The DJI Mavic Air 2 is a big step up from the original

DJI has unveiled the Mavic Air 2 this morning and it boasts a slew of upgrades that excites drone enthusiasts (me included).

Armed with a new quad bayer 1/2″ 48MP f/2.8 camera, the Mavic Air 2’s photography and videography capabilities has significantly improved over its predecessor’s 12MP camera and now supports up to 4K60p video recording at 120Mbps, it will also take 8K Hyperlapse videos, 1080p slow motion videos up to 240fps, and finally, it supports D-Cinelike flat color profile that isn’t available previously.

Like a smartphone high-resolution camera, the Mavic Air 2 shoots at a pixel-binned 12MP resolution by default and pilots will need to manually enable the 48MP resolution.

The camera also has a Night Mode feature known as HyperLight, which works similarly to smartphones that brightens photos and lower noise levels while ensuring sharp details. In strong lighting, the camera features HDR and an intelligent scene recognition feature to improve picture quality.

On top of that, the Mavic Air 2 features an improved ActiveTrack 3.0 object tracking, which is now able to quickly retrack lost subjects when it moves behind an obstacle; Point of Interest 3.0 that allows pilot to set a flight path with improved surface recognition and Spotlight 2.0, a tracking feature available on higher end models that focuses on the subject while allowing the pilot to move the drone freely.

Weighing at 570g, the Mavic Air 2 is heftier and slightly larger than its predecessor, however it is still pretty lightweight and should resist wind better, though DJI still rates it at 10.5m/s (37.8km/h), it isn’t too different from the original Mavic Air.

The Mavic Air 2’s new remote control is more robust and friendly than the original, where it uses a more reliable clamp that mounts your smartphone on the top rather than the awkward side clamp on the previous remote, which is great for pilots that use a bigger phone screen

On the other hand, rated flight time has now been bumped up to 34 minutes from the original’s 21 minutes and thanks to the OcuSync 2.0 transmission, the bird can fly up to 10km of distance and streams Full HD video to your smartphone.

DJI is introducing its new Advanced Pilot Assistance System (APAS 3.0) on the Mavic Air 2 along with improved obstacle sensors on the front and back, which now uses 3D mapping to identify obstacles and steers around complex environments better.

Furthermore, the Mavic Air 2 is the first consumer drone to introduces AirSense, a technology that senses other aircrafts around using ADS-B to receive signals, which is generally used by helicopters and planes, this will warn the pilot if an aircraft is nearby to prevent accidents.

As usual, DJI is selling the Mavic Air 2 with a Fly More Combo, which comes with a shoulder bag, ND filter sets, propeller guards, charging hub and two extra batteries for RM4,299, the standard variant will only come with the aircraft, one battery and necessary cables for RM3,299.

The DJI Mavic Air 2 goes on sale in Malaysia starting May 10th.