DJI’s new Phantom 4 Pro drone may be impossible to crash

DJI is taking over the drone world, one fantastic drone at a time. A few months after unveiling the light and portable DJI Mavic, DJI has updated its fantastic DJI Phantom 4 Pro with a new FlightAutonomy system that makes it virtually impossible to crash.

“Phantom 4 Pro builds on DJI’s original obstacle avoidance system with FlightAutonomy – three sets of visual systems that build a 3D map of obstacles in front, behind and below the aircraft, as well as infrared sensing systems on both sides,” the company explained. “FlightAutonomy can position, navigate and plan routes for Phantom 4 Pro, enabling it to avoid obstacles in a sensing range up to 98 feet at front and rear, even in complex 3D environments.”

The old Phantom 4 featured a tamer version of this avoidance system, but it was reserved to the front and sides. The Pro model will now be aware of not just the front and sides, but the back and underneath. The new sensors will detect objects that are as far as 100 feet away on the front, while the back sensors will detect objects that are 23 feet away.

The Phantom 4 Pro will come with an improved 20-megapixel camera, aperture control and better battery life with up to 30 minutes of flight time. There’s also a new upgradable high-luminance controller that has GPS and a microSD card slot. The DJI Phantom 4 Pro will retail for $1,499 while the upgraded controller with the drone will cost $1,700.

DJI also announced the Inspire 2, its top of the line drone aimed at videographers and cinematographers. This beast of a drone shoots 5.2K video and travels up to 67mph among other things. It starts of at $2,999 but can be run up to $6,000 if you get the second camera that can be used with different lenses.

The drones of the future are here now

Drones have made tremendous strides in the past couple years, but they are really hitting their stride this year. DJI is spearheading the market, first with the Phantom 4 and now with the Mavic and upgraded Phantom 4 Pro. There is an option for any type of user. As prices continue to drop and tech improves, drones will become even more normalized than they are now.