Phantom 3 Advance - My thoughts for what its worth

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Hi All. I have owned my new Phantom 3 for over a week now and after a fair few flights I have come to the following conclusions when compared to my last machine, a Phantom 2 Vision

Likes

Build quality - This is certainly better put together than my P2V, especially the motor windings which were a complete mess on my P2V
Camera - No more fish eye! Looking back at my old videos I dont know how I put up with it. I am no expert here but there seems to be a noticable improvement in quality too.
Range - This is totally amazing, even my CE European restricted bird will fly as far as I dare, currently up to 4500ft away with full signal still showing. My initial concerns about CE v FCC restrictions are completely unfounded. It seems that battery life rather than actual control/fpv range could be the main consideration for a long flight, especially on a breezy day.
Controller - Much better quality & functionality. Seems to get many flights out of a single charge too.
FPV - To me this is what the Phantom 3 is all about and is my main reason for buying. Boy am I impressed with Lightbridge, it is the answer to our FPV prayers. It works so consistently well over such a long distance that I must applaud DJI for getting it just right. Over 3 x the pixel count of a P2V+ at over 3 times the distance. The phantom 2 is, by comparision, a total dinosaur.
The App - Head and shoulder above the P2 App in every way

Dislikes

VPS - I just dont trust it. I dont feel in complete control near to the ground as it will occasionally make movements/adjustments that I dont expect so it puts me on edge. It has been disabled in the settings!
The uncertainty of being an early adopter - I just have that nagging feeling everytime I go out to fly that this could be the day it either flys away or takes on a mind of it's own and crashes. This happened to me with the P2V on my 30th flight. I was totally convinced that fly aways were things that happened to others, probably mostly due to pilot error, but alas not. These machines can take on a life of their own and I just hope that doesnt happen to me. Thankfully we have seen only a few so called P3 fly aways so fingers crossed!
The shell - I wish they had given it a new more purposeful shape, probably similar to but smaller than the Inspire.

I am sure some will agree and others probably disagree with some of what I have said but hey, that is what these forums are all about! Happy flying
 
Last edited:
Hi All. I have owned my new Phantom 3 for over a week now and after a fair few flights I have come to the following conclusions when compared to my last machine, a Phantom 2 Vision

Likes

Build quality - This is certainly better put together than my P2V, especially the motor windings which were a complete mess on my P2V
Camera - No more fish eye! Looking back at my old videos I dont know how I put up with it. I am no expert here but there seems to be a noticable improvement in quality too.
Range - This is totally amazing, even my CE European restricted bird will fly as far as I dare, currently up to 4500ft away with full signal still showing. My initial concerns about CE v FCC restrictions are completely unfounded. It seems that battery life rather than actual control/fpv range could be the main consideration for a long flight, especially on a breezy day.
Controller - Much better quality & functionality. Seems to get many flights out of a single charge too.
FPV - To me this is what the Phantom 3 is all about and is my main reason for buying. Boy am I impressed with Lightbridge, it is the answer to our PFV prayers. It works so consistently well over such a long distance that I must applaud DJI for getting it just right. Over 3 x the pixel count of a P2V+ at over 3 times the distance. The phantom 2 is, by comparision, a total dinosaur.
The App - Head and shoulder above the P2 App in every way

Dislikes

VPS - I just dont trust it. I dont feel in complete control near to the ground as it will occasionally make movements/adjustments that I dont expect so it puts me on edge. It has been disabled in the settings!
The uncertainty of being an early adopter - I just have that nagging feeling everytime I go out to fly that this could be the day it either flys away or takes on a mind of it's own and crashes. This happened to me with the P2V on my 30th flight. I was totally convinced that fly aways were things that happened to others, probably mostly due to pilot error, but alas not. These machines can take on a life of their own and I just hope that doesnt happen to me. Thankfully we have seen only a few so called P3 fly aways so fingers crossed!
The shell - I wish they had given it a new more purposeful shape, probably similar to but smaller than the Inspire.

I am sure some will agree and others probably disagree with some of what I have said but hey, that is what these forums are all about! Happy flying
Thanks for the review!
 
I just like to offer some key points to newbies who may be viewing the forum who may be thinking of taking the plunge. Hope it helps.
 
I agree with the VPS point. I'm flying in a wheat field behind my house. So I set a little p!ywood board on the ground as a launch/landing pad, I'd say a bit less than 1 sq foot. In full daylight I landed on it no problem. But this evening I flew as the sun was setting and then the landing was much less steady so I do think it'll be disabled when outdoors.
 
Yep, dont like VPS. I wonder if it can be unplugged and removed to save weight without upsetting things?
 
Good review pencilcoil, i agree about what you say regarding VPS, i had mine turned on for the first couple of flights and it flew perfectly without no issues. After reading up in the forums about some possible critical errors showing up with some owners i turned mine off, i figured i won't fly indoors anyhow and never fly that low to the ground anyhow, its just another system that could possibly go wrong. Even in the future i have no plans to turn it back on because as i say there is no need for it. 14 flawless flights so far and i want to keep it that way.
I fully agree with all your "Likes", my pv2+ v3 seems like a dinasour now, sold as soon as i flew the P3P as i knew i'd never want to fly it again. :)
 

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