Solution for P4 range/battery life issues - Updated with Contact from DJI!

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You should email this person, the CEO:
[email protected]

Let him know it is unacceptable to cripple the P4 range by decreasing its power and it is fraudulent to claim better battery performance than the P3 when even in P mode the battery life isn't as long as a P3.


Let the guy at the top get an outcry from many customers. I'll bet the issue will get addressed with a critical mass of people emailing him.

Please share his email with as many people as possible on the boards, DJI forum, and Facebook groups and encourage those having these issues to speak up!!

We did this for GEO and it is now being changed. We can do this for our crippled birds now too!!!
 
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Not sure about distance, but my battery life seems to be in line with their estimates. I am getting around 20-22 minutes when it gets to about 30% left. It's been pretty windy here this week, so it is fighting the wind a lot also. Definitely much better time battery wise than my P3P.
 
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Gut feeling tells me Frankie Wang was dragged into a closed-door meeting with the FAA last year and explicitly told to reduce output power on the P4 and all future DJI products or else face some "uncomfortable" pressure from them and the CAA and other civil aviation authorities. :eek:

Unlike Tim Cook, Mr. Wang wants to play nice with governments that are too eager to shut down the entire drone hobby because of the reckless reports coming in from airport sightings and so forth.

It's a sad reality --- pretty soon flying a drone will mean standing in your backyard and watching a plastic toy buzz around at 40 ft. max altitude and 100 ft. max range. Basically, take a $30 Air Hogs helicopter and reduce it's capabilities by 50% and that's our future. :(
 
i have both p3p and now the p4 and can confirm flight times are more or less the same.
wind conditions make the difference but i get really annoyed when some people all they do is complain about this and complain about that.. instead of using the forum to learn new stuff about their bird.
 
That might be the case. I think if lots of people start emailing Frank and DJI and asking why they keep lowering output power with each successive release it will put some pressure on them. They will see that people are realizing their "tuned" Lightbridge means "reduced".

I wouldn't be surprised if in the future they just scrap Lightbridge and go back to wifi range.


If you haven't already, please email Frank Wang [email protected] to register your displeasure.


Gut feeling tells me Frankie Wang was dragged into a closed-door meeting with the FAA last year and explicitly told to reduce output power on the P4 and all future DJI products or else face some "uncomfortable" pressure from them and the CAA and other civil aviation authorities. :eek:

Unlike Tim Cook, Mr. Wang wants to play nice with governments that are too eager to shut down the entire drone hobby because of the reckless reports coming in from airport sightings and so forth.

It's a sad reality --- pretty soon flying a drone will mean standing in your backyard and watching a plastic toy buzz around at 40 ft. max altitude and 100 ft. max range. Basically, take a $30 Air Hogs helicopter and reduce it's capabilities by 50% and that's our future. :(
 
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Dear Sir,
As a loyal DJI customer I wanted to bring to your attention an issue regarding the flight time of the new Phantom 4. Having owned the Phantom 3 and now the Phantom 4, I am quite concerned over the advertised flight time expectancy of 28 minutes. I realize that the 28 minutes would be under ideal situations but realistically we should see longer times than what we have been experiencing with our Phantom 3’s and that is not the case.
I am sure you or someone within your organization monitors the many forums and they must see all the negative comments being generated about this issue. Many are also dissatisfied with the range of the Phantom 4. It seems there has been about a 20-25% decrease in the power from the transmitter.
I am seriously considering returning my Phantom 4 within the 14 day grace period that Apple offers. It would be great if you could respond to this issue so I might make a more informed decision regarding my intention to return the Phantom 4.
I respectfully ask for some acknowledgment of this issue and a response.
Thank You,
 
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Awesome!!!!
Let's keep it going!


Dear Sir,
As a loyal DJI customer I wanted to bring to your attention an issue regarding the flight time of the new Phantom 4. Having owned the Phantom 3 and now the Phantom 4, I am quite concerned over the advertised flight time expectancy of 28 minutes. I realize that the 28 minutes would be under ideal situations but realistically we should see longer times than what we have been experiencing with our Phantom 3’s and that is not the case.
I am sure you or someone within your organization monitors the many forums and they must see all the negative comments being generated about this issue. Many are also dissatisfied with the range of the Phantom 4. It seems there has been about a 20-25% decrease in the power from the transmitter.
I am seriously considering returning my Phantom 4 within the 14 day grace period that Apple offers. It would be great if you could respond to this issue so I might make a more informed decision regarding my intention to return the Phantom 4.
I respectfully ask for some acknowledgment of this issue and a response.
Thank You,
 
Has anyone who has written an email gotten any kind of response? I doubt that we will.
 
I got this response from [email protected] - pretty unspectacular. I suggest you forward that email to them as well:



Thank you for your response. We appreciate the response. The flight time is based on optimal conditions. Also, it helps to update any firmware and complete an IMU calibration. The same point is true with the remote. As these units are new, rebinding the remote may be helpful as well as any additional calibration. Please go to this link at page 34 to make sure your aircraft has the optimal range: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/phantom_4/en/Phantom_4_User_Manual_en_v1.2_160317.pdf

The time frames advised are provided by the engineers who develop this aircraft based on the data provided. However, we understand the importance of the forums. As such, we will be investigating these claims.
 
You should email this person, the CEO:
[email protected]

Let him know it is unacceptable to cripple the P4 range by decreasing its power and it is fraudulent to claim better battery performance than the P3 when even in P mode the battery life isn't as long as a P3.


Let the guy at the top get an outcry from many customers. I'll bet the issue will get addressed with a critical mass of people emailing him.

Please share his email with as many people as possible on the boards, DJI forum, and Facebook groups and encourage those having these issues to speak up!!

We did this for GEO and it is now being changed. We can do this for our crippled birds now too!!!
It's become apparent that the battery life will differ greatly due to the extra functionality (which increases the number of app configurations) from user to user. DJI will use this fact to defend their estimates and tests.
 
To all here, what a fantastic job reporting on your experience with the P4. I am so glad I spent time here before making my purchase. The idea of going directly to the CEO is genius. Let's hope he's responsive to the people that butter his bread. See my e-mail below for my story. I sent it to him today. I'll continue to monitor the forum and let's all hope DJI is the company that steps up to the plate and delivers what they are claiming to deliver.

Here's my e-mail:

Dear Mr. Wang,

I own (or owned) a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced drone. Got it for Christmas (a present to myself!). It was so impressive 2 other friends who tried my Phantom out also bought one.

Another friend who recently got married was considering getting a Phantom so he and his new bride could film their outdoor wedding and then have a nice time flying the drone afterward. At the same time the Phantom 4 was announced.

I enjoyed my Phantom Advanced so much (my 1st drone) and was so impressed by the quality, as soon as I saw the specs for the P4 I decided to give my P3A (and all the extra batteries and backpack I bought) to my friend and his wife as a wedding present and purchase the P4 upon availability.

However, I am a member of the Phantom Pilots forum. I started doing some reading to gain knowledge of the P4 prior to purchase. The forum is comprised of very enthusiastic drone pilots who have extensive experience and provide great insight into the hobby.

Unfortunately, the early feedback on the P4 is quite disappointing. A great majority of those who have bought and tested the P4 are reporting huge discrepancies in claimed capabilities versus actual results. Much lower battery life, much less range and unreliable performance of some features such as tap-to-fly and ActiveTrak are just a few of the early observations. I am inclined to believe what I am reading on this forum as those posting are very experienced and not prone to exaggeration or posting misleading information.

I was blown away by the performance of the P3A I bought. I thoroughly enjoyed it and my friend and his new bride are enjoying now. I was extremely excited to get a new P4 but now I have decided to put my purchase on hold until I am comfortable that it performs to the standards claimed in the advertising. Please don't disappoint your fans and customers by making false claims. Please make any necessary corrections to the P4 so it meets the claimed performance standards. If you do this I will be the first in line to buy it and promote it to friends and family. Until then, I'll hold off on any further support of DJI and their products.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

phattaildeuce


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
 

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