DJI’s not done releasing new drones – the company has just announced the professional version of their Phantom 4 drone and the successor to their professional-grade Inspire drone – the Inspire 2.
Let’s start with the Phantom 4 Pro first. The new model is a slightly upgraded version of the previously released Phantom 4, sporting a new pair of stereoscopic sensors on the rear as well as infrared sensors on the sides. The new sensors means that the Phantom 4 Pro is almost virtually crash proof – at least in terms of obstacle avoidance.
The Phantom 4 Pro also has a bigger battery, allowing for 30 minutes of flight time on a single charge, and has a bigger camera sensor that uses a 1-inch CMOS capable of capturing 20-megapixel images and 4K video at 60 frames per second. The controller has been revamped too, and now features its own 5.5-inch full HD display instead of using your smartphone. There’s a display-less remote available too if you want it.
The Inspire 2, on the other hand, features a tweaked design and has more features for professional filmmakers. For one thing the new drone can hit speeds o up to 67 mph, or around 108 kph, and can accelerate to 50 mph or 80 kph in just four seconds, making it one of the fastest drones around.
The Zenmuse X5S and X4S cameras can capture 5.2K video at 20.8-megapixels or 20-megapixels respectively. Because of the sheer volume of data generated by the cameras, a microSD card isn’t going to cut it anymore, no matter its performance so DJI stuffed the Inspire 2 with an onboard SSD instead via PCIe.
While the Inspire 1 was usable with a single operator, it excelled the most when two people were operating it – pilot and camera operator. To make it easier (and safer) to operate the Inspire 2, DJI has included a dedicated first person view for the pilot. The Inspire 2 also has most of the side-sensing tech as the Phantom 4 Pro.
DJI’s new professional aerial shooting platforms don’t come cheap though – the Phantom 4 Pro is set to retail at $1500 (Php 73.6K) for the standard remote version. If you want the one with the built-in display in the controller, you’ll have to shell out $1800 (Php 88.4K) for one. The Inspire 2 on the other hand, starts at a wallet-draining $3,000 (Php 147.4K).