DJI Mavic Air is DJI’s newest drone, but since it is designed for portability above all else, it isn’t necessarily the best. To see just how good it is, I brought it along on a recent trip to Australia. What better way to test a drone made for portability than on a trip that begins and ends with 30+ hours of traveling?

Despite the constant high winds (20-30mph) while I was there, the Mavic Air had enough power to not drift while hovering and the 3-axis gimbal helped smooth out any jerky movement. I filmed all the video in 4k/30fps and left the camera in full auto mode to really test the Mavic’s ability straight out of the box.

Reviewing the footage, the Mavic Air is clearly ahead of the Spark — now completely relegated to beginner drone status. However, though the footage is very impressive, I felt myself needing more range/signal robustness. The Mavic Air may share part of its name with the Mavic Pro but it does not share the Pro’s controller system. This doesn’t often cause a problem except when flying in WiFi congested areas (which is more and more place).

Anyways, that’s all for today. Should have some more Mavic Air and drone videos coming soon so keep an eye out.