DJI Phantom 4 Pro: The best in class just got better. If you are into anything related to tech, then camera drones will have most likely come onto your radar at some point. Drones are all the rage now and have been for the last two years or so. The interest in them has grown rapidly and a number of companies are coming up with their own ways of making the basic concept both feature rich and an attractive product. DJI, for the most part have been at the top of the drone game for a long time.

The latest model to leave the DJI factory is a Quadcopter called the Phantom 4 Pro. The Phantom series is truly one of the best in the business. From the very beginning, it has been one to give users a way of capture sweeping aerial shots. These were previously only thought to be impossible with a expensive studio equipment and a whole team of people.

Phantom 4 Pro

The DJI Phantom 4 Pro is an iteration of the Phantom 4, an upgrade more than anything else. The form factor and dimensions are pretty much the same. It’s the innards that get the upgrade. Think of it as an iPhone 6S to the iPhone 6.

What you get for the extra $300 (£300 in the UK)

The biggest improvements, and the ones that makes it worth the upgrade are the camera and the new flight autonomy sensors.

The camera is now a 20 megapixel model with a 1 inch CMOS sensor, and 4K video at 60 fps. The camera has a number of shooting options, storage options, and video recording modes. The quality of the video, when compared to the camera on the DJI Phantom 4 is immediately apparent. The colours are a bit less saturated, whilst also looking more realistic and natural. The Phantom 4 Pro has a smooth, natural and relatively noise free picture, even in low light. Something that cannot be said of the original Phantom 4, which had a 12 megapixel camera that captured 4K at 30 fps.

Apart from the camera, the flight mechanics of the machines has also changed. The gimbal in the craft holds the camera steady at any angle and at any speed. There is an excellent feature where you can etch a line across the screen and the drone will take that path, all you need to do is operate the camera. The feature is called ‘Draw’. The P4 Pro also has an incredible set of sensors and secondary IR cameras that keep it from crashing or bumping into objects, even at max speeds. That means even indoor shots come out looking great and you can pilot it with absolute confidence, whilst keeping your attention on your footage. None of the sensors and other related features can be found in the P4, while it does have the obstacle avoidance feature, the P4 Pro has taken it to the next level.

The Phantom 4 and the Pro are pretty much the same when it comes to size and dimensions, so you have a world of third party accessories that you can use with the device. That’s an automatic win in itself.

Should you buy it?

At the end of the day, it all comes down to the price. Is it worth the $300 / £300 extra? If you are a casual, amateur videographer just starting to build your skills, you will not really need the advanced features of the P4 Pro and may not be able to afford them. For more serious users who have the need to capture stunning footage and pilot difficult flight paths, edit footage and want the absolute best, yes, it is definitely worth it for the extra $300/£300. If you are a first time buyer and have no idea about drones, you might want to give the Phantom 4 Pro a miss, but we would still recommend going for the more affordable Phantom 3, which is still by all standards a quality machine that you will not out grow for a while.