Key Point 2: Here are some sample photos taken by the main camera:...

Here are some sample photos taken by the main camera: [embed-google-photos-album link="https://photos.app.goo.gl/BSgJrda9SWd8b3CY7" mode="carousel"] The camera system generally takes pretty great p...

DJI Mavic 4 Pro Review

Item: DJI Mavic 4 Pro
Rating: 4.4
Author: Abe Olandres

As a long-time DJI drone user, we’ve seen how the company has revolutionized this category through the years — starting out as a hobby or toy to being a serious or professional user. The first DJI drone I had was the DJI Phantom 1 back in 2014 (I was playing with a styrofoam-made Parrot AR Drone 2.0 the year before that) with a GoPro Hero 3+ attached to it.

The last serious drone we bought was back in 2019, the Fly More Edition of the DJI Mavic 2 Pro (after our first Mavic Pro’s gimbal conked out). That drone was so good and so durable we’re still using it until today.

Since then, this series has had several iterations and the latest one we’ve tested is the newly announced DJI Mavic 4 Pro. This drone is a beast on so many levels but let’s break it down for you in this review.

Design

The Mavic 4 Pro is massive, and you can clearly see this when you first fish the drone out of the box. It has surpassed the 1kg threshold at 1,063 grams, owing mostly to the enlarged battery and massive camera system.

Mavic 4 Pro beside the Mavic 2 Pro

The drone has this refined aerodynamic architecture as shown by its low-profile, forward-sloping fuselage and streamlined arm geometry. It still has that signature DJI look but somewhat beefed up.

The chassis is fabricated from high-strength, lightweight composite polymers reinforced with magnesium alloy subframes, which makes it a bit hefty at approximately 1kg.

The propulsion system uses a new, quick-release propellers with a disc-mount interface. The blades are constructed from carbon fiber-reinforced composites allowing it to be lightweight yet still durable. The integrated motor housings feature cooling fins and venting channels to help with heat dissipation.

The gimbal assembly is a spherical, multi-axis “Infinity” design, enabling ±70° upward tilt and unrestricted 360° yaw rotation. The gimbal housing is constructed from aluminum alloy for optimal balance between weight and vibration damping, and it accommodates a triple-camera Hasselblad array within a sealed, weather-resistant enclosure.

Sensor arrays for omnidirectional obstacle avoidance are embedded within the drone’s upper and lateral surfaces, utilizing fisheye and LiDAR modules with 0.1 lux sensitivity for low-light operation. An integrated LED beacon ensures compliance with nighttime visibility regulations. The undercarriage incorporates a resilient elastomeric landing pad, safeguarding both the gimbal and downward-facing sensors during ground contact.

Despite its size and weight, the Mavic 4 Pro is still considerably easy to carry around, especially with the included compact carrying bag that can accommodate the remote control, the extra 2 batteries, cables and chargers, and the drone itself.

Camera System

The main camera on the Mavic 4 Pro is a Hasselblad 4/3” CMOS sensor with an effective resolution of 100MP with 25MP resolution for photos.

In terms of video capabilities, the drone shoots up to 6K @ 60fps HDR video and 4K @ 120fps slow motion, with a maximum bitrate of 400Mbps. This is double the previous generation’s output. It also has up to 16 stops of dynamic range, slightly higher than the 12-14 stops of the Mavic 3 Pro.

There’s also two telephoto cameras to complement the main camera: a 70mm mid-telephoto with a 1/1.3” CMOS sensor (48MP) and a 168mm telephoto with a 1/1.5” CMOS sensor (50MP). Both telephotos support 4K/60fps HDR video, f/2.8 aperture, dual native ISO, D-Log color, and advanced subject tracking.

There’s a panorama mode with a 168mm lens features a built-in panoramic mode, capturing wide, high-resolution images without the need for stitching.

The sample clips above were taken at Nambalan River, in Mayantoc, Tarlac and even at a height of 1.5 kilometers, you can still see the crisp and vivid images of the greeneries and the trees. The video is recorded at 4K @ 60fps using MPEG-H (H.265) codec.

The next set of clips above were taken in our farm in Bamban, Tarlac. You will see how the camera is able to get great details of the surrounding trees from around 200m to 500m above ground.

Here are some sample photos taken by the main camera:

The camera system generally takes pretty great photos, especially when it comes to landscape shots. Each photo can eat up to 50MB of file size so remember to use a bigger capacity microSD card to supplement the built-in 42GB of storage.

Gimbal and Flight Features

DJI re-designed the gimbal on the Mavic 4 Pro. This new “Infinity Gimbal” now allows for a full 360° horizontal rotation which allows for a multi-angle and upward shots (up to 70°). Ergo, more shooting angles for creative shots.

There are sensors all around the body of the drone which practically gives it near-perfect avoidance capability. The omni-directional obstacle avoidance is achieved by using six (6) low-light fisheye sensors with as low as 0.1 lux sensitivity and a forward-facing LiDAR.

However, when we flew the drone at the Mt. Olis View Point in Paoay, Atok, Benguet, it was very foggy and we had quite a bit of hard time controlling the drone and get it to land. Obviously, the thick fog was interfering with the drone sensors and navigation.

You can see in the short clip here that we took of the Mt. Olis Viewpoint (the rest of which are purely fog-clouded shots):

In Sport Mode, the Mavic 4 Pro is fast — like 90kph fast! We haven’t tried it at that speed by in normal mode, we cane easily do 30kmph to 50kmph. While the drone is rated to go to a maximum of 6,000 meters at take-off, we’ve only managed to get to 1,500 meters (1.5km) high in our field test as seen in these shots along Nambalan River in Mayantoc, Tarlac. DJI also claims up to 41 kilometers flight distance which is very far. In our experience, we ‘ve been only able to go as far as 2.5 kilometers. We know the drone can go further but we’re not too confident at the time. Maybe next time, when the flight location is more to our advantage.

The Mavic 4 Pro also has a couple of new flight features like “Bird Subject Focusing” and the “ActiveTrack 360°” which, when activated, turns on car mode and direction recognition (we’ll upload a clip of this feature in our next YugaAuto video). We specifically love this feature because it will allow us to shoot our videos for YugaAuto more easier.

For wind resistance, expect the Mavic 4 Pro is be able to handle wind speeds of about 12 meters per second or 43km/hour.

Battery

DJI claims each battery, rated at 6,654mAh or 95.3Whr, can last up to 51 minutes of flight time and we can attest that, in our time of using this for the last couple of weeks, it can indeed go that long (45-minute-ish in one instance) given normal conditions like wind speed.

With the FlyMore Combo, you get 2 extra batteries and a portable charging cradle that comes with a car charging adaptor and a dual Type-C charging brick so you can charge the batteries in one batch and the RC at the same time. This gives you a total of about 2 and a half hours of flight time in one single go and that’s more than a day’s worth of flying in my opinion.

The kit comes with a USB-C to USB-C high-speed data cable, a 240W power adapter, and parallel charging hub so you can quickly and easily replace the battery and be ready for a fresh, fully charged replacement anytime you need it.

Pricing

The DJI Mavic 4 Pro has a suggested retail price of PHP 114,790. Should you want the FlyMore Combo with the RC2 (the one that we have in this review), the kit sells for PHP 140,890.

There’s also a DJI Mavic 4 Pro 512GB Creator Combo with the new DJI RC Pro 2 that costs PHP 181,290. Unlike the regular Mavic 4 Pro, the Creator Combo has a built-in 512GB internal storage.

Verdict

The DJI Mavic 4 Pro sets a new level for foldable drones, especially with the new features that are previously reserved for much larger, more expensive cinema platforms.

The triple-camera system, 6K video, 16 stops of dynamic range, and dynamic 360° gimbal make it a compelling choice for professionals and enthusiasts alike. This is for serious drone users, especially if they are looking for great camera performance that can match their typical dSLR for shooting professional videos.

What we liked about it:
* Extended battery life
* Powerful cameras
* High altitude (6km)
* Long flight distance (41km)
* No GPS return-to-home

What we did not like:
* Can burn a hole in your pocket

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Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.