karala DJI Phantom 3 Review - The Professional's Choice

DJI Phantom 3 Review - The Professional's Choice

The DJI Phantom 3 drone is finally here and we're excited to review the most highly anticipated quadcopter of the year. After the success of the previous Phantom generation, we were excited to see what DJI could bring to the table; Would they increase the range? Battery life? Add new features? 

Yes, yes and yes... and so much more. 

At first glance, the Phantom 3 looks deceptively similar to the previous generation shell. In fact, it looks nearly identical so it would be normal to assume not much changed. 

But you'd be wrong, dead wrong. 

The new Phantom 3 is light years ahead of the previous generation of ready to fly drones (like the Phantom 2 Vision) and leaves most other manufacturers in the dust. 

The reason for the new performance is mainly due to new motors and a new optical sensor underneath the quad. The new sensors help stabilize the drone to a new level of accuracy making it the most stable quadcopter yet in this price range. 

Indoor flying with the DJI Phantom 3

Most modern drones rely on GPS for positional data and that's the thing that allows them to hover a specific spot. Although the Phantom 3 also comes with GPS tracking for positional data, it automatically switches to the optical sensors when the GPS isn't available. (This happens a lot if you're flying indoors, in places with a lot trees or even places with a lot of interference.) 

These sensors act a little like the bottom of your computer's mouse in the sense that they track what's underneath to determine the position. In the DJI Phantom 3, this translates to being able to hold the same fixed position in the face of crosswinds and external disturbances. If you've done extensive flying indoors, you'll know that turbulence from the wind bouncing off walls and objects will tend to influence the flight of most drones so this new sensor stability will be a welcomed feature when you have no GPS data. 

Improved GPS positioning

Speaking of GPS, the new Phantom's 3 global positioning system is even better this time around as it now has access to more satellites than before. (Apparently they signed a deal that allows them to use additional GPS satellites for more accuracy and redundancy. This means that you'll have even more coverage and accuracy.) 

Even though I never really had an issue with the GPS of previous models (maybe I'm just lucky or it's where I fly), the new coverage should help keep your drone exactly where you want it to be. DJI is also developing flight paths and trajectories so you'll want to have ultra accurate positioning for that. 

Charger Tests and Batteries 

In our charge time tests for the DJI Phantom 3 battery, we measured 29 minutes to fully charge with the pro smart charger. That's quite an impressive feat considering we're used to having to spend a few hours charging our other batteries. This means that if you get yourself 2 batteries, you can fly with almost no downtime. (Technically, you need three for continuous flight times seeing as it takes a little longer to charge than it does to drain the battery but two will get you pretty close.) 

The batteries aren't cheap but you can often get a Phantom 3 bundle with an extra battery. Alternatively, you can pick one up separately for nearly the same amount but unlike the smaller drones that only provide you with 6 minutes of flight time, the Phantom 3 goes a long time so it's entirely possible to get by with only one battery. (Although personally I happen to have 3 of them so I'm a little bias) 

The only downside with having all this new technology is that the older batteries of the Phantom 2 are not compatible with the new one. So if you have a bunch of Phantom 2 batteries lying around, you're out of luck! 

The Phantom 3 Flight Test

My first impressions when flying the Phantom 3 was... "Wow, this is just like the older model except much more stable!" It has the same intuitive (and frankly, super easy) except that it feels much more solid, stable and predictable. If other drones are bees buzzing around, this is a swan having a smooth flight.