(Pocket-lint) – A set of photos have leaked showing what appears to be a new DJI Mavic drone, although we’re unsure exactly where in the product lineup this particular drone might sit.
If we had to make an informed guess, we’d say this device sits somewhere between the current Mavic Air, and the Mavic 2 Pro.
Looking at the underside, the base is clearly made from metal, and features protruding lines which will presumably act as a form of heat radiation. Both Mavic Air, and Mavic Mini feature plastic bases. More importantly, however, is the number of sensors built in.
There appears to be four different types of sensor on the underside of the drone, which are used for visual position finding, avoiding obstacles, and also ensuring the drone can detect height from the ground. They basically ensure the drone can find its take-off spot to land again, and also mean the drone can stay at a steady height from the ground when following a subject/person.
This is far more than the simple two sensors on the underside of the Mavic Air, and similar to what’s on the Mavic 2. Sizewise, however, the drone in the picture appears to be smaller than the Mavic 2.
We can’t tell from the images if there are obstacle avoidance sensors on the sides – because the arms are folded shut – but there are obstacle avoidance sensors on the rear of the drone.
It’s also difficult to tell how advanced the camera on the front is, since there’s no clear shot of that. But it doesn’t appear to be as large as the Hasselblad system on the Mavic 2 Pro.
Then there’s the remote control, which is vastly different to the compact controllers that come with most Mavic drones. It’s quite a chunky looking controller, and there’s no screen of any kind built into it.
Perhaps DJI has realised few people need that control screen with the information on offer in the smartphone app when using an attached device as the screen/monitor. Or perhaps this a controller specific for this model.
With 2020 underway, we are approaching the Spring launch season, and DJI has been known to release new products early in the year. It launched in the Mavic Air early on in 2018, as an example.
Whatever this device is, it seems DJI is preparing to launch a new drone to add to its lineup of flying cameras. If we were to guess though, it looks like it’ll be a Mavic that’s not quite as lighweight and small as the Mavic Air, but not quite as big and ‘Pro’ as the Mavic 2 Pro.
Writing by Cam Bunton.