It’s not that I set out to cause misery for drones, rather I view it more as a service that you’ll be able to use to determine which environments you can take your drone into while doing whatever sports activity that you want to film – all autonomously (meaning, it’ll follow you automatically).
With the new DJI Mini 4 Pro, it’s got full 360° “omnidirectional” obstacle avoidance sensors, just like DJI’s higher-end drones. It’s the first time we’ve seen that, at this price point from DJI. Additionally, it also has a new ‘Active Track 360’ feature, that lets you create more dynamic ActiveTrack movements mid-ride (or mid-run, or mid-kayak, etc…).
Of course, as always, I’m here to see how well these things hold up in real life. And no better way to do that than test it against what has become The Gauntlet for testing the autonomous tracking capabilities of drones.
To see how well this drone holds up (and in this case, many times over), hit the play button up above. This little guy doesn’t give up easily.
Thanks for watching!
Found This Post Useful? Support The Site!
At the end of the day, I’m an athlete just like you looking for the most detail possible on a new purchase. These posts generally take a lot of time to put together, so if you're shopping for the DJI Mini 4 Pro Fly More Combo with DJI RC2 or any other accessory items, please consider using the affiliate links below! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot. Even more, if you shop with TPC (The Pro's Closet), you'll save $40 on purchases over $200 with coupon code DCRAIN40! The Pro's Closet has been a long-time partner of the site here - including sponsoring videos like my cargo bike race, as well as just being an awesome Colorado-based company full of good humans. Check them out with the links below and the DCRAIN40 coupon!
And of course – you can always sign-up to be a DCR Supporter! That gets you an ad-free DCR, access to the DCR Quarantine Corner video series packed with behind the scenes tidbits...and it also makes you awesome. And being awesome is what it’s all about!
I find it amazing that, after all these years of incremental updates, DJI has not yet matched Skydio’s tracking quality.
I also find it incredibly frustrating that, to get the best tracking from DJI, you have to get a new drone every year or so. They have never been generous in terms of firmware updates for existing products.
I am still happy with the image quality of my Mavic 2 Pro but always felt it had a lot of untapped potential software-wise, and I guess Mavic 3 owners may soon feel the same…
Yeah, I find it interesting as well.
I think in some ways, Skydio came at the problem from a computational angle (as evidenced by their huge focus on just how much processing power they had), whereas DJI has always come at it from a hardware efficiency angle. We haven’t really seen DJI do anything meaningful in the computational space when it comes to drones.
I feel like at some point DJI will take advantage of that huge leap in what they can do there, but to date, it’s more more ‘old-school’ style hardware upgrades, rather than utilizing computational processing (and more cameras, as was also the case for Skydio).
Or, they could just add a Beacon and be done with it…
Skydio not only tracked well but also swiftly flew around obstacles and a beacon would not help there.
Note that a beacon can be emulated with an app on a phone. I have never tested Litchi’s Magic Leach which is supposed to do exactly this (I suggest you do 😉), but I once tested the same feature with Bebop Pro on my very old Parrot drone, and it induced an annoying lag in tracking.
Your subtle humor really makes this video.
Thanks for testing the active tracking. I was interested in this drone, but I want it for MTB tracking. So you saved me $1000 and a lot of frustration.
Thanks
I am wondering why there are still not price drops on the mini 3 pro. I keep checking! But so far noting major.
Another great video, good Karma would be that unnamed woman getting a flat tire when she was her furthest distance from home.
I don’t have the option in the lower left after active track begins… The button that looks like an overhead view of someone walking. I do not have the controller with the screen. But I would assume that has nothing to do with it. Any idea? Thanks for all you do man.
Did you sneak in a Dutch “No” at 11:15?
Did you end up doing a high speed wind test for this drone? I’m flying the Air 2s and i use it for filming kitesurfing, so wind performance is pretty critical. Thanks!