BEWARE the Phantom 4 Pro + (yes... PLUS)

yarbrold · Oct 3, 2017

If you are considering purchasing the Phantom 4 Professional (P4P) or plus version (P4P+) please be aware there are significant differences IF you are going to use any DJI or 3rd party software.

I recently purchased a P4P+ thinking the built-in screen would be convenient and surely the extra bells and whistles with the PLUS version would be worth the ~$500. DEAD WRONG if you want to do anything professional with it.

- Absolutely NO other device will be recognized if connected to the P4P+ controller.
- So no 3rd party software (surveying, mission planning, etc.) can be used with the controller.
- NOT EVEN DJI's own GS Pro app can be used!!!

This is all confirmed today while on a long telephone call with DJI customer support. The nice lady had to pause the call several times to research or ask others about my issue. After pointing out several times that DJI's own software GS Pro software would not work with the controller, she recommended I buy the P4P controller and not the PLUS. I then asked if that was a "down-grade" and she insisted it was not. I then asked why this VERY important information was not anywhere on the DJI web site. After another long hold time, she insisted it was and proceeded to read off the list of supported controllers: ...P3, P4, P4P, P4A... see, no "plus" in the list she insisted. So I asked again why a simple "+" on the end of the model would have a completely different software architecture (Android lollipop). It was at that point she hung up on me.

So if you are a person who wants a great UAS that takes great images and video and has a convenient 5.5 inch screen permanently fixed to the pretty white controller, then this is a great little system. But if you want to run ANY 3rd party app or actually do professional work with the drone, stay clear of the P4P+.

offroadpyro · Oct 3, 2017

Good to know.Seems once you buy a Dji you find out what's wrong with it.There is little information and most of it is from forums.So what is real and what some yawhoo said is tedious and torturous.lol..What fixes one drones problem may not fix yours.I think in 9 months I have owned Dji phantom 3 standards,I have researched as many hrs as I have flown.I'm addicted and fly almost everyday and now own 3 standards.I do S&R with them and put them in harm's way.I use these with litchi app WP mostly for search grids.Put a fpvlr with boosters on it on my controller.I can go as far as battery will take it so I'm sticking to these for now.Was thinking about a p4 but not useful as you pointed out..thanks for the posts..

yarbrold · Oct 3, 2017

Thanks for the encouragement. I too research the heck out of this stuff and then wham-mo, stuck with purchasing an ADDITIONAL controller...jeez.
Also, I wanted to clarify that I am VERY happy with the drone itself and the P4 Professional "package" would be great... just wasted $$ on the plus thinking it was better.

onthewave · Oct 3, 2017

Visually the imaging is fantastic but the horrid GPS and Mapping and Satellite views are a big pain if you shoot different locations. You have to buffer all maps. It fills up fast and when you go to clear it be prepared for application bug city trying to get all your buffered. stored maps back. They need to make it a fully functional wifi android smart display.

Meta4 · Oct 3, 2017

yarbrold said:
This is all confirmed today while on a long telephone call with DJI customer support. The nice lady had to pause the call several times to research or ask others about my issue. After pointing out several times that DJI's own software GS Pro software would not work with the controller, she recommended I buy the P4P controller and not the PLUS. I then asked if that was a "down-grade" and she insisted it was not. I then asked why this VERY important information was not anywhere on the DJI web site. After another long hold time, she insisted it was and proceeded to read off the list of supported controllers: ...P3, P4, P4P, P4A... see, no "plus" in the list she insisted. So I asked again why a simple "+" on the end of the model would have a completely different software architecture (Android lollipop).

This information has been very well known since a week after the first P4 pro was delivered.
It's very well publicised and at wouldn't have taken much research to find out
Using the regular P4 pro controller is not a downgrade, the aircraft are identical.
It's not just the + that doesn't run GSP. It has never been released in Android so any Android users miss out.
The good news is that 3 rd party mapping apps are better anyway.

yarbrold · Oct 4, 2017

Meta4 said:
This information has been very well known since a week after the first P4 pro was delivered.
It's very well publicised and at wouldn't have taken much research to find out
Using the regular P4 pro controller is not a downgrade, the aircraft are identical.
It's not just the + that doesn't run GSP. It has never been released in Android so any Android users miss out.
The good news is that 3 rd party mapping apps are better anyway.

Meta4 , Thanks for the friendly "welcome" to your forum and the condescending tone. I spent a lot of time researching the different models and decided to go with a more commercialized package for my students. Big departure for me because my project acquisitions are with fixed wing. It is NOT well publicized and the DJI website does not have anything about this huge limitation.

Even on your forum if you search "plus" or "plus issues" you have to read through a lot of material before you got to a comment about "3rd party issues". And most of those are YOUR posts. Feel free to google any search terms and find out there is a 3rd party software issue WITHOUT any a priori knowledge of the 3rd party issue.

WWK888 · Oct 4, 2017

I done mean to be condescending either but many people on this forum discussed the issue with 3rd party apps on the P4 Pro+ prior to its release. If this was your first drone and you didn’t frequent the forums you might not have known about this issue. So many people use Litchi for waypoint missions and that was the deal breaker for me not being able to use it. If you can afford another controller I would go that route, maybe you can sell your other controller to offset the price of the new one.

wa5tef · Oct 4, 2017

Sorry you had to cqll DJI Customer Dis=service! As you found out, they know nothing about the issues we have. Their answers are read from a script on their workstations. AND, they never know what your last call or problem was about thus you have to start over each time to catch them up, EVEN is you get the same rep (in name anyway) I fought with them last February just trying to get them to explain why my P4 flipped upside down and flew into the ground. I accumulated an inch stack of emails and dozens of phone calls and they never would tell me this! I keep reposting this event to let others know what to expect and take notes with times, names and issues. Hopefully one day they will get the message and fix their problem so they can fix ours.

Good luck!!
Jim
WA5TEF

pporozin · Oct 4, 2017

yarbrold said:
Meta4 , Thanks for the friendly "welcome" to your forum and the condescending tone. I spent a lot of time researching the different models and decided to go with a more commercialized package for my students. Big departure for me because my project acquisitions are with fixed wing. It is NOT well publicized and the DJI website does not have anything about this huge limitation.

Even on your forum if you search "plus" or "plus issues" you have to read through a lot of material before you got to a comment about "3rd party issues". And most of those are YOUR posts. Feel free to google any search terms and find out there is a 3rd party software issue WITHOUT any a priori knowledge of the 3rd party issue.

Well, I did the same misstake like you and bought P4Pro+. And then I read FAQ at DJI Phantom 4 Pro – Specs, FAQ, Tutorials and Downloads where you can find the info you are refering as it it does not exist.
“10. Can I download other apps onto the Phantom 4 Pro + remote controller display?
No. Currently the Phantom 4 Pro + controller does not support downloading additional third party apps.”

pporozin · Oct 4, 2017

...and as I did the same misstake and ordered P4P+, I ended with an additional remote with my iPad Pro. I have not checked prior ordering the FAQ so I considered it as my fault. I could return the drone within the 14 days return policy we have here, but I already registered the warranty etc, so I decided to accept the fact that I was not reading all the available info and I had to spent additional $$.

msinger · Oct 4, 2017

For anyone interested in the P4P+ remote controller, here's a video that explains the pros/cons in detail:

msinger · Oct 4, 2017

pporozin said:
...and as I did the same misstake and ordered P4P+, I ended with an additional remote with my iPad Pro.

You could probably recover most of what you spent on the remote controller by selling it here in the Classifieds or on eBay.

yarbrold · Oct 4, 2017

Thanks everyone! And sorry but I got rubbed a bit by the 10,000+ posting moderator. I apologize and I have only JUST found this P4-only forum. So now with this post, hopefully, all your guys'/gals' knowledge is centralized and easier to find in a single thread. It is likely you all have discussed this issue many times, but I could not find a thread and you all have a LOT to talk about. So many posts. I have many other projects and things to do, so when I research or my team does, I look for specific things. I have experience in building and flying UAVs the Pixhawk or similar FC then wanting to buy in the prepackaged off-the-shelf there is a lot to go through. SO given all the info on a P4 PROFESSIONAL and meeting my needs, didn't realize the "+" on end was a "poison pill."

This is a P4-only forum so God love you people who post here and obviously have a lot of knowledge to offer the 2 million+ DJI Phantom users. But I didn't find you all until AFTER I started having issues and hopefully this thread will be found in the future and bring out the collective knowledge of the group BEFORE someone buys this. Even the DJI rep I spoke to did NOT know there was an issue until 5-10 minutes into the call when she put me on hold to ask someone else.
Cheers

Dirby · Oct 4, 2017

yarbrold said:
Meta4 , Thanks for the friendly "welcome" to your forum and the condescending tone. I spent a lot of time researching the different models and decided to go with a more commercialized package for my students. Big departure for me because my project acquisitions are with fixed wing. It is NOT well publicized and the DJI website does not have anything about this huge limitation.

Even on your forum if you search "plus" or "plus issues" you have to read through a lot of material before you got to a comment about "3rd party issues". And most of those are YOUR posts. Feel free to google any search terms and find out there is a 3rd party software issue WITHOUT any a priori knowledge of the 3rd party issue.

I have seen what Meta4 posted many times.

Speedmeister · Oct 4, 2017

I ordered a p4p obsidian instead of the plus. I read all the pros and cons. You can uprade to capabilities of a plus by buying crystal sky. The only major advantage of the plus is the screen brightness and less problem with the GO App. Easier to isolate problems when there are no 3rd party apps or hardware involved. One other advantage is when DJI issues updates, it will work. If you dont have a plus then you have to proceed with caution because the monitor of your choice might have been outdated by the upgrade. It would be intetesting to know what screen DJI use to test there apps.

Techcop50 · Oct 5, 2017

It's probably best to at least start out flying with DJI's own software. Things can go wrong, and I wouldn't want to have my new drone crashed and find out the manufacturer was blaming my choice of a 3rd party software.
And I have Plus, bought it back in December, fully aware that the device was limited to DJI's Go app. The brightness and stability more than makes up for any software short-comings, for me.

nwairphotos · Oct 5, 2017

I have a p4p+ and love it. The screen is bright, but not bright enough for me at all times, and I still find myself wanting to shield it from sunlight, so maybe one day I'll get around to buying or making a hood for it. I like the convenience of not having to set up a second device as a monitor. However, I was disappointed that I could not use it to do mapping, so I bought another controller and use that one and a mini ipad for mapping. So I switch back and forth between the controllers as needed, and it's not that big of a deal.

JaredReabow · Oct 7, 2017

yarbrold said:
If you are considering purchasing the Phantom 4 Professional (P4P) or plus version (P4P+) please be aware there are significant differences IF you are going to use any DJI or 3rd party software.

I recently purchased a P4P+ thinking the built-in screen would be convenient and surely the extra bells and whistles with the PLUS version would be worth the ~$500. DEAD WRONG if you want to do anything professional with it.

- Absolutely NO other device will be recognized if connected to the P4P+ controller.
- So no 3rd party software (surveying, mission planning, etc.) can be used with the controller.
- NOT EVEN DJI's own GS Pro app can be used!!!

This is all confirmed today while on a long telephone call with DJI customer support. The nice lady had to pause the call several times to research or ask others about my issue. After pointing out several times that DJI's own software GS Pro software would not work with the controller, she recommended I buy the P4P controller and not the PLUS. I then asked if that was a "down-grade" and she insisted it was not. I then asked why this VERY important information was not anywhere on the DJI web site. After another long hold time, she insisted it was and proceeded to read off the list of supported controllers: ...P3, P4, P4P, P4A... see, no "plus" in the list she insisted. So I asked again why a simple "+" on the end of the model would have a completely different software architecture (Android lollipop). It was at that point she hung up on me.

So if you are a person who wants a great UAS that takes great images and video and has a convenient 5.5 inch screen permanently fixed to the pretty white controller, then this is a great little system. But if you want to run ANY 3rd party app or actually do professional work with the drone, stay clear of the P4P+.

I fell like someone didn't bother to do their research first.
I bought the P4P+ on release day so i had no idea that was the case, but you are many months late.
To be honest, this is your fault.

PGP · Oct 7, 2017

yarbrold said:
If you are considering purchasing the Phantom 4 Professional (P4P) or plus version (P4P+) please be aware there are significant differences IF you are going to use any DJI or 3rd party software.

I recently purchased a P4P+ thinking the built-in screen would be convenient and surely the extra bells and whistles with the PLUS version would be worth the ~$500. DEAD WRONG if you want to do anything professional with it.

- Absolutely NO other device will be recognized if connected to the P4P+ controller.
- So no 3rd party software (surveying, mission planning, etc.) can be used with the controller.
- NOT EVEN DJI's own GS Pro app can be used!!!

This is all confirmed today while on a long telephone call with DJI customer support. The nice lady had to pause the call several times to research or ask others about my issue. After pointing out several times that DJI's own software GS Pro software would not work with the controller, she recommended I buy the P4P controller and not the PLUS. I then asked if that was a "down-grade" and she insisted it was not. I then asked why this VERY important information was not anywhere on the DJI web site. After another long hold time, she insisted it was and proceeded to read off the list of supported controllers: ...P3, P4, P4P, P4A... see, no "plus" in the list she insisted. So I asked again why a simple "+" on the end of the model would have a completely different software architecture (Android lollipop). It was at that point she hung up on me.

So if you are a person who wants a great UAS that takes great images and video and has a convenient 5.5 inch screen permanently fixed to the pretty white controller, then this is a great little system. But if you want to run ANY 3rd party app or actually do professional work with the drone, stay clear of the P4P+.

strikeforce · Oct 7, 2017

yarbrold said:
If you are considering purchasing the Phantom 4 Professional (P4P) or plus version (P4P+) please be aware there are significant differences IF you are going to use any DJI or 3rd party software.

I recently purchased a P4P+ thinking the built-in screen would be convenient and surely the extra bells and whistles with the PLUS version would be worth the ~$500. DEAD WRONG if you want to do anything professional with it.

- Absolutely NO other device will be recognized if connected to the P4P+ controller.
- So no 3rd party software (surveying, mission planning, etc.) can be used with the controller.
- NOT EVEN DJI's own GS Pro app can be used!!!

This is all confirmed today while on a long telephone call with DJI customer support. The nice lady had to pause the call several times to research or ask others about my issue. After pointing out several times that DJI's own software GS Pro software would not work with the controller, she recommended I buy the P4P controller and not the PLUS. I then asked if that was a "down-grade" and she insisted it was not. I then asked why this VERY important information was not anywhere on the DJI web site. After another long hold time, she insisted it was and proceeded to read off the list of supported controllers: ...P3, P4, P4P, P4A... see, no "plus" in the list she insisted. So I asked again why a simple "+" on the end of the model would have a completely different software architecture (Android lollipop). It was at that point she hung up on me.

So if you are a person who wants a great UAS that takes great images and video and has a convenient 5.5 inch screen permanently fixed to the pretty white controller, then this is a great little system. But if you want to run ANY 3rd party app or actually do professional work with the drone, stay clear of the P4P+.

I made these mistake of purchasing the Phantom 4Pro + in March of last year.
The built in monitor is very nice, but the DJI software issues are a nightmare at best.
Software crashes are common, The farthest distance I have been able to fly my Phantom is around my 8,300 feet.
The video always shows that the camera has a “twitching” problem.
DJI per their norm, never returns my calls, even though they promise to. I could go on and on.