The updated mid-sized drone has superior photo and video chops.
It’s barely been a month since DJI revealed a new drone, and the organization as of now has another to show. This time, it’s the Air 2S, the latest iteration of its medium-sized camera drone. Note the absence of the Mavic branding, indicating they may be seeing to a greater extent a move in how the company pitches each degree of quadcopter it offers.
It’s not satisfactory if the “S” branding here is an Apple-style upgrade to the past model, yet the Air 2S certainly looks like someone gave the past model a light facelift. The design seems near-identical bar a few smoother lines and an extra pair of front obstacle avoidance cameras.
In any case, what’s significant here is the camera it appears. The Air 2S offers a bigger (1-inch) sensor that shoots up to 20-megapixel photographs or 5.4K video at 30fps (or 4K at 60fps and 150Mbps). Which is all a strong update from last time around where photographs were 12-megapixel and video topped out at 4K/60 or 120 Mbps.
Other camera perks include 4X digital zoom, doubling the amount of the Mavic Air 2 at 4K/30fps. There is additionally the choice for 6X zoom in 2.7K and 1080p/60 modes. In the event that you wouldn’t fret shooting in 1080/30 you can crush that zoom highlight straight up to 8X. For videographers, the Air 2S supports three color profiles: Normal (8 bit), D-Log (10 bit) or HLG (10 bit)
At 595g, the Air 2S weighs something a shade heavier than its archetype (570g) which may likewise go some approach to clarify the marginally lower max flight time now — 31 minutes down from 33. There are different upgrades, however, one of which we previously implied: that additional pair of obstacle cameras.
DJI claims that each of the four hindrance sensors have been updated, with those two new cameras enabling “binocular zooming” which the organization claims perceives objects both farther away and at quicker velocities. There’s additionally “O3” which is DJI’s fancy new name for OcuSync (its video transmission technology) which, more or less, implies you can hypothetically fly the Air 2S up to 7.5 miles away (12 kilometers) which is a shade over a mile more than last time. By and by, this implies the video connection ought to be more steady over any distance inside those cutoff points.
Of course, there are a few changes to the built-in smart flight modes which include Spotlight 2.0, ActiveTrack 4.0 and Point of Interest 3.0 — all of which are aimed at giving your shots that cinematic feel.
More fascinating is the new “MasterShot” feature which appears to have been prodded as an April fool, yet one that seems to have been an creative tease in plain sight. MasterShot appears to join pre-programmed flight ways with keen programmed altering. Such a fire-and-fail to remember mode to make programmed alters from whatever way you advise it.
The Air 2S goes discounted today for $999 for the standard pack or $1,299 for the “Fly More” combo which includes three batteries, a charging dock, ND filters and the shoulder bag.
