DJI Mavic Mini

amazon DJI Mavic Mini reviews

The DJI Mavic Mini ($399) is the company’s latest attempt at creating a low-end Drone. That isn’t the first time—the Phantom line has a low-cost Standard model, which often sells for $500 or less, and DJI has tried again with the tiny Spark, hindered by limited flight times. That’s solving the problem of battery life with the Mavic Mini. Flying 25 minutes longer at a time, making the drone smaller and lighter – so much so that it doesn’t need to be registered with the FAA. But despite the improvements, we ran into some connectivity issues during test flights and were very disappointed with the Camera’s overall feature set.

Standards

The distinguishing feature of the Mavic Mini is its take-off weight, 249 grams, which is displayed proudly on the airframe. It’s just slightly below the 250g (8.8 ounces) threshold you’re required to register with the FAA before you fly outdoors in the US.

DJI told us that their engineers considered the 250g figure a challenge when developing the Mini. There are some sacrifices to be made to get there. The Mini doesn’t have any front or rear obstacle sensor like you get in the Mavic Air, nor is its photo and video capabilities strong.

However, it doesn’t affect battery life, unlike the Spark, which only gets around 12 minutes of flight time per charge, and the Air, which gets around 18 minutes. The Mavic Mini is rated to fly for 30 minutes, but it’s a bit less. In our test flights, which include a good mix of motion, hover, and altitude change, we got through about 26 minutes on a fully charged battery — one of the longest. You will get it from a consumer Drone.

If you’re buying a Mini in Japan, beware. Its regulations are stricter, so DJI is selling the 199g version in that market. It’s the same drone, but with a smaller capacity battery, rated for about 15 minutes of flight time.

The drone is palm-sized when folded, so you can easily stow it in a pocket like your Mirrorless Camera kit. The drone is finished in light gray and is easy enough to unfold in preparation for flight. You’ll want to find a good, flat surface to launch on — even well-manicured grass can get in the way of propellers due to the low-profile design.

The removable battery is loaded in the rear compartment. You’ll also find a microSD card slot and a micro USB port on the rear, just below the battery door. The power button is at the bottom — to turn on the drone, you’ll press it briefly once, then hold the button a second time until the engine kicks in and the Drone makes a series of beeps.

A remote is included, but you still need to attach your phone and install the DJI Fly app, available for Android and iOS, to see the view from the Camera. I tested the Mavic Mini with my iPhone and had no problems, but some Android users have indicated that the app is not compatible with certain handsets in app store reviews.

I recommend verifying if your phone is on the list of supported devices before joining.

The remote has clips on the bottom to secure your smartphone. A detachable cable to connect to its data port. You get cables for Lightning, micro USB, and USB-C devices in the box.

If you want more flight time, DJI sells an attractive bundle, the Fly More Kit, for $499. It adds two extra batteries (three total), a propeller guard, a multi-battery charger, a carrying case, and a few sundries.

There is a remote control.

The remote control itself is pretty basic. It has a detachable joystick, which can be stowed inside when not in use; The left stick controls the height and rotation, while the right stick moves the drone forward, backward, left, and right.

There is a Record button on the left and a Photo button on the right. You also have a control wheel on the left side to adjust the height of the Camera. There’s no dedicated dial to adjust the brightness of your scene via EV compensation. You’ll need to set that up through the app’s touch interface instead. I would have liked the remote with two wheels, one for controlling the camera and one for the EV, as you get with higher-end Mavic models.

These clips do a good job holding a phone, even a larger one like my iPhone 8 Plus. However, they couldn’t handle its protective case, so I had to take it off for flights. That’s something to think about if you want to keep your phone in a large carrying case.

Inconsistent connection

The Mavic Mini is said to offer a better connection than the Spark, offering only limited range flight via a direct Wi-Fi connection to your phone. Here, direct control via your phone is not an option; you will always fly with the included controller.

DJI keeps that promise, and without hindrance, the MAVIC Mini is the ability to communicate with its remote controller at distances of up to 2.5 miles (4km), well beyond the range of visual performance required by the FAA.

I’ve yet to get the Mini up in the Air and haven’t had some questionable connection times, all over much shorter distances, including flights over both suburbs and the countryside.

In my neighborhood, upstate New Jersey, where wireless interference is a real concern, I started seeing jumping and stuttering in the video feed within 500 feet and receive RC interference notifications in the app starting from about 800 feet away. That is an empty lot at a park, with no visible obstructions between Mini and me. At a test site in the countryside, the results were similar.

That is a concern in itself. The Mini is marketed aggressively to first-time pilots, and any wobble in the flying experience can lead to disaster. The Mini has built-in safety features to prevent mishaps, including GPS + GLONASS for outdoor flight stability and an automatic return-to-home function.

DJI also includes a Geofence function in the app. It can save you legal trouble, prevent drones from taking off if you are in limited airspace, but also allows you to define the maximum range for the flight. By default, it is set at 2,000m — more than a mile. I recommend cutting it down to about 1,000 feet (305m) for the safest operation. You can always adjust it later if needed.

where can you get a DJI Mavic Mini online

DJI Mavic Mini Combo – Drone FlyCam Quadcopter UAV with 2.7K Camera 3-Axis Gimbal GPS 30min Flight Time, less than 0.55lbs, Gray: Buy it now

DJI Mavic Mini – Drone FlyCam Quadcopter UAV with 2.7K Camera 3-Axis Gimbal GPS 30min Flight Time, less than 0.55lbs, Gray: Buy it now

DJI Mavic Mini Combo Drone FlyCam Quadcopter with 2.7K Camera 3-Axis Gimbal GPS 30min Flight Time (Renewed): Buy it now

DJI Mavic Mini Combo Drone Quadcopter 2.7K Camera, Less than 0.55lbs, 30 Minute Flight Time with Samsung 128GB MicroSDXC 100MB/s Memory Card and Adapter: Buy it now

Find My Drones

There’s also a Find My Drone option in the app, which comes in handy when I have to use it to retrieve the Mavic Mini after an unplanned landing. At our rural test site, I was scanning the Mini back home to land after a test flight and stopped to capture the early morning sun shining over the water of a small creek.

But after shooting, I had difficulty in controlling the drone to fly home. I was concerned that it wouldn’t take sticky commands at all — I was far enough away to see the RC Interference message in the app, even in an area with little Wi-Fi, the heart of Amish country.

But the sticks react to other controls. I could rotate the drone on its axis and fly in other directions — just not home. I decided to activate the automatic return to home function, but the drone couldn’t move closer to home.

It took me two minutes to realize that the problem might be wind-related—the forecast says 12mph winds, less than the stated 17.9mph wind resistance, but I’m pretty high up, about 300 feet, and resistant to fight the wind. I burned through a lot of battery life fighting it, and there was only one option left – to land somewhere safe.

The neighborhood field seems to be my best choice. With the trees between the drone and me, I knew I would lose contact if I tried to land manually, and I didn’t want to risk running out of battery when I flew home through the treetops, so I asked the app to land drone wings and pass my fingers.

The DJI Fly app has a Find My Drone function, which records the landing point on the map.

As noted by DJI, the Mavic Mini is exactly where the app said it should be. I wish I didn’t have to use this feature under such stressful circumstances. There are occasional gusts of wind, but I believe I would have identified the problem faster if I hadn’t been worried in the first place that the drone wasn’t responding to the remote.

It should be noted that this comes after spending dozens of hours behind the scenes of various Drones from DJI and others. I can only imagine how difficult it would be for a new pilot to handle a similar situation.

Capable Camera Hardware, Attractive Software

The Mavic Mini’s Camera is mounted on a three-axis gimbal, with a smartphone-sized 1/2.3-inch image sensor to capture 12MP stills and 2.7K video recording. Its angle of view is similar to that of a 24mm full-frame lens, and it has a fixed f/2.8 aperture.

There are certain pluses to the design. The lens is sharp and has no distortion. We’re well beyond the days when fisheye viewing was considered acceptable, even on consumer drones. The gimbal keeps the video steady, even when the drone is spinning or braking, a plus for impressive POV footage.

You can fly and adjust the Camera tilt manually. It’s intuitive, and the view from the Camera makes the experience unlike a trip in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The app also includes some auto shots. Dronie and Rocket pull away to reveal your surroundings, while Orbit and Helix fly around the subject in a circle. They’re easy to use — the app prompts you to identify a subject, and the drone does the rest — but you should use them in an open area, as the Mini doesn’t offer obstacle detection.

Some might complain about the lack of 4K support — you can shoot at up to 2.7K resolution, at standard frame rates of 25 or 30 fps, respectively, for video in the PAL and NTSC regions. There’s no 24fps option; that’s a bug. You can shoot at 25fps, and it’s almost cinematic, but it’s not quite the same. The limit is completely artificial — DJI wants to push you to buy the more expensive Mavic Air or Mavic Pro model if you want to use 24fps for a project. For slow motion, you can reduce the resolution to 1080p and increase the frame rate up to 60 fps. Like most Drones, the video is in silent mode, so we added a classical soundtrack to our sample footage to make it more pleasant to watch.

There are not many other options for controlling the video. You’re stuck with the default color profile, which renders colors natural but slightly overblown the footage. You cannot adjust profiles or even apply basic filters such as black and white recording, available in other DJI Drones. Without basic adjustments, you can completely forget about support for advanced features—pro users can look elsewhere if they want to shoot low-contrast footage with the Log profile.

Still, images are saved in JPG format with 12MP resolution. You can only shoot with the default color profile and video, which is a confusing decision. I can’t think of another Consumer Camera that, at least, doesn’t offer a black and white JPG option. Of course, you can always edit a photo later using the same smartphone or desktop photo editing app you use for any other photo.

Image quality is as good as you’d expect from a flagship smartphone camera, but not one of the latest generations. While gimbal stabilization reduces the need for low-light tricks like Night Shot, Drones love capturing HDR without both stills and video with the Mavic Mini.

I don’t miss the gimmicky 360-degree feature DJI included in the Mavic Air, but cutting HDR from the feature set is almost a crime. Drone shots often include a large bright sky, which makes exposure balance difficult, especially when working with the limited dynamic range offered by the small image sensor. Smartphones and other Drones use HDR to better compete with SLRs in capturing scenes with both light and dark elements — even after reducing the EV compensation, I ended up with highlights in the aerial farm shot below. With HDR (or Raw) support, it’s easy to capture photos like this while preserving detail in both bright roofs and long shadows.

That is one reason to see Parrot Anafi as an alternative. It doesn’t have the same branded caching as DJI, but the Anafi is very capable, compact, and supports Raw and HDR images, as well as HDR video.

Need better

DJI wants the Mavic Mini to be the drone for everyone. Its lightweight design means you won’t have to pay to register with the FAA, and the low entry price certainly makes it the DJI drone many first-time pilots will want. After all, it’s a lot easier to decide to add $400 to your Camera kit than a model that costs $1,000 or more.

But putting the Mini in the hands of first-timers can be a bit dangerous. Its flight capabilities are more powerful than what you’d expect from such a small quadcopter, and the drone is so fast and responsive that it’s a bit too easy to fly it too far from home or into a tight spot. It is particularly relevant because the default geofence distance allows Drones to fly well beyond visual range.

But then you have to look at what else is out there. Despite my reservations about the transmission range, DJI does other things to keep you out of trouble. It recognizes and identifies restricted airspaces on the map and offers a one-touch return to home and landing, along with a Find My Drone feature that records its last known location. These are steps beyond what other brands offer, especially at this price point.

The Mavic Mini’s Camera is also a bit lackluster. One thing shouldn’t offer pro features like Log profiles and a high bit rate of 4K in a low-end product. But skipping the basics like black-and-white photography is frustrating, and we’d love the same HDR picture offered by the Mavic Air here. Handsets like the iPhone 11 Pro have made us rethink smartphone-grade image quality.

The Mavic Mini is not the home run device many aspiring pilots and DJI had hoped for. Still, there’s room for some improvements via software updates — perhaps we’ll see more photo and video controls added to the DJI Fly app in the future.

I feel more comfortable recommending the Parrot Anafi to first-timers, even though it’s a bit more expensive at $600. Its Camera is more capable, so you have some room to grow as a videographer or aerial photographer. It has proven to be a more reliable remote control signal in other scenarios of our test flight. The DJI Mavic Air is also a very good option, but it starts at around $800.