DJI Mavic Pro vs. DJI Spark - Debriefing
On May 24, the Chinese company DJI introduced the Spark consumer mini-quadrocopter. As in the case with all other presentations of the world leader in drone building, this event caused an extremely enthusiastic and stormy reaction. Moreover, she was absolutely justified: the new DJI drone became a real technological miracle. Again.
DJI Spark, on the one hand, is a logical continuation of the drone miniaturization trend, supported by DJI in the fall of 2016 with the release of the folding DJI Mavic Pro quadrocopter. On the other hand, it is nothing more than a correctly made selfie drone, the appearance of which was so awaited at the international exhibition CES-2017.
It is not for nothing that DJI is called the industry leader: all the developments of the engineers of this company are difficult to compare with other consumer devices: a completely different scale and level of claims. Let's just say that a quadrocopter of any other brand will at best have one advantage over the DJI drone: a lower price. Already in 2015, the Chinese corporation competed exclusively with itself, releasing all the best models and reducing the price of old ones.
Therefore, it makes sense to contrast the novelty and the aforementioned Mavic Pro. Which of the two drones is better? What is the difference? Let's figure it out.
Important warning: all parameters and characteristics of this review are applicable to the prototypes of the Spark drone, which became available before the official start of deliveries on June 15, 2017. Most likely, the final version of the mini quadrocopter will not differ in anything, but keep this fact in mind, especially if you plan to purchase a new product.
Size and compactness
The problem with all previous DJI quadrocopters, including the legendary Phantom series, was the size. A heavyweight drone is easier to resist in the wind, but you cannot take it anywhere with you, and shooting will require training and a carrying bag. Therefore, drone cameras lost in popularity to smartphone cameras. It was over this problem that the last couple of years, startups have fought with varying degrees of success.
Mavic Pro was not just the first step, but a working device that adequately implemented this idea. Recall: this is a folding drone with sliding beams and propellers. When folded, its size is 198x83x83 mm, and it turns out a smooth bar, from which nothing extra sticks out. When unfolded, we have a standard quadrocopter with a diagonal distance of 335 millimeters, which weighs 734 grams.
Baby Spark doesn't fold. Nevertheless, it is much smaller than the competitor: 143x143x55 millimeters, the diagonal with the propellers is 170 millimeters, a real mini-drone. It is comparable to the iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphones, but heavier: 300 grams.
Spark is half the size and half the size of the Mavic Pro, even when folded. However, both devices fit in your clothing pocket.
Camera
High image quality has always been the most attractive property of DJI quadrocopters. At the same time, common mini quadrocopters shoot vague, shaky videos with low resolution and unpleasant noise.
Last year, Mavic Pro proved that for a good video, the dimensions of the drone are not at all a limitation, and high-quality components will fit in a small case. His camera is mounted on a three-axis gimbal and equipped with a 12-megapixel CMOS-sensor size of 1 / 2.3 inches. The viewing angle of the camera is 78.8 ° with f / 2.2 aperture. Mavic-made videos and photographs comparable to what Phantom 4 can take (which has the same sensor).
Photos from DJI Mavic pro
Spark is slightly inferior in performance. The sensor is almost the same, 12-megapixel CMOS measuring 1 / 2.3 inches, the viewing angle is 81.9 °, and the aperture is f / 2.6. The suspension is mechanical, but biaxial, and it has a smaller working range: from 85 ° to 0 °, for Mavic Pro - from -90 ° to + 30 °.
DJI Spark
Spark does not capture photos in RAW format. Mavic takes photographs in JPEG and DNG size of 4000x3000, Spark - only in JPEG, 3968 × 2976. The difference in the video is more sensitive: if Mavic records in 4K at 30 frames / s and bitrate is 60 Mbit / s, then Spark is limited to Full HD resolution and 30 frames / s with a bitrate of 24 Mbit / s.
It turns out that Spark still loses to the older model in terms of shooting quality, which is largely due to its purpose. Spoiler: The mini quadrocopter was conceived as a tool for filming content for social networks, but more on that later.
Navigation and ease of operation
DJI Mavic Pro and DJI Spark are equipped with two different versions of the proprietary DJI system - Flight Autonomy. In short: this is a set of GPS / GLONASS modules, sensors, hardware and software that allow the drone to navigate in space, avoid collisions with other objects and land confidently.
The Mavic complex includes 24 microprocessors, 5 cameras, 2 sonars and additional sensors. Inside Spark, there are also 24 microprocessors and a visual positioning system. Mavic sees obstacles 15 meters in front of him and down, Spark - only 5 meters.
As for the control, both drones support three control modes: using the controller, smartphone and gestures. The controller allows you to send the Mavic Pro 7 kilometers from the user, Spark - 2 kilometers. Smartphones are connected via Wi-Fi, the maximum distance is 80 meters and 100 meters for Mavic and Spark, respectively. Drones support TapFly and ActiveTrack modes. TerrainFollow is exclusive to Mavik, and QuickShots is exclusive to Spark.
In the case of gestures, Spark definitely wins. The fact is that the Mavic gesture mode is an additional option that is enabled from the application. And for Spark you only need hands. It is enough to press the power button twice, let the drone “scan” its face and release the drone: it will take off and begin to observe the owner. Hand swings indicate to the drone that you need to move to the right, left, fly away or closer. Having folded fingers “frame”, a person will command to take a photo. That is: a fully resolved problem of a selfie drone, when a quick photo shoot takes ten seconds, not minutes.
Battery and speed
The short duration is still a problem for all drones in general. However, DJI is constantly pushing the boundaries of the possible: released at the end of 2016, the Phantom 4 Pro stays in the air for 30 minutes.
The maximum flight time of the Mavic Pro reaches 27 minutes. The lithium-polymer battery has a capacity of 3830 mAh and weighs 240 grams, so you can take charged spare batteries with you for shooting.
Spark flies less - 16-17 minutes. He has a three-cell battery made using the same technology, with a capacity of 1480 mAh and a weight of 95 grams. It charges via the Micro-USB interface, which makes it much more convenient.
Both drones work with DJI FPV goggles. The speed of the Mavic Pro in sport mode reaches 65 kilometers per hour. Baby Spark accelerates to 50 kilometers per hour: it will not hijack, but almost will not lag behind.
Destination
Although the Mavic Pro is significantly smaller than any professional quadrocopter, it has almost the same goal as theirs: to shoot impressive shots that are suitable for creating advertising, entertaining content and personal creativity.
Spark is not like that: the drone was made for any user who wants to shoot his own life on video, and then share the footage on social networks. Four QuickShots shooting modes serve this purpose well. They produce short, 10 second clips, automatically edited in the DJI app. Such content can immediately be uploaded to Facebook or YouTube, quickly and simply, like photos from a smartphone.
A small drone does not add up - so that a novice pilot accidentally does not break his rays. It does not fly too far or too fast, but the selfie drone does not need such functionality. Gestures guarantee that the user can definitely take at least a selfie if he does not understand the intricacies of management.
But do not take Spark as a "cropped" version of Mavic! This is a new copter with a very serious filling. The price of the Mavic Pro reaches $ 1000, Spark costs $ 499 - which means that DJI has a car that can compete with Parrot and Yuneec drones. Complete with a controller and accessories Spark costs $ 699, that is, it definitely "killed" any sense of the existence of GoPro Karma.
Features DJI Spark
- Size: 143 × 143 × 55mm
- Weight (including battery): 300 g
- Flying time: 16 minutes
- Removable Battery: Yes
- Additional batteries: need to buy
- Maximum speed: 50 km / h
- Distance from operator: 100 meters via Wi-Fi, 2 km with a controller
- GPS and GLONASS: Yes
- Auto Follow Function: Yes
- Auto take-off and auto-landing function: Yes
- Obstacle avoidance function: Yes
- Photo Format: JPEG
- Video Format: MP4 (MPEG-4 AVC / H.264)
- External Card Support: Yes, Micro-SD
Camera
- Matrix; 1 / 2.3 "CMOS; 12MP
- Optics: FOV 81.9 °; 25mm (35mm Format equivalent); f / 2.6; focal length range - from 2m to infinity
- ISO Range: for video 100 ~ 3200, for photo 100 ~ 1600
- Maximum photo resolution: 3968 × 2976
- Maximum video resolution: Full HD 1920 x 1080p, 30fps, 24 Mbps bitrate
Features DJI Mavic Pro
- Folded Size: 198 × 83 × 83mm
- Unfolded Size: 335 mm diagonal
- Weight (including battery): 734 g
- Flying time: 27 minutes
- Removable Battery: Yes
- Additional batteries: need to buy
- Maximum speed: 65 km / h
- Distance from operator: 80 meters via Wi-Fi, 7 km with a controller
- GPS and GLONASS: Yes
- Auto Follow Function: Yes
- Auto take-off and auto-landing function: Yes
- Obstacle avoidance function: Yes
- Photo Format: JPEG, DNG
- Video format: MP4, MOV (MPEG-4 AVC / H.264)
- External Card Support: Yes, Micro-SD
Camera
- Matrix; 1 / 2.3 "CMOS; 12.35MP
- Optics: FOV 78.8 °; 28mm (35mm Format equivalent); f / 2.2; focal length range - from 0.5 m to infinity
- ISO Range: for video 100 ~ 3200, for photo 100 ~ 1600
- Maximum photo resolution: 4000 × 3000
- Maximum video resolution: C4K 4096 x 2160p, 24fps, bit rate 60 Mbps
Selfie drone lived, selfie drone alive, selfie drone will live! Spark shipments should start in mid-June. In the online store Madrobots.ru you can leave a request for pre-order DJI Spark - as soon as the new product appears, we will immediately inform you. If you still like the DJI Mavic Pro, you can buy it from us today .
