Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsSTAY AWAY from the Mavic unless you are an expert with DJI products, or a glutton for punishment!
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2017
I'm really torn about this product.
On the one hand, it's one of the most advanced drones out there. You can fold it up and take it anywhere. It has a great camera, and lots of features. Almost too many to count. And you can even control it (at least that's what they say - I haven't even got close to doing that yet) using a headset sold by DJI. But sadly, that's where the praise ends.
I have never seen a product at this level of complexity with such poor instructions. Indeed, they are pretty much nonexistent! Somehow, DJI expects you to know where to go, and what to do - by magic, or something. They certainly don't tell you.
Seriously, I have an electrical engineering degree. I could design, program, build, and fly one of these things from scratch. But I chose not to do that because I wanted to bypass all the hassle of learning, crashing, etc. So I bought this unit, along with the headset, thinking it was a finished product. Wow - was I wrong! You get a few pieces of paper in the boxes, mostly to caution you about setting the batteries on fire. But as far as a nice, clear beginner's "quick start" guide? Forget it! Well, you say, how about going to their site? Sure - good luck with that! I did, and had to flail around trying to figure out where software was located to download it locally. You can't even use the headset to watch a movie, unless you configure it - and you need their software to do that! Their tutorials are not well-organized, and not that great anyway. You wonder if they even tried to test their product with anyone that wasn't totally immersed in drones already. Unbelievable!
In fact, after several weeks, I still have not got it to fly. I took it out in the back yard, and set everything up. Turned it all on. From the electronic indicators, I know the control unit was talking to the drone, but moving the controls did ... nothing. And that's after looking up plenty of information on the control setup, initialization, android phone hookup, etc. Hours of time spent on a very steep learning curve. And I know it doesn't have to be this way. Other products are so much easier to use! Incredibly frustrating.
So, unless you are bound and determined to use this unit above all others, STAY AWAY from it, and buy something simple and cheap. This has been such a waste of time, and if I had any idea it was going to be this much trouble, I never would have purchased the unit. Yuck.