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I’m in the same camp. I got my son a Mini 3, which is a stellar quadcopter in its own right, but the DJI ecosystem is a spectacle to behold for some good and ma

I’m in the same camp. I got my son a Mini 3, which is a stellar quadcopter in its own right, but the DJI ecosystem is a spectacle to behold for some good and many bad reasons. One issue could be that they don’t communicate compatibility between devices very well, so it’s very hard to know if buying one thing will lead to being very limited and locked in — even within the DJI ecosystem. People often find themselves needing to buy more equipment to accomplish seemingly trivial things. For example, the controller we got can’t install apps and it doesn’t work with a multitude of other quads DJI sells. Why not? Are they good reasons or bad? Where can I find clear explanations? I’m sure the controller is very resource constrained, but can’t I just opt into bad performance if I don’t mind? Is the controller incompatible with other quads due to radio protocols, or is this a choice intended to force eventual upgrades? Without being able to tell with certainty, sometimes it begins to seem a little manufactured and nefarious. Otherwise, the fact that their protocols are all proprietary and I can’t use the controller with custom quads is very frustrating. I have a Radio Master TX12 that I can’t use with any DJI products, and a DJI controller I can’t use with any custom quads already built or that I could ever build. That’s all crazy. Sure, tight integration means better performance, but the extent to which it’s closed off is unreal. Although the Mini 3 is a genuinely awesome device, I don’t think I’ll buy DJI again. I think I’d rather buy into open VTX hardware and use my own camera to record footage. It’s a huge compromise in convenience and upfront cost, but if you care a lot about the hobby it’s perhaps well worth it. The flexibility afforded is enormous.

brokenmachine 4y ago
100%. I was thinking about getting an Avata, and I was just about to pull the trigger, then they released a recent update that includes Remote ID which means that now you have to connect your phone to the goggles to take off (something you never had to do before) so it can get a GPS location to broadcast the operator location. I'm not even sure why it would need to do that because the drone itself has a GPS so wouldn't it know where it took off from anyway? I'm in Australia so we don't even use Remote ID, so I don't know what will happen if I bought one. Do I have to connect my phone to use the drone? Will I have to in the future? How can I find out? What if I'm in an area with no phone signal? I am quite interested in trying out FPV drones, and I would like to have the (unique?) feature of the Avata where if I get in a bad spot I can just hit the switch to enable GPS auto-hover, but all of the uncertainty with DJI stuff has made me not buy one, and I probably won't. I didn't even know you had to sideload the app until this thread. Spidey senses going off 2000%. I don't need to spend $2k on another hacking project on my list of devices that I've paid for but still don't really own. Probably better to just buy a more DIY setup that I have full control over, and real ownership of.
- saidinesh5 4y ago
  GPS return to home/fail safe modes has been a feature of most fpv drone firmware for quite a while. Betaflight, iNav etc .. All support that as long as you have a GPS (+ compass) module installed. The only thing avata brings is some beginner friendly flight modes for a premium. Kind of like Apple products. You also have a lot of ready to fly/bind and fly options (buy a radio separately and bind it to your quad and fly) out there these days..
  - brokenmachine 4y ago
    Hmm, I'll have to check them out a bit. Are there DIY digital FPV goggles with as good quality video as the Avata ones? Do you need a separate camera for the footage (gopro), as well as the FPV camera? Also the gimbal on the Avata seems very well integrated, even having fancy head tracking, which I wouldn't mind giving up, but do the DIY drones have a gimbal at all, or is it a manual job to stabilize the footage later? I agree, DJI seems like the Apple of drones. And I'm against Apple for computers and phones, because I can DIY better and more features. But for drones, I suspect that DJI actually has features that you can't (reasonably) DIY. What are the good brands for the ready to fly/bind and fly drones, so I can have a google?
    - saidinesh5 4y ago
      You can just get DJI Goggles 2 ( https://www.getfpv.com/fpv/hd-fpv/dji-digital-hd-fpv/dji-goggles-2.html https://www.getfpv.com/fpv/hd-fpv/dji-digital-hd-fpv/dji-gog... ) and buy a quad with the O3 Air unit (The same video system that is in Avata) and bind them. What quad you want to buy depends on what kind of flying you want to do. There are all kinds of them for freestyle, long range etc.. If you want something with prop guards, here is a decent one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFBBTtNZUPc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFBBTtNZUPc . See if you like it? Geprc, iFlight are usually decent brands. When buying, go for ELRS 2.4 Ghz version with GPS. ELRS is just an open source rc link system that has really good range. Gimbals and headtrackers are possible with DIY quads. But that is mostly used by fixed wing people. For just racing/freestyle kind of flying you don't want those kind of things. It is just one more thing that breaks. Here is an example of a DIY headtracker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVC5HyJGU4Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVC5HyJGU4Y . I think DJI just has some beginner friendly features with additional sensors for collision detection, automatic takeoff/landing etc... Once you are used to flying, those are mostly useless. If you want an alternative to DJI video system, there's Walksnail Avatar, which is quite decent too (Comparison video: https://youtu.be/d0VoBp9-sn4?t=550 https://youtu.be/d0VoBp9-sn4?t=550 ). Both DJI O3 Air Unit and Walksnail Avatar have onboard recording system which eliminates the need for a GoPro. At least for non/semi professional footage. For stabilizing the footage, people just use Gyroflow: https://gyroflow.xyz/ https://gyroflow.xyz/ later on. As always, before investing in Goggles/Quads, do get yourself a good transmitter and practise flying on a simulator. Maybe Radiomaster Zorro or Radiomaster Boxer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0b1tQ-hyCQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0b1tQ-hyCQ . ELRS version.

brokenmachine 4y ago

100%. I was thinking about getting an Avata, and I was just about to pull the trigger, then they released a recent update that includes Remote ID which means that now you have to connect your phone to the goggles to take off (something you never had to do before) so it can get a GPS location to broadcast the operator location. I'm not even sure why it would need to do that because the drone itself has a GPS so wouldn't it know where it took off from anyway? I'm in Australia so we don't even use Remote ID, so I don't know what will happen if I bought one. Do I have to connect my phone to use the drone? Will I have to in the future? How can I find out? What if I'm in an area with no phone signal? I am quite interested in trying out FPV drones, and I would like to have the (unique?) feature of the Avata where if I get in a bad spot I can just hit the switch to enable GPS auto-hover, but all of the uncertainty with DJI stuff has made me not buy one, and I probably won't. I didn't even know you had to sideload the app until this thread. Spidey senses going off 2000%. I don't need to spend $2k on another hacking project on my list of devices that I've paid for but still don't really own. Probably better to just buy a more DIY setup that I have full control over, and real ownership of.

saidinesh5 4y ago
GPS return to home/fail safe modes has been a feature of most fpv drone firmware for quite a while. Betaflight, iNav etc .. All support that as long as you have a GPS (+ compass) module installed. The only thing avata brings is some beginner friendly flight modes for a premium. Kind of like Apple products. You also have a lot of ready to fly/bind and fly options (buy a radio separately and bind it to your quad and fly) out there these days..
- brokenmachine 4y ago
  Hmm, I'll have to check them out a bit. Are there DIY digital FPV goggles with as good quality video as the Avata ones? Do you need a separate camera for the footage (gopro), as well as the FPV camera? Also the gimbal on the Avata seems very well integrated, even having fancy head tracking, which I wouldn't mind giving up, but do the DIY drones have a gimbal at all, or is it a manual job to stabilize the footage later? I agree, DJI seems like the Apple of drones. And I'm against Apple for computers and phones, because I can DIY better and more features. But for drones, I suspect that DJI actually has features that you can't (reasonably) DIY. What are the good brands for the ready to fly/bind and fly drones, so I can have a google?
  - saidinesh5 4y ago
    You can just get DJI Goggles 2 ( https://www.getfpv.com/fpv/hd-fpv/dji-digital-hd-fpv/dji-goggles-2.html https://www.getfpv.com/fpv/hd-fpv/dji-digital-hd-fpv/dji-gog... ) and buy a quad with the O3 Air unit (The same video system that is in Avata) and bind them. What quad you want to buy depends on what kind of flying you want to do. There are all kinds of them for freestyle, long range etc.. If you want something with prop guards, here is a decent one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFBBTtNZUPc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFBBTtNZUPc . See if you like it? Geprc, iFlight are usually decent brands. When buying, go for ELRS 2.4 Ghz version with GPS. ELRS is just an open source rc link system that has really good range. Gimbals and headtrackers are possible with DIY quads. But that is mostly used by fixed wing people. For just racing/freestyle kind of flying you don't want those kind of things. It is just one more thing that breaks. Here is an example of a DIY headtracker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVC5HyJGU4Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVC5HyJGU4Y . I think DJI just has some beginner friendly features with additional sensors for collision detection, automatic takeoff/landing etc... Once you are used to flying, those are mostly useless. If you want an alternative to DJI video system, there's Walksnail Avatar, which is quite decent too (Comparison video: https://youtu.be/d0VoBp9-sn4?t=550 https://youtu.be/d0VoBp9-sn4?t=550 ). Both DJI O3 Air Unit and Walksnail Avatar have onboard recording system which eliminates the need for a GoPro. At least for non/semi professional footage. For stabilizing the footage, people just use Gyroflow: https://gyroflow.xyz/ https://gyroflow.xyz/ later on. As always, before investing in Goggles/Quads, do get yourself a good transmitter and practise flying on a simulator. Maybe Radiomaster Zorro or Radiomaster Boxer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0b1tQ-hyCQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0b1tQ-hyCQ . ELRS version.