DJI is teasing a new announcement that has drone pilots buzzing over what the new UAV could be.
Many believe the new drone will be a mid-tier DJI Air 3, which will come with a dual-camera array and a newly designed controller.
Image Credit – DJI
The leaks come not from any insider, per se, but from the recent FCC filings by DJI. The filings indicate that the company is planning on releasing the new Air 3 drone really soon, with the July 25th announcement date seeming to support that theory.
Double Up | July 25th, 9 AM EDT
Discover More: https://t.co/sFykjRl9ed pic.twitter.com/wrlaEAujII
— DJI (@DJIGlobal) July 18, 2023
Another hint comes from Twitter, which posted a video image today of a drone operator standing on top of a mountain peak with a controller, looking out over the valley below, towards the sunrise.
The clip has a dual window pane frame separating one part of the image from the other as if showing what the drone would see from its point of view.
Image Credit – DJI
This has led to speculation that the drone is the DJI Air 3, which recent leaks have shown, has dual 1/1.3-inch cameras, each with 2.4um pixel size, and a dual gimbal that houses a 70mm F/2.8 and a wider 24mm F/1.4 camera lens.
The camera is believed to be able to capture 4K video at up to 100 frames per second for slow motion, as well as 4K/60 HDR, and 2.7K vertical video for social media. The camera will also be able to capture 48mp stills.
The Air 3 is also believed to support several new safety features, including omnidirectional obstacle-sensing and Advanced Pilot Assistance System (APAS) 5.0 less experienced pilots to get more flight time without crashes or flyaways. The Air 3 may also feature new “waypoint navigation,” which will enable drone pilots to plan flight routes and program repeatable shooting options, and then save that data for flying at a later date.
DJI will also pack the flight system with several intelligent flight features including FocusTrack, QuickShots, MasterShots, Night Mode, Hyperlapse, Slow Motion, and SmartPhoto 3.0.
For flight times, the rumored Air 3 will also a sport larger, 4241 mAh battery, for flight times that will be able to surpass the current 40-minute envelope set by the DJI Mavic 3 and Mini 3 UAVs, maybe even reaching 46 minutes aloft.
The combo will also have a redesigned charger that will fast charge multiple batteries at the same time, with an option to perhaps transfer power feature that will enable users to offload spare power from other batteries into a fresher battery to get the drone back in the air with little to no downtime.
Image Credit – DJI
Second Gen Controllers
Along with the Air 3, DJI is poised to release next-generation RC2 and RC-N2 smart controllers. Though leaked images of the controllers show very little difference from the previous generation, there could be better antennas for increased range and support for the new O4 transmission protocol that DJI is believed to be developing.
The new transmission protocol is believed to offer a maximum range of 20 km, in spite of the fact that FAA regulations require all drones to stay within the line of sight of the operator or observer.
The protocol will also provide a 1080p/60fps live video feed with a higher video bit rate and more reliable signal strength.
There’s no word on how much the rumored drone will retail for, but considering that the Air 2S is currently discounted to around $800 for the drone only, one can expect an Air 3 to surpass that by at least a few hundred dollars.
We’ll find out next Tuesday.
[source: Drone DJ]
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