I'd never want to go back to anything else.

P4 is great, it shows how technology has moved forward, but it's still in my opinion the best pro/prosumer sUAS on the market. The P4's tech will certainly trickle up to the next flagship prosumer sUAS from DJI (Inspire 2?). I'll just wait for that to happen.

Skylinewg Posted at 2016-5-13 07:49
Another impractical design is retracting landing gear and a 360° rotating gimbal. Why does anyone n ...

I'm on the I1 and i1Pro bandwagon....but something people are not seeing is the "unlimited" 360 degrees movement on the Typhoon H...something we mechanically do not have from the i1 gimball

Competition is healthy and will push DJI to develop (even better) products

It seems DJI made a mistake posting this with the comment about the 360 degree gimbal being useless and retracting landing gear being impractical where all the Inspire 1 users will see it...

Mine got saved by the front sensors but this video is stretching some things a little in my opinion. Anyone else notice the controller not even on while the person was flying it. Just a bad editing job is all.

Do you believe commercials???

so can you tell us how to activate this mode?

dancarver44@mai Posted at 2016-5-12 20:10
To insinuate that retractable landing gear is a waste is total rubbish. Retractable landing gear all ...

It also causes your camera to smash if you crash at all. AT ALL. With landing gear that doesn't retract, you have essentially a safety net around your camera. Have you ever seen an Inspire crash? The camera gets completely destroyed in a lot of cases. I assume this will be the same with the Typhoon H. I'm surprised their ultrasonic obstacle avoidance is only active up to 3 meters with a 30 degree viewing angle. That's really limiting...Much more so than the Phantom 4, even if the H claims to be able to dip and dodge around stuff, that wouldn't create usable footage, just unstable footage.

Why is it that VPS causes the forward and backward throttle to not work? If i'm too close to the ground (e.g. coming in to land), Once the aircraft starts beeping, i cannot move forward/backward/sideways, only up and down. This is extremely frustrating when launching from/landing on a small surface (e.g. a boat dock, wooden walkway over water, small bit of coast, etc.) I almost lost my P4 into the lake yesterday after coming back in to land on my small strip of coast i launched from, and ended up having to do a hand catch after about 3-5 min of continuously trying to come in to land, and not being able to move farther forward over land, away from the water. The reason is because once the VPS (I'm assuming that is what is causing this) kicks on at a very low altitude (under 2 feet), it completely restricts your forward throttle stick. Why does this happen? What is the advantage of this? DJI, PLEASE GIVE US THE OPTION TO TURN OFF VPS!!!! It is nothing but a HUGE headache if you never fly indoors.

The p3 does this too

I have the same problem.IN phantom 4
In my case, I updated RC firstly.
After that, I updated  but I cannot update they showing" Downloading package Paused ". after that i Connect with My Mac on DJI ASSISTANT 2 . But there are showing old version refresh & New Version Update.when i click on New Version after 25% down load my internet is slow or kill . i again soo many tme but still same problem after that i attach with RC & Aircraft & lunch a app & SAW the there show "RC SIGNAL LOST"  after that want to downgrade then  i open a home in app there are on Right hand side Hat Icon i hold down 10 sec after that pop new window there showing a FW Version i there show " elect firmware version " non " can't  downgarde. no i am very fadup. what i do??? any one tell me plz???

FatedFilmsNC Posted at 2016-5-15 21:24
It also causes your camera to smash if you crash at all. AT ALL. With landing gear that doesn't re ...

Have you ever seen a Phantom hotswap cameras? The Inspire is a prosumer device, and for the professionals that actually use it for more than just video and photos it's an indispensable feature to have the ability to change cameras, and in some cases have 360 range of motion. Also there's far less of the annoying prop in the  video problem that the Phantom has especially during high performance maneuvers.

danny.condruti Posted at 2016-5-14 07:53
**** The author has been banned or deleted automatically shield ****

No, I don't believe commercials, but I think we should believe reviews like http://droneswithcamera.site/dji-phantom-3-review

c2407284@trbvn. Posted at 2016-5-18 12:09
No, I don't believe commercials, but I think we should believe reviews like http://droneswithcamer ...

What do you guys think about it ?

Assembly is basically the same, except now the rotors have a new locking mechanism. DJI says it needed a stronger connection to keep the rotors from flying off in "sport mode" (more on that later.) The end results is just as simple — and quite a bit faster — the the previous assembly method. The battery is a bit bigger but otherwise identical. It snaps into place snugly and detaches easily.

c2407284@trbvn. Posted at 2016-5-18 12:09
No, I don't believe commercials, but I think we should believe reviews like http://droneswithcamer ...

No one trusts that review ?