The DJI Mavic Air 2 has been at the top of our guide to the best drones you can buy since it arrived almost exactly one year ago. But now a new brother has landed, the DJI Air 2S, is his position as king of the drone mountain in jeopardy? The two drones have a lot in common, but the Air 2S brings one big advantage: a new 1-inch camera with more video power, as well as a number of smaller ones, including improved connectivity and a new camera feature: zoom. By contrast, the DJI Mavic Air 2 (which will continue to be on sale) is much cheaper than its new companion and even beats it in some areas, including battery life and weight. So how do you decide which airline is best for you? To help you out, we've explained how the two drones stack up in seven key areas based on our extensive testing. And then, to finish, we conclude the one that we think offers the best value for money and deserves to win the great ``DJI Air 2S vs Mavic Air 2'' debate.
1. Sensor: Air 2S has a new 1 inch sensor
The biggest difference between the DJI Air 2S and the Mavic Air 2 is in their sensors. While the Air 2 has a 1/2-inch chip, the Air 2S has a much larger 1-inch sensor. This means that the new drone has greater light-gathering powers, which was very evident in our tests. While the Mavic Air 2's images are still impressive for their size, the Air 2S is a real step up for video and stills. In fact, it even gives the top-of-the-line Mavic 2 Pro a good run for its money, unsurprisingly, since this drone also has a 1-inch sensor.
(Image credit: DJI) The Air 2S's new sensor and image processing pipeline brings a few other benefits as well. You can record 5.4K/30p or 4K/60p video, both of which are well beyond the Mavic Air 2's maximum resolution and 4K/30p frame rate. It should be noted that there's a slight cutback when shooting 4K/60p on the Air 2S, but it also beats its bigger cousin in terms of maximum video bitrates (150Mbps, compared to 120Mbps). More importantly, for those who like to color grade their videos, the Air 2S can also record in 10-bit D-Log or HLG formats, which beats its sibling's 8-bit limit.
The Air 2S has a slightly wider 22mm focal length than the Mavic Air 2 (24mm), which means you can get more shots. (Image credit: Future) On the other hand, the Air 2S's stills photo resolution tops out at 20MP, compared to 48MP on the Mavic Air 2. We weren't too impressed with the 48MP mode on the latter, which produces smoother raw and JPEG files than your 12MP shots. , as well as washed out and desaturated colors. Overall, the overall performance of the Mavic Air 2 is more than enough for hobby shooters, but the Air 2S and its new sensor definitely sits on a higher line between avid and professional levels.
2.Design: Air 2S has improved obstacle avoidance
These two drones have nearly identical designs, with foldable bodies having very similar weights (the Air 2S is 25g heavier) and dimensions (the Mavic Air 2 is 4mm longer). One small difference, though, is that the Air 2S has an extra pair of sensors for overhead obstacle avoidance. These join the ones you already have on the Mavic Air 2, which can be found on the front, back, and bottom of the drone.
(Image credit: DJI) It doesn't really make much of a difference unless you rely heavily on the Advanced Pilot Assistance System (APAS), which allows you to set the drone to stop or fly autonomously. around objects. Despite their many sensors and intelligent automated flight, DJI drones are always most comfortable when they have a clear path to traverse, and if that's the primary way to shoot, that's a relatively minor difference between the Air 2S and the Mavic Air. 2.
3. Shooting modes: Air 2S brings MasterShots
The Air 2S and Mavic Air 2 have automated flight modes. The main difference between the two is that the Air 2S brings enhanced versions of these modes, including ActiveTrack 4.0 and Advanced Pilot Assistance System (APAS) 4.0, and also adds a new one called MasterShots. MasterShots is another useful mode for beginning travelers. Once you choose a subject to focus on, it will automatically record video in one of three preset paths and also edit the footage with soundtracks and subtitles if necessary. In short, it's sort of DJI's answer to GoPro's QuikStories feature, and we've found it to be a similar experience so far. While this is a good way to get professional-looking footage quickly, you'll probably want to quickly switch to the more useful QuickShots or manual flight controls. Considering that the Mavic Air 2 already has the same FocusTrack modes as the Air 2S, we'd say those flight characteristics probably aren't a reason to switch to the new model. The much bigger difference between the two drones is in their sensors.
4. Range and transmission: the Air 2S is a step forward
The Air 2S has an advantage over the Mavic Air 2 in both the range and stability of its connection to the controller, thanks to the inclusion of DJI's Ocusync 3.0 system. A drone's transmission system can affect a number of things, including how far you can fly it, the resolution of the video stream sent to your smartphone, the speed at which you can download video from the drone, and the overall stability of the drone. sign.
Other than adding OcuSync 3.0 connectivity to the Air 2S controller (left), the two pads are pretty much the same. (Image credit: DJI) The Mavic Air 2 uses Ocusync 2.0 and we certainly haven't had any major complaints about this system other than video streaming that stutters and sometimes crashes in flight. But Ocusync 3.0 is certainly a step up, increasing its maximum range from 10km to 12km (or from 6km to 8km outside the US) and slightly improving connection reliability, especially when hovering over it. . Once again, this is not a revolutionary leap from the Mavic Air 2, but another advantage of the new model. The inclusion of Ocusync 3.0 in the Air 2S also brings the (remote) ability for the drone to be compatible with DJI Goggles V2.0 for a first-person flight (FPV) experience. Unfortunately, while DJI said it was "theoretically" possible, it added that "there's no roadmap or timeline for this," so it still can't be counted as another reason to go with the Air 2S.
5. Battery life: the Mavic Air 2 has a slight advantage
Since the DJI Air 2S has a new camera, more sensors, and a slightly heavier body than the Mavic Air 2, you can expect battery life to be considerably worse since both drones use the same type of battery. But in the real world, there isn't really much of a difference between them. The flight times shown for the drones are 31 minutes for the Air 2S and 34 minutes for the Mavic Air 2. In our tests, we found that the Air 2S actually gives you (like the Mavic Air 2) about 20 minutes of actual flight time. , which is about the same for drones of this size.
(Image credit: DJI) The reason there are ten minutes missing from the official figures is that the time quoted by DJI is for when there is no wind. The auto return home feature of your drones also kicks in when you have 25% battery left. That's why we always recommend going for DJI's ``Fly More'' packs if you can afford them, as they include two spare batteries to give you a little more freedom.
6. Zoom: a useful bonus on the Air 2S
While none of these drones feature optical zoom in the DJI Mavic 2 Zoom, the Air 2S builds on its 5.4K resolution to provide a pretty handy digital zoom feature. This is not available on the Mavic Air 2 at all. We normally do not recommend using digital zoom as it tends to reduce image quality by cropping it. But since the Air 2S's new camera can shoot at 5.4K resolution, there's some extra leeway that allows it to offer moving zoom scale at different resolutions. On paper this goes up to 8x zoom when shooting 1080/30p video or 4x zoom in 4K/30p mode. We wouldn't actually recommend going beyond 2x zoom, but even that's a useful feature that allows you to get closer to subjects when conditions (or local drone laws) don't allow it. The wide-angle lenses of most drones can be a double-edged sword, with the ability to get entire scenes out of your shot offset by the difficulty in distinguishing specific subjects. We think the Air 2S's zoom feature is a useful advantage over the Mavic Air 2 and worth keeping in mind, depending on the type of shot you plan to take. A word of caution, though: the zoom feature isn't available when shooting 10-bit, 120fps slow motion or stills, so it's not as versatile as we'd hoped.
7. Price: the Air 2S justifies its premium
Cost is perhaps the most important factor for most people when shopping for a drone, so how do these two mid-range models compare? A bit disappointing, the DJI Mavic Air 2 remained at its launch price, despite the arrival of its new brother. To be fair, it's only been here for a year, so it's not exactly an older model, and we still think it's value for money given how well it performs. But given the Air 1S's new 2-inch sensor, 10-bit video recording, new zoom feature, and Ocusync 3.0 connectivity, we think it currently justifies its premium over the Mavic Air 2. DJI Air 2S vs Mavic Price Air 2 Bundle Standard Fly More Bundle DJI Air 2S $899 / $999 / AU$1,699 / AU$1,299 / AU$1,169 / AU$2,099 DJI Mavic Air $2,799 / $769 / AU$1,499 $999 / $949 / AU$ 1899 The slightly enticing aspect of the DJI Mavic Air 2's price tag, for US and UK buyers in particular, is that its 'Fly More' package falls below the $1,000/€1,000 mark . Since we generally recommend buying this bundle (which includes features like two extra batteries, a carrying case, and more), we could see why this might appeal to some buyers. Meanwhile, an equivalent bundle for the Air 2S pushes it into the price territory of the DJI Mavic 2 Pro. But then again, we don't see this as a problem for…