djileaks.com was the first to uncover the testing reports, user manual and photos of the DJI Mavic ‘S’ drone as found in FCC filings.
We’ve had a chance to compare the specs “side by side” and to finally comb through all of the documents that relate to the mystery drone known as the Mavic ‘S’ or Mavic Standard.
Not surprisingly, because they are built on the same platform, the Mavic Pro and S are nearly identical.
The first difference between the Mavic Pro and Mavic S is the weight: for some reason the S version comes in at 3 grams heavier, and it’s with or without the gimbal cover.
The next difference shows the Mavic S having a battery life that tops out at 25 minutes, versus the Mavic Pro that can last “up to 27 minutes”.
But these are really minor differences. The most significant difference we found is the Mavic S has a maximum flight ceiling of 19865 feet, which is 3461 feet higher than the Mavic Pro.
While it’s flying higher, the Mavic S lens also has a Field of View (FOV) of 94° using a 20mm lens with a slightly less shallow f/2.8 depth of field. The FOV for the Mavic Pro is listed at just 74° with it’s 28mm lens and f/2.2.
It’s entirely possible that the lens difference may account for the 3 gram weight difference.
The final differences are in the framerate for recording video and the battery voltage of the remote controller.
FHD or 1920×1080 recording mode can go as high as 120p on the Mavic S, but tops out at 96p on the Mavic Pro. The reverse is true for HD recording mode at 1280×720: the Mavic S tops out at 60p while the Mavic Pro takes it right to 120p.
Lastly, Operating Voltage in the Mavic S remote control is listed at 700 mA. In the Mavic Pro it’s 35% higher at 950 mA.
While it’s nice to point out the differences between a real drone (the Mavic Pro) and this hypothetical Mavic S, the great ununswered questions remain: Is the Mavic S actually going to be produced? Was it just a prototype for the final Mavic Pro that we have today?