The Air 3S, released by DJI last year, is considered a “sweet spot” product among aerial photography drones. Its ample flight time and image quality, along with more user-friendly controls and flight data, have made it the drone the author uses most frequently on a daily basis.

But those familiar with DJI know that the company’s true strength goes far beyond this — it’s the higher-end Mavic series that offers the best performance and the most advanced imaging system available to ordinary consumers.。

The author got their hands on the DJI Mavic 4 Pro two months early — so what unique experiences can this more professional drone deliver? Here’s our honest take after spending some time with it.

Mavic family design language

More professional, yet also “heavier”

The DJI Mavic 4 Pro continues the design language of the Mavic family, but its sharper, more angular lines and the increased number of radar sensors on the body make it immediately clear that this is a more expensive flagship drone.

Like the previous-generation Mavic 3 Pro, the Mavic 4 Pro is also equipped with a triple-camera imaging system, which includes a 100-megapixel 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad main camera, a 1/1.3-inch 70mm telephoto lens, and a 1/1.5-inch 168mm telephoto lens.

The main camera supports shooting photos at up to 100 megapixels, while the two telephoto lenses support 48-megapixel and 50-megapixel photo output, respectively.

Unlike the Air series, the Mavic 4 Pro’s main camera has a 28mm focal length — the same focal length I most often use when shooting with my phone. Of course, that’s not to say 24mm is bad; it’s just that for me personally, the slightly narrower 28mm field of view actually makes composition easier.

Compared to smartphones, which emphasize an all-focal-length design, the three lenses on the Mavic 4 Pro have significantly different equivalent focal lengths. However, this perfectly suits the diverse needs of aerial photography: 28mm for capturing grand wide scenes, 70mm for recording the relationship between the subject and its environment, and 168mm for detailed close-up shots.

As a flagship model, the DJI Mavic 4 Pro boasts quite impressive specifications. Here is a table showcasing them for you.

There isn’t much to say about its appearance, so here are some real-world photos.

Interestingly, the protective cover on the DJI Mavic 4 Pro is very well designed — it not only safeguards the lens from damage but also extends protection to the radar sensors on the wings.This mounting method definitely has a certain learning curve.

More than the drone itself, I’m particularly interested in the RC Pro 2 remote controller that comes with the Mavic 4 Pro (assuming you purchase the Creator Combo; the standard version still includes the RC 2 controller). Compared to the previous RC 2, the Pro version is a comprehensive upgrade: it features a screen with a folding bracket (offering better brightness and image quality, plus rotation capability), joysticks that automatically fold for storage, a new customizable scroll wheel, and a smoother system overall.

Especially the newly added scroll wheel — a single click lets you switch between aperture, ISO, shutter speed, and exposure compensation. It’s much more convenient than adjusting these settings bit by bit on the screen as before.

It’s worth mentioning that the RC Pro 2’s antennas unfold downward, which I guess is to avoid interfering with the folding screen bracket. Regardless, the downward-folding antennas look a bit odd no matter how you see it.

Trust me, once you’ve experienced the RC Pro 2, you’ll probably never want to use any other DJI remote controller again.

By the way, the RC Pro 2 still supports the optional installation of a 4G video transmission module, which, once installed, can provide better signal transmission in complex terrain environments.

For example, when flying in a city, the drone often loses or experiences interference in the video transmission signal once it flies behind a tall building, which can sometimes lead to flight accidents. However, with the 4G video transmission module, as long as there is 4G coverage, data transmission can be maintained, greatly improving flight reliability and safety.

Almost forgot to mention, due to upgrades in the wings, battery capacity, and cameras, the Mavic 4 Pro’s bare weight has reached 1,063 grams. Adding a remote controller, two batteries, and a brand-new charging hub, carrying it for long aerial shoots can be somewhat physically demanding.It’s recommended to carry it out only when you have access to a car.

A flying “M43” camera

The image quality of the Mavic 4 Pro is unquestionably excellent. All three cameras are considered industry-leading, making it the absolute top-tier option among current consumer aerial photography drones.

Of course, talk is one thing — the real test is how the sample shots perform.

A flying “M43” camera（The term “M43 camera” refers to cameras using the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) sensor format. The M43 sensor size is a photography term that specifies an image sensor with physical dimensions of 17.3 × 13 mm (CMOS or CCD).），The image quality of the Mavic 4 Pro’s main camera speaks for itself. Whether it’s color, image clarity, or overall transparency, it matches the level of comparable M43 cameras. Moreover, the 100-megapixel mode combined with the professional DNG format provides me with greater flexibility in post-processing.

For example, this photo originally had a somewhat cluttered composition with an unclear subject, but thanks to the high-resolution advantage, I was able to crop and recompose it. The overall image quality degradation was minimal.

When I wanted to shoot the snowy mountains up close, the Mavic 4 Pro’s telephoto lens came into play. The 7x optical zoom lens, supporting 50-megapixel output and a large aperture, delivered image sharpness and quality comparable to the main camera. The entire frame remained clean and tidy, preserving the three-dimensional feel of the clouds surrounding the mountain peaks.

After this experience, I can say I completely fell in love with this super-telephoto lens, so much so that during the rest of my trip, it was used just as often as the main camera.

As for the challenge of stabilizing telephoto shots, the Mavic 4 Pro also delivered a satisfying performance. At an altitude of 4,000 meters on the plateau, the strong winds that day did not affect the telephoto lens’s image quality at all — the footage remained very stable.

In addition, the telephoto lens can create a natural optical bokeh effect through its shallower depth of field, helping to emphasize the subject. Even in a fairly ordinary scene, the narrow field of view of the telephoto lens can exclude distracting elements, and combined with the drone’s smooth flight, it can produce a rather interesting video.

Readers familiar with aerial drones know that the noise they produce during operation is quite loud—propeller sounds can be heard within roughly 50 meters. This easily disturbs the subjects being filmed, such as wildlife in outdoor shoots, children, or sports events.The presence of two high-quality telephoto lenses allows us to capture subjects in a more “discreet” and respectful manner.

Besides the upgraded lenses, the Mavic 4 Pro also features a 360° freely rotating gimbal with a maximum tilt angle of 70°, offering more creative possibilities for aerial photography composition.For example, when shooting the landmark on National Highway 318, using a downward tilt angle can capture a very interesting photo.

Thanks to this feature, the Mavic 4 Pro also supports native vertical shooting. For many video creators, shooting vertically not only offers more creative composition options but also allows for quick editing and posting on vertical-oriented platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, greatly improving efficiency.In the past, aerial drones’ vertical shooting functions were limited by the lens module’s rotation angle and were basically achieved through cropping. However, the Mavic 4 Pro’s Wanshang gimbal supports 360° rotation, so there is no loss in image quality, color, or sharpness.

Additionally, in use, I found the Mavic 4 Pro’s autofocus performance to be very reliable.

In bright lighting conditions and during backlit shooting, the camera’s autofocus performance was excellent, with no signs of hunting or out-of-focus shots. The telephoto camera performed just as reliably.

Even in low-light conditions at dusk, the Mavic 4 Pro can quickly lock onto the subject and deliver a visually impressive photo.

In terms of shooting style, the straight-out-of-camera JPG images have colors that closely match what we see with the naked eye, without overly boosting saturation to please viewers. However, as a flagship aerial drone, I still recommend shooting in DNG format, which preserves more photo information and makes post-processing easier. (The following are sample shots with minimal post-processing.)

In the most important aspects of image quality and autofocus, the Mavic 4 Pro truly impressed me. This means its rate of usable shots is much higher than other aerial drones, which indirectly extends its effective flight time.

The external features are impressive too, living up to its flagship status.

Putting aside the imaging modules, the other features of the Mavic 4 Pro are still top-tier. Take obstacle avoidance as the most important example: it is equipped with six low-light vision sensors and one LiDAR sensor, supporting omnidirectional obstacle avoidance. This enables it to detect and avoid objects from all directions—above, below, front, back, left, and right—providing full 360-degree spherical obstacle avoidance.

The Mavic 4 Pro is equipped with the APAS 5.0 obstacle avoidance system, whose advanced algorithms combined with multiple sensors deliver excellent obstacle avoidance performance.Therefore, when I use the Mavic 4 Pro for aerial photography, I don’t have to worry much about the surrounding environment or terrain, as it can perform more efficient, agile, and intelligent obstacle avoidance on its own.

You can see that even when tracking a moving vehicle, it can still accurately avoid large trees by the roadside, preventing crashes.

Thanks to its enhanced obstacle avoidance capabilities, I can confidently and boldly use the intelligent follow feature to let the drone autonomously capture shots—such as following cars, motorcycles, or people in motion.

All I need to do is select the subject on the remote controller and activate the intelligent follow mode. Then, the Mavic 4 Pro will autonomously plan the follow path, avoid obstacles, and smartly and smoothly complete the entire tracking shot.

By the way, this generation’s follow algorithm is truly refined. In the past, when I used drones to follow subjects, I usually kept them within 20–40 meters, worried it might lose track of the subject.。

Even when flying over 100 meters high, the Mavic 4 Pro can accurately track the subject you want to film. As you can see from the images, the Mavic 4 Pro still performs smooth tracking at high altitude, even in extreme weather conditions like sleet.

Perhaps due to early-stage algorithm issues, the automatic follow feature works really well, but the automatic camera movement can be a bit too aggressive. It seems the Mavic 4 Pro has its own ideas and tries to capture some bolder scenes, often flying straight into the trees during filming. Luckily, I stopped it in time; otherwise, with the dense vegetation in the forest, a crash would have been very likely.

In the menu, we can choose the obstacle avoidance mode as Off, Brake, or Detour to suit different shooting scenarios.I also did a simple test: when the obstacle avoidance mode is set to “Brake,” even if the joystick is pushed all the way forward, the drone will automatically stop upon detecting an obstacle ahead and will not continue moving. At the same time, a red circle warning appears on the remote controller to indicate the danger.

What surprised me the most was its battery life. The Mavic 4 Pro’s battery capacity is nearly 100Wh, comparable to a laptop. Under normal conditions, it can achieve about 50 minutes of flight time. Even in the high-altitude regions of western Sichuan, it can continuously shoot for 30 minutes before slowly returning home.

This is the first time I’ve felt like the drone’s battery life was more than enough.

If you purchase the Fly More Kit or Creator Combo, you will receive the brand-new charging hub, which can hold three original batteries. Its biggest upgrade is the 240W super fast charging capability, allowing it to charge all three batteries simultaneously. I did a quick test—charging a single battery takes about 55 minutes, while charging all three batteries only takes one and a half hours. This improvement is truly remarkable.

During use, I also noticed a minor issue: the handshake protocol between the charger and the charging hub is somewhat unresponsive. Often, after plugging in, it shows that only one battery is charging, and I have to repeatedly unplug and replug several times before it can properly charge all three batteries simultaneously.

As for other common features like Mastershots, timelapse photography, and intelligent return-to-home, which are available on many drones, I won’t go into detail here.

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Summary: The top choice for professional aerial photography？

As usual, here is the author’s summary of the DJI Mavic 4 Pro experience.：

Advantages：

1.The three cameras are of exceptionally high quality, delivering impeccable image performance.

2.Long battery life, and with the new charging hub, it supports continuous charging cycles.

3.Excellent obstacle avoidance and tracking capabilities, performing well even in extreme scenarios.

4.Numerous intelligent features make it easy for beginners to shoot professional-quality videos.

5.Inherits DJI’s renowned excellence in imaging, video transmission, and flight control performance.；

Disadvantages：

1、Disadvantages.

Regarding pricing, the DJI Mavic 4 Pro is available in three different versions.：

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  The Standard Edition (includes the drone, RC2 remote controller, and one battery) is priced at 13,888 RMB；
  
  
• 
  
  The Fly More Kit (includes the drone, RC2 remote controller, enhanced video transmission, three batteries, charging hub, shoulder bag, and one DJI Enhanced Video Transmission Module 3) is priced at 17,888 RMB；
  
  
• 
  
  The Creator Combo (includes the drone with built-in 512GB storage, RC2 Pro remote controller, enhanced video transmission, 240W desktop charger, two DJI Enhanced Video Transmission Modules 3, shoulder bag, and three batteries) is priced at 23,988 RMB.
  
  

As the most powerful consumer-grade aerial photography drone currently available, the Mavic 4 Pro brings us countless surprises: brand-new triple camera sensors, more stable algorithms, a more user-friendly remote controller, longer battery life, and more precise obstacle avoidance and tracking algorithms. Simply put, the Mavic 4 Pro offers everything users could want.

Of course, the Mavic series is designed for professional users who demand high-quality aerial imaging and advanced lens capabilities. For the vast majority of ordinary consumers, it may be somewhat overpowered. However, if you are already a longtime user of the Air or Mavic series and feel unsatisfied with your current device, upgrading directly to the Mavic 4 Pro is a very good choice at this time.