The all new portable drone from GoPro called Karma is soon to be released and is pretty different to the class leader Dji Phantom 4. Rumors are saying that Dji is working on a similar foldable drone concept called Dji Mavic.
GoPro Karma Drone – Game changing design
GoPro Karma and the Dji Mavic consept – Probably the new market standard
Since GoPro announced the Karma, we have learned that Dji is planning to release a similar koncept called Dji Mavic. The release date is set to mid October 2016. Its pretty much the same concept with a more compact and foldable drone. This is probably the new market standard for drones although Dji does their best to separate the different drone concepts. Dji also have to give some thoughts about their pretty expensive hand held stabilizer Osmo since GoPro includes this in their GoPro Karma and Dji doesn’t seem to have the same feature on their Dji Mavic.
GoPro Karma vs Dji Mavic vs Dji Phantom 4
- Top speed – The Phantom 4 is the fastest one of the pack with its 72 km/h compared to Dji Mavic (62 km/h) and the GoPro Karma (56 km/h)
- Image Sensor – The Dji Phantom 4 and the Dji Mavic has the same image sensor but different linses. The GoPro Karma you will be able to uppgrade when their new GoPro Heros hit the market.
- Flight time – The Dji drones have better flight time than the GoPro drone. The Dji Mavic – 27 min, the Phantom 4 – 28 min and the GoPro Karma – 20 min. We all know that the conditions has an segnificant impact on the flight tim i.e. wind, tempratures etc. So flight time could be a bit of a problem with the GoPro Karma.
- Follow me function – despite the rumors GoPro didn’t manage to squeeze in the Follow me function. Dji have had the follow me function as a pretty important selling point on the Phantoms.
- The display – The GoPro Karma has an built in pressure sensitive display while the Dji Phantoms are dependant on your mobile phone/iPad or similar.
- Obstacle avoidance system – The GoPro Karma doesn’t have a obstacle avoidance system. However many Phantom 4 drone pilots has learned the hard way that the OAS does not work in all directions/conditions.
- Handling on ground – The GoPro Karma is extremely portable and ready to use right out of the back pack, i.e. you will end up bringing the drone with you instead leaving it home. The Phantom 4 pilots has to add another USD 200 on their budget to get the pretty bulky Dji back pack.
- The Gimbal – One of the most important selling points for the GoPro Karma is that the Gimble/stabilizer can be used separated from the drone, very smart and consumer friendly. The Dji gimbal/stabilizer is not portable You have to buy a additional stabilizer from Dji at a cost of USD 650 including camera.
- Price – If you already have an GoPro Hero 3 or 4 the Karma is a pretty cheap way to get into the drone world. If you buy the Karma with the all new GoPro Hero 5 the price compared to the Dji Phantom 4 is pretty much the same.
Dji Mavic PRO – Game changer of the drone market
Dji Mavic and the GoPro Karma – A game changer on the dronemarket
The GoPro Karmas portable stabilizer system is one of the selling points that Dji has to take seriously. We are looking forward to an head to head battle between the GoPro Karma and the Dji Mavic and it will be extremely interesting to follow the drone market since we consider the portable drone concept to be a real game changer.
Despite that the DJi 3 Phantom Standard is a stripped version of its siblings it’s a very competent drone with functions like “Follow me”. You film 2,7K HD video and take 12 mp still pictures, and with a flight time of 25 minutes. You don’t get the Glonass, Global Navigation Satellite System, nor the Light Bridge and live stream functions that you will find in the more high end versions off the DJi Phantoms. The DJi 3 Phantom Standard uses Wi-Fi for the video down link which gives a flying range of approx. 1000 m.
The Advanced is equipped with the Sony EXMOR sensor, films in 2,7K HD video with a few extra options regarding frame rate compared to the standard version. The DJI 3 Phantom Advanced takes 12,76 mp still pictures. Surprisingly the estimated flight time is slightly shorter than for the standard version, 23 min. The drone navigates with GPS and Glonass, Global Navigation Satellite System which will give the drone more satellites to lock on i.e. improved performance when flying in areas with high buildings or mountains. The DJi 3 Phantom Advanced and Professional, is equipped with Vision positioning, for flying in-house when you are out of GPS connection. The DJi 3 Phantom advanced uses Lightbridge for the video down link which gives a flying range of approx. 5000 m.
Also the Professional is equipped with the advanced Sony EXMOR sensor, but films in 4K and has a few extra frame rate options compared to the DJI Phantom 3 Advanced. Another difference is the more powerful charger that allows charging the battery in 1 hour instead of 1 hour and 20 minutes. In all other aspects the DJI Phantom 3 Professional is identical to the DJI 3 Phantom Advanced.
The all new Obstacle Sensing System will help the pilot to avoid the most common crash situations and will be very useful when using the all new Tracking function. The transmitter will warn you if you fly to close to an Obstacle and will also force you to stop if you don´t show attention to the warnings.
