DJI’s Phantom Vision: Is It Worth It?
DJI is one of the leading developers of UAVs, specifically multirotor craft. Multirotor refers to the design feature that it has multiple motors and rotors. One of the most popular multirotor vehicles is the quadcopter. Unlike traditional helicopters, multirotor vehicles have fixed pitch rotors and maneuver by changing the RPM of individually controlled engines through a complex flight control board.
DJI has developed very sophisticated flight control software that provides a very stable platform for aerial photography and other applications. The latest entry in the DJI flight line of products is DJI Phantom Vision. This is the successor to the very popular DJI Phantom. The Phantom was very popular and allowed anyone to fly out of the box. Phantom Vision goes one step further by providing a First Person View (FPV) experience by streaming live video from the attached 1080p HD camera via WiFi to your tablet or smartphone. The transmitter has a mount to connect your device so you can see where you are flying.
The camera is pretty good. It’s not as good as a GoPro, but it records in 1080p and has a 14MP camera. Its field of view can be switched between 140/120/90 degrees. You can also take photos in RAW format, which is an improvement over the GoPro. The device app allows you to change settings while the DJI Phantom Vision is still in the air. You can change the ISO, white balance, set a time interval for photos. The app also shows altitude, speed, and distance from home. A compass is also used to help you know which way you’re heading home, and if you run into trouble and get stuck, the Phantom will send your last known GPS coordinates so you can retrieve it.
The transmitter has been changed to work on 5.8GHz and the WiFi works on 2.4GHz. The distance is advertised to be up to 300m. Battery integration has been vastly improved and the Vision appears much more streamlined. 5200 mAh LiPo batteries provide up to 25 minutes of flight time. Think of all the amazing images you could get with 25 minutes of flying!
Now the Vision is not super cheap. It comes in at around $ 1,200. But when you stop and think about everything you get, in one integrated package, it’s not that bad. For example, if you bought the predecessor DJI Phantom, you would spend $ 450. Then, if you wanted to put the latest GoPro on it, you would spend another $ 400, putting you at $ 850 already. But that doesn’t give you the FPV capabilities that DJI Phantom Vision offers.
So is it worth it? It depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for a fully integrated and ready-to-fly FPV quadcopter, I would recommend the Phantom Vision. If you’re not looking for all of that, then maybe try the DJI Phantom, or even the Blade mQX.