First things first. This is MY opinion and I am a NOOB!!! So take it for what it's worth.
My background with quadcopters.
I had a P3P for about 3-4 weeks and absolutely loved it. I returned when the P4 came out because I can't afford two drones. I've been flying my P4 since the day it released and I have been enjoying it just as much. Because I'm a noob, and I only had my P3P just long enough to get my feet wet, I can't give an educated comparison of the two. However, I did do battery tests on both of them to get a feel for how long I can really fly.
I'm sorry to all of you who are on the "Bash DJI" bandwagon right now, but the P4 does exactly what DJI said it would and more when it comes to battery life and signal strength. It will fly "approx 28 minutes" and it will exceed "FCC Compliant: 3.1 mi ( 5 km ); CE Compliant: 2.2 mi ( 3.5 km )( Unobstructed, free of interference )", direct from DJI's website under P4 specifications.
These specifications are under optimal flight conditions. Most of you with short distances, from what I've seen from your posts, are not always flying in "optimal flying conditions". They may be good, but not optimal, and if you were DJI you wouldn't post specifications for good flying conditions, or even worse, least optimal flying conditions. You would do what they and everyone else in the quadcopter market does and publish specs from your most optimal flights.
In my noobish opinion, this is what 95% optimal looks like. I say 95% because I had 5-7mph crosswinds.
I flew out 20,100 feet today in the wind. At my turnaround I had 3 bars left for video and rc signal had all bars.
At 19,200 feet I still had 4 and 5 bars. I tried to screenshot it, but I'm using an Ipad Air 2 and had to rest the RC on my knee to screenshot. When I lowered the RC I would lose the 4th bar for video. However, I did lose the 4th bar completely about another 600 feet away. At no time during this flight did I lose video, nor did it flicker. My goal was to reach 20,000 feet. I knew when I hit about 17,500 that I wasn't going to make it all the way back to my start point. The wind was causing me to burn up battery power. On the way back I was able to fly it within 3800 feet of my position. When the battery level reached critical I flew for about another minute or so and landed it near some easily identifiable terrain. I walked out got my P4 and came back. When I got back I noticed that I flew for 24 minutes and I had 9% battery left. If I would of flown it for that last 9% I might of made it back and I would of been pushing the "approx. 28 min" flight time. In the picture below it says 25min.
To those of you who are having range and battery problems, I'm not calling you liars. You might have some issues with your P4s. I'm just reporting on what my P4 can do based on my experiences.
Also, I did another battery test with a different battery and I had the same flight time. 24mins with approx. 10% left. It's the latest flight in the pic above.
Hope this is helpful to anyone on the fences about purchasing a new P4. I don't want all the negativity on here to scare you away. I'm loving mine and have had no issues so far.
My background with quadcopters.
I had a P3P for about 3-4 weeks and absolutely loved it. I returned when the P4 came out because I can't afford two drones. I've been flying my P4 since the day it released and I have been enjoying it just as much. Because I'm a noob, and I only had my P3P just long enough to get my feet wet, I can't give an educated comparison of the two. However, I did do battery tests on both of them to get a feel for how long I can really fly.
I'm sorry to all of you who are on the "Bash DJI" bandwagon right now, but the P4 does exactly what DJI said it would and more when it comes to battery life and signal strength. It will fly "approx 28 minutes" and it will exceed "FCC Compliant: 3.1 mi ( 5 km ); CE Compliant: 2.2 mi ( 3.5 km )( Unobstructed, free of interference )", direct from DJI's website under P4 specifications.
These specifications are under optimal flight conditions. Most of you with short distances, from what I've seen from your posts, are not always flying in "optimal flying conditions". They may be good, but not optimal, and if you were DJI you wouldn't post specifications for good flying conditions, or even worse, least optimal flying conditions. You would do what they and everyone else in the quadcopter market does and publish specs from your most optimal flights.
In my noobish opinion, this is what 95% optimal looks like. I say 95% because I had 5-7mph crosswinds.
I flew out 20,100 feet today in the wind. At my turnaround I had 3 bars left for video and rc signal had all bars.
At 19,200 feet I still had 4 and 5 bars. I tried to screenshot it, but I'm using an Ipad Air 2 and had to rest the RC on my knee to screenshot. When I lowered the RC I would lose the 4th bar for video. However, I did lose the 4th bar completely about another 600 feet away. At no time during this flight did I lose video, nor did it flicker. My goal was to reach 20,000 feet. I knew when I hit about 17,500 that I wasn't going to make it all the way back to my start point. The wind was causing me to burn up battery power. On the way back I was able to fly it within 3800 feet of my position. When the battery level reached critical I flew for about another minute or so and landed it near some easily identifiable terrain. I walked out got my P4 and came back. When I got back I noticed that I flew for 24 minutes and I had 9% battery left. If I would of flown it for that last 9% I might of made it back and I would of been pushing the "approx. 28 min" flight time. In the picture below it says 25min.
To those of you who are having range and battery problems, I'm not calling you liars. You might have some issues with your P4s. I'm just reporting on what my P4 can do based on my experiences.
Also, I did another battery test with a different battery and I had the same flight time. 24mins with approx. 10% left. It's the latest flight in the pic above.
Hope this is helpful to anyone on the fences about purchasing a new P4. I don't want all the negativity on here to scare you away. I'm loving mine and have had no issues so far.
