DJI Mavic 4 Pro vs The Gauntlet: ActiveTrack Sports Follow-Me Testing

The DJI Mavic 4 Pro is different from most of the other sports-tracking drones I’ve tested over the past year (such as the DJI Neo, HoverAir X1 Pro, and DJI Flip). Those drones don’t really care about their own safety while flying. They don’t have forward obstacle avoidance during tracking, and instead, aim to precisely follow your path, hoping that by mimicking it, it’ll keep them alive. Sometimes that works. And if it doesn’t, they’re designed to be crashed hundreds of times (well, some of them are anyways…).

Whereas the Mavic 4 Pro is a beast, primarily in terms of size. But also technology inside. It’s got new lidar capabilities to detect tiny branches, even in total darkness. It’s got 6 additional cameras for obstacle avoidance (plus two sensors for ground detection). In many ways, it’s more like the DJI drones of the past when it comes to ActiveTrack than the newer generation of YOLOing mini sports drones. The question is: Can it bridge the gap and be both?

Obviously, I set out to put that to the test, as always.

In this video, I put my DJI Mavic 4 Pro through The Gauntlet and all its stages, to see how well it handles. Both in terms of obstacle avoidance (and crashes), as well as image quality, and the cameras that you’re allowed to use in ActiveTrack mode.

To see how well this drone holds up, hit the play button up above. Even if you don’t care about drones, I suspect you’ll find it entertaining.

Thanks for watching!

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6 Comments

  1. Pavel Vishniakov

    It’s interesting to see that the better obstacle avoidance drones get, the more cautious they become. Not even in terms of going into tight spaces, but doing predefined maneuvers in the open as well.

    And regarding the part where the drone flies around the tree and picks up in via active track again – is it a sheer coincidence or can it really leverage the remote for ActiveTrack? If not, looks like a missed opportunity for DJI, given the stable and fast wireless connection between the drone and the remote as well as GPS on both devices.

    • It’s hard to say. I agree, it could be sheer coincidence, but in none of my other ActiveTrack tests did it do that. But I agree, it continues to be silly how they handle it.

      I’ve gotta believe at this point it’s because they thought the RC Track would have released last fall, and thus been the proper upsell for these scenarios. But alas, not yet.

  2. Asa

    Thanks for reviewing the 4 Pro and look forward to additional testing. It’s on my short list of tools after owning the 2 Pro for many years for use in getting cool event footage, and other photo/video shooting for my business.

    The type of tracking you did in this test seems like the wrong tool for the job, but glad you put it through its paces…for science. For something this costly, I’m glad it protected itself well and seemed to do as well as some of the smaller drones you use more often for your cycling footage.

    I find this drone to be more of a flying camera than something more quick/agile that’s used for sports, high speed flying, etc. With the zoom, updated controller software, and other goodies, it looks like a winner! I’ll have to look up the spec, but does it have a higher top speed than it’s predecessors based on its body design?

  3. Leo M

    Great video! I appreciate these gauntlet videos, because they tell us a lot about how these things will handle obstacles, in a real world setting. I’ve ordered on in the US, but have a feeling I’ll be waiting a while!

    PS: Any inkling of when your Roam3/etc. review will pop? Thanks!

  4. ArT

    What a huge device !

  5. Kostya Sav

    So did they finally beat obstacle avoidance capabilities of the Skydio R1?