Following the publication of an image on the Amazon.com site showing a drone apparently called a 'DJI Mini 4', DJI have officially confirmed the launch date of April 29 (the same date we snapped from the site), but no specs.
If you visit the Amazon.com DJI store page, you find a picture of a drone which looks a lot like the DJI Mini 2 SE (and, in that respect, the Mini 2 before it – the airframe has seen the spec refreshed without physical changes). Emblazoned on the arm, though, is the name 'Mini 4K'. It is, for now, not a link – it's just a picture; other parts of the page have a 'buy now' button.
The 4K aspect is interesting because the Mini 2 SE is limited to 2.7K resolution so, presumably, what we're likely seeing is an upgrade to 4K resolution in DJI's entry-level drone. That makes a lot of sense because there is now serious competition in the market from the likes of Potensic who have undercut DJI's pricing and brought some seriously interesting prices and features with the Potensic Atom drone that has appeared in our best beginner drone guide.
The "for beginners" line in the grab and the presence of the competition implies, to me anyway, that this is probably the end of the line for the 2 SE. Further evidence comes from the picture. The Mini 4K (if that is what is coming) still appears to have the same or a similar camera housing to the Mini 2 SE and not the more sophisticated camera of the Mini 3 and Mini 4 Pro drones, so presumably we're looking at 4K but not necessarily the same features and bit-rate of the other drones.
Speculating a bit further, it also makes me wonder what might be happening to the already sometimes discounted DJI Mini 3? This drone is more powerful than the Mini 2 SE – sitting between it and the Mini 4 Pro in the range with a better camera, but I can imagine consumers might struggle to perceive that Mini 3 is better than Mini 4K? We've also spotted some discounting of the Mini 3, so is it possible that some change is due there too?
In any case, we'll bring more details on Monday, and establish whether this will replace the Mini 2 SE or sit alongside it.
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