I Pad Mini 4 / I Pad Air 2

[Luff84]

I'm getting a new tablet to pilot the I2, i've never been an Apple guy but i can't get round the fact that it seems to be a more supported ecosystem by DJI and now i'm doing this as a business i can't afford to have app problems. I don't know too much about I Pads, initially i was going to buy the Mini 4, £419, but came across the Air 2 for for £399. I'm coming from an S7 Edge which has been ok but i had a disconnect the other day with my Mavic and it's put a bit of doubt in my mind.

Not sure which one of these 2 tablets to go for, any advice?

Thanks

 

[Luff84]

Correction - It seems the Air 2 has been discontinued and in its place the "I Pad". So my question now is what is better out of these 2? Why does Apple charge more for something that's smaller? I'm coming from using a phone, worried that the full size I Pad might be too big?

 

[Aerial-Pixel]

Ive used both the iPad Air 2 and smaller Android tablets. I prefer the larger screen size of the iPad Air 2.

 

[Mark Taylor]

Why does Apple charge more for something that's smaller?

They don't.

Compare the models with the same memory size and you'll see they charge $30 more for the larger iPad over the Mini 4.

However, you can buy a version of the iPad with less memory that will then cost less as they are only selling the 128GB version of the Mini 4 new.

 

[BrenC11]

I'm just about to buy a iPad Air 2. Was using a mini, but due to the small window size on the POV camera mode I've upgraded.

 

[deltalimatango]

I currently use an iPad Mini 4. Works well and out of 3 drones (P4, Mavic, and I2), the DJI GO app has only crashed twice. However, if you want more real estate for sure go for the bigger iPad.

 

[Luff84]

I currently use an iPad Mini 4. Works well and out of 3 drones (P4, Mavic, and I2), the DJI GO app has only crashed twice. However, if you want more real estate for sure go for the bigger iPad.

Thanks for the replies, i went with the 2017 iPad 9.7 WiFi only. Good point about the FPV camera, i was flying with it yesterday on my S7 for the 1st time and it was a bit small, can't wait to try it on the iPad

 

[Luff84]

Just and update. As someone who has been using the android version of DJI Go on phones for the last few years, I'm amazed just how much better the Apple version is. I took a confidence hit recently when I had a disconnect on both my inspire and mavic and it got me thinking "what if that happened on a job?" The mavic wouldn't reconnect either and was locked in a smart mode where I didn't have full control, I had to wait for failsafe to kick in and RTH.

Since using the iPad, it's been faultless and I'm not constantly worrying about connection problems.

 

[Eskin_Drones]

I have used the Samsung and Apple tablets, and the iOS app is vastly superior, imho.

I had problems with tx signal strength while using the bigger Samsung, but not with the iPad Mini. I attribute that to the smaller size of the Mini, not obstructing the antenna.

 

[JROK]

I'm an Android guy but unfortunately dji's development focus is geared for Apple devices [emoji34]

For those of you who are not aware but Apple is currently in talks of buying out dji. Nooooooo!!! LOL anyways...

 

[Luff84]

I'm an Android guy but unfortunately dji's development focus is geared for Apple devices [emoji34]

For those of you who are not aware but Apple is currently in talks of buying out dji. Nooooooo!!! LOL anyways...

Link for those talks ?

 

[ZenFlyer]

Apple rumored to buy DJI - DRONELIFE

 

[ZenFlyer]

Luff,

In my opinion you made the better choice going for the larger iPad. The mini 4 still uses the A8/M8 processors, where the iPad uses the A9/M9, which offer substantially better graphic processing power.

If it bothers you have something of that size mounted on the controller (it bothered me), then get a tripod and an iPad mount. I have been running the setup for a while. It lets you put the iPad at eye level, and makes it easy for others to watch the feed if you're not setting up a separate monitor. This one I got off of Amazon even lets me fit a hood:
Amazon.com: HDX2-RM8 Video Record Periscope Tablet Tripod Mount with Dual 360° Swivel Adjust Joint for 7-12-inch Tablets like Apple iPad Pro Air Mini, Galaxy Tab S2 A & Surface Pro Slate: Computers & Accessories

Just be sure to weight the tripod in windy conditions!

 

[Cobra44Magnum]

Note that the wifi only version of the iPad does not have GPS - only GPS-A (AKA fake GPS - based off wifi triangulation) so without wifi you get nothing even with cached maps. Even with wifi the accuracy is bad and far less than realtime.

Having said that, I was an Android user who bought my first iPad due to app crashes on several Android phones and tablets. I have only had 1 DJI Go app crash in 2+ years with 4 different drones. I'm certainly not an Apple fan but the iPad is by far the best tool for this job. I started with a mini but moved to an Air 2 for more screen size. I am now using a Pro 9.7". The lone app crash was on the mini, years ago.

 

[Supong]

I had my remote controller damaged after using it with iPad Pro. The rc battery circuit did not charge more than 3 LED and the rc power drained quickly. Never have problem with other models of iPad and iPhone.

 

[cougar]

I had my remote controller damaged after using it with iPad Pro. The rc battery circuit did not charge more than 3 LED and the rc power drained quickly. Never have problem with other models of iPad and iPhone.

Don't think the problem with your RC had anything to do with using the iPad Pro, I am using booth Mini 4 as well as iPad Pro without issues.