Phantom 3 4K Drone

[AndyD]

Thinking about pulling the trigger on a Phantom 3 4K drone as an early birthday present for myself. Looks like they're on sale at Best Buy for only $100 more than the standard. I don't necessarily need the 4K video but the "follow me" and "waypoint" features intrigue me a lot and sounds like great features for the device.

Thoughts from anybody who has owned either? I know there's been a lot of discussion recently about drones but just curious on anybody's thoughts. Pros, cons, etc? @Ronnie?

I've had a cheap $100 "drone"/RC copter for awhile and have gotten a pretty good feel for the controls so not worried about being a first time flyer. Plus it looks like it may be easier to handle than the cheap ones available on the market.

 

[CAM212SS]

the standard 3 also has follow me and waypoint.

 

[Volffas]

Phantom 4k doesn't have light bridge which is ok if you don't want to fly further than 900 ft away or so. You can fly the Advanced and Professional models up to 3 miles away.

I recommend at least the Advanced.

http://myfirstdrone.com/tutorials/buying-guides/differences-between-all-four-phantom-3-models/

 

[bronze_10]

Get it before this weekend so u can take fly over picks at the gathering!

 

[JetSet407]

@AndyD Yes the standard has Follow me features as well. I have the P3 Standard and it is perfect for my needs. My photos and videos come out very well. Are you going to be using 4k that much? 4k editing is more time consuming depending on your setup. But for $100 it may be worth it to you. I would probably use that $100 towards getting an Advanced model.

 

[Ronnie]

I agree with the comments above . That is, having a 4K camera is a nice option but using it will eat up more storage space faster and processing the video will take more time and / or a more powerful computer.

The big distinction for me is the video uplink between the 3 standard and advanced/professional. As I understand it the standard uses the wireless/wifi system of the phantom 2 , most of the time this works fine but a had a few instances where my phone or tablet would not connect with it or it took a few attempts to do so. Without this connection you should not and may not be able to fly since the phone / tablet is your interface to the phantom. The more reliable system is the light bridge system of the advanced and professional since you plug into your tablet or phone via a usb cord to the remote. So once you plug it in it is connected unlike the wifi system. The is one of the reasons I upgraded from the 2 to the 3 advanced . Like @Volffas said, The range on the light bridge system is also much better so if you plan to fly 1k feet out or more commonly don't even consider a system that uses wifi. Loosing the connection in flight can be and feel so much worse than never acquiring the signal at all.

That stated I like others recommend the 3 advanced, i still have mine and it's been flawless. I had to upgrade the firmware to get the 2.7k camera and advanced flight modes but I bought an early model and suspect that the new ones are ready to go out of the box. If you are buying from Best Buy you should be well protected by their return policy which most hobby stores don't have on products like this, so you can buy and try the standard out for a few days before deciding if you want to keep it, exchange it for an advanced model or get a refund (but check the policy out for yourself before buying).

Don't forget to register with the faa, it only takes a few minute and $5. Good luck, have fun and be safe.

 

[bigblank69]

If you dont need 4k I have a P3 Advanced i am thinking of selling. Nothing wrong with it, i just dont fly it much since I bought an Inspire 1 and a Typhoon H.

 

[Fpdr1113]

Price?

 

[bigblank69]

I wouldnt let it go for less than 500. Comes with a spare battery which are 130 alone, removeable prop guards and a carrying case.

 

[robert843]

For the 100 difference it would be tempting for the upgrade. I have the phantom 3 standard and it's great as mentioned it does have the follow me and waypoint on it. I have had my phantom 3 standard almost a mile away and that is more then enough distance. You can't even see the drone that far out so it freaks me out a little when I get that far away.

 

[bigblank69]

There really is a huge difference between the P3A and P3P compared to the P3S and P34K. The range alone with Lightbridge is so much better and stability with the VPS makes indoor flying possible (though still not adviseable). I owned a P3S and while decent to learn on, the range being limited by Wifi, also made it a liability. I had my P3S get caught in a wind gust and got quickly taken from range of the controller, before I knew it she was gone out of sight and lost for good. Since then my P3A and Inspire have been much more reliable. STAY away from the Wifi models and stick with the Advanced/Pro's or P4.

 

[AndyD]

So I ended up splurging on the Phantom 4. It was more than I was anticipating spending but after I convinced myself that I wanted the light bridge technology for the better streaming and distance for the drone that took me out of the P3 standard and 4K models. The thing I liked the most about the P4 is the front sensors and crash detection that isn't on the P3 models and to me that along with a couple other upgrades was worth the difference from the P3 advanced and professional models.

On a side note...I LOVE THIS THING!!! It's amazing to fly, great video, and "almost" uncrashable with the updated safety features. Right now I only have it resistered as a hobby drone so the height limit is capped at 400' but it has the capacity to go much higher once you get the proper certifications on it.

Looking forward to cranking it out and seeing what it can do. Just the first few test flights out have been a blast. Definitely a "splurge" but hey...it's my birthday!

 

[bronze_10]

The wife doesn't look convinced in the first photo!

 

[AndyD]

The wife doesn't look convinced in the first photo!

HA!! I did have her blessing for the record. She's just not as excited about it as me.

 

[AndyD]

The flight controls are so smooth even for a newbie. Here's one of us playing with the camera shot.

 

[Benny Sibbitt]

I have the P3 pro since I am a professional photographer, but honestly, I never shoot 3K
Uploading to the computer is very slow, takes up a ton of hard drive space and the onboard storage fills up quickly

Flying the cheap 100 dollars drones compared to these phantoms is night and day….. So much easier


good luck

 

[bigblank69]

Congrats, the 4 is a good bird enjoy it!

 

[soundshark]

Here you go, this is a Phantom 4:

 

[AndyD]

Had my first crash today with my phantom 4. Lucky for me it was minor fall and completely pilot error versus some freak incident that causes it to drop 200 feet out of the air. I was cruising across the ground in sport mode and meant to pull back on the throttle to make it stop but pulled back on the altitude instead and it crashed from about 2' high right into the ground going 45 mph and tumbled end over end for about 30'. Only ended up with a broken propeller luckily.

 

[AndyD]