DJI Mavic 3 Active Track 5 test versus Skydio 2

Ray, aka DC Rainmaker, puts the DJI Mavic 3 against the Skydio 2 in an Active Track test. If you have a few minutes you should watch Ray’s video below, but in case you are in a rush, here are the highlights.

DJI Mavic 3 Active Track 5 test versus Skydio 2

On a cold and overcast day in The Netherlands, Ray has conducted a DJI Mavic 3 Active Track 5 test. DJI made Active Track 5 available on the DJI Mavic 3 in a recent firmware update. Ray picked the Skydio 2 as the M3’s opponent as the Skydio drone is the obvious benchmark when it comes to obstacle avoidance.

The DJI Mavic 3 does a great job tracking the subject but does a less stellar job in avoiding the obstacles. At one point the DJI drone loses Ray, then reacquires him and tries to catch to the subject. In doing so the Mavic 3 flies straight into a tree at a pretty high speed. The drone crashes and suffers a broken gimbal and camera as a result.

Ray points out that he is not able to change the distance at which the DJI Mavic 3 is following him while using Active Track 5. The drone uses the main camera exclusively during the tracking and thus flies closer to the subject. This is problematic in Ray’s situation as there are many trees.

The DJI Mavic 3 cannot, at least for now, use the secondary camera with the telelens. This is unfortunate as using that lens would’ve allowed the drone to keep a safer distance while providing more cinematic footage in 4K (more compression and blurred background).

Ray points out that the erratic flying behavior of the DJI Mavic 3 while using Active Track 5 is probably an algorithm-related problem and might be resolved with a future firmware update.

Ray’s observation adds to our overall impression that the DJI Mavic 3 has been rushed to the market in time for the holiday shopping season and that the recent firmware update has been rushed as well.

Next, Ray flies the Skydio 2 drone, which does a better job at avoiding obstacles but has less smooth flying behavior and also lower quality video footage resulting in a less cinematic recording.

The Skydio 2 takes a smarter flight path around the trees. The drone also keeps a saver distance, however, Ray points out that over the last two years of owning this drone he has crashed it multiple times. This shows that while the Skydio’s obstacle avoidance is superior to the Mavic three it is far from perfect.

Have a look at the DJI Mavic 3 Active Track 5 test video below and let us know in the comments what do you think of the Mavic 3’s obstacle avoidance compared to the Skydio 2 drone.

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