Depth Profiling: DJI Phantom 4 and Yuneec Typhoon

As we know, DJI and Yuneec are very famous drone companies, both of them come from China, and they both have dominated the consumer drone market in 2016.  Today I will introduce the DJI Phantom 4, and the Yuneec Typhoon H.

The DJI Phantom 4 is a quad copter with fixed legs . The Phantom 4 uses multiple sensors in conjunction with satellite navigation to track subjects, maneuver around obstacles, and reach destinations with the tap of a finger.  The Yuneec Typhoon H is a hexacopter with retractable legs. This latest Yuneec drone debuted back in January. Yuneec reports that the Typhoon H has sensory and avoidance features.

Camera

Drones are also used to take photos or videos, so their camera is very important.  DJI Phantom 4 and Yuneec Typhoon H’s senors are 1/2.3”CMOSbut the P4’s lens is FOV 94° 20 mm (35 mm format equivalent), Typhon H is 14mm/F2.8. It means that TYPHOON H supports wide-angle shooting, the equivalent of 115 degrees (ELF 4 was 94 degrees), but the disadvantages is the photos are easy to produce  a fish-eye effect. DJI P4’s Shutter Speed is 8s -1/8000s, but Typhoon H is only 1/30s-1/8000s.

Aerial picture quality

Typhoon H picture quality

Phantom 4 picture quality

Flight time

I think most players are most concerned about battery life, The DJI Phantom 4 and Typhoon H  all use 4s lipo batteries and their battery capacity are the same.  The Typhoon is heavier than Phantom 4, so Typhoon’s flight time is 5 min shorter than Phantom 4 . In addition the Typhoon need 2 hours of charge time where as the Phantom 4 only needed 1. 

Easy to carry

Typhoon has six rotors, but its foldable arm design is a bright spot. After folding, you can easily put it into a backpack. However, the design of 6-rotors has his faults, you need to sacrifice its size and weight,  even if it can be folded.

Thyphoon H SIZE: 520mm x 457mm x 294mm

After folding the size is 350mm x 269mm x 254mm, its weigh tis 1780g.

Phantom 4:  volume is 289.5mmX289.5mmX196mm, 1380g.

Avoidance and Tracking

The Phantom 4 and Typhoon H both feature advanced tracking and collision avoidance technology. It’s too early to determine how effective the Typhoon H’s avoidance and tracking systems are. Early impressions from 2015 showed promise, but the Phantom 4 has since set a new standard–one higher than what we saw from Yuneec. The Phantom 4 obstacle avoidance is automated, and the Phantom 4 ActiveTrack and Phantom 4 TapFly systems are a breeze to operate, and have even been improved with recent Phantom 4 firmware updates from DJI. The Typhoon H isn’t a proven platform yet.

In General, I like DJI Phantom 4 better.