The major media used the first experience of the Dajiang Elf 4

Dajiang has now become a leader in the field of drones . In this $2 billion market, the Chinese company has a market share of nearly 70%. At the beginning of this month, Dajiang took the drone technology to a new height with the latest Elf 4.

Elf 4 has now started pre-order, priced at 8,999 yuan. Although it will not be shipped until March 15th, some media have already experienced this drone. Let's take a look at the media experience.

The Verge

The Elves series in DJI is a popular UAV model in the past few years, and the latest Elves 4 simply do not maintain their "Best Drone" title. Under the support of drone vision and fully automatic mode, Elf 4 has greatly improved the technical standards of consumer drones.

Like previous generations, Elf 4 maintains high-quality hardware while also introducing minor adjustments and improvements. It still represents the highest level on the market in terms of stability, video quality and overall workmanship.

In the test, the Elf 4's battery life is more than 25 minutes, compared with the same size drones, even slightly better, charging time is 1 hour. The remote control can also be charged with the battery at the same time, and its endurance can be maintained for 3 complete flights.

The stability of the Elf 4 has also been greatly improved compared to the previous generation. DJI has added an additional inertial measurement unit (IMU) to this generation of models, and has doubled the number of cameras and sonar sensors down to form a visual positioning system. When the automatic return operation is performed, its place of landing is almost the same as the take-off point.

The remote control used by Wizard 4 and Lightbridge video downlink technology are the same as Wizard 3. In the test, it has never seen a connection loss, the video stream is quite clear and no delay. At the same time, it can be seen that the video quality of the Elf 4 has also been greatly improved, it seems that the dynamic range is higher, the degree of digital sharpening and saturation are reduced, which can leave more for the future editing of the user. space.

The automation features of Wizard 4 have changed dramatically. From the current point of view, the coolest new feature on it is TapFly, which transfers the live image captured by Wizard 4 to the screen of the mobile device. Clicking on any location will drove in that direction, and if there are obstacles on the way, it will automatically evade. However, since the sensor's field of view is only 60 degrees, the obstacle avoidance is only effective when flying forward.

AutoTrack is also a noteworthy feature. When you select an object—whether it's a person, a bicycle, or a car—the Wizard 4 locks it in the center of the frame. This feature uses the same computer vision technology as obstacle avoidance, but it also performs 3D modeling of the surrounding environment and tracking targets simultaneously. In practice, the performance of the AutoTrack feature is not very satisfactory, and it usually takes several attempts to successfully lock. If the target is mixed into the crowd, the lock will also expire immediately.

Although the price of Elf 4 is much higher than last year's models, the addition of automation features makes it the best choice for entry users. As for professional users, Elf 4 now offers a more powerful combination of technologies than the Inspire 1.

Wall Street Journal

Elf 4 is perhaps the first consumer drone on the market with obstacle avoidance, but its ability is also limited. It can't see wires or other slender obstacles, and because there is no camera behind it, it can hit things when it retreats. But even this primary application for computer vision can give users more peace of mind when controlling drones.

The controllers of the early Wizard series were very complicated to operate, and the full dials and switches were a mess for new users. Elf 4 has greatly simplified this. From the front, the controller has only 2 joysticks, 1 power button and 1 landing button.

When controlling Wizard 4, its obstacle sensing system (OSS) can largely avoid its unexpected encounters. Unlike the laser-radar system used in robotic vacuum cleaners and self-driving cars, the Wizard 4 uses five optical cameras on the body to map the surrounding environment in real time. When an obstacle is detected, it decides whether to suspend, stop, or bypass the obstacle.

However, Elf 4's OSS system also has some obvious limitations, such as the inability to detect top and rear obstacles, a view of only 70 degrees, the inability to identify slender obstacles (wires or twigs), work only during the day, and so on. Even so, it will help both novice and professional players.

If you are willing to spend nearly 10,000 yuan to buy a drone, then Elf 4 is definitely a recommended choice. However, its price is still a bit too high, especially considering that it is very similar to the Elf 3 4K for only 4,999 yuan.

PCMag

Elf 4 is the most outstanding consumer drone in Dajiang. It retains all the features of Elf 3 Pro and has been enhanced on this basis. It delivers smooth, stable 4K video capture, longer flight times, up to 50mph aerial photography, and 12 megapixel still photo shooting in RAW or JPG format. The presence of the front camera prevents it from hitting obstacles on the path of travel or tracking moving objects. The new flight mode allows you to control the phone screen by tapping it.

At the same time, the hardware of Elf 4 has also been improved. The streamlined fuselage and ratchet propellers achieve faster flight speeds, and the included storage case is quite practical. The good integration of the Vientiane sensor and the body also improves video stability while reducing the impact of the propeller or landing gear on the video.

In general, what we see is a blue-and-blue drone, but you are more prepared to get an upgrade. The starting price of the Elf 3 Pro is 7499 yuan, while the Elf 4 has reached 8999 yuan, not to mention the current price has dropped to 6499 yuan. However, from the test situation, the Elf 4 is indeed worthy of the price increase.

Wired

From the price of 8999 yuan, the Elf 4 is not a casual toy, but a professional product strictly for drone lovers. Although the performance in terms of workmanship, video quality and flight control is first-class, the Elf 4 does have some shortcomings. For example, only one battery is attached, and the propeller will appear in the video screen at high speed.

However, the shooting ability of Elf 4 will never let you down. The pictures and videos it captures are beautiful and clear, and real-time image transmission allows users to experience the surrounding environment in the flight control room. When it comes to flight control, the Wizard 4 is also very intuitive to control, and more importantly, it does not affect shooting. Although the price is high, the Elf 4 allows you to observe the world in a novel way.