DJI Unveils the Phantom 4 Advanced to Replace the Phantom 4

DJI today announced the Phantom 4 Advanced, adding another drone to the Phantom 4 lineup as an upgraded replacement for the original Phantom 4. The Phantom 4 Advanced offers a camera upgrade to the original Phantom 4 and sits below the Phantom 4 Pro.

While the original Phantom 4 used a 1/2.3″ CMOS sensor for 12MP photos, the Phantom 4 Advanced packs a 1-inch sensor that snaps 20MP shots. The camera, which uses a mechanical shutter instead of the electronic one in the original Phantom 4, can also capture 4K video at 60fps, up from 30fps in the Phantom 4.

“The more powerful video processing now supports H.264 4K videos at 60fps or H.265 4K at 30fps, both with a 100Mbps bitrate,” DJI says. “Excellent optical performance, sensors and processors ensure everything is captured with high dynamic range and more image detail needed for advanced post-production.”

Storage capacity has been increased from 64GB on a microSD card to 128GB, and flight time has been improved to 30 minutes, up from 28.

Built into the Phantom 4 Advanced are 5 vision sensors that allow the drone to use many of the main features found in the Phantom 4 Pro, including FlightAutonomy, Draw, ActiveTrack, TapFly, Gesture, Tripod, forward-facing obstacle avoidance system, dual-band satellite positioning (GPS and GLONASS), and ultrasonic rangefinders.

The Advanced model itself comes with two versions: Advanced and Advanced+. The Phantom 4 Advanced+ features a 5.5-inch 1080p screen built into the controller, with a screen twice as bright as smartphones.

With the announcement of the Phantom 4 Advanced, the original Phantom 4 is being phased out on April 30th, 2017. But DJI is promising that it will continue to provide support to owners of the Phantom 4.

You can purchase the DJI Phantom 4 Advanced and Advanced+ starting today from the DJI website for $1,349 and $1,649, respectively. The new drones start shipping at the end of the month.