The Phantom 4 is the newest drone model by Chinese tech firm DJI.
It is based on the DJI’s classic Quadro-Copter design of the Phantom series, with an X-shaped body, four propellers and a high-end camera mounted in a gimbal within a robust landing gear below the main body.
Compared to the previous model Phantom 3, the body is streamlined. It has no edges or openings and the base plate of the gimbal with the SD card slot is integrated into the main body. The downward-looking sensors are integrated into the main body as well. Furthermore, its landing gear is closed, with no cables visible. Along with its body made of a shiny material, this gives the Phantom 4 a more elegant and aerodynamic appearance.
The drone’s propellers are self-locking for a safer connection. Meanwhile, the drone’s batteries com in a totally new design – they are bigger, about 100 grams heavier, but you get about 20 percent more capacity, which gives you some 5-8 minutes of additional flying time. The weight of the Phantom 4 ready-to-fly is almost similar to the Phantom 3, at about 1.2 kilograms.
As for flying the Phantom 4, the first very pleasant surprise is the sound it produces when its system is started up.
It emits a soft beep, not like the terrible loud beep that shocks everyone when I start up the Phantom 3.
The remote control is unchanged compared to the Phantom 3 and I used the DJI Go App, so I felt very comfortable in its usage from the beginning.
The Phantom reacts smoothly but precisely to all my commands and hovers on the spot if I release the remote control – not only in fine weather conditions, but also in strong wind. I was flying it in an exposed place without any problems even though the wind was up to 25 kilometers per hour.
As expected, the Phantom 4 continues the robust and reliable design of the Phantom series.
But how do its new cool features perform in reality?
One such feature is the “Obstacle Avoidance” which allows the Phantom 4 to identify obstacles within its flight passage using two additional cameras.
Similar to the parking beeper on cars, you get visual and audio warnings. But in addition, the Phantom takes action if you come to close to an object. This is a very useful feature, because small, tiny objects like cables in the air are very difficult to detect even when using a high-definition preview on your mobile device. And it works very well. Even small, moving objects like tree limbs or leaves are detected reliably and proper action is taken by the Phantom 4.
After my son and I became familiar with the Obstacle Avoidance feature and began to trust it, we turned serious and took our eWheels (electric monocycles) to explore the “ActiveTrack” feature in a park nearby.
Following a moving object is something everyone flying a drone tries to do sooner or later -- and then eventually figures out that it is not a trivial matter at all.
The wide angle camera means you have to fly quite close to the object, with trees, lanterns, signage and many other obstacles interfering.
That is the reason why the “FollowMe” function of the Phantom 3, which only tracks your mobile device signal, uses a safety distance of 10 meters -- a little too far for many shots.
A similar function on the Phantom 4, the ActiveTrack, works differently. It visually tracks an object via the main camera. We did not spend much time on the instruction manuals as the DJI App is quite intuitive.
On the screen, I selected the focus to be on my son on his eWheel and pushed the “Go” button, an action that might be a little bit tricky, especially if the target is already in motion. Immediately the Phantom 4 put the target into focus and starting to follow closely.
Without the Obstacle Avoidance feature it would have been a very short flight, as lanterns and trees were in the way many times. The Phantom 4 circumvents the obstacles -- if this is not possible or the situation is too complex for it to handle, it breaks, hoovers and tries to relocate its target.
Sometimes we had to adjust the height manually. For example to follow the target as it moved below the branches of trees. From time to time, the Phantom 4 moves quite unexpectedly and it also moves very dynamically to adjust its flight route. It also accelerates when it relocates its target again, so I do not recommend trying these close follow ups in a crowded environment.
Later, when we had a look at the recorded video, the gimbal did a very good job in compensating for these sudden dynamic movements. We were riding our eWheels close to some trees and did some slaloms through the trees, but the Phantom 4 never flew too close to any obstacles. Once I did a very sharp turn and rode below the Phantom 4, so the ActiveTrack lost me and picked a little boy who was passing by with his bike instead. Immediately the Phantom 4 sped up and followed him, but I took over manually.
Overall the DJI’s Phantom 4 is an elegant and sophisticated quadro-copter, with very reliable and robust flight characteristics, even in rough weather conditions. Its new features, the intelligent flight modes, help make flying safer and allow users to pay more attention to being creative in filming. I would have appreciated 360-degree coverage of these sensors, as I like to film flying sideways or even backward. However, I think the Phantom 4 DJI made a very important step toward autonomous and safe drone flying. My son and I enjoyed the Phantom 4 very much.
By Merck Korea CEO Michael Grund
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Executive Review features the testing of latest tech devices for Korean and foreign executives here. If you have any questions, email
jylee@heraldcorp.com. The opinion above is the author’s own. ― Ed.
