It is clearly stated in the Battery Safety Guidelines manual that you should "Never use Non-DJI batteries".
So in this light, you either did not read the manual (understandable) or you decided to go ahead and disregard an important safety issue. So your argument that you were never told that you could not use 3rd party batts is at best weak.
Moving forward, you seem to conclude that the 3rd party batteries are fully compatible with the OEMs. Did you know this before you bought it or was price the driving force?
Honestly, you and I know that they can never be the same.
Now your main gripe is about the way that DJI handled the use of 3rd party batts. I will admit that that would piss me off as well, but just for a microsecond, consider DJI's point of view (I know it may be quite difficult for you). They are putting out a product that could very well EASILY kill people. They may have received numerous reports of birds falling out of the sky caused by 3rd party battery failure (how do you know they haven't). They choose a swift and unpopular response (your opinion) ... IN THE INTEREST OF SAFETY.
Summing up......a hypothetical question for you....how would you feel if, god forbid, the bird you were flying, encountered a fault in the battery that DJI specifically stated not to use, dropped out of the sky and killed an innocent child. I wouldn't want to be in your shoes then. All for the sake of a few dollars which you can clearly afford based on your vast inventory of gear that you posted earlier. Take it on the chin and move on. Too much time wasted hear instead of in the air.
You're extremely naive if you believe this is solely or even mostly about safety.
You and some others refer to "third party batteries" as if they are a single thing. They're not. There are several different manufacturers. My statement does not generalize as yours does. Mine states that "some" of them "meet or exceed" DJI requirements.
There are standards organizations that test batteries and award safety certifications. This is not somethings that DJI is obliged to police.
A guideline is not the same thing as a hard and fast rule. Guidelines are recommendations. To be covered on the documentation side, DJI should have put something in the Operations Manual that stated the use of third party batteries is prohibited. Not simply recommending that they not be used to prevent fires under the Safety Guidelines. They should also have announced on their website that - coming soon, flight would be restricted to OEM batteries only. That restrictive software in the firmware does not appear overnight. This was probably in the works for months. An announcement on their website early on would have prevented many people from purchasing third party batteries in the 2 months leaded up to the firmware rollout. Not warning customers was rude and inconsiderate to say the least. Not doing anything to minimize the damage to their customers shows just how much they value those customers.
Your hypothetical question is an attempt at fear mongering and completely invalid - at least it is for me - and it should be for everyone. The situation you describe could never happen to me because I never fly overtop of people - so whether it falls out of the sky or not - there is no risk of personal injury.
The only thing that has kept this thread going is the insistence of some people to:
- propagate lies and misinformation about after market batteries,
- tell me I have no right to be upset by anything that has happened
- defend the way that DJI has treated existing customers
Several people have told me that I should be out flying instead of replying to this thread but here are the reasons that that advice is no good:
- I now have 40 minutes less flying time than previously
- can't fly after dark
- can't fly in the rain
- I type very quickly so it doesn't take nearly as long as they might think for me to bang out a reply
- I take frequent smoke and coffee breaks and I'm able to multi-task so I reply while I'm on a break
- can't fly a drone that's on the bottom of a lake (I have another one now - but for 3 days, I had nothing)
Did I miss anything? Oh yeah - did I know after market batteries could be just as good as OEM before my purchase? Absolutely. I've been buying electronics for years. I also know that after market batteries can be crap and most importantly I know how to tell the difference!
Another thing to clarify is that there is not "a safety issue" with existing after maker batteries - there is a "possible safety issue". DJI's statement is "we can't be sure of the quality of an aftermarket battery". But this is what the safety and standards certification organizations are for. The only reason DJI chooses to take such a hard stance here is to sell more batteries.
Oh - and it's hilarious the way some people will defend DJI's right to make a profit. They imply that if aftermarket batteries are allowed to operate, DJI will not make enough profit to survive! Never mind the fact that 90% of people will still choose OEM batteries or that DJI is making 400%+ in profit margin on those batteries. I think that it's extremely short-sighted for DJI to damage their customer relationships for the sake of capturing 100% of the battery market instead of being happy with 90% - or
reducing their prices on the batteries so that it doesn't make sense to anyone to buy after markets to save 6 or 7 dollars, Do you ever wonder why DJI batteries are priced more than 50% higher than aftermarkets of the same quality? So - it's not just 100% of the market that they want - it's 100% of a market in which they can charge any arbitrary markup at all and people have no choice but to pay it.
In any case - I'm just about done with this thread. If people will just stop jumping in to post misinformation - I'd have nothing to reply to. I believe I have done a good job making my point to those capable of understanding it - and that no amount of further explanation will help the others to see the reality of the situation. Those ones simply lack the facilities needed to process the data so I'll be leaving them with their misinformation, their incorrect assumptions and the opinions that they have arrived at based on all that incorrect data.
Wish me luck. Tomorrow is search and (hopefully) recovery day!