There can be no argument that DJI produces some of the best consumer drones in the market today. The company began to push the envelope with the 2016 Mavic Pro that offered 4K video in a portable package. And although the Spark didn’t offer 4K footage, it came with smarts that made the drone fun and easy to use. Last year's Mavic Air then combined the best of both worlds, becoming what we consider to be the best travel drone you can currently buy.
DJI's not resting on its laurels, however, and was originally scheduled to host a big event on July 18 (US time) – one where the company had invited attendees to “see the bigger picture”.
That event has however since been postponed, and while it's not quite 100 percent confirmation that a Mavic successor was what DJI was planning on revealing on the day, a purported image of the company's next major consumer drone was leaked online over the weekend – and it shows off several new features.
Flying high
Website DroneDJ was the first to publish the image of the new drone, which displays the name ‘Mavic 2’ printed on a foldable propeller arm. The copter appears to have a sleeker and more aerodynamic design compared to the Mavic Air, but retains the basic character of the Mavic Pro in terms of shape and color.
From the parts on the table in the image, the Mavic 2 appears to include a removable gimbal, like the one on the competing GoPro Karma. And given DJI’s sell for its postponed event mentioned “the bigger picture”, it seems logical that the other key addition could be a wide-angle lens. That’s something DJI already offers on select models in its Phantom series.
- Read more: DJI Phantom 4 review
Reports have also suggested that the upcoming drone could include additional sensors on the bottom and the back, which combined with the existing front and side sensors would provide 360-degree obstacle avoidance. This could be a huge selling point for the drone in terms of ease-of-use, and DJI has already demonstrated its obstacle-avoidance tech works well on previous models, albeit in a more limited fashion.
We’ve reached out to DJI for comments on the leak, but are yet to receive a response. We’ll update this story as soon as we know more.
If those rumors are confirmed, it's looking like our best drones round-up will soon need an update... although as it is, it already features many of DJI’s top sellers.
