DJI has unleashed the successor of its Phantom 3 drone dubbed the Phantom 4. The drone can get to a maximum speed of 45 miles per hour (mph) and commands a $1,399 price tag.
Whether the Phantom 4 — which is one of the first drones to have object tracking and collision avoidance capabilities - lives up to expectations remains to be seen. However, early reviews of the Phantom 4 are in and users and experts are waxing eloquent.
We take a look at what the reviewers have to say about the Phantom 4.
"With the Phantom 4, DJI is pulling farther ahead of the competition. It's the first to market with serious autonomous features, and the implementation works really well. The addition of obstacle avoidance, tap-to-fly, and subject tracking make this the drone I would recommend to total beginners, but one which can also help professionals capture more interesting and risky shots," notes The Verge.
"The Phantom 4 is a creative tool, not a toy. A sleeker body and larger battery help it stay aloft over 28 minutes. A camera built into its undercarriage records lovely 4K video and 12-megapixel still shots. It's got a new wide-angle lens that's sharper in the corners than predecessors. And its video has a smooth Hollywood Steadicam look, thanks to a motorized gimbal that keeps the camera remarkably balanced, even in buffeting winds," reviews the WSJ.
"The handling is very smooth. This is the handling we've come to expect from DJI, but it feels faster than the Phantom 3," says Dan Waring, UK freestyle drone racing champion, who reviewed the drone for The Wired.
"The latest version of DJI's top-end consumer drone, the Phantom 4, improves on its predecessor in many ways. It's the best consumer drone on the market, and it's priced accordingly," feels PC Mag.
"DJI really has pulled off something special with the Phantom 4. Other companies might have been happy to bump up the flight time and add a few visual tweaks, but the Phantom 4 is not so much an upgrade as an evolutionary leap. The world of drones can be an intimidating one, but what DJI has done here is to create a quadcopter that anyone really can fly - and do it safely," opines Tom Morgan of Stuff.TV.
"The Phantom 4 costs $1,399, so if you own an older Phantom model or another quadcopter drone and are looking to upgrade, this is almost certainly the drone for you. If you're new to flying drones, but want a well-built product and have the cash to spend, then, again, this is probably the one for you," feels Quartz' Mike Murphy.
"The DJI Phantom 4 is not quite a drone for the non-enthusiast, then, but it's closer than ever before to that ideal, and it's the safety features - the collision-detection and tracking features, not to mention the safety net of the automatic fly-me-home feature - that take it there. This is quite clearly a major step forward for drone technology, especially for consumers, and makes flying drones easier than ever," Jonathan Bray of alphr, says.
