Professional Review of the DJI Phantom 3 Standard Drone

DJIPhantom3StandardOriginally priced at $799, the DJI Phantom 3 Standard drone is now priced in the $500 range making it a great value for the price. It measures 15 in. x 14 in. x 8.2 in. and weighs in at 1216 g (2.68 lbs).

This drone has powerful, responsive motors. Curved DJI electromagnets are used to spin the motors at high speeds without any physical contact. This helps reduce wear and tear on the drone. It is very well-built, but if it does sustain damage in a crash, DJI sells parts individually so that you can replace broken components.

The DJI Phantom 3 Standard comes equipped with a GPS which records the flight’s starting point. The drone will return to that coordinate at the press of a button on the controller or if the signal is lost. It also sends a signal to your mobile device during flight so you will always know where your drone is. In addition, you can also set height and flight distance limits to keep your drone within your chosen limits.

Flight Time & Distance, Camera & Video

You can fly up to 25 minutes on a single battery charge, and the DJI Phantom 3 Standard sends you a reminder to land if the battery is getting low.

This drone comes with a 5.8 GHz controller which can work up to a 1 km distance. When you let go of the control sticks, the DJI Phantom 3 Standard drone will auto-hover, staying in place until it receives your next set of directions. This is great for taking photos or planning your next move.

The camera features a 1.23 in./12 megapixel sensor, a fast f/2.8 aperture prime lens and a 94° field-of-view lens. It can create professional quality JPEG and Adobe DNG Raw images. It can shoot 2.7 K video at 30 frames per second and a max of 40 Mbps. A 3-axis gimbal holds the camera and keeps it perfectly still, resulting in sharp photos and video. You can tilt the camera with your controller to allow you to take your perfect shot. The DJI Phantom 3 Standard comes with an 8GB micro SD card to save photos and footage.

DJI Go App and Summary

The DJI Go App allows for a live feed to your mobile device. It also provides information on and allows you to adjust camera settings, such as shutterspeed, ISO, burst shooting, exposure brackets, and time-lapse photography. The live video is also saved so that you can edit it and share it to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumbler. You can also stream video live to YouTube. One thing to note is that the app saves the wifi feed, not the actual footage. Video from the SD card will be of much higher quality.

The camera cannot be removed or upgraded. Also, the wifi transmission sometimes abruptly stops when the DJI Phantom 3 Standard is about 500 meters away.

User satisfaction is extremely high with the DJI Phantom 3 Standard. Complaints centered around two main issues: a lack of documentation on using this drone and poor customer service from DJI. Overall, however, this is a high quality drone at an appealing price.

Other drones we recommend at a slightly higher price point are the DJI Phantom 3 Advanced (review) and Yuneec Q500 4K Typhoon (review).

Author: Stacey Miller
Copyright: 2016 BestDronesToBuy.org