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Hey drone fans!
Today we’re talking about the main differences between the new DJI Mini 2 and Mavic 2 Air. And which one you guys should get. Check it out.
Effective Pixels: 12 MP and 48 MP
Effective Pixels: 12 MP
Mini 2 vs Mavic Air 2 – Weight
So the first thing to mention with these two drones is the Mini 2 is under 0.55 pounds, which might have no significance to you. But if you’re in the United States, that means you don’t have to register your drone with the FAA.
This is a good move by DJI as they’re trying to reach out to a broader market of new pilots who want to get into drone flying without having to deal with drone regulations.
So that’s one thing you get with the Mini 2 that you don’t get with the Air 2.
Mini 2 vs Mavic 2 Air – Camera
Another clear difference that we can make is different kind of footage both droens will get you. On paper, they both shoot 4k video, however, the Mavic 2 Air gets 4k Ultra HD video, whereas the Mini 2 just gets 4k video, without Ultra HD. That is not a major difference, but they both record 4k resolution video, which is pretty awesome.
Another difference when it comes to camera is with slow modes – if you want to get slo-mo footage, the Mavic Air 2 gets up to 240 frames per second, whereas the Mini 2 only gets up to 60. And when you go up to 60 frames per second, Mini 2 actually lowers the video quality to 1920p. So you go from 4k to 1920p if you shoot at high frames per second.
Mini 2 can shoot 4k only at 30fps and only 1920p at 60 fps.
Mini 2 vs Air 2: Obstacle avoidance
Another thing to consider is the Mavic Air 2 has object avoidance sensors, whereas the Mini 2 doesn’t, making your flights a little riskier. With the Mini 2, you don’t get that kind of safety and comfort knowing your drone has sensor object avoidance but that might force you to try to become a better pilot.
Mini 2 vs Air 2: Flight time
Both drones boast a great flight time – Mavic Mini 2 comes right below 31 minutes of flight thime while Air 2 gets 34 minutes.
Video formats
Another difference to talk about is the video formats. The Mavic Air 2 gets D-Cinelike, which gives you a ton of great room to work with when doing color grading and color correction. Mini 2 only lets you work with mp4/mov files. So what does that all mean?
Well, when you’re in post production, that means with the Air 2 you get more room to work with because you can color correct it as much as you like. Whereas with an mp4 file, you do hit limitations, you can’t edit the coloring as much as you would want to. So if you’re trying to go for more cinematic quality shots, Air 2 is your choice.
Photo formats
You get RAW file types with both drones, which is excellent feature for those of you who like to do a lot of post production editing.
Noise level
Mini 2 doesn’t quite reach the same quiet settings as the Mavic Air 2 which is an awesome drone in this regard. I don’t know if it’s gonna be a major difference, but it’s definitely not going to be such a difference that you might consider one or the other.
Price
And then one of the last things you should consider is price between the two drones, the Mini 2 comes in at $450 and the Mavi Air 2 comes in at $800. So it’s almost twice as much in price. But considering all the differences we’ve talked about and also the similarities, that’ll be a choice that you’ll have to make if you’re deciding between the two.
Which drone is right for you?
If you’re new to flying drones and you’re not really sure if you want to get into having your own drone flying business and just want to do it as a hobby – Mini 2 is the better option.
You get almost as great as photo quality and video quality as with Air 2, just a little bit less. It is a compact and easily portable drone, that doesn’t require license. It means you don’t have to worry about dealing with the FAA with registering your drone and figuring out how to do complex video settings or photo settings because all that’s pretty much all set up for you right there.
Overall, however you decide, you can’t go wrong as both are fantastic drones.
See more drone duels:
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