DJI Air

The DJI Air, originally marketed as the DJI Mavic Air, is a series of teleoperated compact quadcopter drones for personal and commercial aerial photography and videography use, released by the Chinese technology company DJI. It was developed as a more portable version of the DJI Mavic. A licensed version is produced in Malaysia by Cogito Tech as the Specta Air.

Design and development

The Mavic Air was announced in January 2018 as a more portable development of the DJI Mavic.[1] Like the Mavic, the Mavic Air is a foldable quadcopter, though the arms and propellers fold to be flush with the side of the drone as opposed to the Mavic's over/under configuration.[1] This allows the Mavic Air to be half the size of the Mavic Pro and at 430 g is 41% lighter. The Mavic Air is which was equipped with a 1/2.3" CMOS camera with a 24 mm lens on a 3-axis gimbal capable of capturing 4K video at 30 Frames per second

Mavic Air 2 series

Announced on 27 April 2020, the Mavic Air 2 introduced a redesigned form that more closely resembles the Mavic 2 Pro than its predecessor.[6] The Mavic Air 2 is equipped with a 1/2" CMOS camera which supports raw image format, 48-megapixel mode, HDR video, and Hyperlapse 240FPS slow-motion mode.[7][8] Battery capacity was increased to 3500 mAh, giving it a maximum flight time of 34 minutes.[7] The Wi-Fi transmission system of the original Mavic Air was replaced with the dedicated OcuSync 2.0 running in the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz ranges. This promises less interference from ambient Wi-Fi networks and offers a better range of up to 10 kilometers.[8][9] The Mavic Air 2 uses an Advanced Pilot Assistance Systems (APAS) 3.0 obstacle avoidance system with sensors on the front, back, and underside, but no sensors on the top and sides.[6][7][9] Some Mavic Air 2 drones were equipped with an ADS-B safety feature that warns users about nearby aircraft, but supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic meant that this was not available in all regions.[9][10]

On 15 April 2021, DJI announced an updated version of the Mavic Air 2 as the Air 2S, dropping the Mavic name.[11][12] The Air 2S features a 1" CMOS camera capable of shooting 20MP JPEG and RAW photos and up to 10-bit 5.4K video at a maximum frame of 30 FPS as well as 4K video at a maximum frame rate of 60 FPS.[13] Maximum flight time was reduced to 31 minutes, and the transmission system was upgraded to the new O3 allowing up to 1080p resolution at 12 km.[13] The Air 2S also includes new photo and video modes such as SmartPhoto, Hyperlapse, and MasterShots allowing more flexibility of the camera capabilities. It also features an upgraded APAS 4.0 obstacle avoidance and detection system making use of sensors on the front, back, top, and bottom of the drone, as well as an ADS-B system to warn the operator of nearby aircraft.[14]

Air 3 series

The Air 3 was released in July 2023 and introduced several updates compared to its predecessor.[15] The overall design was updated once again to resemble the Mavic 3 Pro, and the gimbal now mounts a dual camera system with both a wide-angle and telephoto camera.[15] Both cameras feature a 48 MP 1/1.3" CMOS stacked sensor, and the telephoto camera is capable of 3x zoom.[16] The drone has a weight of 720 g, which is an increase from the 595 g of the Air 2S. Most of this weight came from the battery, which was increased to 4241 mAh capacity and gives the Air 3 a maximum flight time of 46 minutes.[17] The video transmission system was upgraded to O4, which is transmitting 1080p video up to 20 km away.[18] The Verge noted that while the drone remains loud during operation, its larger propellers results in a sound that has a lower frequency and is less piercing than its predecessor.[15]

Licensed version

Hong Kong-based Cogito Tech produces a licensed version of the Air 3 as the Specta Air.[21][22] Though Cogito denied any connection to DJI, The Hill reported the Specta Air and Specta Mini (the company's version of the DJI Mini 2 SE) are virtually identical to their Chinese counterparts, including performance and software, and likely use DJI's proprietary OcuSync video transmission system.[23]

alt	a DJI Mavic Air 2 in the air
aircraft type	Unmanned aerial vehicle
national origin	China
manufacturer	DJI Cogito Tech
status	In production
construction date	2018–present
introduction	January 2018
developed from	DJI Mavic

Design and development

Mavic Air 2 series

Air 3 series

Licensed version

Variants

Specifications (Air 3S)

See also

External links

References