I am behind enemy lines right now...

[mgiliuson]

Hello all, so I am in the market for a new drone. Like a lot I'm sure I have done a ton of research. I owned a Yuneec q500 which I was really happy with about 2 years ago. I want to get back into this hobby though. Initially I was leaning towards the Typhoon H by Yuneec because I thought I was a Yuneec guy. Something about the Phantom 4 though intrigues me. I like the thought of the distance I can get out of it, the camera, backpack for portability, etc... My main concerns with DJI are as follows.

-I want the pro but do I really need it? What are the main differences between that and the advanced

-Controller.... I am going to get video lag streaming to a tablet? Do I need to buy a super expensive tablet just so I don't have video lag?

-Flyaways.... Are the more common with the phantom 4 or typhoon H?

-Cellular data! Do I need a tablet with cellular data or do I need to connect to wifi from my house when flying? Super confused about that.

Any answers/help is appreciated! Just trying to get back into this hobby. I've been on YuneecPilots for some time now and love the community, seems like it's pretty strong here too. Convince me to join the dark side...

 

[msinger]

What are the main differences between that and the advanced

Do I need to buy a super expensive tablet just so I don't have video lag?

You can find a list of recommended and commonly used tablets here. In general, the tablets with better specs will run better and require less tweaks out of the box.

Are the more common with the phantom 4 or typhoon H?

True flyways are very rare with the Phantom (or any DJI drones). Most suspected flyaways were caused (or not prevented) by something the pilot did in error.

Cellular data! Do I need a tablet with cellular data or do I need to connect to wifi from my house when flying?

Your tablet only needs to be connected via cellular or a Wi-Fi network if you want to use features that require being connected to the Internet (e.g. downloading maps in real-time). None of those features are required to fly a Phantom.

 

[WV. Rootman]

I resent being called the dark side. I have a P4 and never had a fly away. I had one with my P3, but it was my fault. I was flying too close to a metal roof. Only went 20 m. into a hay field. I put my P3 in the water 3 times and it still working. You also get more for your money with DJI.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Phantom Pilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in DJI quadcopters.
*GO 4 APP MANUAL: DJI Go 4 Manual

 

[dirkclod]

Hello all,...

Welcome to the forum .
I hope you will find our site helpful and look forward to any input , photo's/video's you might post .
Don't be shy and ask anything if you can't find it by searching .

 

[rvrrat14]

Hello all, so I am in the market for a new drone. Like a lot I'm sure I have done a ton of research. I owned a Yuneec q500 which I was really happy with about 2 years ago. I want to get back into this hobby though. Initially I was leaning towards the Typhoon H by Yuneec because I thought I was a Yuneec guy. Something about the Phantom 4 though intrigues me. I like the thought of the distance I can get out of it, the camera, backpack for portability, etc... My main concerns with DJI are as follows.

-I want the pro but do I really need it? What are the main differences between that and the advanced

I have the P4 Advanced. Only main difference is the P4A only has frontal and downward obstacle avoidance, whereas the Pro has 360 degree. I think thats the big things. Not a biggie for me.

Same 4K camera. Thats the biggie. Got to have 4K. Film video in 4K and ‘snap’ photos from it. Clear/crisp.

-Controller.... I am going to get video lag streaming to a tablet? Do I need to buy a super expensive tablet just so I don't have video lag?

The Ipad 2017 will be fine and can be had cheaper than the top tier models. I also use an older IPad Air 2. I have not seen video lag. ATT offers 99.00 if you have an upgrade. It will be Cellular and you will add it to your plan for 20/month. That’s what I did.

-Flyaways.... Are the more common with the phantom 4 or typhoon H?

No issues here with my P4A. As previously stated, do your pre-flight checks/sets, keep VLOS, all good.

-Cellular data! Do I need a tablet with cellular data or do I need to connect to wifi from my house when flying? Super confused about that.

When I leave the house/office, I don’t know where it will take me. I want connection all the time. You can get a wifi only IPad and use a hotspot off your phone, but you may not get your exact location due to GPS chips on/not on phone/tablet. See Controller comment above.

Any answers/help is appreciated! Just trying to get back into this hobby. I've been on YuneecPilots for some time now and love the community, seems like it's pretty strong here too. Convince me to join the dark side...

 

[Rob Levine]

Hello all, so I am in the market for a new drone. Like a lot I'm sure I have done a ton of research. I owned a Yuneec q500 which I was really happy with about 2 years ago. I want to get back into this hobby though. Initially I was leaning towards the Typhoon H by Yuneec because I thought I was a Yuneec guy. Something about the Phantom 4 though intrigues me. I like the thought of the distance I can get out of it, the camera, backpack for portability, etc... My main concerns with DJI are as follows.

-I want the pro but do I really need it? What are the main differences between that and the advanced

-Controller.... I am going to get video lag streaming to a tablet? Do I need to buy a super expensive tablet just so I don't have video lag?

-Flyaways.... Are the more common with the phantom 4 or typhoon H?

-Cellular data! Do I need a tablet with cellular data or do I need to connect to wifi from my house when flying? Super confused about that.

Any answers/help is appreciated! Just trying to get back into this hobby. I've been on YuneecPilots for some time now and love the community, seems like it's pretty strong here too. Convince me to join the dark side...

The pro is awesome - has a much better camera; I like the Obsidian because you can see it better. You don't need cell or wifi.

 

[ryantrax]

Welcome to PhantomPilots from Dayton Ohio! I have the P4P, absolutely amazing machine. Fly safe and have fun!

 

[AK Vet]

Of course, if you come to a DJI forum, you probably already know what sort of anwers you are going to get for the question you've asked.

That said...

I own DJIs (Mavic Air, Mavic Pro, P4P, Inspire 1), Yuneecs (Q500 4K, H520), and an Autel XSP and I like them all for different reasons and purposes. I don't think brand is as important as what you personally want to do with the aircrat. For instance, I am a Part 107 operator, so I am not affected by the 5 mile radius of an airport, rather I am restricted to the actual boundaries of the type class airspace for a particular airport. In other words, I can often fly within the 5 mile radius. DJI's NFZ disables the aircraft within these zones unless I go through an incovenient unlock process. So in that case I will fly the Yuneec aircraft. I like my Mavic Air because I always have it with me in a backpack. Its kinda like having a cell phone camera... Its convenient. My Mavic Pro used to be my backpack UAV, but I will probably sell that now that I have the Air. My P4P is my "go to" bird if I want quality pictures & video. I really don't use the Inspire 1 much as the P4P meets my needs, but it is eye candy for my clients. The Q500 and the Autel XSP are my "fun", recreational birds... no pressure flying. Oh, and by the way, when I have a job in winds over 25 mph, I use my H520, it is extremely stable when I need to do inspections within close proximity of electrical gear and lines. I have had the H520 up in winds between 35+ mph... it is rock solid.

Ok, so I understand that not all people have multiple birds. However, if you only get one UAV, ask youself what you want to use it for and what your budget is, then make a decision. Personally, I think the P4P or one of the Mavics are great birds if you mainly want to take pictures and video on a recreational level. the P4P is also a very capable commercial aircraft. If I could only keep one UAV out of my "fleet" it would either be the P4P or the H520.

 

[Russ43Phantom]

I have a P4P and a Mavic Air. If you need the larger sensor with greater ISO range, dynamic range, and resolution, get the P4P. But ... if not, I'd go for the Mavic Air. Another consideration. I thought the shorter battery life would be an issue with the Mavic Air. It is not ... in 99% of my applications. With still images, VLOS is the limitation not battery life. With video, most professional video is shot in short clips. Planning your use of flight time and then coming in for a charged battery (I have 5 P4P batteries, 4 Mavic Air batteries) between clips is not, in my mind, a big issue.

 

[AK Vet]

I have a P4P and a Mavic Air. If you need the larger sensor with greater ISO range, dynamic range, and resolution, get the P4P. But ... if not, I'd go for the Mavic Air. Another consideration. I thought the shorter battery life would be an issue with the Mavic Air. It is not ... in 99% of my applications. With still images, VLOS is the limitation not battery life. With video, most professional video is shot in short clips. Planning your use of flight time and then coming in for a charged battery (I have 5 P4P batteries, 4 Mavic Air batteries) between clips is not, in my mind, a big issue.

100% agree... VLOS is the limitation not batteries. Plan your shots, short clips, photos. Plug in fresh battery if required.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

I resent being called the dark side.

I don't. Kinda like the sound of it.

Anyway, a lot of good advice above that should answer a number of your questions. The Phantoms in general are a great line of proven products. The P4 line, especially the P4 Pro, have features that are hard to beat at that price point. Want something more compact without sacrificing a lot of features? As mentioned above, check out the Mavic line. DJI truly does make a drone for everyone. Beyond that, this forum has no shortage of Phantom pilots who truly want to use their experience and knowledge to help others, newbie or experienced, if or when an issue comes up. The support in this forum (present company excepted) is nothing short of amazing. So, go ahead, join the dark side. You might really enjoy it.

 

[Wilbur]

I don't think anyone answered his question about the video lag with a phone/tablet? I'm curious because I have a P3S and am considering upgrading to a Mavic Pro Platinum or P4A. As far as I know, both of those models you can plug your phone/tablet directly into the controller. Since you're not using the wifi connection, does that mean your video feed should always be strong when your controller signal is strong?

 

[Sixgun89]

No lag with anything besides P3S , the p3s is WiFi connection and known for the lag. Any of the birds that plug into the controller like P3P, P4, P4P, Mavic, etc, will not have noticeable lag. As far as display, get an IOS device like iPad mini 4 or Pro. You’ll be glad you did. As far as fly aways, extremely rare, usually operator error. Be careful using the statistics like, “so many flyaways on the Phantom site”. I dare say, most of the traffic here is failures, but, thousands of good flights out there go unreported! Most owners will tell you, they’ve made mistakes and still had error free experiences most of the time.
I have a P4P, iPad mini4 and it’s been glitch free for hours of fly time. It’s amazing!
Don’t wait! Get one and get flying!
See you out there!
Oh, welcome aboard.

 

[Wilbur]

No lag with anything besides P3S , the p3s is WiFi connection and known for the lag. Any of the birds that plug into the controller like P3P, P4, P4P, Mavic, etc, will not have noticeable lag. As far as display, get an IOS device like iPad mini 4 or Pro. You’ll be glad you did. As far as fly aways, extremely rare, usually operator error. Be careful using the statistics like, “so many flyaways on the Phantom site”. I dare say, most of the traffic here is failures, but, thousands of good flights out there go unreported! Most owners will tell you, they’ve made mistakes and still had error free experiences most of the time.
I have a P4P, iPad mini4 and it’s been glitch free for hours of fly time. It’s amazing!
Don’t wait! Get one and get flying!
See you out there!
Oh, welcome aboard.

Thanks for the input! That's definitely good to hear. I am loving my P3S so far, even with the distance being limited due to wifi. I've made it to 2500' so far, which isn't horrible. With the Mavic or P4 not having that issue, I'm definitely looking forward to upgrading. Maybe once I do that I'll try and convert my P3S into a rainy day flyer (here in Portland we have a lot of those).

 

[RunningWithScissors]

However, if you only get one UAV, ask youself what you want to use it for and what your budget is, then make a decision.

A K Vet nailed it.