More than two years after the Mavic Air, DJI has announced a brand new update: The Mavic Air 2. Starting at US$799, the same price as the original, it packs a number of improvements.
For photography enthusiasts, the new model comes with a bigger, half-inch sensor that can now snap up to 48-megapixel shots. Its algorithm supports scene detection for photos of snow, sky, sunset and other environments, and removes noise in darker scenes. For videographers, the Air 2 can shoot 4K videos at 60 frames per second, or 8 times slow-mo 1080p videos at 240fps.
With a larger battery, DJI says the Air 2 has a flight time of up to 34 minutes -- 13 minutes more than its predecessor. That also means the Air 2 is bigger and 140g heavier, though it’s still smaller than the Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom. Unlike the Mavic 2, which has obstacle sensors on all sides, the Air 2 only provides forward, backward, and downward obstacle sensing.
There’s currently no release date for the new drone in Hong Kong, the city where DJI began. Last year’s Mavic Mini never arrived in the city and all of DJI’s consumer drones have been listed as out of stock on their website. A DJI representative told us that the availability in Hong Kong will be announced at a later date.