After a postponed launch in July and a slightly unglamorous leak in the Argos catalogue, DJI has finally announced its two Mavic Pro sequels: the DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom.
If you’re new to DJI’s range, the Mavic Pro is a bit like the drone equivalent of a premium compact camera, sitting in between the larger Phantoms and the point-and-shoot Spark.
Each of the new Mavic 2 models brings a ‘first’ for a DJI drone. The Mavic 2 Pro comes with a one-inch Hasselblad camera, following DJI’s acquisition of the camera company in 2017.
And as the name suggests, the Mavic 2 Zoom is the first foldable drone with optical zoom, with the flipside being that it has a slightly smaller 1/2.3in sensor than its sibling.
Before the the more hobbyist-friendly Mavic Air stole their thunder earlier this year, the Mavic Pro and Mavic Pro Platinum were our favourite mini 4K travel drones. So do the Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom improve on their predecessor? Here’s everything you need to know.
[videoai]Related: Best drones 2018
DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom – Release date and price
Excitingly, both drones are available now from the DJI store. The DJI Mavic 2 Pro will set you back £1,299, with the bundle including the drone, battery, remote controller, charger and four pairs of propellers. The same bundle for the DJI Mavic 2 Zoom costs £1,099.
A Fly More Kit, which includes two batteries, a multi-battery charging hub, a car charger, two pairs of propellers and a carry bag, is also available for both drones for an extra £279.
As expected, this pricing the Mavic 2 duo in between the £769 DJI Mavic Air and the revamped, £1,589 Phantom 4 Pro V2.0. If you can stretch to the Fly More bundle too, it’s usually recommended due to the huge flying time gains you get from having three batteries rather than one.
DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom – Design
DJI hasn’t radically changed the original Mavic Pro’s design, which is fine by us.
Both drones have the same folding mechanism and colour scheme as before, with the only slight change being the smoothing of some the Mavic Pro’s sharp edges. This slightly more aerodynamic form apparently reduces body drag by 19% and helps it reach slightly faster max speeds of 44mph in Sport mode.
DJI has long had the best obstacle avoidance tech of any drones we’ve tested and both Mavic 2 drones should improve this further, thanks to the inclusion of ten sensors on all sides. This should come in particularly handy during automated flight modes such as ‘follow me’.
The two new Mavic 2 drones are also apparently quieter than their predecessor, with noise-reducing propellers and a quieter propulsion system. That’s good news for anyone who’s found the ‘flying lawnmower’ sound of drones a bit off-putting.
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DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom – Features and specs
They may both be based on the same design and shoot 4K at 100Mbps , but there are big differences between the Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom’s cameras and sensors.
The Mavic 2 Pro’s Hasselblad camera has a 1-inch CMOS sensor with a 10-bit Dlog-M colour profile. This means it’s promising to capture four times the colour depth in each channel compared to its predecessor.
It can also snap 20-megapixel stills and lets you adjust the aperture between f/2.8-f/11, giving you some of the creative control you’d normally find in the manual modes of a dedicated, land-based camera.
By comparison, the Mavic 2 Zoom is more like a travel compact, with its combination of a smaller, 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor and 2x optical zoom. If you need to get closer, this can apparently combine with 2x digital zoom to give you a 96mm telephoto lens that can shoot lossless HD video.
The Mavic 2 Zoom may shoot lower resolution 12-megapixel stills, but it can apparently use its optical zoom to stitch nine photos together into a 48-megapixel image.
[videoai]As you can see in this video above, both Mavic 2 drones have also gained a new Hyperlapse trick shot, while the Mavic 2 Zoom can create a ‘dolly zoom’ effect, which zooms in as the drone flies away. You can achieve similar effect on the Parrot Anafi.
Lastly, both drones apparently have an improved flight time of 31 minutes, which trumps the battery life of the Mavic Air and Parrot Anafi. It’s yet clear if it’ll be possible to charge the Mavic 2 drones directly via USB, though, so we’ll update this page as soon as we find out.
What do you think, are you more excited by the DJI Mavic 2 Pro or Mavic 2 Zoom? Let us know @TrustedReviews.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
