DJI Phantom 3 Advanced - Initial Impressions - Part 2

This unit basically requires some sort of intelligent device that you put on the controller such as an iPhone, iPad, or some of the Android devices. They don't mention any way to use it on a Windows device. The device you use can mount on the controller itself and provides access to most of the drone functionality that is not directly related to controlling flight. For example, you can set up the camera, set the maximum distance you want the drone to fly (useful when learning how to fly), and you can see the image from the drone camera itself.

I really hoped I could use my Kindle Fire but there is no native application for it. Apparently you can "sideload" the application which means opening up the Kindle to a non-Amazon application but I didn't read of anyone having great success so at this point I haven't tried it. Instead I decided to just use my iPhone 5 and then I'd determine if I wanted more.

Before the drone arrived I installed the DJI Go Application through the Apple store. Installation was no big deal, similar to most Apple installations.

DJI Phantom 3 Intelligent Flight Battery

When the DJI Phantom 3 Advanced arrived from DJI the first thing that I had to do was charge the batteries. I'd purchased an extra battery so that meant charging the 2 batteries for the drone plus the battery in the remote controller. I can't say exactly how long it took but I'm guessing it was around 3 hours or more before the batteries were charged. It could have been 4 hours. The controller took the longest, perhaps as long as the two batteries combined.

While the batteries were charging I spent my time reading the brief documentation, registering with the FAA, and watching plenty of videos on YouTube. DJI has some introductory tutorial videos just for the Phantom 3 Advanced and Professional model.

The batteries that power the drone are called "Intelligent Flight Batteries". They have some circuitry in them to support and display the status of the battery's cells. For $150 each they better have something in there!

Note that I am talking about things that are new to me. I have some appreciation as to the technology in this drone compared to earlier versions or drones from other companies. The fact that this drone offers 720K video streaming from the drone to the controller, for example, was a $1,400 or so add on to the version 2! Now they're throwing it in for free! That's just one example of what I'm able to take for granted. Another is the way this drone detects and manages its position through GPS and Glonass, resulting in a hover that pretty much stays where you put it when you take your hands off of the controls. Thanks to everyone who came before, developing this technology!

Once I got the batteries charged and turned things on and linked up I was told I had to upgrade the firmware. This is a process that a number of people complain about. I upgraded the aircraft by downloading the update software and installing it on the SD card. I couldn't get the controller to upgrade that way but when your iPhone is attached you can upgrade online if you have internet access through your iPhone.

Still image from DJI Phantom 3 Advanced
Saved as DNG and processed in Lightroom

Finally, I was ready to fly but it was about 2:00 AM and dark outside. Instead I took some photographs and video with the device and familiarized myself with the controls. I couldn't hold back, and installed the propellers and actually lifted off inside the house. It was only a few seconds before my wife came out and, with a pleasant voice, reminded me of the current time and that she had to get up early to take a vehicle in for service. I shut the unit down to wait until the following day...

I transferred the few images to my PC and did a little playing around in Adobe Lightroom with the DNG images. Then I decided to go to bed so I could get up at some point when the sun came up and take the drone outdoors.

Why the "Advanced" model?

DJI makes three variations of the Phantom 3, the "Standard", the "Advanced", and the "Professional". The Standard lacks a number of features that I thought I should get and most of the reviews I read echoed my thoughts. You can review the differences on DJI's website. The Standard has an inferior video downlink, does NOT use the GLONASS satellite system, does NOT have the Vision Positioning System which helps with flight control when satellites are not available (e.g. when you're indoors), does NOT support filters for the camera lens, and has a less capable controller, to name a few items. I was especially interested in the ability to have lens filters. I decided the Standard was not enough for me.

The Advanced and Professional models are identical except for 3 items:

1. The Professional has a camera that will capture 4K video; the Advanced will only capture HD video.
2. The Professional comes with a higher powered 100W charger; the Advanced comes with only a 57W charger meaning that the battery charging time is longer.
3. The Professional has Gold stickers; the Advanced has Silver stickers. Note that the Standard model has Red stickers.

Since I'm not after the camera for video purposes and the still image specifications are the same between the Advanced and the Professional, and the Professional was selling for about $350 more, I decided to go with the Advanced model and use the savings for additional batteries (I will buy at least one or two more I'm betting...) and other accessories. This is the same conclusion I found a lot - unless you're trying to get the best video available, and as long as you have a computer where you can process and/or view that video, the HD format video is still really good.