This episode delivers an extensive, unbiased review of the DJI Mavic Air 2.

Click the image to the right to view the episode.

Click Here to Buy a Mavic Air 2 directly from DJI!

Note: This is an affiliate link. Order from here and you support the channel. I use credits from your orders to get more DJI products - and that means I can create more videos for you. Using affiliate links benefits you!

Purchase Freewell Filters for the Mavic Air 2:

Freewell All Day Filter 8Pack for Mavic Air 2

Freewell Bright Day Filter 4Pack for Mavic Air 2

Freewell IR/UV Filter for Mavic Air 2

Buy a Mavic Air 2 directly from DJI!

PGYTech Landing Gear Extensions for the Mavic Air 2:

 

Hoodman Drone Launch Pad - the 3' version of the launch pad I use

 

Be sure to subscribe to the Jeff Sibelius channel so you will be notified when new videos are released..

I also have a Facebook group, Jeff Sibelius Texas Drones, where we talk about drone issues and arrange opportunities to fly together. If you like to talk drones or want to ask me any questions, join the group. I love flying with other drone pilots - if you're in Texas (or even Oklahoma or Louisiana), join the group and let's get together and fly!

Here are some sample clips and still images taken with the Mavic Air 2. These are unedited image files taken straight from the Air 2. Download and test them on your computer.

Video clips - right-click link and save to your computer

Here are sample clips using h.265 compression. These are unedited image files taken straight from the Air 2. Download and test them on your computer - can your computer play h.265 clips?

• Sample h.265 clip 01
• Sample h.265 clip 02
• Sample h.265 clip 03
• Sample h.265 clip 04
• Sample h.265 clip 05
• Sample h.265 clip 06
• Sample 1 - h.264 clip in normal color mode
• Sample 1 - h.264 clip in HDR color mode
• Sample 1 - h.264 clip in d-cinelike color mode
• Sample 2 - h.264 clip in normal color mode
• Sample 2 - h.264 clip in HDR color mode
• Sample 2 - h.264 clip in d-cinelike color mode
• Sample 3 - h.264 clip, 4K 30 fps Normal
• Sample 3 - h.264 clip, 4K 30 fps HDR
• Sample 4 - h.265 clip, 4K 30 fps Normal
• Sample 4 - h.265 clip, 4K 30 fps HDR
• Sample 4 - h.265 clip, 4K 30 fps d-cinelike
• Hyperlapse 01 1080p
• Hyperlapse 02 1080p

 

Still images

In each of the following sets, you'll find the same basic picture taken at normal, 48mp, smart shot and AEB (3 or 5 shot bracketing). You'll find DNG and JPEG versions in most cases. None of these have been edited so you're getting them straight out of the camera. Download and test them on your computer.

• First set of still samples - see file name for explanation of each photo.
• Second set of still samples - see file name for explanation of each photo.
• Third set of still samples - see file name for explanation of each photo.

 

Youtube Video Show Notes - The Script

This content is copyrighted; please do not reproduce without written consent. Contact me if you would like to reproduce this content.

In a world where most drones suck because they aren't made by DJI.

Enters the Mavic Air 2.

A masterpiece of technological innovation.

Absolute perfection in drones - anyone who finds any fault with it is wrong.

The greatest drone in the history of drones.

Brought to you by the greatest company in the history of mankind.

DJI

Not on my channel.

Jeff Sibelius and Land and Air Photos,com

Okay, I've been having fun with the whole non-fanboy thing. But you have to admit, some people have no sense of objectivity when it comes to DJI drones.

I don't hate DJI - I've owned eight DJI drones and I keep buying more.

I'm not a hater, but you won't catch me sacrificing an animal at the altar of DJI. I'm going to tell you exactly what I think, good and bad.

I've also owned drones from Yuneec, Autel and Parrot. And when it comes to reviews, I treat them all the same - I tell you exactly what I think - good and bad.

I'm going to go into great detail on build quality, performance and features, photographic quality and the DJI Fly app. Be sure to stick around to the end, when I sum up my review of the Mavic Air 2 and tell you who this drone is best suited to.

After my review, whether or not you choose to buy the Air 2 is up to you, but either way you'll be making an informed decision.

So, let's start the review of the Mavic Air 2 with a look at its design and build quality.

Flawless design and amazing build quality

Well, I don't know about unparalleled quality but it is pretty darn good.

Where the Mavic Mini was made of a flimsy, flexible plastic, the Mavic Air 2 is built with a much more durable plastic which should withstand significant bumps and crashes.

As is the case with all Mavic drones, the weak point of the design is the flimsy media card cover which dangles off the body from a flimsy connector.

Generally speaking, the Mavic Air 2 is a well built drone . . . but I'm not going to test that out

Like the rest of the Mavics, the Air 2 has a very low ground clearance. You'll need leg extensions or a landing pad to be able to launch and land without ground clutter interfering with your gimbal.

Unlike the Mini or the original Mavic Air, the Air 2's battery is on top of the drone which makes it easier to access when booting up or checking your charge level.I hope all future Mavics follow this approach.

The Air 2 is bigger than the Mini or the original Air. It spans 302 mm diagonally, where the Mini and Mavic Air are both only 213 mm. Much of this comes from the longer arms on the Mavic Air 2.

The Air 2 is also significantly heavier, weighing in at 570 grams compared to the Mini's 249 grams and the Air's 430 grams. The batteries are heavier as well - Mavic Air 2 batteries are 198 grams, Mavic Air's battery is 140 grams and the Mini's battery is only 100 grams.

The Air 2 is also significantly heavier than the Mini or the Mavic Air. At 570 grams it weighs 33% more than the Air and more than twice as much as the Mini. The Air 2 batteries are about that much heavier than the batteries for the Air and Mini as well.

All that's to say, taking the Air 2 with you is a bit more of a chore than the Mini or the Air, especially when you factor in its larger controller. However, all of these drones are small - complaining about size is almost quibbling.

The Mavic Air 2 is still smaller than the Mavic Pro, Mavic 2 Pro, the Autel Evo, the Evo 2 or the Phantom series. It's smaller than the Skydio II as well - and compared to big birds like the Typhoon H Plus, the Air 2 is tiny,

Speaking of bags, when you buy the FlyMore combo you get a carrying bag as part of the kit. The Air 2's bag is FAR better than the absurd case you got with the original Air - that case didn't hold the controller, extra batteries, even an RC cable. The Air 2's bag has room for the drone, controller, three batteries, cables and charging hub - but it doesn't have room for the charging brick, so it doesn't make much sense to put the hub in there.. The case is not too bad, but it was really designed poorly in that the zipper is basically upside down, making the case unwieldy to unzip and hold open. But it's still a big improvement. And it has a shoulder strap, which is better than the upside down cosmetics case you get for the Mavic Mini.

The FlyMore combo also comes with propeller guards - you can just leave those in the box - two extra batteries and a charging hub.The hub is a bit annoying to use; the batteries are tough to plug into it and they fall off easily. It's small and portable for sure, but you still have to take the power brick with you to use it - and that makes it less portable. Even with all that, but it is definitely more convenient than charging batteries individually, and the FlyMore combo is worth the extra bucks if you can afford it.

I've heard some complaints that the Mavic Air 2 comes with only one compass and IMU and lacks the redundancy of a dual system. This complaint is only in theory for now; I haven't heard of any problems with the Air 2 losing control or flying off.

Like the Mavic Air, the Air 2 has 8GB of internal storage so you can still shoot video, even if you forget your card. This is a smart feature - I'd like to see it on all drones.

So let's talk about this controller since there has been a lot of concern about it. From a build standpoint, it's solid and fits the hands well. It doesn't have those floppy antennae sticking out so I think it will be more durable than other Mavic controllers.

It doesn't interfere with my phone's power button either, and it's big enough to mount a phone that is still in its case.

Some people have complained that it's bigger than the other Mavic controllers. It is a little bigger, but not significantly so. I'm probably a bad judge on this aspect because I'm used to flying with controllers from the Phantom and the Typhoon H. Overall, I'm fine with the Mavic Air 2's controller and the new way of mounting the smart device is a big improvement to me.

The Air 2 has lights on all motor pods, and it also has an auxiliary light on the bottom that you can turn on or off as you like. I like these features because they make the drone more visible - and anything helps when you're talking about a gray colored drone.

Yes, the Mavic Air 2 is a medium gray. If you watched my review on the Mini, you know I beat it up pretty good for being a light gray color which makes it almost impossible to see in the sky. The Air 2 is a little darker - that's good - but it's still not as dark as the Mavic Air or Mavic Pro - and that's bad.

IT's time for a visual range test. I'm going to fly the Mavic Air 2 out until I can't see it anymore, then I'll stop and check the distance. I'll do the same thing with the Mavic Air and the Mavic Mini.

The Mavic Mini went out to 750 before I lost it.

The Mavic Air 2 went 850 feet.

The Mavic Air went 859 feet. The Air is darker than the Air 2 but it's also a bit smaller, so these two drones performed about the same. Had the Air 2 been black, I think it would have gone a little further in this test.

So - all in all, the color of the Air 2 is still a problem.

You may be getting tired of hearing it, but as long as DJI continues to make drones that are hard to see in the sky, I'll continue to beat on them for doing it. This is a safety issue and it's common sense.

If the color of the Air 2 is worse than the Air, at least the new drone reflects a big improvement with its sound. The Air was well known for its high-pitched buzz that was very annoying.

The Air 2's motors are lower pitched and less noisy.

I personally don't mind a noisy drone because it's easier to track in the sky, but most people prefer a quieter drone and the Air 2 marks a big improvement in this area.

All in all, the build quality and design of the Mavic Air 2 are excellent. Outside of its color, I think it's a big step forward over the Mini and the Air. There is one other problem with the Air 2's design, but I'm going to cover that in the next section - performance and features.

Before I go on to flight performance - If you're going to buy the Mavic Air 2 and this review helped you decide, I hope you'll order one straight from DJI using the link in the description below and support my ability to produce more videos in the future.

And if you're concerned that my opinion is biased because I have an affiliate link . . . well, watch this review all the way to the end and then you tell me if you think I'm pulling any punches in the comments below.

Amazing flight performance and unparalleled features

Not quite. There are some amazing aspects to the Mavic Air 2's flight performance, along with some good aspects and a few shortcomings.

The Air 2 features the Ocusync 2 transmission system, which provides a remarkably solid connection between the drone and the controller. OcuSync 2.0 has a video transmission distance of up to 10 km and delivers a beautiful 1080p resolution feed directly from the drone's camera.

I have yet to see one flicker in my sync with the Mavic Air 2. It has been flawless.

With Ocusync the drone is able to fly a far greater distance than is safe to do so, but even people who fly responsibly will love the rock solid connection they get.

Flight times are just as impressive. I'm getting flights of 25 to 28 minutes with the Air 2; even if you have only two batteries you're doing close to an hour of flying time before a recharge.

The front and rear obstacle avoidance system works very well, freezing the drone a safe distance from any obstacle it detects.

The sound of the obstacle avoidance is very loud, which is good. Because the onscreen warning you get in the Fly app is very subtle.

Look at the screen as I back the drone up close to me. The drone stops and the beeping starts, but the only visual warning you get on screen is a small orange blinking and slight red highlight at the bottom of the screen.

I'd like to see them make this a little more obvious for safety purposes.

I definitely prefer the visual warning you get from the Go 4 app, as you see here.

There's no complaint about the new APAS system, however. This could be my favorite feature on the Air 2.

Watch as I fly the drone directly at the camera. With APAS turned off, the drone comes to a stop when it detects the obstacle.

Now watch what it does when APAS is turned on. The drone detects the obstacle and maneuvers around it - giving you a much nicer shot while keeping the drone safe.

People get all ate up with having the drone chase them through some obstacle course, which doesn't interest me in the slightest. If you want a drone to follow you through the jungle on some nature hike, you should just get a Skydio II. But for an obstacle avoidance system that helps to keep you safe, the APAS system is great. It also gives you nice, flowing shots around objects - for me, that's the real value of this system.

Watch as I fly the MA2 at this tree. The drone maneuvers itself around the tree, under the branches and over the tall grass for a nice shot.

It's not foolproof though; in this shot you can see the Air 2 failed to detect the metal frame of this soccer goal, even as I moved the drone around to try and detect it. Likewise, there is no side obstacle avoidance. Here I draw in the drone sideways - it gets very close to the camera with no warning. When I rotate the drone 90 degrees, the warning beeps go off and the drone won't get any closer. But you certainly can collide with an obstacle while flying sideways, up or down very easily.

Let's be clear though. The Air 2's obstacle avoidance is impressive as far as it goes, but it doesn't have side, upwards or downwards sensors. As is the case with any safety feature, you have to fly safely first and not rely on the feature to keep you out of trouble.

Let's talk about flight performance

In my review of the Mini, I said that I thought it was smoother and more sedate than I expected. With the Air 2, the opposite is true. In Normal mode, I felt the Mavic Air 2 was peppier than what I thought it would be, maybe even too peppy - especially since the DJI Fly app does not allow you to adjust stick sensitivity with EXPO settings. This affects not just the flying but also the maneuvering, when you're trying to get smooth motions in your video.

With the Mini, you'll need to get used to using Sports mode for safety reasons. With the Mavic Air 2, you'll need to use tripod mode more often to get the slow curves that will deliver the quality video you want.

one test I run on all new drones is to tilt the camera all the way down and up to see how smoothly it moves. The Air 2 is very smooth, but again, you can't adjust the speed of this motion in your app settings. Even the Mini allows you to do that, so I'm hoping we see that added for the Air 2 soon.

There is a problem with the gimbal and this could be the biggest problem the MA2 has.

Simply put, When your camera is pointed straight forward and push the right stick full forward, the gimbal drops the camera down.

it happens in all three power modes, and it really does it when you allow upward gimbal rotation. It also does it when you fly backward at full speed and let go of the stick.

It really does it when y

ou allow upward gimbal rotation.

down rather than straight forward, tbut you shouldn't have to. Yes, I know the problem happens with other Mavic drones. I can only hope DJI can fix this with a firmware update, and soon.

Another test I like to run is a slow 360 degree spin and long hover.

The Mavic Air 2 yaws very smoothly, but it's tough to do it slow enough to get a nice, smooth, cinematic pan like you want to get in your videos, unless you switch to Tripod mode.

As you can see, the Air 2 is smooth, but it's very fast. Look at the view of this spin from the camera, in normal mode - this is just too fast to be a good shot.

The Air 2 hovers nicely - watch this extended hover sped up five hundred percent. The drone controls nicely and it does very well in wind. This alone makes the Air 2 FAR safer and easier to fly than the Mavic Mini. I'd pay the difference in price for the Mavic Air 2 over the mini for this consideration alone.

I don't do range tests but I did take the Air 2 out as far as 2600 feet, and it's been absolutely perfect, video sync and control connection. And all with that big, beautiful video feed.

I've tested out the Active Track functions, which include Spotlight, Orbit and Trace - trace offers two options, trace where it follows behind you and parallel where it flies to the side of you.

The active track mode is cool but it's a bit buggy, especially when you're flying in parallel mode. And you've always got to be cautious flying in autonomous flight modes when you're flying sideways. There is no side obstacle avoidance with the Mavic Air 2.

I'm going to do a whole episode on these active track modes. When it's published you'll see a link in the upper right corner of the screen now.

Active Track does a lot of cool things, not just chase you through the woods. You can even use it, for example, as a second cameraman, to record you as you walk across a field reading a script - like I'm doing here.

The Mavic Air 2 includes six autonomous flight modes, including Dronie, Circle, Helix, Rocket, Boomerang and Asteroid. That's two more flight modes than you get with the Mini, and the flight modes with the Air 2 have more capabilities than you find in the Mini as well. I just wish it had waypoints.

The Mavic Air 2 has more intelligent flight modes than the Mavic Mini, but it doesn't have waypoints, and that's something I really miss.

All in all the Mavic Air 2 flies extremely well. My only real complaints in this category center on limitations to the EXPO and gimbal adjustments, and the problem with the dropping gimbal. .Otherwise, this drone flies amazingly well for a drone that costs less than $800.

I'm going to talk about the Photographic capabilities of the Mavic Air 2 next, but I wanted to let you know I'm posting the entire script of this video with additional information, along with sample video clips and photos, on my website at landandairphotos.com. Use the link in the description below and download samples to try out on your computer.

photographic capabilities beyond what we mere mortals deserve

Well, not too good for mere mortals but it is really good

The Mavic Air 2 has a remarkable camera with a ½” sensor and a 3 axis mechanical gimbal that delivers all the smoothness you expect from modern video drones.

Even better, the Air 2 provides an assortment of options that surpass even the Mavic 2 Pro, which costs literally twice as much.

The Mavic Air 2 shoots video at 4k resolution at 60 frames per second. Not even the Mavic 2 Pro does that. But there's a catch.

You can shoot 4K video at 60 frames per second and 1080p video at up to 240 frames per second. But at 4K, once you go with a higher frame rate than 30, you're limited to shooting with H.265 compression.

So why does this matter?Lots of computers, including mine, won't play H.265 video.

Here's what it looks like when I play H.265 video

To make my high frame rate Mavic Air 2 video work, I have to bring it into an editor and export it to H.264 before I can even view it. And those conversions have resulted in some unacceptable glitches and hiccups to my final product.

Making it worse, as you switch to different camera settings, the app will switch you to H.265 without any warning so you may end up using it without even knowing.

Maybe this problem will go away for me if I upgrade to Windows 10. Maybe I need to change out something on the computer. For now at least, H.265 is a no-go for me.

The Autel Evo shoots 4k 60 in H.264 and so does the Autel Evo 2, Phantom 4 Pro and the Typhoon H Plus. The Air 2 should do it as well.

Does your computer work with H.265 video? You can find out. I've posted raw video files I shot at H.265 in the show notes on my website. Download these and try them on your computer to see if this will be a problem for you.

If your computer can't handle H.265 video, you're limited to shooting at 4k 30 fps, which puts the Air 2's specs into the same general range as the Mavic 2 zoom, Parrot Anafi, Typhoon H and other consumer level drones. The exception to this is the MA2 shoots at up to a 120Mbps bitrate, which is superior to the rest of the drones on the market.

That isn't a criticism of the air 2's video quality. The video you shoot from the Mavic Air 2 is beautiful.

The normal color profile setting gives you nice colors and detail right out of the camera that cleans up well with minimal editing.

D-Cinelike delivers a flatter image for people who want to color correct and grade more.

I already showed you my standard tilt down test with the gimbal to see how the gimbal performed, but let's see it again to check the barrel distortion of the lens along the horizon.The Air 2 performed very well on this test, minimizing the curvature on the horizon as the camera tilted down.

The Mavic Air 2 shoots HDR video. This is something I've avoided up to now because it seemed a bit gimmicky, but I tried it with the Air 2 and it resulted in very nice colors with details in both the dark and light areas of the scene. This is the closest thing I've seen to the vivid setting on Yuneec drones, and I always liked the video I got with my Typhoon H. I will definitely shoot more with HDR based on what I've seen.

One problem though - you can't set the AE lock in HDR, so prepare for exposure fluctuations when shooting at this setting.

For still photos the standard resolution of the Mavic Air 2 is 12 MP but you can actually shoot stills up to 48MP.

These 48MP images provide remarkable detail that you can print at large sizes and you can crop the photos significantly and still have a good sized image. If I were a still photo shooter with drones, I think I'd be using the 48MP setting all the time, even with the large file sizes. Just remember to shoot these as RAW images instead of JPEGs.

I tried out Hyperlapse a couple times and it worked - as you can see it was a windy day so it didn't turn out that great. I understand there are some problems with Hyperlapse though and I'll be doing a tutorial and closer evaluation of it in the coming weeks. When it's published you'll see a link to it in the upper right corner now.

The Mavic Air 2's camera is a strong selling point for this drone. It's not going to match the dynamic range you get from the Mavic 2 Pro's 1” sensor - but the Mavic Air 2 doesn't cost $1500 either. It's superior to the Mini, obviously, and competes very well with other drones that cost a lot more. In fact, I think I prefer the video from the Mavic Air 2 over what I get from the more expensive Autel Evo. Unless you're a pixel peeper or need the extra value you get from 10-bit video or a 1” sensor, I think you'll be thrilled with the images you get from the Mavic Air 2.

The DJI Fly App, the greatest control application ever designed

Umm . . . no.

So let's talk about the DJI Fly app, which is the biggest weak point for the Mavic Air 2.

All the previous DJI drones except the Mavic Mini used the DJI Go app, the latest version being DJI Go 4. With the Mini, DJI debuted the DJI Fly app which is a stripped down, cleaner version of DJI Go.

For the Mini, I thought it worked very well. Cleaner interface, fewer features, it served the needs of a budget drone.

Then the Mavic Air 2 came out and it too uses the DJI Fly app. For a drone that costs $800 our expectations were higher than what we had for the Mini and in some cases the app falls short.

On the plus side, it is a cleaner interface than the Go 4 app. For hobbyist drone operators, I think the screen displays the basic information in an easy-to-find way, although the menus are not organized well at all.

Even with that, the Fly app is the weakest part of the Air 2.

The biggest problem with the Fly app is that its missing some key settings that really should be there.

As mentioned previously, you can't adjust your EXPO settings for stick sensitivity or your gimbal sensitivity. Given how zippy the MA2 is, this is a problem. You can drop down into tripod mode, but I'd rather control how reactive the sticks are to small movements so I can manage the flights better.

The white balance is buried in the overflow menu. This makes no sense. All the other camera settings are in the lower right corner of the camera view. But to set white balance, you have to go into the overflow menu, choose the Cameras tab, scroll down, and then set the White balance.

It feels like white balance was put there because, well, it had to go someplace, right?

My other problem with the white balance is that it only provides a slider for the kelvin scale. It has no presets. In the go 4 app, you have preset white balance settings for sunny, cloudy, incandescent and fluorescent, as well as the kelvin scale slider under custom white balance. You could do without incandescent and fluorescent, but presets for sunny, maybe cloudy, sunrise/ sunset, shadows - those would be very helpful, considering the target consumer for the Air 2 is probably someone who has never heard of the Kelvin scale or light temperatures in the first place.

The Mavic Air 2 has only two color profiles, normal and D-Cinelike.. The Phantom 4 Pro has 10 or more color profiles - most of them are pretty useless though. It's not a big deal to me but other people have complained that the app only provides two. The Fly app also lacks the adjustments you used to be able to make within a color profile for sharpness, contrast and saturation. For people who want to tinker with their video, this is frustrating.

As I mentioned before, it doesn't have waypoints other than in Hyperlapse - to me that's the best intelligent flight mode available and something you can get with other comparably priced drones.

I really don't like how obstacle avoidance displays on screen. If I'm coming close to something, a subtle red highlight across the top of the screen is just not good enough as a warning.I like a bright warning message, with an estimated distance to the obstacle. I think the Go 4 app does this very well and I miss it here.

The MA2 does not support DJI goggles. This may be a limitation of the drone but I'm guessing the problem is with the app. Either way, that's a feature a lot of people really like.

Currently the MA2 does not work with the DJI Smart Controller. I've heard that this will be added in a future update, and I hope they do. If they do, I will get the Smart Controller - after using the CrystalSky monitor I know how wonderful that bright screen can be.

With the exception of the goggles, I think the Fly app can be updated to improve on all the limitations I've described. For now, it lacks some key features that more advanced hobbyists would enjoy - especially those who have flown other DJI drones like the Phantom.

In summary: Drone Perfection

Well, by now you know I wouldn't go quite that far when describing the Mavic Air 2.

By now you probably don't really know what I think of the Mavic Air 2. I've nitpicked it because I want to be completely honest and give you as much information as possible so you can make an informed buying choice.

so Here's what I think of the Mavic Air 2, from the perspective of a true non-fanboy.

Overall, I think the Mavic Air 2 is absolutely the best drone on the market in 2020 for about 80% of drone owners out there.

The greatest aspect of the drone is value. It's amazing what you get for $800.

It's about $200 cheaper than the Autel Evo first series.

It blows the cheaper Mavic Mini and Parrot Anafi out of the water in terms of quality and performance.

It's much cheaper than the Skydio II and it's a better drone for actually flying and not just chasing you around the wilderness.

It costs HALF the price of the Mavic Pro 2 and yet has some capabilities that exceed the Mavic Pro 2 . . .

What else is there in the $800 price range that even competes? You literally have to double the price to find a drone that really challenges it.

The Fimi X8 SE 2020 is the only unknown for me - I have one on order and will test it soon. When that review is done you'll see a link to it in the upper right corner now.

now at least, the Mavic Air 2 is the top mainstream drone you can get and I don't see that changing any time soon.

It's stable, reliable, solid and has an excellent obstacle avoidance system, making it a terrific choice for beginners - although they should fly in Tripod mode at first because the drone is quicker than I'd like. If you're a beginner, don't sweat the lack of DJI fly settings or even the H.265 issue. This drone is a no brainer for you as long as it fits your budget.

While the Air 2 lacks some of the finer settings it really should have, the camera system provides outstanding video with a decent set of autonomous flight modes, so the more experienced hobbyists will be happy with what it offers as well.

Would a professional use it? As a primary drone, I think pros would prefer something that shoots 10 bit video on a 1” sensor - but I'd be happy to take the Air 2 with me on a job for secondary or specific shots, especially with the cool things you can do with the APAS system.

All is not butterflies and unicorns for the Mavic Air 2, however.

The fact that this drone forces you to use H.265 compression at higher frame rates can be a real problem - a deal killer if you want to shoot at 60 frames per second or greater but your computer doesn't support H.265.

The lack of adjustments and settings in the Fly app will frustrate more experienced pilots, although you can get around some of that by flying in Tripod mode.

It has DJI's notorious no fly zone built in. For many users, that's a deal killer all by itself.

And the problem with the gimbal is a legitimate concern. You can get around it by accelerating into your motions instead of simply jamming the sticks forward, or by starting your pattern with the gimbal tilted slightly down. But I hope DJI can get this problem fixed very soon.

Those defic

iencies are definitely worth considering, but the capabilities and value of the Mavic Air 2 drone still make it the best drone on the market for all but the most budget conscious beginners and video editing professionals.

See? Being a non-fanboy doesn't mean I'm a DJI hater. It just means that I tested the Air 2 out thoroughly and without bias. And it means that when I say the Air 2 is a great drone, it really IS a great drone.

So, after all that, do you plan to buy the Mavic Air 2? I hope this review has been helpful. If so, click the link in the description below and order direct from DJI and you'll be supporting my ability to do more videos on the Air 2 and other drones in the future.

Speaking of more videos, there is a whole playlist of videos on the Mavic Air 2 on screen now so be sure to watch them to learn more about this drone.

I'll be adding to that playlist with more tutorials and reviews on the Mavic Air 2 so don't forget to subscribe so you know when I publish again. And your comments and likes are always appreciated.

Thanks for watching.

Do you live in Dallas / Fort Worth? Interested in private lessons? Fill out the contact form and we can discuss how to get you flying your drone - flying safely, flying smart, flying it with confidence.