While fabulous Osmo products have been released this year, DJI has been relatively quiet on the drone front since the announcement of the Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom last year. This could be about to change, with the FCC filings of something called the Mavic Mini now being made public.
We first heard about the Mavic Mini in August, when a Chinese patent was discovered on a new pint-sized quadcopter. At the time, images of conventional drones resembling a mix between the DJI Spark and the Mavic Air leaked into the drone community.
According to speculation, the Mavic Mini would be priced at € 399 (around € 327 / € 593 AU). If that were true, it would make it cheaper than the Spark launch price, which was priced at € 499 / AU € 519 / € 859 when it arrived in 2017.
The main difference here lies in the possible addition of a 4K video capture that Spark missed.
It happens soon when it shows up in the FCC database. pic.twitter.com/td4LmGla1 October 9, 2019
More than a mini update
Although the Spark is still one of the best entry-level drones you can buy, it is over two years old and deserves a new coat of paint, which the Mavic Mini could provide.
When the Spark couldn't be folded into a smaller package, the Mavic Mini would have foldable propellers like its bigger brother Mavic. Rumor also places the Mavic Mini's dimensions diagonally 270mm when unfolded and it weighs just 250g.
If this is true, it would mean that you may not need to register with the aviation security authorities in your country. At least in the United States and Australia, drones weighing 250 grams or less do not need to be registered with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).
DJI has a majority stake in the Hasselblad camera company, explaining how the Mavic 2 Pro was able to deliver a superior quality snapper. However, it was very expensive. If the € 399 Mavic Mini price is unbeatable, we probably won't see any Hasselblad tech here.
That said, it would be fair to expect a 12MP sensor (similar to the Spark) with 4K / 30P video recording capabilities under the hood.
The battery life, which is very important, remains a mystery, but if the Mavic Mini replaces the Spark, wait around 18 minutes to fly. What is more than a pint-sized quadcopter would be a huge boon for users and a great feat for DJI.
With the FCC filing out to the public, it's safe to say that a release announcement is imminent. In fact, we wouldn't be surprised if this happened in time for the holiday shopping period.