Tested: DJI Phantom 4 Review

After flying DJI's Phantom 4 quadcopter for a month, we share our evaluations of this new drone's ambitious features: the new obstacle avoidance system, active subject tracking, sport mode, and increased battery life. Here's why we think you're better off buying last year's Phantom 3 model.

Shot by Joey Fameli and edited by Norman Chan

Tested is:

Thanks for watching!

[xarvous]

Always appreciate that you don't sound like you're plugging a product, actually giving benefits AND drawbacks.

[ClutchFirst]

Really detailed and honest review. Keep up the good work. 👍🏽

[ehyouman]

Thanks tested for being the first guys to give it an "honest review"

[RoadTripTravel]

Great review. I too am disappointed by the fact that the "follow me" and "track" modes don't work that well. One thing you didn't mention that does work very well is the "point of interest" feature. I love this and it works nearly perfectly. I think this new Phantom 4 is an outstanding quad-copter, I'm very happy I got it!

[conditionnerd]

We sold our Phantom 3 Pro and purchased the Phantom 4, and it was totally worth it!

[KerenWang]

This was my first copter. I never flown before and I think it was quite easy to learn. Buying many cheaper models to "train" seems like a bigger waste of time and money, imho.

[CAPTAINDRONE]

Looking forward to your review of the Yuneec Typhoon H.

[TechLineHD]

Probably the best drone at the moment. Hopefully, we will see a price drop of drones in the next few years.

[IDKOKIDK]

Brilliant non sell out independant review Norm, even though you got the 'white glove treatment' from DJI with training and free equipment. That's what I disliked about Will so much. When a company would throw a few bucks his way he'd just say nice things about the product & not mention the negatives. Omission is a form of lying in my opinion. But you Norm, are no Will. Respect

[HamRadioCrashCourse]

Wouldn't adding the ability to "watch" the entire surrounding areas of the drone or collision detection add weight, further decreasing speed and battery life?

I appreciate the review Norm. This is my first quad. I've been enjoying it. Not sure I can agree that this is not an entry level drone .

[philknirck]

Question: is this the best drone under 2k right now? It sure does like it to me? Appreciate the candid feedback, but also need reference to other drones on market? While I feel the feedback is fair, relative to other solutions it seems to have the best features? I.e. The yuneec is clearly not as advanced?

[snizzol]

You should play around with the gimball settings, slow them down and try the make it smoother, it works.

[adambaron]

I think you neglected to mention better optics in the lens. There is definitely better overall sharpness and less distortion on the 4.

[emreerokyar]

Didn't expect you to suggest the last year's model at all, which I think that I have to agree to some degree. It's very nice to see that you're staying honest! :-) Thanks!

[jy]

Thanks for the review, i also have a p4 and I disagree regarding your point that it's not a beginner's quad. Cost aside, this is one of the easiest quads to fly. In fact, there are many YouTube videos of kids under 10 flying it proficiently.

[Sawmule]

Why were you filming at the entrance to the Institute? And why you werent mown down by synths?

[chrispecchia]

Love the honesty just bought the 4 love it but in a few years we will be blown away by Dj is getting better and better

[Tj]

If you think about it, you also need obstacle avoidance on top of the quadcopter. Say you were heading into a tree, it would avoid the tree trunk by moving upwards, but would fly itself into the branches above. They need to innovate a lot more before i drop money into a new drone, for now, i'll stick with my phantom 3

[Enuroracer]

I have gotten great results with the sport mode. Better than what you reviewed in this video. I can get around 45-50 mph on avg. and if you keep that speed for a period of time, the props ascend out of the camera view as the copter doesn't need as much forward propulsion to maintain that speed.

[bobbiac]

Are the avoidance cameras RGB? Is it possible to get a stream to a 3D HMD?