Phantom 4 Reasons Not To Buy

[Satellite Aerial View]

Please note the following are my reasons for not buying the P4 and I think there are far better alternatives on the market.

1) The aircraft price increase can not be justified.
2) The battery price ($300.00 au) is far too high for the little gain.
2) Aircraft design is very bland and can only be called an update.
3) The camera has had very little improvement.
4) The camera 360 degree still has the landing gear in sight when filming.
5) Anti collision avoidance will not avoid small twigs.
6) Anti Avoidance only works with a minimum of 300lux (be careful filming at Sunset)
7) No provision for FPV goggles (HDMI?).
8) Extra 3 minutes fly time for a battery priced at $300.00 au, only 5350mah??.
9) No improvement on landing gear still unstable on landing (extra rubbers will not help).
10) No change or improvement with transmitter (still requires phone or tablet??).

Overview;
Too much emphasis has been placed on the avoidance system and relying on the market for beginners, however with the price point on the aircraft and specially the price point of the battery I doubt beginners can afford it when there are cheaper alternatives and just as good.
For DJI to remain market leader they need to do more and innovate with forward thinking and vision to remain there.

 

[aaronrivera]

Dji is becoming apple period. Little update, little improvement, but ppl will still buy it to get the latest. That is technology

 

[Juventino]

It's a nice update, you can't really expect anyone to reinvent the iPhone or reinvent the quadcopter everytime there's an update. But for one years worth of progress however it is impressive!

What I think is a little lacking is that there are no sensors on the side. So if you're filming a moving object the drone has to be on the side because there's no 360° camera. But what if something appears from the side? If you don't have perfect depth perception you're going to crash in to it... I feel like the sensors are nice to have on the front but that's just the beginning. Surely there will be more and more accurate sensors in the future.

Also it's too expensive for me, so I just bought a P3P and I am very happy with it! When there will be a nice quadcopter with a much improved camera and sensors on the side at least (hope fully they will have worked out the kinks of the tracking feature) then I will upgrade.


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[With The Birds]

Dont buy it then.

You wont convince people who want it not to.

I have, to a limited extent with the phantom4 release but a lot more with other products seen this behaviour where people who want the latest try and talk others out of upgrading so they wont have something better than them... im not suggesting thats what your doing by the way.

Larger sensor chip and higher video bitrate may have got my attention.

 

[Tobrouk]

I like to see so many negative comments about the P4... maybe I'll get mine faster? Honestly I just think that most of you are just P3 owner pissed because a new model was just announced and you somehow have to justify yourself not spending more money! I have the P1.5 and for me it's the perfect upgrade!

 

[r0adb10ck]

I like to see so many negative comments about the P4... maybe I'll get mine faster? Honestly I just think that most of you are just P3 owner pissed because a new model was just announced and you somehow have to justify yourself not spending more money! I have the P1.5 and for me it's the perfect upgrade!

Agreed.. Thank god for all these P3 owners who are trashing it. Hope my P4 ships first!




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[Satellite Aerial View]

Hi, I respect every ones view but I am certainly not P'ed off with this I still think the P4 is a great product but DJI could have done more reserch and come out with something innovative like when they launched the P3 Pro and Adv.
Also could it be the reason there is so much negativity out there is because we like DJI and care about their products in the hope that they will take a lead again?
Cheers, JV
(a Phantom fleet owner)

 

[m0j0]

I'm getting one. Might hold off for awhile but I will get it at some point.


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[xbrute]

Not convinced its worth the 1k price increase. In fact not at all..


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[m0j0]

Not convinced its worth the 1k price increase. In fact not at all..


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What 1k price increase. If you are upgrading from a standard I think it is absolutely worth the 1K increase... The 4 is not 1k more than the others unless you are overseas...


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[Noodle]

Not convinced its worth the 1k price increase. In fact not at all..


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Seeing you are also from Australia, which model of P3 are you comparing to this new P4 that has a price difference of $1000?

 

[movius]

The P4 looks great but we are beginning to treat drones like mobile phones - we all have to have the latest and greatest. Well, I'm writing this on a Samsung S6, not the new, all singing and dancing S7 and it's performance, although old by phone standards, is supurb. It's the same with my P3P. Sure if I hadn't bought it in January 2016 I'd have bought and been deliriously happy with the P4. However, I'm pretty sure my P3P will do everything I personally want both now and in the future. For me to be tempted to upgrade, it's the gap between the P3P (P4 now) and the Inspire 1 that's catching my interest. Any company that fills that hole effectively with a comprehensive machine is gonna get my whole attention. That to me is a reason to upgrade.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[msinger]

Too much emphasis has been placed on the avoidance system and relying on the market for beginners

While the avoidance system is certainly the talk of the town, it really is just one of the many new features/changes. If you want to see what really has been changed, then check out the list here.

 

[Hovtech]

We should retitle this thread, sour grapes

 

[Dirty Bird]

Until four weeks ago people were happily shelling out $1259 for a P3 Pro. The P4 adds collision avoidance, Tap & Follow, 5 minutes extra flight time, etc.. You seriously feel all of this new tech in a P4 isn't worth an additional $140? AU prices aside, which is simply a matter of exchange rates, I must respectfully disagree.

The bland aircraft is only a matter of applying stripes, a skin, or ordering one the custom printed shells. The latter is a super cool option & we will begin seeing some really sharp & unique aircraft.. There is no "360 degree" camera on any Phantom model, however, the camera on the P4 is centered with motors mounted higher so this should help eliminate landing gear & props to a better degree than previous models. It is unreasonable to expect a first-generation obstacle avoidance system to pick up every single twig or wire. The technology will improve over time. FPV (HDMI) is a simple matter of adding the HDMI module just like on the Advanced & Pro models. 5 minutes of battery improvement is significant, as is a 30% increase in potential speed (hopeful this increased speed is usable for autonomous missions). On landing gear, I have never...EVER...experienced a tip over on take off or landing in HUNDREDS of flights and, unless the terrain is really bad, I ALWAYS land the aircraft. I personally prefer the DJI system of allowing one to use the device of your choice, rather than locking you into a display integrated into the controller.

I am waiting before ordering a P4. I want to see some user feedback as the P4 takes to the skies, & the custom-printed shells becoming a reality. Personally I am hoping for a black offering. But I don't feel $140 premium is much of a difference over the P3 Pro price of a few weeks ago.

Please note the following are my reasons for not buying the P4 and I think there are far better alternatives on the market.

1) The aircraft price increase can not be justified.
2) The battery price ($300.00 au) is far too high for the little gain.
2) Aircraft design is very bland and can only be called an update.
3) The camera has had very little improvement.
4) The camera 360 degree still has the landing gear in sight when filming.
5) Anti collision avoidance will not avoid small twigs.
6) Anti Avoidance only works with a minimum of 300lux (be careful filming at Sunset)
7) No provision for FPV goggles (HDMI?).
8) Extra 3 minutes fly time for a battery priced at $300.00 au, only 5350mah??.
9) No improvement on landing gear still unstable on landing (extra rubbers will not help).
10) No change or improvement with transmitter (still requires phone or tablet??).

Overview;
Too much emphasis has been placed on the avoidance system and relying on the market for beginners, however with the price point on the aircraft and specially the price point of the battery I doubt beginners can afford it when there are cheaper alternatives and just as good.
For DJI to remain market leader they need to do more and innovate with forward thinking and vision to remain there.

 

[Crunch97]

I personally think the p4 is a fine bird but already have p3p that is also fine bird so it comes down those who have none as to what version is worth it.

 

[ianwood]

We have a thread for this already. Closed.