Dji Phantom 3 Advanced Quadcopter Drone 2.7k Hd Video Camera (CP.PT.000160) 83

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The F.A.Q. for Dji Phantom 3 Advanced Quadcopter Drone 2.7k Hd Video Camera (CP.PT.000160)

Great camera. Fun to fly. This was my first drone and i'd recommend it to anyone.

A number of questions have been asked here.

Q&A

(0) Question: Am i correct in assuming that the difference in the dji phantom 3 advanced and the professional is just the camera?

(1) Question: Is this drone different from the one availble on dji website, especially the camera? dji website says 2. 7k/12 mp camera, whereas online store says 1080p.

(2) Question: How long does battery last?

(3) Question: Dji phantom 3 advanced in what country is it built? do you need cell phone coverage to send signal back to a smart device?

(4) Question: Hello. i am living in saudi arabia. is it possible to ship a new phantom drone here? please advise.

(5) Question: What is the flight range?

(6) Question: Does it have a follow mode?

(7) Question: Do you need to have data for this? places that i intend to take video have no service, or will it still connect to your phone?

(8) Question: Can someone address the video quality. is it worth the extra money for 4k or would most anyone be happy with the 1080.

(9) Question: I've noticed the warranty on this drone vary widely depending on the part that dies. can any existing p3 owners describe any failures with their drone

(note) Question: where/how to get Dji (manufacturer's brand) accessories & similiar Dji's products

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Best dji phantom 3 advanced quadcopter drone 2.7k hd video camera (cp.pt.000160) in review

Absolutely fabulous.

Y. Hakala, Arizona

E. Hannah, Bexley says

Out-of-the-box woes. . This unit arrives with a bit of required maintenance. . Both batteries, for the drone and the controller's internal battery, arrived almost completely dead. Charging them both took several hours since the power adapter is shared between them, yet can only be connected to one-at-a-time (if you follow the manufacturer's warning). Once fully charged, you'll need to drain them a bit during the next step and charge again if you want full power for your first flight. . The firmware for both the drone and the controller arrived severely out-of-date. With so many components and instruction guides, the process for upgrading will be confusing for the average consumer. I am a computer technician and found the process a bit difficult to figure out. Fortunately, once you figure out how, the process does not take more than 10 to 15 minutes each. . Pre-assembly only required twisting-on the props. Despite the numerous instruction guides, however, i found it odd that the only instructions for how to install the props were on tiny stickers on each axle. . An up-to-date smart-phone or tablet with internet access is required to upgrade the firmware on the controller. I tried following the instruction guide for upgrading the controller firmware using a usb drive, but could not get it to work. However, i found using my smart-phone for the upgrade to be easier for the process anyway. Upgrading the firmware on the drone requires a device capable of decompressing (a. K. A. Unpacking or extracting) a zip file and with a flash card reader/writer supporting micro-sd hc cards. The readers/writers that only support up to 4gb may not work. . Although not pointed out in any of the official marketing materials, an up-to-date smart-phone or tablet is required for basic operation of the drone. The controller itself does not appear to provide any way to start the drone. Maybe it's just me. But, i feel like a start button is a must-have feature for most any electronic device. Don't you? . . The manufacturer's app refused to install on my asus nexus 7 tablet, even though it is running on android 5. 1. It simply shows a vague message about not being compatible with my device. The reason is still unknown. But, i suspect it may be performance based. Nevertheless, it installed and worked fine on my lg g4. . First few test flights. . I had no problems getting my new drone off the ground and flying around my property, over my house, up my street, and even popping by to say "hello" to my neighbor's dog. The dog began chasing the drone as it flew by the neighbor's property. If i'm not careful, my drone might end up as a very expensive chew toy. . The controls seemed quite intuitive. And, the drone was very responsive to the slightest movement - perhaps a bit too responsive. Too much responsiveness will likely incumber getting smooth transitions between still video shots and pans. This will produce video shots that are very robotic and abrupt. I did not see a way to dial-back the overall responsiveness. Perhaps more experience at the controls will reveal it may just take a more delicate and experienced touch. . I found the drone to behave reliably and with a high degree of stability. Releasing the controls and watching the drone almost immediately come to a full stop to hover in a single position is very comforting. It lets me know that, as a beginner, if the drone is about to hit a standing object and i get confused about which way to move, all i have to do is let-go until i'm sure how to best avoid collision. . The only time the drone appeared to drift excessively was when i tried landing on a power junction box. I had completely forgotten about the safety warnings against large metal objects and electromagnetic fields. This box had plenty of both. The dji-go app gave me a warning about the detected interference and even reminded me to stay clear of these two main causes for it. That is intelligent (idiot-proof) design. . Giving the drone full-throttle and watching it shoot up in the air almost like a rocket, i sense this drone is power-packed with a strong battery and strong motors. . Summary of shortcomings. . The primary shortcomings with this drone are that it needs:. - to arrive with up-to-date firmware. - simpler firmware upgrade process. - either a separate power adapter for each battery or one that supports both simultaneously. - faster charge time. - consolidated and better organized set of instructions. - more finite control over camera movements

O. Audrey, Alsace

Are you kidding? we have the dji ii and a few other off brand quad copters, but this one is the bomb! with the ipad screen hooked up to this my husband can see everything he is doing, where he is at in the sky and the camera controls are also at his fingertips. I used to have to help him because he needed a second person hooked up with the ipad via bluetooth to help him, but now he can fly by himself and do all the controls. I can still go out with him and fly and use the ipad in my hands and not on the dji ii as well. The camera on this is so much better than the dji ii. There is no bouncing videos or having to fix the curve afterward. The videos come out really nice right off the quad copter the first time around. We are really impressed with this drone. We got the aluminum case to travel with this and it will be much better than finding bags and places to set all of his equipment in the back of the truck. He is really happy with his dji ii.

G. Hakala, District of Columbia says

Got this as it was on sale (as they have released the p4) do not buy a phantom "standard" it will have too short of range. Only real differrence in this drone vs the pro is the uhd camera. This 2. 7hd camera is really great, uhd is overkill imho. The video files get huge really quick. I own about 10 lower priced drones and sport models, this was my first dji drone. I researched all the other brands and found hands down dji is the clear winner once you get to the gps camera drones. Phantom 4 is nice but the extra features were not attractive to me (at the newly released price points) but still you can't go wrong with a p4. . You need an ipad mini to really see live camera feeds. Be sure to get a 1ft apple cable to connect your ipad. Iphone works also any android thing. Dji go app is free and has nice flight data, tools and is what you use for advanced control during flight. Be sure to run the simulator a few times before real flight. . Easy to fly. Actually you don't fly as much as you tell it where to go. It's gps stabilized, so when your not touching the sticks it holds still. Nice return to home function that brings the drone back to the place it lifted off if you lose it. (be sure to set the rth altitude higher than any trees in your area. ) while this is fun to fly it is not a sport drone, it is a camera drone, primary designed to fly to take video/pictures. It is still really fun to fly. I added a bunch of blue led strip lights (for like $8) and at night mine looks like a ufo. . You do need a 2nd battery, and perhaps a case. I went with the dji hardshell and think it was best. If you have never flow before then also buy a dromida ominus - it's a $50 toy but a great trainer and good sports drone. You can practice flying on the dromida and it's mostly indestructible. Don't learn to fly with your camera drone. Get some stick time on a toy and the dji go simulator. . Dji support is so/so (was really bad but getting much better) the dji community forum on the dji website rocks. Be sure to check out the forum. Great people, great videos and great stories shared. You can see video from these drones there. Be sure to find the hd video as it is amazing. . Stock props are mostly safe, (mythbuster tested a smiler drone and with stock props could not get it to cut skin).

R. Susan, Ohio

No comments at this time but thanks beyond solutions

C. Crawford, Oklahoma says

I just received my phantom 3 today and must say this thing rocks! it is very very easy to fly and i love the feel of the new controller! . . New:. 1. ) the motors are now larger and the power can be felt! . 2. ) the new controller rocks and with the built in lightbridge the wifi range is now much better and the fpv being put out on my phone is amazing. 3. ) they can now be flown inside (if the area is big enough) due to the new "sonar" type sensor on the bottom. . Ease of flying: one thing i love about phantoms is their ability to hover. This is the hardest part of learning to fly quads in my opinion. The phantom will take off and then hover wherever you leave it so that you can control the direction or camera much easier. Also, dji offers e very good collection of videos (found on their youtube) that really helps you learn how to fly this quad safely and quickly! . . Quality: dji has some of the best quality quads on the market. Yes, there are better quality quads out there (usually cost more than $1, 000) but the dji quads are much higher quality than basic hobby grade quads. You can tell this quad has been inspected and the qc is top notch on these items. I opened my dji up and everything on the inside looked great and well engineered. I also noticed the motor wires are much thicker now. Overall the quality of this drone is very very good! . . Fpv: the main reason i decided to get the phantom 3 is because of the lightbridge and much better fpv offered on this rather than older phantoms. The fpv, i found to be nearly hd quality and i noticed its range was amazing! i still have my quad limited on distance (i choose 400 ft high and 400 feet out) but the quality of the fpv was amazing the entire time. . Camera quality: i already own a gopro so this is one reason i was so hesitant at buying this quad. I really didn't need the camera and i wish dji had a gopro version that didn't come with a camera! but i found the dji camera is really great and i actually liked it better than my gopro hero 3+ black. The video looks great and the photos are very very good! no fisheye in the lens is also a plus! i found the video to be stable and the photos to be in focus. . Overall i am very excited and love my new phantom 3. I feel it is much better than previous phantoms that i have tried! . . Tips:. 1. ) make sure your update the phantom before use. I found this to be very easy and found youtube videos that showed how to do this. 2. ) if your android phone (or tablet) doesn't have the dji pilot app, you can find it from their site if its not in your market. I did this on my kindle fire hd. While google maps doesn't show on the fire i can still see fpv and flight stats. 3. ) i wasn't able to get my phantom activated at first. I found my issue to be the usb cable that came with the phantom wasn't working with my phone for whatever reason. I used the cable that came with my phone and the app plus phantom activated quickly. 4. ) watch the dji phantom 3 videos on dji's youtube. This really helped me get off the ground quicker and i felt much safer! . 5. ) it comes with extra decals (like previous phantoms) in case you dont like gold or silver. . *this review will be updated as i fly and learn my quad*

H. Teresa, Leicester

After about a month of owning the phantom 3 advanced and i think i am up to 80 some flights with over 7 hours of flight time it has been exceptional. I am sure a lot of people who are looking to purchase their first drone would like to read a review of someone who has owned the drone for a touch longer than myself. I will say this to any new pilots though, there are a lot of people on youtube that offer tutorials and things like that. Watch those. Seriously take time to familiarize yourself with the phantom and the flight controls. I watched so many videos and so many tutorials that when i finally got my phantom 3 advanced i had a pretty good idea of what i was doing. Also to new pilots, take it easy. Don't stretch it out to its limits your first flight. . But as for owning the phantom for a month and had never flown a drone prior, it has been great, very intuitive. Performs so well and all the safety features really inspire confidence to fly. Super easy to learn to fly. The camera is spectacular. The way the controls are integrated onto the controller/transmitter is perfect. It feels so natural. And 2. 7k is a lot better than i imagined. Pictures look amazing as well. Low light pictures are amazing. First class camera all the way. . One last thing that i didn't see in any youtube videos but i had an issue with is the radio quality. Now i was at panama city beach for a church trip and we were getting some footage of the beach and i had the connection cut out on me. The app said "aircraft disconnected" not sure what caused it but i will say this. Because i properly set my home point, the phantom automatically engaged the rth (return to home) failsafe and safely landed with no damage and no issues. But this is the point i want to make. I found out later from a guy who was flying a phantom 4 as part of the camp staff told me that he noticed on his app that he was getting a message that said something to the effect of "strong outside radio interference. Do not fly far" i checked it out on mine and sure enough i too was getting the same warning and under the "radio channel quality" it said in red "poor". So for the rest of the trip i did not push the limits, though i did continue to fly the next day. When i got back home to ohio i checked again and it said the connection was strong so i can only assume that there was just something down in pcb that was interfering. So before you take off, check the home point and always check the radio channel quality too.

O. Olga, Cheshire says

Dji keeps in the top 1, this is the best drone you can find, it is easy to fly, great pictures and videos, very fast and simply said amazing.

F. Joanna, Idaho

Very well done, easy to use quadcopter. I'm using it with an ipad mini 2 without any issues. My main use for this is to scout out my rural land for features (brooks, swamps, hills, thin areas) and possible locations to build paths through and to make clearings for potential building sites. Previously, this had been quite tedious bush whacking for hours just to make one pass across the land, and there's only so much you can tell by standing on the ground surrounded by dense trees and no view of the horizon. Being 200+ feet up and traversing the land back and forth makes this much easier. Besides this, i enjoy photography, and this results in some very nice photos and video from above. . The only issue i have is that i'm starting to get the dreaded shell crack near one of the motor screws. I haven't contacted dji yet for repairs since it still looks intact; i'll wait until it is more severe, since it is likely their replacement shell will also develop new cracks.

X. Aldana, Alaska says

After battling it out (not really) with my wife and myself (do i really need a $700 drone? ) on getting me a drone for my birthday, i finally decided to get one. I chose the dji advanced as i feel the features where what i was looking for. I could have went with the standard but i wanted the range, not necessarily because i would fly out that far, but rather so i "could" if i ever wanted to. . As soon as i got the package in, i was excited to unbox it and get it up and flying. Unfortunately i had to charge everything up, then update everything. Which by the way, the update is no where near as difficult as others have claimed. You literally download the file from dji website, extract the bin file to the micro sd card, insert that card in the drone, then power it on. It will go through a series of beeps and light flashes until it's done. Then you take the card, check the txt files and make sure it succeeded. Then you put that same card into a usb that can accept a micro sd card and put into the usb port on the front of the controller, power it on, and it will also go through a series of beeps until it's done. Then you check the file to make sure it succeeded. I may have missed something, but i have only had to do it once and this is off memory. Check out the many tutorials out there on youtube. . So, after i get the drone charged and updated, i am ready to fly! i take it outside, get the controller hooked up to my samsung tab s2. The battery at this point read 100%, on the battery and on the app itself. I get the drone up in the air and i'm flying. This thing fly's amazingly well. I take it up about 300 feet and fly it around a bit up there. Now, right behind my house is a large park that is completely open field. After flying it around for awhile to where i am comfortable, i decided to take it over to that field, between my house and this field is a creek. If anything happens, i have to drive down to the bridge to get across. . Here is where it gets bad for me. I am flying over towards that open field and my battery reads 30%, still plenty of juice to finish what i was doing and get back to my house for a safe landing. I literally got to a point where i was bringing the drone home, and i get a message alert that said battery low, auto landing. Wait what? i have 27% battery at this point and i'm over in that field. I can't cancel the auto land feature to bring it home, the return to home button didn't work either. Then i the entire video feed cuts out, i am no longer connected to the drone. At this point i am kind of freaking out, i just lost connection to a $700 piece of equipment. So i get into my vehicle, drive down to the bridge and i run to about where i landed. I see it, but the closer i get, i realize it didn't land. It's tipped over and i can tell the blades are all busted, wtf happened? once i get to it, the entire gimbal with camera was snapped off. I was furious! . . I take the drone back home all busted up. I take a look at my flight record, it shows the exact path i was taking and how much battery i had left. When i lost all connection, that last recorded bit of information was saying 72ft high and i had 27% battery life left. However when i tried to power the drone back on after i got home, there was 0% battery life. So really my only conclusion is that my drone completely lost power and fell from 72 feet as that was the last recorded elevation. . Thanks to online stores amazing customer service, i was able to return the drone. I explained what happened and said that i felt it was a defect in the drone. They didn't refuse the return even though the product was now broken. . I won't be purchasing this drone again. I am giving the autel x-star premium a go as i was pretty disappointed in dji customer service. They are still refusing to refund me my dji care that i purchased. . Even though i had a bad experience with this drone right off the bat, i think it is still an amazing piece of equipment and that is the reason i am only taking 1 star off. Sometimes you just have a faulty product. Even though i won't purchase their drones at this time because of their customer support, if you can get past that, then i would still recommend this drone. I would just recommend you fly it close to home for the first few flights to ensure that everything operates smoothly.

R. Gilmore, Durham

 this was my first real experience with a quadcopter "drone". Ive been an outdoor/nature photographer for a few years so i have a decent idea about the technical side of shooting. Since these started becoming popular, i've been interested. When the phantom 4 came out, the prices on the p3s went down a bit. I figured this would be a good time to try one out and see how i like it. So, here is a real life review from a novice user like i'm guessing many who read this will be as well. . So, for most like me, how easy is it to get up and flying? . Well, it can seem pretty intimidating, an expensive piece of equipment, setting it all up, the updates, the manual, bla bla bla. I strongly recommend you cruise through the manual. By now there are tons of beginner videos on youtube that will show you the basics too. Make sure youve fully updated your quad, battery(s), controller, the app, etc. Take it somewhere with an open space like a sports field, with nothing to crash into. Get her in the air and take it easy. I'd even recommend using beginner mode. Honestly , once its in the air it is very easy to control and get the hang of. Get a good grasp of how it handles, the controls, the camera. Id recommend spending the time to get to know the controls and handling before going to crazy. Resist the urge to immediately try to test how fast, far, and high it can go. It can go fast, high, and far and if you dont know what youre doing it could go bad, quick. These are not toys. You will be impressed with the power, quality and usability of these. . My first few flights consisted of flying around a play field at a local school (school season hadn't started) and even a venture above the school buildings. The control and stability will help build confidence in yourself as well as the machine. By the 4th or 5th flight, i was confident in myself and my phantom to fly about half a mile out over a lake and the adjoining park. Get used to using visual sight of your quad and the video feed together for piloting. Pay attention to altitude and speed and also use the map view to assist with actual location and heading. . Once you get a pretty good handle on basic flying, play around with some of the intelligent flight modes, they are pretty cool, i incorporate them with just standard freestyle shooting. . The most difficult thing for me in learning to fly is depth perception. How far is the quad from you, and how close is it really to the objects you're flying near. It just takes practice and using visual, video feed, and map positioning, as well as caution and confidence. Directional control takes some getting used to. Like if the quad is facing you, left is right and right is left. I learned to use it that way and prefer it. I tried headless mode once after that and it was confusing, especially if you are relying on the video feed a lot. . The build quality is good. Mine has taken some minor bumps and fared with not even a scratch. The stability, control, the features, all make this thing very easy for a total newb to fly. But the quality and features also allow you to really use it to potential once you master the basics. . Is this a good drone for the absolute beginner? if you can afford it, yes. I have flown a few of the cheaper "toy" type drones since, and i have to say, this is the easiest of all of them to fly. If you can't afford the p3a or pro, check out the standard. You can buy them new for around 400, used for even less and still get the same great flying experience.

F. Alexia, Ealing says

This thing was more fun before they implemented drone laws and my neighbors thought the government was spying on them. Does not do well under fire. Camera will break when exposed to buck shot.

C. Alma, Warrington

Awesome quad, super responsive and the 2. 7k camera was perfect for what i needed. Battery lasted as expected

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