DJI launches the Air 2S drone with an ultra-large sensor and a lot of features

DJI may have dropped the Mavic tag from its new Air 2S drone; however, the new, equally fold-away unit might prove a worthy successor to the last product to bear the name - on paper, at least. The OEM has equipped its latest flying robot with a 1-inch sensor.

This spec - up to which not even the most premium of smartphones have yet to step - dwarfs that of the Mavic Air 2 (1/2 inches). The older drone does still have a resolution of 48MP compared to 20MP in the Air 2S - then again, the newer model's pixels are 2.4 microns (μm) in size, compared to 0.8μm in its predecessor.

The enhanced sensor can use all this real estate to record at 5.4K at 24, 25 or 30fps, or crop in for 4K/60fps. DJI has also engineered color-proflling at up to HLG 10-bit or D-Log 10-bit for accuracy. The Air 2S can even record in RAW, although obviously it would not do so for that long.

DJI claims that its sensor upgrade also confers improved low-light, panorama and time-lapsed shooting. The Air 2S also features Intelligent HDR, as well as FocusTrack, Spotlight 2.0, ActiveTrack 4.0 and Point of Interest 3.0 settings to either track or pinpoint the subject effectively.

The OEM has also developed MasterShot for the Air 2S, a smart feature that selects these options automatically depending on the scene it surveys. Meanwhile, the drone might stay safer in the air with four-side (up, down, back and forward) obstacle avoidance and improved "binacular" zooming for improved UAV foresight.

The DJI Air 2S can be ordered from the OEM's website from now for US$999 or €999, for the unit plus just one battery, its charger, 6 "low-noise" propellers, all the requisite cables and a controller. There is also a Fly More combo, which includes all that starting kit, as well as 2 more batteries, four ND filters and a shoulder bag, for $1,299/€1,299.

Alternatively, the Mavic Air 2 starts at $800 on Amazon right now