If you are a fan of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) you would know that there are a lot of advancements in the field. Every year the drone manufacturer set out to outperform not just the competition, but themselves as well. Last year, DJI stole the drone of the year award from every other drone maker with its DJI Mavic Pro. The story won’t be entirely different this year either, the only difference being the change in the drone model. DJI amazed everybody when it announced the new DJI Mavic Air which is set to ship on January 28.

Clearer than ever

The most astounding part of the new DJI Mavic Air is that it is so compact that you can carry it in the palm of your hand after being folded. Yes, the drone can be folded in a footprint that is less than your iPad mini. Soon you will see people carrying it around in the jacket. This change alone is groundbreaking for the entire UAV industry. The 430g drone has the controller which can also be compacted just like the drone itself. The drone can capture 12MP still shots with HDR and 32MP 360-degree panorama shots. The camera can shoot 4K video at 30 frames per second, 2.7K at 60frames and Full HD at 120 frames per second. There’s also a 3-axis gimbal for stable photography or video shooting and an 85-degree field of view. The drone can record highly-detailed videos at 100Mbps bitrate.

2018 is the “Air” year

The new Mavic Air shines out from its predecessor in a lot of areas. The old Mavic Pro has fewer sensors and cannot shoot images as HDR as the Air. With a 78.8-degree field of view compared to 85 on Mavic Air, Mavic Pro falls short of its successor even in the amount of bitrate. Also, the Mavic Air is almost half the size of the Mavic Pro and more than 40% lighter. Apart from few minor advantages, last year’s champ Mavic Pro struggles to catch up with the new Mavic Air since the Mavic Pro has slightly longer flight time. Mavic Air is far more portable than its predecessor that does not require you to carry a bag with your drone everywhere you go.

It changes the industry again

Mavic Air is designed for people who want to experience the same powerful drone experience, coupled with improved design, improved optics and flight control. The ultimate portability of the drone will surely be its one of the best selling points.

Even though the product is still on pre-order currently and yet to be shipped to customers, there is no doubt that DJI Mavic Air Drone will be the drone of the year for 2018. You’d better go order yours as soon as possible before it is sold out.