How important are the firmware upgrades?

[DronesForHire]

Is it mandatory to perform firmware updates?

I just bought a brand new P3P and mine immediately says that I need to upgrade to version 1.3.2 which involves buying a USB 3.0 microSD card reader. I live in Mexico, where things like this are extremely difficult to acquire. Most places will not ship into Mexico, and the ones that do will end up requiring my item sit in customs for clearance for 3 weeks.

Thoughts?

 

[750r]

I do not own a P3 so I don't know if they force you or not .
My P1 & P2 I never updated I'm still flying on what came with them and never had a problem .

 

[WetDog]

So far not mandatory. That could change in the future. This is a topic of much discussion here and there is no perfect answer.

Pros: DJI is actually improving it's software. The 1.6 upgrade (presumably) fixes an cold weather issue where the Phantom would suddenly fall from the sky. That's an important improvement. In Mexico it may not be all that important.

Cons: DJI can implement restrictions in firmware (altitude, geo fencing). So far they've been reasonable even if I complain that DJi isn't very good at explaining what they do. But it could get unreasonable (attach aluminum foil hat). Again, in Mexico, it may not be all that noticable.

Not sure why you think you need a USB 3 reader. A USB 2 reader will read microSD cards, will work in a USB 3 connector if you have a USB3 to mini USB connector which is pretty ubiquitous everywhere (found one in Ecuador last year). You need to be able to read those cards if you plan on using the video anyway.

 

[John Locke]

Is it mandatory to perform firmware updates?

I just bought a brand new P3P and mine immediately says that I need to upgrade to version 1.3.2 which involves buying a USB 3.0 microSD card reader. I live in Mexico, where things like this are extremely difficult to acquire. Most places will not ship into Mexico, and the ones that do will end up requiring my item sit in customs for clearance for 3 weeks.

Thoughts?

After you download the Go app and connect with the drone, go into the Go app with your Phantom on and find the About link in the app and report back what version you have for the RC, Phantom, and Go. Since you likely have the latest Go app on your smart device, it may be an issue if your Phantom or RC firmware is too old. If the Phantom is 1.3.2, I would try it out and see, because that's got the least trouble. 1.4 has the waypoints implemented, but the craft seems to drift more, which in my opinion it's that bad. I use 1.4 firmware in my Phantom 3 for a couple months. Sure the drift was a little annoying, but it was workable. So report back what you have for firmware rev in your Phantom and RC and we can tell you what to expect. But in general, you should not have to upgrade just to fly. It should fly fine regardless, assuming it's not too old of firmware.

As for the USB reader, you'll need one of those anyway to pull the video off the microSD card used in the camera to transfer the data to your computer, at which point you'll do editing I assume. So you might as well find yourself a USB adapter asap. There are youtube videos to show you the steps if you choose to upgrade.

 

[Kingfisher]

You can plug the phantom directly into your PC's usb sockets with the short white cable supplied with the unit. With the aircraft turned on you can read and write to the micro card in the camera slot.