A fairly reliable poster of DJI leaks and rumors, Igor Bogdanov, might just have given us a glimpse of the Mavic 4 – although it has to be said not one in the best of conditions.
The drone pictured has a broken arm, but it definitely isn't the existing DJI Mavic 3, with a markedly different rounded housing style for the main camera gimbal on display.
Nor does it look like a contender for the other circulating rumor around DJI (one being circulated not least by the same poster – an upgrade to the DJI Air 3).
👉Eh...The new DJI M4 camera was shown too soon. Oh, well. 💁♂️#dji #djimavic4 pic.twitter.com/IBpZTfjy4YJuly 19, 2024
The idea of a new gimbal seems to be verified by another posting from another dependable DJI leaker, @OsitaLV, who manages to include a video.
The result looks potentially more streamlined than the predecessor, which might perhaps result in longer flight times from similar battery specs. The video seems to feature the exact same drone as it has the same broken arm. The clip shows more though, including the base of the fuselage. The styling is very consistent with DJI, especially underneath.
The DJI Mavic 3 is a leading contender amongst the best camera drones – the Mavic series has long set the standard for drones with folding arms ever since it replaced DJI's original 'Phantom' as the company's workhorse.
Over time, smaller and lighter drones have come along too, including the Mini series, while a variant of the 'core' Mavic – at roughly the same weight, of just below 1Kg – has simply gained more and more capabilities. The Mavic 3 was launched in November 2021, followed by the Mavic 3 Pro in May 2023 which brought a tripple-camera system.
For now, that seems to be the likely distinction – 2 cameras on the Air series, three on the Mavic. What I'll be looking for in terms of improvements is more flexibility in terms of altitude and temperature, better battery life, and improvements to the secondary cameras. It certainly looks like there is space for bigger optics behind the secondary cameras, and one of the complaints with the original was the relative step down in quality when moving to the tele and super tele cameras.
DJI indicated to me in an exclusive interview that the company intended to pursue research and development regardless of the looming threat of a ban in the USA, which has seen both good and bad news in the last few day; first the Senate didn't include the ban in their draft of the bill but then a DJI drone has been chosen by the would-be assassin of a former president.
In any case, a ban would need to be enacted and signed into law to stop the FCC from approving new DJI products – it looks like this one is nearly at the point where it will be sent for approval!
