DJI Air 2S Drone Review: Professional Photo and Video capability in a Consumer Drone

By Calvin Jones

DJI isn’t a company to sit on its laurels. It pumps out new tech at a bewildering rate, and hot on the heels of its much-hyped FPV (First Person View) drone, the Chinese giant has released another new model to the global market.

The DJI Air 2S is an update to the very popular Mavic Air 2 (as they did with the Mini 2, DJI seems to have dropped the “Mavic” from the Air line), which was widely lauded as the best all-around consumer drone when it was released in April 2020.

I reviewed the Mavic Air 2 here. It’s a great drone that is portable and does pretty much everything you could ask of a small, foldable drone. If the Mavic Air 2 has a weak point, it is in the relatively small image sensor in the camera system. While the ½” sensor and associated software wizardry in the Mavic Air 2 does a good job of delivering the best possible results, the inevitable outcome of a small sensor is less light hitting smaller, more densely packed pixels. In all but ideal conditions, that’s a recipe for excessive noise.

A significant camera boost

With the Air 2S, DJI addresses that issue head on with a huge upgrade to the camera system. It sports a 1” sensor (as seen in its flagship Mavic 2 Pro, although this time without the illustrious Hasselblad co-branding). The 22mm (equivalent) camera captures 20MP stills and video at up to 5.4K30p and 4K60p at a bitrate of up to 150Mbps. As well as the Normal 8 bit colour profile it also offers DJI’s 10 bit Dlog-M log profile and a 10 bit Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) HDR profile, giving videographers much more scope in post production colour grading.

Disappointingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, the camera still has a fixed f2.8 aperture, which means you’ll have to use ND filters to maintain lower shutter speeds for cinematic style video in bright conditions (variable aperture is available on DJI’s higher end Mavic 2 Pro and Phantom models).

Photo (20MP JPEG and RAW) and video quality from the 1” sensor is impressive, and a definite step up from the Mavic Air 2. Taking a close look at high resolution files on a big screen reveals cleaner images with better dynamic range and significantly less noise.

In the end it depends what you’re doing with/where you plan to share your content. If you’re mainly creating content for the web/uploading to online platforms (think YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, et al), then by the time their compression algorithms are done with your file you’ll be hard pressed to tell the difference.

However, if you’re creating high resolution content for print, commercial or film work, the cleaner files from the larger sensor really come into their own. For videographers in particular, the 10 bit log profile, coupled with the 5.4K resolution gives a lot more flexibility to reframe clips and grade colours to match the look you want.

What else is new?

Other upgrades with the DJI Air 2S include additional upward facing obstacle avoidance sensors, an ADSB receiver (a safety feature that lets you know when there are manned aircraft in the area — this was included in the Mavic Air 2, but only for the North American market), slightly tweaked performance, enhanced connectivity/transmission and upgraded automation/intelligent flight features.

Improved transmission system

The Air 2S sports 4 internal antennas (as opposed to the 2 in its predecessor) and the next generation of DJI’s OccuSync connectivity technology (OccuSync 3, or O3, as it’s now called). OccuSync ensures a consistent signal between the drone and controller, and delivers a real time, 1080p video feed from the drone to the connected mobile device. DJI claims a transmission range of up to 12km in ideal conditions (not that you’ll be flying a drone anywhere near that far in Ireland, where you need to maintain visual line of sight — VLOS — to stay legal).

In practice then, OccuSync makes for a more robust connection between your controller and your drone, and that’s always a good thing. I never experienced any connectivity issues while reviewing the Air 2S. Then again, Occusync 2.0 on the Mavic Air 2 is already rated for 10km, so I’m not sure how much benefit O3 offers in real world use, particularly as the new drone seems to use the same Occusync 2.0 controller as both the Mavic Air 2 and the DJI Mini 2. On the spec sheet O3 is listed as the video transmission system, but the controller transmission system is still shown as Occusync 2.

Enhanced obstacle avoidance

The DJI Air 2S’s distinctive Porsche 911-esque looks are thanks to the new angled upward facing obstacle detection sensors, which add to the forward, backward and downward facing sensors that were available on the Mavic Air 2. Other than that the form factor and the build quality of the drone is identical to the Mavic Air 2, which is no bad thing. 

The additional upward facing sensors improve the drone’s ability to detect and avoid obstacles, and DJI has upgraded the Advanced Pilot Assistance System (APAS) on the Air 2S to version 4.0. When APAS is enabled the Air 2S responds to commands from the remote as usual, but also takes into account its immediate surroundings to plan its flight path and navigate around or over obstacles it detects. 

It’s important to note that APAS is not infallible, so you still need to take care when using it, and remember, the Air 2S still lacks any side sensors, so APAS will not work at all when the aircraft is moving sideways,  so it’s up to you to stop it crashing into trees or buildings.

Intelligent Flight Modes

Intelligent flight modes have also been bumped up to newer versions on the Air 2S, so we now have Spotlight 2.0 (allowing you to manually control the aircraft, while the camera stays locked on the subject), ActiveTrack 4.0 (automatically follow/track your subject while still responding to control inputs) and Point Of Interest 3.0 (POI tracks and circles a stationary or moving subject while maintaining a defined altitude and distance). In my brief testing these modes work well, and while there is perhaps a little improvement in subject tracking, for the most part these modes seem to work much the same as their previous incarnations on the Mavic Air 2.

Flying the DJI Air 2S

The DJI Air 2S is an absolute doddle to fly.

Hand the controls to a five-year-old or an 85-year-old and they’d get the hang of it in no time. In flight it behaves the same as the Mavic Air 2. It’s quick, nimble, stable and handles even moderate wind extremely well. 

The Air 2S has DJI’s 3 familiar flight modes:

• Normal mode: this is the “default” mode that most people will use most of the time. It offers a balance of performance and stability that is pacey enough while still giving you the option of fluid, stable flight when you want it. Crucially, Normal mode takes full advantage of the APAS 4.0 obstacle avoidance system.
• Sport Mode: this is the high-performance mode, where the drone can reach its maximum speed of around 70kph and is more responsive to control inputs (which is great for filming fast moving subjects but can also lead to jerky footage).
• Cine Mode: this is a slower mode with more subtle response to control inputs, allowing for smoother, more cinematic video and more precise fine control in tight spaces or close to people and obstacles.

With a bit of practice it won’t take long until you’re flying this drone smoothly and consistently enough to capture great quality aerial videos and photos.

Batteries and Flight Time

The Air 2S uses the same intelligent flight batteries as the Mavic Air 2 — they are interchangeable, which is great. However, the slightly higher weight (595g v 570g) and tweaked performance mean you’ll get a rated flight time of 30 minutes per battery from the Air 2S compared to the 34 minutes for the Mavic Air 2. Real world flight times will vary depending on conditions, but you can expect somewhere around the 25 minute mark per fully charged battery.

Automated flight modes

As well as the usual manual flight modes, and the upgraded intelligent flight modes already mentioned, the Air 2S offers DJI’s automated Quickshots (the same as the Mavic Air 2), allowing you to quickly capture some common drone shots of selected subjects at the tap of the button. However, the Air 2S has another trick up its sleeve to help beginners get impressive results from their new drone right out of the box.

The brand new Mastershots feature takes account of the distance and altitude from the subject, flies a series of predefined cinematic drone moves around that subject, then puts them together into an edited video for you, complete with background music.

Add a title and choose a theme/look and you have a ready to share, high-quality drone clip for your social media platform of choice.

I’m not sure about Mastershots. It feels more like a gimmick than a useful tool, if I’m honest, and you have to be careful where you use it, because your drone will launch into flying a potentially unpredictable series of flight paths while capturing shots for the sequence. You need to be aware of your surroundings, and make sure you’re far enough away from obstacles, people, vehicles, busy roads, etc. before using the feature.

While Mastershots aren’t going to become part of the toolkit for more serious video projects any time soon, they can be a handy way to grab some quick, shareable content when out and about, and that is perhaps all they are designed to do.

What does it cost?

The DJI Air 2S retails at €1,029 for the basic package (drone, cables, controller and a single battery and charger) from the DJI website. However I’d recommend going for the Fly More Combo pack for €1,329, which includes two additional batteries, two spare sets of props, a charging hub, a set of ND Filters and a carry bag, as well as a few other bits and pieces.

You’ll need more batteries, if nothing else.

If you prefer, you can also buy the Air 2S via Amazon here.

Conclusion

The new camera system is the headline feature of the DJI Air 2S, and it’s a major upgrade if you’re looking to capture more professional aerial content with your drone. The other upgrades are more of a subtle evolution than anything radical. Everything, from the obstacle avoidance to the intelligent flight modes, has been refined.

Overall then, the DJI Air 2S is a superb all-rounder with a camera that delivers exceptional results in a package that’s lightweight, convenient for travel and is DJI’s easiest drone yet to fly. For serious content creators on the go, this is, quite possibly, the best all-around drone on the market today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDU5JY9MJ5o

About the Author

Calvin Jones is an author and online content specialist based in West Cork Ireland. Alongside his writing projects, he runs Ireland’s Wildlife, helps small business clients improve their websites and reviews the latest tech gadgets.

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