Interested in a new P4, should I buy one?

[Horton]

Hey! coming from a P3P. Want to buy a more reliable and safe drone. Is it worth it? Hows the camera? I know by the specs it is not better than the P3P.

Appreciate your honest opinion. Cheers.

 

[msinger]

It's nearly identical to the P3P camera. If that's all you're after, it's not worth the upgrade. You can see a list of other features that make the upgrade worthwhile here.

 

[Leejax01]

Safer, well you have Obstacle Avoidance and I'm sure you've done your homework on it. Flies faster, is in the air longer, & has more weight which seems to me makes it more stable. Definitely stays in place better

 

[Cactus Wren]

Hey! coming from a P3P. Want to buy a more reliable and safe drone. Is it worth it? Hows the camera? I know by the specs it is not better than the P3P.

Appreciate your honest opinion. Cheers.

Although I just recently bought a P4, I would advise against buying one unless you can get a NEW one, with full warranty, for a steal.
The reason is this: The Mavic Pro was just released and will be shipping in a few days. In about 4 or 5 months, we should have the next version of the Phantom which should make even some new Mavic owners envious.
There's nothing wrong with the P4, but the technology is advancing at such a ridiculous pace that, to me, it doesn't make sense to spend good money on a piece of equipment that will be a dinosaur in less than a couple of years.
Your P3P is nearly as good as the P4. Hold your money until they have something that is significantly better. You won't have to wait long for that.

 

[Horton]

Although I just recently bought a P4, I would advise against buying one unless you can get a NEW one, with full warranty, for a steal.
The reason is this: The Mavic Pro was just released and will be shipping in a few days. In about 4 or 5 months, we should have the next version of the Phantom which should make even some new Mavic owners envious.
There's nothing wrong with the P4, but the technology is advancing at such a ridiculous pace that, to me, it doesn't make sense to spend good money on a piece of equipment that will be a dinosaur in less than a couple of years.
Your P3P is nearly as good as the P4. Hold your money until they have something that is significantly better.

Hey, thanks for your reply. Ive lost a bit of faith in my P3P recently as its having a harder time holding position, battery cell issue warnings (then they disappear), extreme lag. Ill be flying in a "technical" situation at the end of the month, want to have some more faith in the drone than I currently have now.

 

[John Locke]

Funny, my P3P flies as good or better than my P4, IMHO. The P4 is great, don't get me wrong, but I have no complaints about my P3P. Love my P3P bird, we've been to a lot of places. For me, Lightbridge works better on P3 versus P4. I had to buy an Inspire controller to be happy with my P4 (range-wise), works much better than my stock P4 controller.

 

[Horton]

Funny, my P3P flies as good or better than my P4, IMHO. The P4 is great, don't get me wrong, but I have no complaints about my P3P. Love my P3P bird, we've been to a lot of places. For me, Lightbridge works better on P3 versus P4. I had to buy an Inspire controller to be happy with my P4 (range-wise), works much better than my stock P4 controller.

Hmm, OK. thanks

 

[Jeremiah Nelson]

Anyone that tells you it's not worth it over a p3 is a insecure and justifying keeping an out dated craft . Yes you can preform same task but the added tech in the p4 is noticeable. More powerful, stronger, redundances super stable and return to home lands so close to take off I feel pretty comfortable using it in less than ideal conditions. To me it is a lot. But every user is different.

 

[alokbhargava]

I would suggest you to wait a while for Mavic field reports to appear and then decide. Until that time enjoy with what you have with you.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[DeweyAXD]

Yeah I'd not spend the money until there is a good price drop. Camera is excellent and the subtle difference in how it is embedded and motor height means less prop in shot and no legs in view either.
Redundancy systems 'should' make it more reliable and safe (not that I think the P3P had many issues on that front).Obstacle avoidance and VPS are 'ok' but I'd never rely on them for safety concerns (VPS over water can't be switched off still!).
All in all the P4 would be great buy IF you can recover a good chunk of money for your p3p AND you get the P4 at a decently discounted price.... otherwise just enjoy the P3P

 

[Dinerve]

avoidance and VPS are 'ok' but I'd never rely on them for safety concerns (VPS over water can't be switched off still!).

Not entirely true, the option to disable VPS was added recently. Still, your other arguments are correct.


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[DeweyAXD]

Not entirely true, the option to disable VPS was added recently. Still, your other arguments are correct.


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They have?! How did i not notice this earlier?! Must have escaped my attention which is annoying given the amount of water I've flown over in the last month Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Jeremiah Nelson]

It's nearly identical to the P3P camera. If that's all you're after, it's not worth the upgrade. You can see a list of other features that make the upgrade worthwhile here.

I respectfully disagree. Sure you have comparable features and camera but build quality on the p4 is no comparison. I had to change my p3 shell just looking at it funny. Seriously like once a month or more. Ive had 2 in a row p3 flyaways. I love the p3 and its a good machine. Ive logged millions of feet with it. When I bought the p4 I actually got back into drones more and that was on release. I still freaking love it and would recommend anyone with a tired p3 pick one up. Ive also found the range to be better and return to home is as good and precise as my matrice 100.

 

[msinger]

I respectfully disagree.

You respectfully disagree about the camera quality? That's what I was referring to since the OP mentioned it above. I doubt you could tell which video/photo was shot with the P3/P4 if I showed them to you side by side.

 

[Jeremiah Nelson]

You respectfully disagree about the camera quality? That's what I was referring to since the OP mentioned it above. I doubt you could tell which video/photo was shot with the P3/P4 if I showed them to you side by side.

No sir I agree cameras are both good. Mostly I mean just about EVERYTHING else is worth it on the p4.

 

[msinger]

Oh, so, you respectfully agree with me then

The P4 is awesome. It's just a bad buy if someone is only looking for a better camera.

 

[Jeremiah Nelson]

Oh, so, you respectfully agree with me then

The P4 is awesome. It's just a bad buy if someone is only looking for a better camera.

I think the bad buy part is what I disagree with only. But that can be a individual preference thing to upgrade or not. I suffer from G.A.S gear acquirement syndrome so small improvements trigger me.

 

[msinger]

I think the bad buy part is what I disagree with only.

I'm not following. What's so noticeably different about the photo/video quality?

 

[Jeremiah Nelson]

I'm not following. What's so noticeably different about the photo/video quality?

i am sorry for the confusion. I am not saying the p4 has a better camera however my best footage has come from a p4. I speak in overall build quality stability and just general overall better reliability over the p3.

 

[msinger]

Haha -- right on, sir. We're back to agreeing again