Event Coverage

First looks: DJI's latest quadcopter, the DJI Phantom 4

By Marcus Wong - 11 Apr 2016

First looks at DJI’s latest quadcopter – the DJI Phantom 4

The last time we got up close to a quadcopter (commonly called a drone) it was with the DJI Phantom Vision 2 and back then the one thing we felt was that the system still required a fair amount of skill and concentration in operation. If you wanted to get good video, then you really almost needed two people to work in tandem. One to pilot the drone, and the other to look out for shots/video to take. 

Not so with the latest version of the Phantom though, as a new Obstacle Sensing System largely takes away all of this worry thanks to two forward-facing optical sensors. These mimic our eyes and scan the flight path for obstacles, feeding it to an on-board processor that works out the best route to avoid obstacles while keeping the flight direction constant.

If the system determines that no route is available, it will hover in place and wait for your directions, so there’s no worry of crashing or losing the drone. In fact, there’s now a handy pause button by the side of the remote control, so you can have it hover while you grab images with the onboard camera.

The pause button makes the Phantom 4 hover in place.

The new mounting system means the camera is more centrally placed now.

The camera has also been improved, and there is now improved corner sharpness and better Chromatic Aberration (CA) control. The module itself is now held by a U-trap mount that places it more to the center, so the likelihood of getting your own propellers in the shot is greatly reduced. Speaking of which, these now snap down into place rather than screw in place (as with the DJI Phantom Vision 2) thanks to a new push-and-lock design, making it faster for you to get the quadcopter up and running.

In fact, the packaging itself isn’t your usual basic foam packing but rather a foam “case” that comes with compartments for everything with the drone and has both a handle on top as well as a catch so you easily take the entire case out. It’s even designed with a compartment for an extra battery, so you probably won’t even need to get a dedicated bag. 

Setting up is a simpler process now that you only have to snap the blades in. 

The inside packaging is good enough to use as a case for the entire drone.

We had a demonstration of the Obstacle Avoidance system, as well as the ActiveTrack mode, and both features are certainly most impressive, as you can see in the videos below. The good thing about ActiveTrack mode is that you are free to control the camera while your drone flies itself. You can also otherwise move the drone while the camera stays locked on your target – giving you perfect 360-degree footage as the Phantom 4 automatically keeps the object framed in the center. 

The Obstacle Avoidance system also seems to work very well, but because the current version only has two front-facing cameras, DJI says you still need to be aware of your drone’s surroundings, particularly when using the automatic return to home feature. 

Finally, there’s a new “Sport Mode” which ups the acceleration and top speed of the Phantom 4 to 20 meters per second, letting you get a taste of what drone racing might be like. In this mode, Obstacle Avoidance is turned off, so you’ll have to take much more care in your piloting. 

Overall, it does seem like the Phantom 4 makes drone flying a lot easier especially with the new features that largely help you do most of the flying while you concentrate on video or photo taking. 

The Phantom 4 retails at S$1,962.62 and is available now at all major retailers. 

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