DJI seems to no longer want to stop in the world of consumer drones, even if it has recently adopted a different strategy than in the past. Air 2S looks to all intents and purposes, last year's Mavic Air 2, but with elements that can make a difference: updated camera and sensors to avoid obstacles. At the moment, it is the reference drone in the consumer category. Here's why.
DJI has, first of all, eliminated the Mavic prefix from its line of drones. As happened with the Mini 2, the latter drone simply goes by the name of DJI Air 2S. Beyond the name, this Air 2S inherits a lot from the Mavic philosophy. It is a drone with folding arms, easy to carry in a bag, although considerably larger than the Mini 2. It is not as small as the latter, it is still small in size: when open 183 × 253 × 77 mm, and when closed 180 × 97 × 77 mm, with a diagonal distance between the motor and the motor of 302 mm. The weight is 595 grams, light, but not to the point of being able to drive it without a license, as is the case for the Mini 2, which weighs less than 250 grams.
Starting to talk about technical characteristics, Air 2S enjoys an 8 GB internal memory. Few, very few. Impossible to think of being able to record at maximum resolution simply by exploiting this memory. Consider it only as an emergency memory for a few more minutes of video or, at most, for photos only. Too bad that DJI does not include, and should, a microSD in the box, which is essential for any use.
In terms of autonomy, the battery allows a flight of 31 minutes on paper. The estimate is realistic, and even if you fail to make it past half an hour, you will often come close to this result. This is a very long flight time, which can satisfy any need.
Air 2S, unlike the Mini 2, is equipped with numerous on-board sensors. The drone's positioning system uses GPS and GLONASS satellites, but there is no lack of visual sensors on board to determine the position and stay perfectly in place. It supports automatic return to base and includes an obstacle avoidance system as well as support for geofencing.
As with all the brand's drones, piloting this Air 2S is extremely simple and intuitive. After hooking your smartphone to the remote control clip, simply click the icons on the screen for an automatic take-off. At that point, the left stick controls yaw and altitude, while the right stick moves the drone forward, backward, left or right in space. Nothing could be simpler, but in case it is your first flight, spend a few minutes watching the tutorial that starts for the first time by accessing the app. Anyone who has already driven a DJI drone will immediately feel comfortable with this new drone as well.
DJI has redesigned its remote control, as had already happened with the Mini 2. The improvement over the first Mavic Air, or the Mini, is remarkable. Now, it offers an undoubtedly more comfortable grip. It has a clip at the top to hold the smartphone, on which the user can control the video stream in real time. It is obviously optimized for iOs and Android terminals, and inside the package there are cables to adapt to your configuration: there are Lightning, micro USB and USB-C cables.
The clip is large enough to support larger smartphones, which today represent the norm. Do not worry, therefore, if you have an iPhone Plus model, or any other smartphone of that size.
Mini 2 and Air 2S in comparison
The remote control includes an emergency control button, which allows the drone to pause in flight, then stable in position, or return to the base automatically. There is the classic rear slider for tilting the camera, even if there are functions to immediately tilt it at a certain angle, by pressing a function key single.
Three flight modes offered via the lever on the controller: Cine, standard and Sport. The latter is the fastest flight mode, while Cine is the one that offers slower movements. This can be activated to get the most fluid and stable shots possible, while the sports one could be used to shoot a moving subject.
Moving on to what is the main feature of the drone, namely the camera, it is possible to record videos at 1080p, 2.7K, 4K and 5.4K, being able to set frame rates and color profiles for each option.
Some drone features do not support 5.4K or 4K resolutions when pushing beyond 30fps. Active Track, for example, which is a flight mode that follows a subject as it moves, and APAS 4.0, the automatic obstacle prevention system. When the frame and resolution are set to maximum, the drone will always use its motion sensors to prevent accidental bumps, but instead of going around an obstacle, as usual, it will stop in place.
1 inch sensor
As anticipated, the Air 2S offers some design changes compared to the Mavic Air 2, including front sensors to get around obstacles. Still, the biggest innovation is the camera. If it weren't for the room, the advice to Air 2 owners would be not to upgrade.
However, the 1-inch chamber is a really cool upgrade. The sensor size is approximately four times larger, in terms of surface area, than that of the Mavic Air 2's camera. Not only is it physically larger, but it also produces larger pixels, 20 MP in total.
The 1-inch sensor of the Air 2S always runs at 20MP, with support for JPG or Raw DNG. Raw files offer more space for editing. There is little to say about the quality of the photos. The shots are sharp, the standard JPG color profile is pleasant and in post production it is possible to indulge in turning the photos into real breathtaking masterpieces. Even raw JPG images are pleasant, so much so that the drone can be used as a point and shoot, without necessarily having to go to the PC to process the images.
Below is a series of shots from the other:
default
What is most surprising, and which turns out to be the scales as regards the decision to buy it or not, are the videos. The Air 2S camera records at a maximum resolution of 5.4K. That's not a small difference from 4K, because each frame of a 5.4K clip contains approximately 16.8MP, which is more than double that of an 8MB 4K frame.
The extra resolution is palpable when watching videos on large televisions, not when viewing images on the smartphone screen. At 5.4K you can choose 24, 25 or 30 fps, and standard color profiles, HDR HLG and D-Log. Lowering the resolution to 4K increases the maximum frame rate to 60fps, the same to 2.7K. At 1080p there is also the possibility of recording at 120fps, which is great for slow motion.
The Air 2S supports higher quality 8-bit H.264 and 10-bit HEVC capture. Difficult to notice the differences when using the standard color profile, but for editing professionals these are important differences when working in the D-Log format and deciding to apply color correction in post production.
In addition to still images and standard video, Air 2S supports motion time-lapse, i.e. hyperlapse. Time-lapse fans, however, will have to gear up with more battery, and opt for the Fly More kit, which has extra batteries.
Conclusions
The Air 2S debuts less than a year away from the Mavic Air 2 and is intended to coexist with its predecessor on the market, not replace it. What differentiates the two products is certainly the camera: Air 2S captures better detail images and a more dynamic range, while the videos have a greater bit depth and double the pixels than what a 4K drone can capture. It is still a consumer drone, but it is aimed at those with raw photos, D-Logs and HLG HDR videos. In these cases the user will get more malleable and more editable files than Mavic Air 2.
Of course, considering that the difference between Air 2 and Air 2S is just 150 euros, the advice is to opt for the latter directly. Those who had the previous model, and are not fans of post production, may also choose to stick with the previous model. Of course, here the camera makes the difference, so much so that Air 2S is to be considered the best consumer drone currently on the market.
PRO
VERSUS
Prices and availability
Air 2s can be purchased starting from 999 euros in the standard version, and 1309.00 euros in the Fly More Combo version. DJI products are distributed by Nital.
