DJI's Mavic Air 2 delivers more of everything at the same price

If you follow drone news and rumors at all, you probably already know what this is. It's DJI Maverick air to the company says its smartest consumer drone ever. It has a longer battery life than the original and a longer range than the original comes with an all new controller and it has a brand new camera in front Everything's new except for the price actually, the price is still $800 for the controller drone in one battery, I got to test it out for a couple days. Unfortunately, it was raining most of that time and with COVID-19 shutdowns, it Limited where I can fly Plus, it takes two hours to charge the battery so it was only able to get a little flight time in so consider this in early hands on first look kind of thing. If this is not an official full review, let's dive into the features. [MUSIC] So let's talk key flight specs for a second. The Maverick air two is slightly larger than the original air and heavier at 570 grams. Its flight time is actually better though, going up from 21 minutes to a max flight time of 34 minutes without wind. I got roughly 32 minutes before it forced the landing Its max video transmission range has increased too, from four kilometers to 10 kilometers. And despite the size increase, it keeps it's top speed of 68 kilometers per hour in sports mode. Before I go deeper into the drone, let me show you this new controller. It's larger than the last and instead of your phone awkwardly sandwiched below the controls. It's now. Clipped up top. Their removable sticks are stored in the bottom, so you just pull them out and twist them in. You've got a switch here front and center, for moving from normal to the slower tripod or faster sports modes. There's a programmable function button up here. Turn it to the back and you've got, a dial for tilting the camera. There's a trigger for capturing video or photos and a button here for switching between the video and photo modes. DJ I even added a speaker to the back so you'll hear system warnings loud and clear. Clear, the larger size is nice and comfortable to. Now onto that new camera. It's been overhauled with a new larger half inch image sensor that captures 12 or 48 megapixel photos and 4k video at 60 frames per second, which is a first for Maverick drone. And of course everything looks super smooth with its three axis motorized stabilizer. The 4k video records at a higher bit rate of 120 megabits per second and it shows in the amount of detail you'll see in the video. It can also record in HDR and 4k at 30 frames per second, which helps balance out things like clouds where you'd normally lose some detail and highlights. As well as bringing up shadow detail. The air two can do full HD slow motion to 120 or 240 frames per second. It's nice to have the 240 option but it seems to come with a dip in video quality going with the 120 frames per second mode looked really good and it didn't drop as much detail One other new option is the 8k resolution hyperlapse. But it wasn't available to test. It'll be rolled out in firmware updates in May and June. Like the original the air two Too, can be used to track subjects, you can just draw a box around the subject and it will stay locked on them. DJI updated this feature called active track, for improved subject recognition and obstacle avoidance. So you can have somebody walk through trees or other obstacles and the drone will automatically go over or around them. It may struggle with bare branches still, but at least in my initial test, it worked as promised. This model also has a spotlight option so you can control the drone even while it's tracking So the camera is always locked on your subject no matter how you fly it. You're able to do automated flight paths around a targeted point of interest too. Part of the reason it's able to do all of that is the sensors on the front back in bottom, what DJI calls its advanced. Pilot assistance system. This allows you to worry less about running into objects or people because the drone will find its own path around or over them, or it will just stop entirely and you get audible and visual warnings the whole time from the app and the controller. So, the apex system helps with not crashing into people or things. But then there's another system that DJI added for the first time in a consumer drone called air sense that receives ATSB signals from airplanes and helicopters. And this gives you a notification on your screen. So you know when there's air traffic in your area. There is one more safety feature that DJI put in this model, and it's an auxiliary light on the bottom. Out of the box it's tie to that function but none the controllers so you just tap that and you can turn it on and off without digging around in the settings or tapping on your screen. That light will help you fly at night or it does when you're trying to land it helps to see it on the bottom. But it also help you see it in the sky while you're flying. So two years on since the original launch, and you're not getting a better camera, better flight time, longer range, new controller that's much more comfortable. It's just all around a better package, and it's still $800, plus. It still folds up tiny and you can just toss it in your bag and take it just about anywhere. [SOUND]