DJI’s Mavic Mini is definitely an interesting drone. It’s super small, super light and as a result, super portable. However, users of the drone have begun reporting a peculiar problem that is plaguing their tiny flying camera. For some reason, the propeller blades can sometimes hit its own chassis when in flight.
A DJI Mavic Mini user by the name of djiuser_JXraXHrZCs7w posted on the DJI community website about this peculiar problem. He said:
“I bought [the] Mavic Mini [to bring] fun to my life but recently found that the Mini’s blade will hit the machine, even if the [propellers are changed], such a problem will reappear to solve the problem [but it didn’t]. [I] want to ask whether there is any Mini owner that has encountered the same problem? I usually am ordinary flight modes, sports file are rarely used.“
—djiuser_JXraXHrZCs7w (translation from dronedj.com)
As you can probably tell from the photos, his Mavic Mini has suffered noticeable damage to the front corners of the drone’s body just above the fake air vent stickers, as well as damage on the front propellers. The user also said that changing the drone’s front propellers didn’t help the situation so it seems doubtful that this was a problem with the propellers per se.
Reports suggest that the this damage is caused by the fact that the drone’s arms were a little too flexible to hold its propellers steady especially under high torque in sports mode. Since the drone is built to be light, I suppose this isn’t too far out of the question since light materials are rarely as rigid as its heavier counterparts. Especially not the kind of materials you’ll find on an entry-level drone.
A quick search reveals that this isn’t a unique problem. Several other users have also posted on various forums and websites about this issue citing similar problems. One user posted on the official DJI forums and one of the website’s moderators have assured the user that this issue has been “forwarded to the proper DJI department for evaluation”. So, it’s safe to assume that the company already knows of this problem.
When I had my time with the DJI Mavic Mini, I encountered no such problems, but then again I didn’t fly the drone in Sports mode. That’s more of a fun mode than it is a filming mode in my opinion, so I hardly ever use them.
That being said, I encountered my own “problem” with the drone during my review period. But, that “problem” definitely had more to do with the pilot than it did with the drone.
Do you own a DJI Mavic Mini? If you do, have you experienced these problems? Let me know in the comments below.
