Karma Mavic

Ever since my prosecution for flying in Yellowstone Park via YouTube video my drone flying has been next to nothing.  It left a very bad taste in my mouth for obvious reasons.  Because of this I have not really been keeping up with the latest and greatest on the drone scene until Casey Neistat reviewed the new GoPro Karma, a compact and versatile quadcopter.  The specs, which I will get into shortly looked impressive and I loved the way it folded into a very portable package for easy transport.  Well my mind was blown when no later than a week later, DJI announced their all new compact drone, the Mavic.

Although at first glance you would think the drones are very similar, which they are, but when you start digging into them some important differences come up.  Both drones fold up to take up much less space than something like the DJI Phantom which has become the gold standard of drones the last few years.  While the Karma is small, the Mavic is even smaller, close to the size of a medium water bottle when folded.

When it comes to controllers there are some important differences. All Karmas come with a controller that is nice and compact which includes a bright LED screen designed for outdoor viewing.  The low end Mavic does not come with a controller but allows you to fly it with your phone.  If you do opt for the controller, which again is a much smaller size than people are accustomed to, if you want to fly with FPV you need to link your phone to the controller.

Both drones include a sophisticated gimble stabilization system which gives you rock solid video during even rough flying conditions however the way they capture the video is different.  The Mavic has a built in, permanently attached 4K camera that delivers very high quality images.  Predictably, the Karma utilizes a GoPro to collect it’s video.  The copter will work with a GoPro Hero 4 and up supposedly.  So if you already have a GoPro that is compatible you are a step ahead. What is really different is that the Karma allows you to remove the entire gimble assembly from the drone and convert it to a handheld stabilizer which is super cool.  When I saw this my mind immediately jumped to my Ninebot One videos and how a handheld stabilizer could benefit me.

However when you start comparing the nuts and bolts of the drone itself, the Mavic has a clear lead.  It’s faster, has longer battery life, smaller, and includes a lot of the extra intelligence like obstacle avoidance and subject following that it’s big brother Phantom has.  The Karma has none of this sort of capability.

It’s really hard to do an apples to apples comparison of the two drones because of some of these variables.  If you don’t already own a compatible GoPro your price entry point for the Karma is going to be significantly higher.  If you buy a Mavic and opt to just control it with the phone you could could slide in under the Karma by several hundred dollars but then you don’t have a cool handheld stabilizer thrown in.  With the Mavic you need to use your phone to do FPV, with the Karma you don’t but the Mavic has significantly more tech built into the drone itself.

So which one is right for you?  Unfortunately the best answer I can give you is, “depends”.  I can tell you from Casey Neistat’s feedback, (he tested a Mavic too), he is more excited about the DJI drone.  Regardless, both of them are going to elevate the world of drones to a new level.