The DJI Mavic Air 2 is becoming the worst-kept secret in the drone world. We already know a lot of the specs, thanks to documents made public by the FCC and Brazil’s communications agency. But we were missing one important number: the price. Now we know it’s $799 — a $120 price drop from its predecessor’s original retail price. And boy does this drone look hot…
The latest info comes courtesy of a partner site, which accidentally posted the price and about a dozen high-quality images on its site today. (They are a nice step up from the grainy little pics we got from the FCC and the Brazilians.) The price and photos somehow made their way into what was supposed to be a listing for a very different drone, DJI’s education-themed Tello.
Mavic Air 2 design merges original and Mavic 2
The photos show an industrial design similar to its predecessor but angling up to the Mavic 2 lineup. The predominant color is a light gray, with dark-gray propellers and silver accents on the motors. (There’s nothing like the brilliant blue of the Skydio 2 or the hot red of the Autel EVO 2.) It doesn’t appear that DJI will offer color options like on original Air, at least not at launch.
The images show the Mavic Air 2 both folded up for storage and with its propeller arms fully extended. The props with curved tips will make the Mavic Air 2 much quieter than its predecessor. We see the drone both on a white studio background and flying in action on some safari-themed photo shoot.
We also get a good look at the upgraded three-axis stabilized camera. Per previous leaks, we know it will have an F/2.8 aperture and a larger (1/2-inch) CMOS image sensor. The front plate also advertises the 48 megapixel picture quality, which we think might be from stitching a few images together, but we’ll wait to hear more on that. What we can’t see, though, is if it will get an upgrade to 4K video at 60fps — one spec we’re still very curious about, and one that would put it in a league above its bigger brothers.
Speaking of cameras, these clearer photos confirm something we were already pretty sure of. The drone does not have top or side collision avoidance sensors. The front ones are easy to see, however. We’ve seen the rear ones in other photos. And the bottom sensor is just a given.
What the Mavic Air 2’s $799 price means
The biggest piece of information in this leak is the price. DJI is equipping the Mavic Air 2 with a lot of premium features, such as OcuSync 2.0 radio control and its latest, most advanced automated camera modes. Yet the company is offering customers a discount to upgrade. (Although DJI and others currently sell the original Air for $599.) That might indicate that the company is expecting weaker demand than in years past. With a flood of high-quality drones on the market and a global economy in stasis, that’s probably a reasonable expectation.
With these and many other features, the Mavic Air 2 not only surpasses its predecessor, it begins to rival the much pricier Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom models (currently as low as $1,000). It almost looks like DJI is cannibalizing its own product (not a bad thing). Or more likely, it feels confident aggressively pricing the Mavic Air 2 because a much better successor to the Mavic 2 line isn’t far behind. As for the original Mavic Air, it is price reduced down to $549 with Fly More Package at BuyDig
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