DJI’s New Mavic Air Combines Best Features from the Mavic Pro and the Spark

Today DJI launched the Mavic Air in a heavily promoted live online event, similar to how they launched the Spark back in May.

DJI’s new drone combines the best features of the Mavic Pro and the Spark.

The Mavic Air is super small, like the Spark, and it can fold up to become even smaller, like the Mavic. It can be flown with gesture control, like the Spark, but it also comes with high quality 4K video, like the Mavic.

In short, it’s a drone that’s really easy to fly but also provides high quality stills and video. And it’s priced to sell—at $799, it’s $300 more than the Spark, but also about $300 less than the Mavic Pro. (It’s not shipping yet, but you can pre-order it now on the DJI site.)

Check it out:

Mavic Air Specs & Details

• 32 MP sphere panoramas
• Foldable and portable
• 3-axis gimbal
• 4K camera
• 3-directional environment sensing
• Smart capture / gesture control
• 21 minute max flight time
• Weighs less than 1 lb.
• 8 GB of internal storage

The Mavic Air records at 100 Mbps, shoots video at 4K 30 fps, and comes with support for recording 1080p 120 fps slow-motion video. The new drone will be available in three colors—white, black, and red.

It comes with Horizontal, Vertical, and 180° panoramas, and can stitch 25 photos together for 32 MP Sphere panoramas (these are pretty neat—go to the Mavic Air page on DJI’s site and scroll down to the “32 MP Sphere Panoramas” section to see an example).

The Mavic Air comes with a remote controller that can actually fit in your pocket, which uses a foldable, low-profile, ergonomic design to hold your smartphone for maximum convenience. It also has detachable control sticks that can be stored inside the rc, which makes it that much easier to carry around (but watch out—those sticks are reportedly so small that they could be pretty easy to lose!).

Stand Out Features on the Mavic Air

ActiveTrack can sense up to 16 subjects simultaneously, letting you choose the right tracking subject. It comes with higher tracking precision, so you can follow targets even when they’re running, jumping, or cycling, or moving somewhat erratically (for instance, riding a bicycle down a mountain).

QuickShots has six different options: Rocket, Dronie, Circle, Helix, Asteroid, and Boomerang, and can be shared to social media via the DJI GO 4 app.

SmartCapture lets you control the Mavic Air by hand, making it convenient for drone newbies or professionals working with multiple systems. Similar to the Spark, you can launch, fly, and take videos or photos on the Mavic Air using only hand gestures.

TapFly lets you fly wherever you tap on your mobile device screen, and works in Forward, Backward, Free, and Coordinate modes, letting you adjust flight speed to suit your aerial needs.

Free Trial Program

DJI is offering the first 1,000 people to sign up for their new trial program a priority shipping code to use when ordering the Mavic Air. Some of those who sign up will be selected to get a Mavic Air to try, which they may also get to keep.

Learn more about Mavic Air Free Trial Program here.