DJI Mavic Mini Launch Day 11.11.2019

Today, 11th of November, was the official launch of the DJI Mavic Mini. To celebrate the launch, DJI Store hosted experience days across all it's stores located around Australia. Some stores had flight cages set-up around the shopping center and some held the experience days in-store. You may be wondering, what exactly is an experience day? 

Well the DJI Mavic Mini Experience day is designed around the idea of letting customers to come in to see the Mavic Mini in action, feel the light-weight body of the Mavic Mini and learn all the information specifications needed regarding the Mavic Mini. 

Here was our presentation! 

DJI has pushed the boundaries of innovation yet again with the new DJI Mavic Mini. Gone are the days of the large, heavy and cumbersome drones. The DJI Mavic Mini is a drone so small that it fits in your pocket but packs a punch. The engineers at DJI have always set a dream of a miniature Mavic Pro that weights under 250 grams and now that dream has been achieved, the future is possible.

The Mavic Mini features a Downward Vision System and Infrared Sensing System, meaning it can hover and fly indoors as well as outdoors and will Return to Home automatically through GPS. With a fully stabilized 3-axis gimbal and 1/2.3” sensor camera, Mavic Mini shoots 2.7k video and 12 MP photos. Mavic Mini has a maximum flight speed of 46.8 kph and a maximum flight time of 30 minutes. It can withstand winds of around ~19-28 km/h (dependent on flight mode).

Mavic Mini borrows the foldable design we all know and love and weights shockingly light 249 g, making it easy to transport. Once you throw it into your backpack, you might not even know it’s in your bag, it’s that light! The Intelligent Flight Mode QuickShots provides four sub modes, which the drone will automatically shoot and generate different styles of video. Using the advanced DJI remote controller, Mavic Mini is able to provide a safe and reliable flight experience. The aircraft is able to automatically return to its Home Point when the remote controller signal is lost or the battery level is low, as well as being able to hover indoors at low altitudes. DJI’s enhanced Wi-Fi technology is built into the remote controller, offering a transmission range of up to 2.49 mi (4 km) and making it possible stream 720p video to your mobile device.

The Mavic Mini design is similar to the Mavic Air, Pro and Zoom. The front legs fold out first then the rear. There is a gimbal cover that products the camera when transporting, you will need to take this off before flight, very important. The Power button to turn the drone on is located at the bottom of the drone, no longer located on the batteries. Next to the power button is the battery level LEDs, this will indicate how much charge is left on the battery. We get Two types of bottom sensors with this drone, a downward vision system, optical, and a 3D infrared sensing system. Like the other drones, the antennas are located in the landing year. Lifting up the read flap of the Mavic Mini gives you access to the battery (pre-installed) as well as your Micro-USB port for charging and the MicroSD card slot. This means you can charge your drone through the rear port via a power bank, car charger, laptop and more. However, the recommended spec is an 18W charger.

In terms of the controller design, it remains the same as the Spark and Mavic Air. There is no screen on the controller, instead there are 4 LEDs that show how much charge the controller has. The Control sticks are removable and clip into the bottom of the controller. This controller has the side video-downlink and power port with no bottom USB port. Please note that if you have an IOS device, the controller will last 3 hours and if you have an android phone, it will last 1 hour and 40 minutes as it charges the device. On the top of the remote, you have your antennas, gimbal dial, record button and shutter button, same layout as the Mavic Air.

You will need to activate the drone before you fly, as per all DJI products, this time using the DJI Fly Application.

Mavic Mini has three flight modes, plus a fourth flight mode that the aircraft switches to in certain situations:

Position Mode: Position mode works best when the GPS signal is strong. The aircraft utilizes GPS and the Vision System to locate itself and stabilize. Intelligent Flight Mode is enabled in this mode. When the Downward Vision System is enabled and lighting conditions are sufficient, the maximum flight altitude angle is 20° and the maximum flight speed is 8 m/s.

The aircraft automatically changes to Attitude (ATTI) mode when the Vision System is unavailable or disabled and when the GPS signal is weak or the compass experiences interference. When the Vision System is unavailable, the aircraft cannot position itself or brake automatically, which increases the risk of potential flight hazards. In ATTI mode, the aircraft may be more easily affected by its surroundings. Environmental factors such as wind can result in horizontal shifting, it might be worth while to use the 360-degree propeller guards here.

Sport Mode: In Sport Mode, the aircraft uses GPS and Vision System for positioning. In Sport mode, aircraft responses are optimized for agility and speed making it more responsive to control stick movements. The maximum flight speed is 13 m/s, maximum ascent speed is 4 m/s, and maximum descent speed is 3 m/s. QuickShots is also available in Sport Mode.

CineSmooth Mode: CineSmooth mode is based on Position mode and the flight speed is limited, making the aircraft more stable during shooting. The maximum flight speed is 4 m/s, maximum ascent speed is 1.5 m/s, and maximum descent speed is 1 m/s. QuickShots is also available in CineSmooth Mode.

We still get the famous DJI Return to Home features in the Mavic Mini. The Return to Home (RTH) function brings the aircraft back to the last recorded Home Point. There are three types of RTH: Smart RTH, Low Battery RTH, and Failsafe RTH.

The Home Point must be set before flight, it is recommended to wait 60 seconds for the aircraft to initialise and connect to the satellites.

Circle, Helix, and Rocket. Mavic Mini records a video according to the selected shooting mode and automatically generates a 15-second video. The video can be viewed, edited, or shared to social media from playback.

Dronie: The aircraft flies backward and ascends, with the camera locked on the subject.

Circle: The aircraft circles around the subject.

Helix: The aircraft ascends and spirals around the subject.

The Mavic Mini 3-axis gimbal provides stabilization for the camera, allowing you to capture clear and stable images and video. Use the gimbal dial on the remote controller to control the camera’s tilt. Alternatively, you can use the DJI fly app to move the gimbal. The gimbal has a tilt range of -90˚ to +20˚, which is enabled through “Allow Upward Gimbal Rotation” in DJI Fly.

Two gimbal operation modes are available. Switch between the different operation modes in DJI Fly.

Follow Mode: The angle between the gimbal’s orientation and aircraft front remains constant at all times.

FPV Mode: The gimbal synchronizes with the movement of the aircraft to provide a first-person flying experience.

The DJI Mavic Mini is a drone designed for all levels of ability with its intuitive controls we all know and love as well as a simplified new app. For those who remember DJI GO 4, it was an information stacked application with some information you did not need. DJI Fly app only displays the information you need and gives you a more immersive experience when flying. With simplified launch and landing controls, this drone is the easiest DJI drone to fly in the range.

In the new App you will find access to Academy, Album, SkyPixel and Profile. Conclusion