DJI is ready to launch a brand new product subsequent Tuesday, and it’s all however a secret that it’s going to be a drone. And what’s additionally hardly a secret is what the brand new drone might be known as. If the myriad of different tech blogs haven’t already tipped you off, it seems to be like the following drone to return from DJI would be the DJI Air 3, extending the household of DJI Air drones that are identified for his or her mild, transportable design but impressively high-quality cameras.
None of that’s official, in fact. However what’s official are the small print of DJI’s subsequent product drop. It’ll be dubbed “Double Up,” and it’s set for Tuesday, July 2 at 9 a.m. ET. DJI introduced the product alongside a compelling graphic of a picture of somebody stand on a rock, showing to be trying up into the sky (at maybe a drone). See that picture under:
However what’s extra fascinating than what’s within the picture is the way it’s framed. It seems to be framed by that seems to be framed by DJI’s twin digicam system, which we’ve already seen in different merchandise just like the DJI Mavic 3 drone. A twin digicam system is precisely what it appears like: two separate cameras on one drone. Within the case of the DJI Mavic 3, you get each a Hasselblad L2D-20c aerial digicam and a 28x Hybrid Zoom Tele Digicam.
Right here’s a have a look at the twin digicam on the DJI Mavic 3, to present you an thought of what I’m speaking about:
The profit is that, moderately than having to manually swap lenses (as is the case on drones just like the DJI Encourage 3), or worse, being caught with one lens on a regular basis, you get each in a single go. You possibly can even swap which lens is recording mid-flight, so that you don’t have to land your drone to vary the lens.
DJI has more and more leaned into constructing twin lenses into its merchandise. Actually, the DJI Mavic 3 Professional, which launched in April 2023, has a formidable three cameras on the one drone (the Mavic’s famend Hasselblad digicam, plus two tele-cameras of various levels of zoom capabilities). It appears fairly doubtless that this drone could have twin cameras — most likely an ordinary digicam (large angle is fairly widespread for drones) in addition to some kind of telephoto digicam.
However what about different options and upgrades? Listed below are the three options we wish most in DJI’s new product — assuming it’s, in actual fact, a drone:
Longer battery life
To date, the premier drone in DJI’s Mavic Air line is the DJI Air 2S. The Air 2S drone stands out for its digicam, however it falls flat when it comes to max flight time, able to 31 minutes. That’s far lower than DJI’s newer (and infrequently cheaper) drones. The Mavic 3 Professional can get 43 minutes. The DJI Mini 3 can get 38 minutes with its commonplace battery, however can supply a formidable 51 minutes when you use it with the more-expensive Clever Flight Battery Plus.
The brand new DJI Air 3 ought to supply at the very least 40 minutes of flight time to remain related.
Omnidirectional impediment sensing
The DJI Air 2S, which the brand new drone dropping subsequent week is theoretically is ready to comply with, provides impediment avoidance by way of a ahead, backward, upward, and downward imaginative and prescient system. However the even-better DJI Mavic 3 Professional provides a full omnidirectional binocular imaginative and prescient system.
Regardless that the DJI Air line is usually lower-cost than the Mavic line, it might be good for the tech to catch up right here, contemplating that drones nearly all the time get options from predecessors at decrease prices. IT’s tie for the Air to have even higher impediment avoidance, making it safer for extra individuals. Particularly on condition that the Air line reaches extra entry-level pilots than the Mavic Professional line, it’s essential to cut back crash danger among the many individuals, nicely, most in danger.
Improved video transmission
It’s powerful to match the DJI Air 3 to the top-of-the-line merchandise in DJI’s present arsenal, the DJI Encourage 3. However it’s exhausting to not want that the drone’s cinema-grade O3 Professional video transmission wouldn’t present up in an upcoming, consumer-oriented drone as nicely.
In the case of the DJI Encourage 3, there’s a max transmission distance of 15 km in single management mode and 12 km in dual-control mode. Each the gimbal digicam and FPV digicam help 1080p/60fps dwell feeds and an ultra-low latency of 90 ms. And the Encourage 3 was the primary to supply a max 5km transmission distance on 4K/30fps dwell feeds, which was crucial for UHD monitoring and livestreaming on set.
Whereas it feels unlikely {that a} consumer-oriented DJI Air 3 would match all these specs, one can hope, particularly given the tempo upon which DJI has improved its transmission vary expertise.
Now comes the enjoyable half! It’s time so that you can be an armchair DJI drone designer! In case you may decide just one new characteristic in a brand new DJI shopper drone, which wouldn’t it be? Go away a remark under!
And don’t overlook to examine again in subsequent Tuesday. The Drone Woman will intently following DJI, able to share particulars on no matter DJI launches as quickly as we get them. Don’t overlook to comply with TheDroneGirl on Fb, Instagram and Twitter to make sure you don’t miss any of the information (and set your alarm for 9 a.m. ET on Tuesday).
