Mavic Air 2 drone: 23 confirmed specs, and one juicy new rumor.

The imminent release of the Mavic Air 2 drone has put us into hardcore detective mode.

Since we started reporting on drones over 4 years ago, we’ve been committed to a guiding principle to deal squarely in facts. And that means giving you the straight goods, without hyperbole, exaggeration or click-bait.

So we’re going to share exactly what we know, what we don’t know and what we still need answers to.

Earlier today we were finally able to get a copy of the leaked Brazilian ‘Quick Start Guide’ for the Mavic Air 2, which has been extremely helpful.

Let’s start off with what we know for certain. 100% fact. The sources of our information are DJI, and the FCC and ANATEL filings as well as the Mavic Air 2 Quick Start Guide.

Mavic Air 2 Specs We Know For Certain:

Launch Date

Duh. No surprise here. The teaser has gone out. We’ll see you online on April 27th at 9:30pm.

You can bookmark the DJI Mavic Air 2 “Up Your Game” launch page here. If you’d like a reminder just before the release, drop your email address in the subscribe box on the right of this page.

Unlike prior ‘live’ launch events, we don’t expect this to be anything more than just DJI flipping a switch on it’s website and online store.  There will not be any type of live presentation.

Battery Life

The original Mavic Air had a 21 minute flight time.  At the time it was 30% longer than the Spark’s tragic 15 minute of battery life.  Looking back these numbers just seem tiny.

The new Mavic Air 2 has 34 minutes of flight time; a whopping 61% increase over the original. And 10 percent more than the Mavic 2 Series.

For a mid-level recreational drone, the Mavic Air 2 is really showing up as yet another ‘pro-sumer’ drone.

Two Versions, But More Than Two Differences

In our initial report on the Mavic Air 2, we pointed out that it comes in two flavors: one with an ADS-B receiver and one without.  But there is more that is different in these two versions. Model MA2UE3W, which has the ADS-B receiver also has an extra antenna and circuit that the other model, MA2UE1N, does not.

The non ADS-B model MA2UE1N also has a magnetically permeable sheet added to the plastic upper shell.  The reason for this is not yet known.

The two Mavic Air 2 models also have different Electronic Speed Control solutions which could relate to the additional circuitry of the ADS-B hardware.

OcuSync 2.0 & Smart Controller

This is our favorite spec so far on the Mavic Air 2.  We’ve enjoyed the OcuSync 2.0 enabled Mavic 2 Pro so much, that I don’t think I’d ever go back to a stripped down ‘wi-fi’ signal drone.  Knowing the Mavic Air 2 has OcuSync 2.0 will give drone pilots a lot of confidence wherever they chose to fly it.

With OcuSync 2.0 the Mavic Air 2 enjoys transmission range up to 8km (5 miles) and streams a 1080p video to your smartphone via the controller.

The Mavic 2 Series introduced us to the DJI Smart Controller and we can say with 100% certainty that the Mavic Air 2 will be Smart Controller compatible.

Why are we so sure? Once again, the devil is in the details.

Buried in the footnotes on the DJI product page for the Smart Controller,  it reads:

“But there’s a new controller”, you might ask.  “Is one for ADS-B and ‘old C2’ for the ‘regular’ version of the Mavic Air 2?”

No. The Smart Controller is already compatible with the AirSense (ADS-B detection) equipped DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise. So the new C5 controller is for buyers of the standard kit, with or without ADS-B detection since the antenna and circuitry for ADS-B are integrated into the drone.

ActiveTrack 3.0 & Quickshots

Mavic Air 2 will be the 3rd device to receive the updated ActiveTrack 3, DJI’s next-gen intelligent learning object tracking.  At CES2020 this year, AI and Machine Learning had a big footprint, and other competitors (like PowerVision’s Poweregg-X) are taking object tracking to a new level.

As we would expect from any DJI new release, Quickshots are always a crowd favorite.

Point of Interest 3.0

Mavic 2 Pro is loaded with Point of Interest 2.0, so we’re very keen to see what enhancements DJI is giving to the Mavic Air 2.  The point of interest feature is already super easy to use, and a fan favorite among drone users.

APAS 2.0

The original Mavic Air was the first to use DJI’s Advanced Pilot Assistance Systems (APAS) which allow the aircraft to bypass obstacles in front of and behind it actively. How they improved on obstacle avoidance without adding side sensors is a mystery we will have to wait for.

DJI Fly App

This nugget of fact comes from the Mavic Air 2 Quick Start Guide we downloaded from Brazil’s ANATEL system.  But what makes it really interesting is that the Quick Start guide is only for the ADS-B model MA2UE3W.

And the ADS-B model MA2UE3W uses the DJI Fly app, same as the recently launched Mavic Mini.

We’ll go over what we think that means below, once we run out of facts.

New Controller

As you’ve likely seen, DJI has created a new controller for the Mavic Air 2. This squarish box has all of the same controls you’re familiar with, except there are two new features.  Instead of arms that swing out from the bottom of the controller, DJI has moved the smart phone holder to the top of the controller, and made is spring mounted.

Connection to your smartphone is via an included micro usb cable that plugs into the top of the controller.

DJI has also removed the adjustable external antennas we’ve seen in every model to date, replaced by a new internal antenna.

Battery life in the new C5 controller is also longer than the original Mavic Air C2.

3 Direction Obstacle Sensing

Like the original, the Mavic Air 2 lacks top and side obstacle sensing.  To be honest, over time I didn’t really notice the absence of it when flying the Mavic Air, but lack of Omni Directional Obstacle Avoidance will be a deal-breaker for some drone pilots.  Understandable.

And looking back via the research we did for this article, it’s funny that we actually forgot that the original Mavic Pro only had front and bottom sensors…which seems so primitive now.

Camera

This is a source of much controversy online.  We know for a fact from the Mavic Air 2 Quick Start Guide that we’re going to get 4K video and 48 megapixel photos.

But anyone who knows anything about photography knows that it’s not megapixels that matters, it’s sensor size.  And we DO NOT know what sensor the Mavic Air 2 has….yet.

We don’t know if Mavic Air 2 is really capable of a 48 MP still photo or if it’s derived from stitching four 12MP stills together like a panorama.

Low Noise Props

Images in the Quick Start guide clearly show the Mavic Air 2 mounted with DJI’s low noise propellers that sport the distinctive ‘swept back’ tips. Another of our favorite features, we hope the Mavic Air 2 adopts the lower, more pleasing propeller tone of the Mavic 2 Series.

The original Mavic Air had a high-pitched “prop scream” that many users found annying.

Top Speed

Mavic Air 2 has a top speed identical to the original Mavic Air: 68.4 km/h (42.5 mp/h).

 

Mavic Air 2 Specs We Don’t Know

Sensor Size

No one has definitively come forward with hard facts to prove what the Mavic Air 2 sensor size is. Other than OsitaLV’s twitter guesses, no one really has a clue about sensor size. 

They honor their traditions by using that very aged 1/2.3 CMOS.

— OsitaLV (@OsitaLV) April 17, 2020

OsitaLV is closely connected to DJI’s developer infrastructure, and many of his “guesses” have been correct in the past.

Other drone sites are saying the Mavic Air 2 has a 1/2″ sensor, but for now that’s nothing but a rumor.  DJI has never used a 1/2″ sensor in the past, so we’re not sure why they’d go to one now.

4K Framerate

This could be the most important spec to drone enthusiasts who are following the Mavic Air 2 launch.

To date, DJI has not made a 4K foldable consumer quadcopter that is capable of shooting 4K60fps.  If the Mavic Air 2 doesn’t have this feature, I think you’ll find some of the potential buyers will walk, and jump to the new Autel EVO II.

For reference, the only “pro-sumer” drone DJI currently makes that does have 4K60fps video is the recently resurrected Phantom 4 Pro V2.0.

Price

The original Mavic Air was released in early 2018 and the basic kit was $799, for a drone with 21 minutes of flight time.

Obviously the new Mavic Air 2 is going to slide in between the Mavic Mini and the Mavic 2 Series, but where the final price lands is anyone’s guess.

Expect $799 to start, and maybe the ADS-B version could be slightly more.

One Juicy New Rumor

Now that we’ve organized all of the known features on the Mavic Air 2, there’s one juicy rumor we want to share with you.

Every new drone release has usually been accompanied by a fancy new feature in the DJI flight control app.

We’ve heard that the Mavic Air 2 has an all new QuickShot mode that “will blow your mind”. Because of an NDA we couldn’t get any specifics, but it really has us scratching our heads. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

If you know what that new QuickShot mode is, send us an email or reach out anonymously using our Contact page.