DJI has today released a drone for business professionals, governments and educators that's a good deal more portable than the recently-revealed Phantom 4 RTK. As it's name suggests, it's a special business edition of the Mavic 2 foldable drone that launched a few months back.
"Mavic 2 Enterprise is the world's most capable commercial drone, purpose-built to serve the operational needs of our industry partners as well as companies that are just now preparing to embrace the benefits of drone technology," said DJI's Roger Luo. "DJI's hardware and software set the standard for aerial innovation around the globe, and Mavic 2 Enterprise is the most compact, powerful, reliable and safe tool to help professionals integrate drones into their operations."
It's essentially the same product as the Zoom that we flew in August – with a 12 megapixel camera module that's held in place by a 3-axis gimbal, along with 2x optical and 3x digital zoom capabilities, a top speed of 72 km/h (45 mph) and a flight time of 31 minutes – but the Enterprise edition comes with a number of business-specific updates and accessories.
New to this edition is a self-heating battery to allow for operation in temperatures as low as - 10° C (14° F). A FlightAutonomy system uses data from eight high-res vision sensors and two IR sensors for omnidirectional obstacle avoidance. And the special edition Mavic 2 makes use of DJI's latest video and data transmission system, with support for both 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz frequency bands. "Ocusync 2.0 delivers such a strong high definition video transmission feed back to the pilot that it could be received up to nearly five miles (8 km) away, though all drone pilots must follow applicable laws about keeping drones within their line of sight."
If the mission doesn't allow for wireless data transmission, there's 24 GB of password-protected onboard storage for photos, videos, flight logs and other data. When Password Protection is switched on, operators "are required to enter their password each time they activate the drone, link the remote controller with the drone, and access the drone's onboard storage, giving them full, exclusive use and enhanced security."
Footage accountability is further ensured by a GPS timestamp that's encoded onto the time, date and location of each recorded image. For particularly sensitive missions, DJI's Local Data Mode can be activated, which prevents the operator's connected mobile device from sending or receiving any data over the internet.
The Mavic 2 Enterprise also comes with AirSense technology, which uses an integrated receiver to automatically alert drone operators of ADS-B signals from nearby aircraft, feeding real-time positioning alters to DJI's Pilot mobile app – useful when flying in congested airspace.
New accessories for the Mavic 2 Enterprise edition include the M2E Spotlight, a 2,400 lumens dual-head spotlight to help operators carry out search and rescue missions in low light. Then there's the M2E Speaker that throws out 100 decibels (at 1 meter distance). It doesn't cater for live broadcast of vocal messages from emergency personnel, but can play up to 10 custom recordings on demand, to advise victims that help is on the way and to try and remain calm, for example. And a strobe light dubbed the M2E Beacon can be spotted up to 3 miles away, so that the Mavic 2 can be clearly seen by other airspace users.
The Mavic 2 Enterprise drone carries a suggested retail price of US$1,999, which will get you the drone itself, a remote controller, a battery, the mountable accessories listed above and a protective case with flight tools. An additional $419 will get you a Fly More Kit with two batteries, a charging hub, a car charger, a USB connector two spare props and a soft carry case. The video below shows the new drone in action.
Product page: DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise