DJI is about to launch a brand new product subsequent Tuesday, and it’s all however a secret that it’ going to be a drone. And what’s additionally hardly a secret is what the brand new drone might be known as. If the myriad of different tech blogs haven’t already tipped you off, it seems like the following drone to come back from DJI would be the DJI Air 3, extending the household of DJI Air drones that are recognized for his or her gentle, moveable design but impressively high-quality cameras.
None of that’s official, after all. However what’s official are the small print of DJI’s subsequent product drop. It’ll be dubbed “Double Up,” and it’s set for Tuesday, July 2 at 9 a.m. ET. DJI introduced the product alongside a compelling graphic of a picture of somebody stand on a rock, showing to be wanting up into the sky (at maybe a drone). See that picture beneath:
However what’s extra fascinating than what’s within the picture is the way it’s framed. It seems to be framed by that seems to be framed by DJI’s twin digicam system, which we’ve already seen in different merchandise just like the DJI Mavic 3 drone. A twin digicam system is precisely what it appears like: two separate cameras on one drone. Within the case of the DJI Mavic 3, you get each a Hasselblad L2D-20c aerial digicam and a 28x Hybrid Zoom Tele Digicam.
Right here’s a have a look at the twin digicam on the DJI Mavic 3, to provide you an thought of what I’m speaking about:
The profit is that, reasonably than having to manually change lenses (as is the case on drones just like the DJI Encourage 3), or worse, being caught with one lens on a regular basis, you get each in a single go. You’ll be able to even swap which lens is recording mid-flight, so that you don’t must land your drone to vary the lens.
DJI has more and more leaned into constructing twin lenses into its merchandise. In truth, the DJI Mavic 3 Professional, which launched in April 2023, has a powerful three cameras on the one drone (the Mavic’s famend Hasselblad digicam, plus two tele-cameras of various levels of zoom capabilities). It appears fairly possible that this drone could have twin cameras — in all probability a typical digicam (vast angle is fairly frequent for drones) in addition to some form of telephoto digicam.
However what about different options and upgrades? Listed here are the three options we would like most in DJI’s new product — assuming it’s, the truth is, a drone:
Longer battery life
To this point, the premier drone in DJI’s Mavic Air line is the DJI Air 2S. The Air 2S drone stands out for its digicam, however it falls flat by way of max flight time, able to 31 minutes. That’s far lower than DJI’s newer (and sometimes cheaper) drones. The Mavic 3 Professional can get 43 minutes. The DJI Mini 3 can get 38 minutes with its normal battery, however can supply a powerful 51 minutes should you use it with the more-expensive Clever Flight Battery Plus.
The brand new DJI Air 3 ought to supply at the least 40 minutes of flight time to remain related.
Omnidirectional impediment sensing
The DJI Air 2S, which the brand new drone dropping subsequent week is theoretically is about to comply with, provides impediment avoidance through a ahead, backward, upward, and downward imaginative and prescient system. However the even-better DJI Mavic 3 Professional provides a full omnidirectional binocular imaginative and prescient system.
Though the DJI Air line is usually lower-cost than the Mavic line, it will be good for the tech to catch up right here, contemplating that drones virtually at all times get options from predecessors at decrease prices. IT’s tie for the Air to have even higher impediment avoidance, making it safer for extra individuals. Particularly provided that the Air line reaches extra entry-level pilots than the Mavic Professional line, it’s essential to scale back crash threat among the many individuals, effectively, most in danger.
Improved video transmission
It’s robust to check the DJI Air 3 to the top-of-the-line merchandise in DJI’s present arsenal, the DJI Encourage 3. However it’s laborious to not want that the drone’s cinema-grade O3 Professional video transmission wouldn’t present up in an upcoming, consumer-oriented drone as effectively.
Relating to the DJI Encourage 3, there’s a max transmission distance of 15 km in single management mode and 12 km in dual-control mode. Each the gimbal digicam and FPV digicam help 1080p/60fps stay feeds and an ultra-low latency of 90 ms. And the Encourage 3 was the primary to supply a max 5km transmission distance on 4K/30fps stay feeds, which was crucial for UHD monitoring and livestreaming on set.
Whereas it feels unlikely {that a} consumer-oriented DJI Air 3 would match all these specs, one can hope, particularly given the tempo upon which DJI has improved its transmission vary expertise.
Now comes the enjoyable half! It’s time so that you can be an armchair DJI drone designer! When you may decide just one new function in a brand new DJI client drone, which would it not be? Go away a remark beneath!
And don’t neglect to verify again in subsequent Tuesday. The Drone Lady will carefully following DJI, able to share particulars on no matter DJI launches as quickly as we get them. Don’t neglect to comply with TheDroneGirl on Fb, Instagram and Twitter to make sure you don’t miss any of the information (and set your alarm for 9 a.m. ET on Tuesday).
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