Royal Mavic Air 2:8K delay, 4K60fps, 4800W pixels, OcuSync image transmission, I have all!
The "Royal" series launched by Dajiang in 2016 firmly divided the previous and subsequent consumer UAVs into two eras. Four years later, a product line based on size and performance has been launched: the Mavic 2 series (2018), which sells zoom and image quality, the Mavic Mini (2019), which weighs only 249g, and the newly released Mavic Air 2 (2020).
It has been more than 2 years since the original Mavic Air (January 2018). According to the habit of Dajiang, every year new machines, regardless of their positioning, will put all the energy into research and development, manufacturing and supply chain. The result is that the Mavic Air 2 has been upgraded violently, inheriting a lot of features of its own high-end product line, but also some functions that even the flagship does not have.
Because it was launched at the latest time, it received the dividends of mobile CMOS and chips that have increased significantly in the past two years. The new 1/2 inch CMOS is free from the curse of 1/2.3 inch for ten thousand years, and its stronger intelligent system and endurance make it known as the "smartest aerial camera drone" by Dajiang. Although called Air, it may be more appropriate to understand it as the main body of the Mavic 2. The Air 2, which complements the image transmission and endurance pit, has comprehensively rolled the previous generation, except that its size and weight are larger than those of the previous generation. The price is 4999 if the quantity is increased.
Selling points and upgrading
If you take a closer look at the parameters, you will find that this is just like the ordinary classic Mavic 2 that has never appeared under the Mavic 2 Zoom. To sum up, the core upgrade is camera and image transmission:
Sony IMX586, 1/2 inch CMOS, 48 million pixels, Quad Bayer array, four in one output of 12 million pixels
48 megapixel photos, 4K/60fps video, 8K mobile delay video, 1080P/240fps slow motion, HDR covering video and panorama
OcuSync 2.0 remote control image transmission (the same model as the Mavic 2 series), with a maximum distance of 10km
APAS 3.0 Advanced Auxiliary Flight Obstacle Avoidance System, greater visual perception range, stronger independent planning
34 minute endurance
Other parameters
Weight 570g, folded 180 × 97 × 84 mm, unfolded 183 × 253 × 77 mm, diagonal wheelbase 302 mm
F2.8 aperture, angle of view 84 °, equivalent focal length 24 mm
Onboard 8GB memory, maximum 256GB Micro SD card
The maximum speed is 19 m/s (sports gear), the maximum wind resistance level is level 5 wind, and the maximum range is 18.5 km
Battery 3500 mAh, 11.55V, 40.42 Wh. Single weight 198 g, maximum charging power 38 W
4999 yuan for ordinary version, 6699 yuan for package version (including 6 pairs of oars, ND mirror package, 3 batteries, seat charge, shoulder bag, etc.)
appearance
There is a kind of Apple feel in the package, which is very textured. The details are more careful than those of the previous products. Unpacking damping is just right. All parts of the packaging bracket that contact with the machine have pure white sponge pads. The contact part between the machine and the package is provided with anti abrasion adhesive paper with easy tear opening.
A pair of remote control rocker and a pair of detachable silent paddles are included in the accessories. Since both remote control and UAV have been upgraded to Type-C, the distribution wires have become C-port wires.
From the wheelbase length, expansion and folding size data, the positioning of Air is obviously different. Mini has taken over the job of ultra slim, which can now carry more advanced functions and become more like a portable Pro. It is no longer a large plastic fuselage, but a whole piece of metal at the bottom. The texture has been improved several levels, and the weight has been controlled at 570 grams.
In order to put the core of the previous Pro series into this smaller body, the Mavic Air 2 adopts the systematic packaging SIP process (which is also used by Apple Watch), which significantly improves the integration and performance density, as well as the endurance.
The Royal Mavic Air 2 does not follow the design of the previous generation, but unifies the design with the Mavic 2 series and Mini. As for the reason, the official said that the folding mode of the boom, the size of the paddle disk and the aerodynamic efficiency of the early generation had room for improvement. If the design of the early generation was followed, it would be difficult to break through the ceiling of the endurance under the same volume and weight.
The ancestral shark eye, the ancestral folding structure, and the three sets put together just form an isochronous series, but the official announced that it has made a more radical attempt in the shape contour. The only regret of the Mavic Air 2 is that the thickness after folding is 77mm, which is a little reluctant to fill the pockets. But if you think about the camera, remote control and performance improvement, it will be good for brain tonic and weight reduction.
The camera part looks like a small Mavic 2 Pro Hasu head, and nearly half of the length behind the camera is heat sink. This is the first time that such a large CMOS has been integrated into the midrange products. You should know that the IMX586 is a big bottom mobile CMOS with the highest power consumption of 850mW.
Looking at other data, we can see how awesome this thing is: this three-axis PTZ with laser welding process weighs 50g in total, but for the sake of the heat dissipation of the camera, 8g was eaten by the heat sink alone, and the surface area of the heat sink reached 3675mm ². The HDR video introduced by the Mavic Air 2 is based on the features of the IMX586, but most of the mobile phones equipped with it do not provide this function, probably because the 850mW heat dissipation problem cannot be solved on the mobile phone, which is quite interesting.
This is the first Mavic Pro
I have to say that this belly really looks like the original Mavic Pro. Like the Mavic 2, it has LED fill light, which is a symbol of status. When flying at night, LED lights can let you see the machine from afar, which will be much more reassuring. The visual obstacle avoidance system is the same as the previous generation, both front and rear and the number of cameras has not changed.
Mavic mini, Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic Air 2
Then the question arises. How can passers-by recognize this is the latest Mavic Air 2 at a glance? In addition to the distinguished name "Mavic Air 2" on the left forearm, you'd better keep the belly facing the other side: Mini is the horizontal heat dissipation grille, Mavic 2 is the flat belly with many cameras protruding, and Mavic Air 2 is the longitudinal heat dissipation plate.
Image transmission and control
OcuSync 2.0 image transmission! "I finally waited for you, but fortunately I didn't give up", OcuSync image transmission finally came to the price range below 5k!
This is much better than the previous generation of WiFi pictures. WiFi pictures are not necessarily slow, but sometimes broken, and you don't know why. The new mid tier entry-level products bully the old flagship again. We dare to run hard in the urban area with the Mavic Air 2. We dare to run 1 km in the urban area. It's really delicious.
The biggest effect of a good image transmission is to reduce the psychological burden. You can run far without being careful. It's like changing from antique Xiali to Paramela. I used to panic when I was 50 miles away, but now I don't even realize that my foot oil will break a hundred.
The Mavic Air 2 has changed to a new family face design to promote its aerodynamic performance. The proportion of the motor body seems small, but the power system maintains the original level, the gear P speed is increased to 43 km/h, and the motion mode is 68.4 km/h (19 m/s).
As for the metaphysics of the control feel, I don't think the small steel gun of the early generation is as comfortable as the one of the early generation. After all, the weight and wheelbase are there, but I feel that it is even easier than the Pro series (remote control feel plus? Weight advantage?). What is certain is that the wind resistance is much better than the original Air, and now you dare to take off in windy days (the wind resistance level of the previous generation is Level 4, and the Air 2 and the Mavic 2 series are both Level 5).
The mode button (tripod, normal, and sports) directly centered on the remote control corresponds to three speed/response modes: low, medium, and high. It can be switched at any time during flight, which is enough for most users. The sensitivity custom adjustment function has to wait for the firmware in May.
The last one is the silent oar roar. In the daytime, the small park lawn, with this kind of machine, can not notice its sound 25 meters away, so it is not easy to attract passers-by and security guards.
photograph
The goal of the Air product line is to maximize the balance between portability and performance. From the perspective of camera and image transmission configuration, the task of extreme portability is more undertaken by the Mini series, and the Air series is now more oriented towards the Mavic 2. The benchmark of the Air 2 is actually the Mavic 2 Zoom and Pro, so it can't be seen from the narrow perspective of the original Air.
The camera module of the Mavic Air 2 is very similar to the Hasselblad version of the Mavic 2, and the PTZ limit is also similar to the latter. Now the PTZ can also rise to 30 degrees (pitch - 90 to 30, and the previous generation Ari limit - 90 to 17 degrees). When shooting buildings, there will be obvious differences between the 13 degrees of difference in the head.
However, the maximum pitch speed control was reduced from 120 degrees/s to 100 degrees/s, and the jitter angular momentum was also changed from 0.005 degrees to 0.01 degrees like Mini's. For reference, both the Mavic 2 Zoom and the original Air are 0.005, while the Mavic Air 2 and the Mavic 2 Pro are 0.01, which is a bit confusing.
The effect of different shutter lengths in the evening
What else can we say about the anti shake performance of the pan tilt in Dajiang? Still strong. The manual shutter can take up to 8 seconds. If the ambient wind is not strong, the shutter can take up to 3 seconds and maintain a high film rate.
On the camera side, a new sensor has finally arrived: Sony IMX586, 1/2-inch CMOS, 48 million pixels, 0.8 μ m per pixel, Quad Bayer array, 12 million pixels of four in one output (equivalent to 1.6 μ m), and fancy hanging high-end Mavic 2 Zoom.
It can take 48 million pixel photos, 4K/60fp video, 8K mobile delay video, and an additional 1080p/240fps slow motion HDR covering video and panorama. The last two items are exclusively owned by the Mavic Air 2, which is now the strongest consumer UAV in Dajiang, really fragrant * 2.
12 million pixel original (if viewed on the official website, poke the picture to see the original)
12 million pixel original (if viewed on the official website, poke the picture to see the original)
12 million pixel original (if viewed on the official website, poke the picture to see the original)
Default mode, intelligent mode and 48 million pixel mode
Default mode, intelligent mode, 48 megapixel mode, local magnification 1
Default mode, intelligent mode, 48 megapixel mode, local magnification 2
Default mode, intelligent mode, 48 megapixel mode, local magnification 3
Panorama mode 1 (view on official website, and check the number of the original sheet with a stamp)
Panorama mode 2 (this discrimination, fragrance!)
The lens module is still equivalent to 24mm, F2.8 aperture, but the CMOS improvement is too obvious. Tolerance, weak light and noise are significantly improved compared with the early generation. With the long shutter, the city night scene is also getting better.
Now there is an intelligent mode similar to that on mobile phones, which can automatically recognize scenes and trigger multi frame synthetic noise reduction or HDR. Smart mode sample Zhang Sheng has high contrast and more colorful colors, and where to apply and sharpen more forcefully, it is suitable for straight hair.
The 48 million pixels, which is enough for two times the light change of Zoom, can be turned on normally except for more noise and no HDR. It's really fragrant * 3. This camera, not to mention the previous generation of Air, old Mavic Pro users have tears in their eyes.
videotape
Camera mode viewfinder (48 million pixel mode and intelligent mode)
Video mode shooting (noble 4K/60fps)
In terms of video, the upgrade supports H.265 encoding, D-Cinelike color mode, and the ISO and shutter can also be manually adjusted during video shooting. Naturally, the playability is not comparable to the original Air.
In the video mode, the frame will change from 4:3 to 16:9, and a section will be cut off for up and down shooting. What can I say about 4k/60fps and 1080P/240fps, which don't even have the Mavic 2 Pro standing on the threshold of 10000 yuan?
Original screenshot of 4K video (if you can see the original picture on the official website)
1080P video screenshots on the left and 4K video screenshots on the right
In HDR mode, the video will be limited to 30 frames, but the effect will be immediate, and the exposure detection preview will not be turned on. For ordinary users who can't (in fact, they are lazy) repair and color mixing, once HDR is started, most of the later problems have been solved. However, the current engineering machine firmware and HDR mode have a tendency of low exposure. I hope it can be corrected as soon as possible. Everything else is OK.
Intelligence and obstacle avoidance function
"Orbit" in one button clip
"Asteroid" in one click short film
The one button short film function of the Mavic family has not fallen down. The one button modes of soaring, fading, circling, spiral, asteroid, comet are all familiar functions, so we will not repeat them here.
The machine automatically monitors N targets, without manual point
Everyone in the vicinity who enters the scene will be immediately "marked". Pay attention to the bike boy. You can see the recognition speed of the Air 2
On the Mavic Air 2, the advanced auxiliary flight system has been upgraded to APAS 3.0. Officially, it is currently the top obstacle avoidance system of DJI, and the obstacle avoidance performance and path planning ability have been greatly improved. The focus now integrates three functions:
Intelligent follow 3.0 (automatically build 3D maps, independently plan paths and avoid obstacles)
Focus 2.0 (UAV head and camera will always aim at the target)
Surrounding Points of Interest 3.0
In practice, the Mavic Air 2 can plan its own flight path to avoid obstacles and stare at the target. In the actual test, it was deliberately adjusted to the lowest height allowed by the system, and the tracked person deliberately turned at a large angle in the bushes. The following effect and autonomous path of the Air 2 were quite natural. It is still easy to lose when crossing directly under the machine. There is nothing else to be picky about. It can be photographed like this and come back alive (this is the most important). What else can it ask for?
Intelligent follow and obstacle avoidance
One of the most important reasons for beginners to buy Dajiang is its intelligent system. In addition to various functions such as "one button follow, focus, and surround", which are convenient for novices to use, the most important thing for novices is their visual obstacle avoidance and APAS (Advanced Assisted Flight System). After all, no one wants to set off thousands of fireworks, or to control and return home on the first flight (only take the remote control when the plane is blown up).
The visual perception system of Air maintains the front, rear and bottom three directions, and Dajiang narrows the horizontal detection angle of the rear, but the detection range and distance in front not only run over the previous generation, but also exceed the Mavic 2 Zoom. Now in gear P, obstacle avoidance is turned on by default, and the effective speed of front and rear obstacle avoidance is increased from 8m/s of the original Air to 12m/s, making it safer for beginners to fly.
These are all very good news for beginners, but after all, they are not our flagship Mavic 2 series. There is no side and top obstacle avoidance. You need to pay attention to the top and both sides, and you can't do anything at random. If you are not sure, it is recommended to use the obstacle avoidance system of the fuselage properly, and only use the way of front and back and in situ rotation, so as to avoid left and right level flight and improve the survival rate in death attempts
Remote control and APP
Dajiang updated the remote control design on the Mavic Air 2. In the past, remote control pursued the ultimate lightness and portability, but now it is more in pursuit of hand feel, as if to suggest that we have changed its positioning. According to the law, the next generation Pro product line may follow similar remote control modeling.
The new remote control is a bit longer and heavier than before. Now its battery can support 4 hours of flight. The mobile phone bracket ran back to the top of the remote control, and the picture transmission screen returned to the traditional position, so the operation should be more natural. The remote control can still charge the mobile phone, and the mobile phone rack also acts as an antenna, so there is no need to fold the antenna, which is more streamlined overall.
At the same time, the button is also simplified. The "L1" button on the left shoulder is cancelled, the right dial wheel is replaced with the camera/video function switch button, the flight mode switch button (tripod, normal, motion) runs to the middle, and the fn button on the left defaults to clicking on and off the LED searchlight in the belly of the aircraft, and double clicking to switch to the PTZ state (pitch/level).
There is no pressure to clamp the mobile phones below 7 inches in the bracket. The new clamping structure will not block the screen of these full screen mobile phones. The corresponding position of the key area on the side of the mobile phone has grooves, so the power or volume buttons will not be clamped. In addition, its reserved thickness is very large, even if the iPhone 12/13 continues to become thicker and heavier, it will not be a problem.
Users who are interested in the interface can stamp large pictures
The Mavic Air 2, like the Mini, uses the new DJI Fly. Compared with DJI GO, DJI Fly has drastically cut out fine-tuning items such as rocker sensitivity, so the functional layout and logic should be more unified and easy to use. The core functions such as UAV control, camera setting and video editing are preserved.
On the Magic Air 2, the manual mode is reserved, including RAW and D-Cinelike. In the video mode, the shutter and ISO can be adjusted while shooting. In addition, the official said that it is expected to add advanced fine-tuning functions such as handle sensitivity at the end of May.
Endurance and charging
The endurance of the Mavic Air 2 jumped 61% from 21 minutes in the early generation to 34 minutes, which is also the longest endurance in the history of the "Yu" series. The actual test is also similar to the official standard. Even if the final power consumption is relatively low, the final 7% power consumption can hover for more than 2 minutes.
The previous generation of Air took a few shots at a place 500 meters away, and basically stopped cooking after two rounds. With the same operation, the Air 2 still has 30-40% electricity left, which can be said to be very good. It's really fragrant * 5.
Air is still a 3S battery, 11.55V, and its capacity has soared from 27.43Wh to 40.42Wh. However, the power of the charger has shrunk from 50W to 38W, which is a bit confusing. Fast charging may be the upgrade point for the next generation.
The power is still displayed in 4 grids. The charging speed does not change much in the whole process of 0-100 charging, and basically maintains the speed of 25% in 20 minutes. It takes 40 minutes for the first and second grids, 23 minutes for the third grid, and 25 minutes for the last grid, which takes about 1.5 hours in total.
summary
The naming rule of Dajiang products can be compared to that of Apple. The Air corresponds to the ordinary iPad/MacBook, and the enhanced version is called iPad Pro/MacBook Pro/iPhone 11Pro. The Mavic Air 2 can be regarded as the body of the Mavic 2 that has not yet appeared (there are Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom, but no Mavic 2).
Under the Mavic Air product line, Mini is responsible for portability, while the Pro and Zoom series are responsible for performance and image quality. In this Tianpingshan, the original Air is obviously more portable, while the Mavic Air 2 focuses on image quality and performance. Air is a product line destined to swing between Mini and Pro, which is the difficulty it must face. If you have the feeling of "going up one level is too expensive, going down one level is too weak", it means that Dajiang is getting the balance right.
One of the biggest contradictions in the UAV market is that entry-level users need better image transmission and obstacle avoidance, but these can only be achieved with high-level products. With good image transmission and obstacle avoidance, it is meaningful to improve the image quality and ease of use. After all, I dare not fly or blow up the machine. No matter how cheap the machine is or how good the camera is, it is useless. So if I want to recommend UAVs, I must start with the Mavic Air 2.
48 megapixel new CMOS, 4K/60fps, 1080p/240fps 8K delayed video, video and panoramic HDR, and OcuSync 2.0 remote control image transmission. In addition to the unified family appearance and larger wheelbase, the Mavic Air 2 has no comparability with the previous generation. It should be compared with the Mavic Pro series. The final result is that the price of the original Air, now bought a Pro to go home, it can not be considered fragrant.
According to Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom (2018), Mavic Mini (2019) and Mavic Air 2 (2020), high-end Pro and Zoom should be upgraded next year or at the end of the year. It's a big chance that the Mavic Air 2 will not be replaced for two or three years. Now is the best time to buy a new aircraft. Life doesn't have to wait so much (manual funny * 3).
