A couple of 12 months in the past, I owned a DJI Mini 2, which I bought and determined to get the Air 2S. This is not going to be a comparability between the Mini 4 Professional and the Air 2S.
I beloved the Mini 2 and will deliver it wherever I went to create memorable footage.
Nevertheless, there have been options that I needed it had, and several other different pilots shared the identical thought. DJI tried introducing these options within the Mini 3 Professional, which was and continues to be an important launch.
However now DJI has knocked the Mini drone sport out of the park with the brand new launch, the DJI Mini 4 Professional.
On this evaluation, I’ll share extra about these drones, their similarities and variations, and why I want the Mini 4 Professional over the Mini 2.
DJI Mini 4 Professional Overview
The DJI Mini 4 Professional is the newest launch from DJI and the last word Mini drone in the meanwhile.
Under is a spotlight of its options.
- Two flight time choices permit for a variety of actions and are longer than these of earlier drones.
- 360-degree impediment avoidance for safer flight.
- A follow-me function for creating gorgeous footage of outside actions.
- Vertical capturing mode for creating high-quality portrait pictures.
- Weighs lower than 250 grams, making it very moveable.
- Superior clever flight modes for creating gorgeous footage with ease.
- Improved transmission system for higher efficiency for brief and long-range flights.
- D-Log and HLG functionality supply extra room for post-processing.
- 1/1.3-inch sensor dimension, a good dimension for a drone of this dimension.
» MORE: DJI Mini 4 Professional Evaluate (Is It Price to Improve?)
DJI Mini 2 Overview
The DJI Mini 2 was probably the greatest Mini drones for a very long time, providing a variety of options whereas sustaining a perfect weight.
Even with the discharge of the Mini 3 Professional and the Mini 4 Professional, beneath are the options that may nonetheless make this drone possibility.
- Excessive-quality most footage decision for a drone its dimension on the time of launch.
- Weight of lower than 250 grams for portability.
- RAW and JPEG footage choices relying on what you wish to do with the footage.
- Clever flight modes like Quickshots and Panoramas for creating cinematic pictures extra simply.
- OcuSync 2.0, which gives respectable connectivity for short-range flights.
- Fundamental security options like imaginative and prescient sensors, GPS, and computerized RTH to make sure a secure flight.
- Compatibility with third-party apps because of the SDK availability.
» MORE: DJI Mini 2 Evaluate
Fast Verdict
The DJI Mini 4 Professional is the higher drone of the 2.
It combines all of the options we wished all the opposite Mini drones had.
These options embrace ActiveTrack, Impediment Avoidance, Waypoints, a bigger sensor, and even added options like Vertical Taking pictures, Cruise Management, Waypoints, and Evening Mode.
The DJI Mini 4 Professional and the DJI Mini 2 goal the identical viewers: informal customers on the lookout for a drone that may do extra with out spending 1000’s of {dollars}, however the Mini 4 Professional comes with much more options.
Whereas the Mini 4 Professional appears prefer it obliterates the DJI Mini 2, individuals with lower than $500 on the lookout for their first drone may nonetheless use it.
But when it can save you up for the Mini 4 Professional, you’ll get way more to your {dollars}.
» MORE: DJI Mini 4 Professional – Preliminary Setup (Unboxing to First Flight with Video)
What are the variations?
DJI Mini 4 Professional vs. Mini 2: What’s new?
As talked about earlier, the DJI Mini 4 Professional is a way more upgraded model of the DJI Mini 2:
- Longer flight time – The DJI Mini 2 has a good flight time, however the DJI Mini 4 Professional gives much more flight time with its two battery choices.
- Extra flight modes – The Mini 4 Professional packs much more clever flight modes, a few of which we beforehand solely noticed in additional superior drones just like the Mavic 3 sequence drones.
- Upgraded flight modes – In addition to including new modes, the Mini 4 Professional additionally upgrades present ones.
- Bigger sensor – Whereas the dimensions distinction isn’t that giant, it nonetheless counts and reveals that DJI might someday add a good greater sensor with out compromising the load and design of the Mini drones.
- Vertical capturing mode – A function we first noticed within the Mini 3 Professional, it takes Mini drones to an entire new stage, contemplating much more superior drones don’t include it.
» MORE: DJI Mini 4 Professional vs. Mavic 3 Collection (Right here’s My Selection)
DJI Mini 4 Professional
DJI has been upgrading their Mini line drones for some time now, and launched in 2023, the DJI Mini 4 Professional is at present the head.
The Mini drones are designed to be compact, light-weight, and user-friendly, making them accessible to a broader viewers, together with freshmen and leisure customers.
These drones enchantment to customers who might not require the superior options present in DJI’s higher-end fashions however nonetheless need a dependable and succesful drone for capturing aerial footage.
» MORE: Does DJI RC Professional Work with Air 3 (Answered)
The diminished weight and compact design additionally make these drones fall inside particular regulatory classes that will exempt them from extra stringent necessities in some areas.
DJI began with the DJI Mini drone in 2019, they usually have been on a relentless ascent. At its peak, the Mini 4 Professional presents essentially the most options now we have seen in a drone.
DJI Mini 4 Professional (with DJI RC 2)
- 4K HDR Video Digital camera
- Beneath 0.549lbs/249g
- 34 Minutes Flight Time
- 20 km Max Video Transmission Distance
- Omnidirectional Imaginative and prescient Sensing
We earn a fee in case you make a purchase order, at no extra value to you.
11/23/2023 05:56 pm GMT
DJI Mini 2
Launched in 2020, we may regard the DJi Mini 2 because the Toyota Corolla of Mini drones.
It was not the primary within the sequence; it got here second, bettering on the options of the primary DJi Mini.
The digital camera, flight options, security options, and ease of use are precisely what some drone customers are on the lookout for in a drone.
And regardless of DJI releasing different drones, the DJI Mini 2 continues to be thought-about a really dependable drone and a workhorse.
DJI Mini 2
Ultralight and Foldable Drone Quadcopter, 3-Axis Gimbal with 4K Digital camera, 12MP Photograph, 31 Minutes Flight Time, OcuSync 2.0 10km HD Video Transmission, QuickShots, Grey.
We earn a fee in case you make a purchase order, at no extra value to you.
11/23/2023 02:26 pm GMT
Head-to-Head Comparability
Weight and Design
Winner: Tie
As highlighted a number of occasions, DJI didn’t change the load when upgrading these drones. They each weigh lower than 250 grams and have a foldable design.
Nevertheless, they did make the DJi Mini 4 Professional a number of inches bigger to accommodate the sensors and gimbal design, however not as huge because the Air 2S, Air 3, or the Mavic 3 drones.
However the remainder, together with the flight ergonomics like pace, are comparable. Each fashions might be best in case you prioritize a drone’s weight and portability.
» MORE: Drone Legal guidelines in america
Photograph and video recording
Winner: DJI Mini 4 Professional
All issues thought-about, you stand to get higher footage with the DJI Mini 4 Professional than you’d with the DJI Mini 2. Under are the principle the reason why.
- Sensor dimension – For starters, it has a bigger sensor (1/1.3) than the DJI Mini 2’s 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor. An even bigger sensor is all the time higher. It performs higher below low gentle, offers you higher-quality footage, and offers you extra room for enhancing because it captures extra colours.
Despite the fact that each the Mini 2 and the Mini 4 Professional seize 12MP stills, the bigger sensor makes an enormous distinction within the high quality of footage you get. Nevertheless, the Mini 4 Professional additionally captures 48MP, which continues to be the 12MP enhanced by the Quadbayer approach. There’s all the time a debate on whether or not the Quadbayer 48MP is healthier than the true 12MP, so that you’ll have to check them. I discovered the 12MP of a bigger sensor would suffice in lots of purposes.
- Extra room for gimbal motion – The DJI Mini 2’s gimbal didn’t transfer sufficient to have the ability to take vertical pictures. And in case you compelled it to, you’d discover some twitching. DJI modified the gimbal design with the DJI Mini 4 Professional, permitting it to maneuver even additional. This design change additionally allowed the gimbal to alter from panorama to portrait orientation to take vertical pictures.
- Vertical capturing – Talking of vertical capturing, one of many causes I obtained the Mini 2 is to create gorgeous footage of the locations I go to. Nevertheless, I typically needed to crop to publish on social media, which consumed time and typically lowered the footage high quality. With vertical capturing inbuilt, you possibly can rapidly seize and share footage with out a lot enhancing.
- 10-bit D-Log M and HLG functionality – The DJI Mini 2 comes with the usual colour profile, which doesn’t provide you with sufficient flexibility for post-processing duties like including new colours. DJI Mini 4 Professional adjustments that by introducing HLG and D-Log M.
- Superior digital camera options – The Mini 2 comes with 4K at 30fps, which is nice sufficient since most platforms deal with 25 to 30 fps. The Mini 4 Professional, then again, can shoot in 4K at 60fps HDR and 4K at 100fps. Many media productions use 60 fps, and if you’d like cinematic slow-motion footage, the 100 fps would turn out to be useful.
- Evening mode – One other function that we solely noticed in additional superior drones, the Evening Mode reduces noise and adjusts the ISO routinely to provide you higher nighttime or low-light pictures. So that you not solely get a much bigger sensor however low-light imagery can also be enhanced.
As a lot as it’s possible you’ll be on the lookout for a newbie drone, the newest technological developments have made it potential to suit extra superior options in smaller drones.
An even bigger sensor, higher footage, and extra digital camera options make the Mini 4 Professional well worth the larger value.
» MORE: Digital camera Expertise in Drones (Defined)
Third-party compatibility
Winner: DJI Mini 2
That is one purpose I nonetheless want I might have stored the DJI Mini 2.
Whereas it didn’t have some options that some pilots wished, DJI launched SDK functionality, enabling it to work with third-party apps like Litchi.
I used Litchi to provoke Observe Me and Waypoints to create footage, which labored nice.
There are a number of different options that you would unlock with a third-party app.
Many of the options you wanted an SDK to unlock within the Mini 2 at the moment are constructed within the Mini 4 Professional, however in case you can’t get the Mini 4 Professional, having the choice to unlock among the options helps.
It is going to be a while earlier than DJI releases the SDK for the Mini 4 Professional. And since they launched the Mini 3 Professional’s SDK virtually a 12 months later, we might not get it quickly.
Whereas the Mini 2 wins on this class, it lacks some security options that restrict how effectively you possibly can make the most of the options you unlock.
If the SDK functionality is a deal breaker, take into account the Mini 3 Professional, which isn’t as superior because the Mini 4 Professional however is a number of steps forward of the Mini 2.
» MORE: DJI Fly App Suitable Units (& Troubleshooting)
Clever flight modes
Winner: DJI Mini 4 Professional
DJI went all in with the DJI Mini 4 Professional, including clever flight modes we had wished they’d add however by no means thought potential.
The DJI Mini 2 solely got here with Quickshots and Panoramas.
The QuickShots function lets you routinely create footage in pre-built flight patterns equivalent to Helix, Dronie, Orbit, Circle, and Boomerang.
The Mini 4 Professional comes with Quickshots and Panoramas and the next extra options:
- Cruise management – I used to be stunned to see this function on the Mini 4 Professional and didn’t know I wanted it till I obtained to make use of it. This function permits the drone to fly at a relentless pace constantly. In occasions after I wish to preserve a relentless pace for a shot, this function turns out to be useful.
- Waypoints – This is among the options that one may unlock with a third-party app on the Mini 2. It lets you pre-program complicated maneuvers, which the drone will effectively execute. It additionally works nice when it’s good to create a time-lapse of a function taken on the similar angle however at totally different occasions to showcase the progress.
- ActiveTrack 360 – DJI not solely added a observe me function, however they added a extra upgraded model that lets you monitor the topic from any course. The Mini 3 Professional and even my Air 2S can’t do this.
- Mastershots – Mastershots works equally to Quickshots, however as a substitute of separating maneuvers like Dronie and Helix, it combines all of them into one shot, creating some dynamic footage in a single click on.
Whereas the Mini 2 excels in preserving issues handbook, the place you need to execute many of the maneuvers your self, having them in-built makes issues simpler and much more correct, saving you time and battery life.
» MORE: Good Options in Drones (Defined for Inexperienced persons)
Flight time
Winner: DJI Mini 4 Professional
The DJI Mini 2 got here with a 31-minute battery, which might go for about 25 minutes in precise use, which was nonetheless nice.
However the DJi Mini 4 Professional improves on that by introducing a 34-minute and 45-minute battery, although the latter is just obtainable in choose areas.
You continue to get about 28 to 31 minutes of flight time in an precise flight, which is respectable.
And in case you are fortunate to be in areas the place the 45-minute battery is allowed, you get much more flight time.
Nevertheless, the latter makes the drone weigh greater than 250 grams, however that’s a compromise I’d be prepared to accommodate.
» MORE: Drone Batteries (In-Depth Info)
Impediment avoidance
Winner: DJI Mini 4 Professional
Whilst you may unlock options like ActiveTrack and Waypoints on the DJI Mini 2 with third-party apps, one factor was nonetheless a difficulty: it lacked impediment avoidance.
This limits how effectively you should use it because the complete level of computerized flight is the drone ought to be capable of keep away from obstacles by itself.
DJI modified all that by including 360-degree impediment sensors and an upgraded APAS system that makes avoiding the obstacles smoother.
This makes the clever modes extra sensible because you don’t have to fret about crashing into obstacles on the best way.
Nonetheless, exercising warning when flying in areas with obstacles is a good suggestion since these techniques are usually not all the time 100% correct.
» MORE: Impediment Avoidance in DJI Drones (Defined for Inexperienced persons)
Vary
Winner: DJI Mini 4 Professional
The DJi Mini 2 got here with OcuSync 2, which permits a variety of as much as 6.2 miles in optimum situations.
Nevertheless, this may be considerably diminished by interference from bushes, energy strains, cell towers, or some other impediment.
When utilizing it in an open space for short-range flights, I by no means skilled many points with the vary, however all that may rapidly change with the slightest quantity of interference.
The Mini 4 Professional introduces the OcuSync 4.0, which guarantees a variety of as much as 12 miles. This improved system comes with 6 antennas, an enormous improve from the OcuSync 2.0 that has two.
This, coupled with the upgraded {hardware} and software program, improves the drone’s efficiency in areas with obstacles and permits higher high quality transmission in additional antagonistic situations.
» MORE: Lengthy Vary Drones: Final Information
Controllers
Winner: DJI Mini 4 Professional
The DJI Mini 2 is just appropriate with the DJI RC-N1, a really ergonomic controller the place you place a smartphone on the prime as a substitute of on the backside, as we noticed in earlier drones just like the Mavic 2 Professional.
Nevertheless, DJI has been upping their controller sport too.
They began by introducing the DJI RC with the DJI Mini 3 Professional. The DJI RC has an inbuilt display, eliminating the necessity for smartphones and making deploying the drone a lot simpler.
With the Mini 4 Professional, they’ve launched the DJI RCN2, an improve to the RCN1, and the DJI RC 2, an improve to the DJI RC.
These controllers look comparable, however the newer variations have a number of design adjustments, together with further antennas and compatibility with the brand new O4 system.
Sadly, these newer controllers are usually not appropriate with the DJI Mini 2.
» MORE: DJI RC 2 Evaluate (Every little thing You Must Know)
Conclusion
Having used each of those drones, I can affirm that the Mini 4 Professional is the Mini drone everybody needs that they had.
A greater digital camera, extra clever flight modes, superior security options, longer flight time, and monitoring whereas nonetheless sustaining portability make it the right drone for informal customers, freshmen, and anybody on the lookout for an reasonably priced drone to accompany them of their actions.
The Mini 2 nonetheless goes down as one of the dependable drones.
And in case you don’t assume you’ll use the Impediment Avoidance, vertical capturing, or some other upgrades that include the Mini 4 Professional, otherwise you’re on a finances and might’t afford the Mini 4 Professional, the Mini 2 continues to be price a shot.
It’s also possible to go for the Mini 3, which is a little more costly than the Mini 2, and also you get the identical sensor dimension because the one within the Mini 4 Professional with out the opposite upgrades.
If you happen to already personal the Mini 2, the Mini 4 Professional is a worthy improve.
And in case you are available in the market for a mini drone and have the finances for it, the Mini 4 Professional continues to be your best option.
» MORE: DJI Mini 4 Professional vs. Air 3 (Right here’s My Selection)