DJI is ready to tighten its clutch on the drone market
with the new Mavic Air. Today announced at an event in New York City, the Mavic Air slots right in
between the company’s inexpensive drone and its most capable prosumer model .It goes on sale January
28th.
The Mavic Air is truly a blend of those two drones. From
certain angles, especially from the top, it resembles a stockier Mavic Pro,
while from the front it looks an awful like the Spark. Like the Pro, the drone
folds up for better portability. But it folds up into a smaller footprint than
the Spark, and is 41% lighter than the Mavic Pro.
The specs of the Mavic Air are much closer to those of
the Mavic Pro, which should please consumers who thought the Spark was too
underpowered to use for photography. In some other ways, it almost sounds
better. The Mavic Air uses a 1/2.3-inch sensor that shoots 4K video at 24 or 30
frames per second.
DJI is promising both updated and improved software
features on the Air, too. There are new shooting modes, better gesture controls,
and the company claims it’s improved its image processing in order to squeeze
better photos & videos out of that relatively tiny sensor. There is also a
new remote with an integrated screen, which is included with the $799 price.
