DJI Mavic Pro vs DJI Inspire 2

Despite its small size, the Mavic Pro’s camera has practically the same specifications as more expensive and larger drone cameras. With it, you can take breathtaking shots without being worried about quality. It even has a 3-axis gimbal to keep the camera stable while the drone is flying, a feature not usually found on compact drones.

The drone can reach speeds up to 65 km/h and it can also change altitude rather quickly.

Travelers will be especially happy about the drone’s slim body and easily foldable arms. When folded, the drone is about the size of a brick and can be transported with ease, making it an extremely compact 4K-capable drone. Unlike some other larger drones, the Mavic Pro’s camera is situated up the front of the drone, further reducing its size. Its remote is also travel-friendly, given that it’s also very compact.

You can adjust the focus of the camera by tapping on the object on the live view screen.

DJI constantly updates its drone's firmware and companion apps, adding new functionalities and improving existing ones.

Thanks to all its sensors, design and powerful motors, this is one of the most stable small drones in the market. It stays almost perfectly still even under strong breezes.

This drone’s software includes some clever autonomous flying algorithms that can be easily configured and activated via the smartphone companion app. You can predefine flying paths, set the drone to follow an object, or fly at a certain constant distance from the ground, following topographic changes. This means that you don’t have to worry about controlling the drone while you’re hands are occupied on something else, such as climbing a hill.

The Mavic Pro drone has been designed in a way that it will operate longer when it is moving around and not hovering in the same place. The difference is small, though: a full battery should last for around 24 minutes on hovering and for around 27 minutes on flying. These times are excellent for a small drone.

This drone's camera can be activated via physical gestures, which can be especially useful for taking selfies: this way, you don't have to use the remote and worry about it showing up on the shots.

The Mavic Pro can be set to tripod mode and used to film indoors or in other tight settings, where precision is needed.
Once the drone is set to tripod mode, its speed is limited to approximately 2 mph and control input sensitivity is reduced, increasing the accuracy of commands sent to the drone.

You can buy external batteries, bags, propeller guards, filters, even a battery-to-power-bank adapter. Many of its accessories are much cheaper than other drone's accessories.

You can buy this drone as a “Fly More Combo” that includes additional batteries, extra props, a backpack and other accessories that make traveling with the drone easier. This is much more economical than buying the items separately.

Just unfold the drone, set its mode (“fly only” or “camera”), and use the remote to operate it. No need to set up the drone blades, as they reposition themselves once the motors are activated and takeoff can be done automatically. It even senses objects that are close, in order to crashing into them. If its battery level gets critically low or its loses signal to the remote, it automatically sets course back to where it took off and land there.

You don’t need to assemble or dissemble parts each time you are setting the drone up or have finished flying. Everything folds and unfolds neatly.

This drone has an impressive maximum range of 7 km, which is very impressive. This drops significantly in urban areas, where interferences are higher, but even in these conditions it still reaches a 1 km range. However, users should be aware that some countries may have laws prohibiting people from operating the drone at such distances.

The control’s input lag is almost non-existent and offers very precise control with no random movements.

If you are new to drones, the Mavic Pro’s beginner mode will help you learn how to fly it, while minimizing risks. It limits the distance and speed the drone can fly, and also reduces the sensitivity of the controller.

With the Zenmuse X5S lens, it is possible to film in CinemaDNG and ProRes format. These are professional video formats that require a lot of data storage and powerful hardware to edit, but provide the best quality, wide editing and correction options.

This drone is great for action shots and smooth movements: its processing power allows capturing videos in 4K quality at 60 FPS. You can also shoot FullHD quality videos at 120 FPS, so you can produce slow-motion videos in post-production.

The Inspire 2 is well capable of shooting in low light conditions, since the ISO can be set between 100 and 25600 (12800 on X4S).

DJI offers a wide range of additional accessories, including high speed storage (up to 480GB), remote focus control, battery charging stations, and much more. Unfortunately, they are quite pricey, so purchasing them represents a heavy investment.

DJI constantly puts out firmware updates for their drones, adding improved algorithms and added functionality, so your drone will be up-to-date for years to come.

When using this camera you can mount various third party lenses, as long as they are of the appropriate mount, and they won’t get obstructed by the drones body when moving the camera.

The drone can be bought as a standalone or in various bundles that may include one of the cameras, CinemaDNG/Apple ProRes licenses, several filters, extra memory cards, and more.

This drone's cameras offer very smooth picture, even in strong winds or when doing sharp maneuvers. There's gimbal stabilization for both of the cameras: the live view camera has a 2-way gimbal while the main camera has a 3-way stabilization system.

The drone offers two camera options: the cheapest one features the same specs as the one found on Phantom 4 Pro, the second one is more expensive but has interchangeable lenses and can capture videos in 5.2K quality.

Its sensors and visual object tracking allow for tracking, predefined path flying and orbiting modes. DJI also frequently adds new flying modes to its updates. The camera's wide operating angle further eases camera tracking.

Thanks to all its integrated vision systems, the drone creates a real-time map around the drone. If the signal is lost, the drone will calculate and take the the safest route back home using the collected data and its camera to navigate.

You can stream a FullHD feed from the main camera’s remote controller. While the pilot sees everything in real-time, the HDMI footage is broadcasted with some delay for smoother frame rates.

This drone has twice the safety features most drones have. For example, it has more sensors for detecting possible collisions and a backup communication path in case the primary fails.

The Inspire 2 can fly for approximately 25 minutes, impressive for a drone this large. It takes about 90 minutes to charge the batteries again.

If the camera is about to hit its physical limit when turning, the drone recognizes this and quickly rotates in the same direction, making the camera untwist. The drone will do this even when you are performing a maneuver.

This drone has a dedicated live feed camera stabilized with a two-axis gimbal and two remotes, allowing one user to fly the drone while the other user controls the filming camera. This allows you to safely fly and monitor the drone’s flight (using the front-facing camera), while another operator takes shots with the filming camera. The only flaw is that the controllers need to be within 100 meters of each other to work.

This drone can fly as high as 2,500 m or even 5,000 m, if using special high-altitude props, and the flight range can reach 7 km. The live feed videos does start to have transmission loss at about 800 meters in urban areas, but it should still be more than enough to cover a large filming area.

When set to Sports mode, this drone can reach a top speed of approximately 67 mph: way faster than almost any other drone. Even in P-mode, the drone can fly up to 40 mph, which is still enough to follow bikes or cars. These speeds are helpful when shooting sports scenes or when following fast vehicles.

Thanks to the drone’s ability to heat the batteries, it can safely be used even in extremely cold settings, where temperatures drop to -20ºC.

The drone uses two batteries: if one fails, having the second one guarantees that you'll be able to safely land the drone.

The propellers are assembled and disassembled with simple click-release system, making the process quick and simple.

The Inspire 2’s body is made from magnesium alloy, so it’s quite light for its size, while being very capable of withstanding a lot more abuse than plastic drones.