DJI unveils Mavic Air drone with 21 minute flight time, 30 fps 4K video recording at $799

DJI has finally taken the wraps off the newest addition to its drone lineup called the DJI Mavic Air. Although the drone’s design and **specifications leaked out** a day before launch, what was not known was the price, which has now been revealed to be $799. [caption id=“attachment_4317081” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] DJI Mavic Air. DJI[/caption] The DJI Mavic Air is quite similar to the budget-friendly  **DJI Spark**  drone, while borrowing many of the features of the high-end  **DJI Mavik Pro** . One could say that the Mavic Air offers the best of both worlds and also has a reasonable price tag, once you take a look at what the drone offers. The  Mavic Air has a 32 MP camera capable of shooting 4K video @24 or 30 fps, though users would have definitely like 4K video shot at 60 fps as seen on the Mavik Pro. It also has 8 GB of internal storage alongside an extension for a micro-SD card. The camera is also capable of shooting 12 MP still photos while being mounted on a 3-axis gimbal, which also contributes to a very smooth footage. The remote control for the drone is included in the box. [caption id=“attachment_4317085” align=“alignleft” width=“1280”] DJI Mavic Air.[/caption] There are other shooting modes as well such as the 32 MP panorama shooting option and also a ’tiny planet mode’ wherein the photos shot looks as though they have been taken from miles up in the air. The Mavic Air has a flight time of 21 minutes, making it a significant improvement over the DJI Spark, which could remain airborne for around 4-5 minutes. The Mavic Pro, however, has a flight time of 27 minutes, but it also costs $300 more.

The drone has a top speed of 42.5 mph (68 km/h) and has the ability to withstand winds of up to 35 km/h. As for the range, the drone can easily fly within 2.5-mile radius using the remote control. The Mavic Air is 41 percent lighter than the Mavic Pro and can be folded into a footprint, which is smaller than the DJI Spark. DJI claims to have redesigned the ventilation shafts on the DJI to make it make it less prone to heating and also installed a seven-camera obstacle avoidance system paired with software algorithms, which should make it easier to fly inside your home or places with a lot of trees, wires, etc. The company has promised many new software related updates for the Air, which would be related to better gesture controls, better image processing and a new obstacle-avoidance software. The Mavic Air will go on sale in the US on 28 January. Drones are still under severe restrictions in India and therefore it is unlikely we shall see them in the near future in our country.