Chinese drone giant DJI has rolled into this year's IFA in Berlin with a few quiet upgrades to its existing lineup, literally. The compact Mavic Pro Platinum is claimed to make 60 percent less noise than its predecessor, while a smaller sibling has also received some new shooting capabilities.
DJI's Mavic Pro was released last year to plug what the company saw as a bit of hole in the marketplace, a compact-yet-capable camera drone that could be folded up for easy transport. The updated Mavic Pro Platinum has been fitted out with new propellors and electronic speed controllers, which are claimed to make it 60 percent quieter and also boost flight time from 27 to 30 minutes. Those new props will also work with the original Mavic Pro.
The diminutive DJI Spark, meanwhile, which can be flown without a controller using just hand gestures, has received a few updates since its release back in May. The latest, also announced today, adds a new photo mode called Sphere. This works with the Spark's Panorama mode, which snaps a series of shots and stitches them together, in this case, into a spherical image with a fisheye lens effect.
The popular Phantom 4 has also received something of an update, though this is more or less a new coat of paint. Dubbed the Phantom 4 Obsidian, this sees the drone finished in a matte-gray color, while DJI says it has also upped the quality of the gimbal with a magnesium, anti-fingerprint coating.
The Phantom 4 Obsidian is priced at US$1,500 and the Mavic Pro Platinum at $1,099, with both to become available in September. The Sphere mode for the Spark, meanwhile, will become available through upcoming updates to the drone's firmware and the DJI mobile app.
Source: DJI