Well after 2 weeks of ownership with virtually no issues whatsoever, I can officially say my Phantom 4 has not left my basement. I don't understand why or how anyone could go back to or have any urge to pilot any of the Phantom series aircrafts after flying the Typhoon H. I will give you all the honest truth in my opinion. When both aircrafts are out of GPS mode, the P4 definitely has a higher top speed. When both cameras are on same resolution and frame rate, I do believe that the P4 does a better job responding to light changes in the automatic modes. The flight time of the P4 is slightly longer than the H but not by very much at all. Lastly, my P4 has much better video range with less dropouts and lag.
Yes, these are all things that I have deciphered from MY personal experience, however I can honestly say that the advantages of the H make it an all around better aircraft. So listen up!
Who cares about top speed on an aerial photography aircraft? It's not like the H is a dog compared to the P4 and I don't think it really matters when everything else is considered. If I want speed, I can go buy a FPV race quad. I believe that speed is a selling point for the ill informed user.
The P4 does respond better than the H to light changes when in an equal environment in automatic mode. But let's get a side shot with the P4, oh wait the landing gear is in the way! I want to apologize in advance to anyone who bought a Typhoon H because you will never go back to a fixed landing gear aircraft ever again, at least in this price point. The ability to put the H up in the sky and just let it sit there, not worried about FLYING in a specific direction to get a shot but rather just panning and tilting to get your shot, makes this a hassle free dream. You are focused on the screen and gimbal controls to get a nice shot rather than in what direction to aim like on the P4. Plus let's be honest here, retractable landing gear is just cooler and it even automatically deploys when in RTH mode!
So maybe the flight time is a little longer on the P4 and I do like the battery life LED's but let's take a look here. The batteries for the H are cheaper by around $30. I believe that if you have enough money to get into this hobby, you can afford batteries. I just picked up 3 extra batteries for my H at my LHS for $130.00 each. Each P4 battery costs $170.00. This means that you can just about get 4 Typhoon H batteries for the price of 3 P4 batteries. So now I have 100 minutes of flight time with my H vs 84 minutes of flight time with the P4 for virtually the same price. The average consumer does not see it like that but I believe that the hobbyist needs to!
I know that there is a little more lag and dropouts when I really start increasing my distance with my H when compared to my P4. First of all this can easily be resolved with aftermarket radio and video feed antennas. Maybe the extra $100.00 I saved with the H when compared to the P4 can absorb the cost of aftermarket antennas. Then just look at the ST-16. Not only is it more visually appealing but I don't need my iPad or iPhone hooked up the the controller. To me it has always just been one more hassle and one more battery to make sure to keep charged. I love the onboard 7 inch android based screen on the ST-16.
These are just some of the things I have noticed from flying both crafts and honestly, my urge to take out my P4 becomes less and less each day. I can't get enough of the Typhoon H and anyone who is still waiting, keep waiting and don't waste your money on any DJI product. They are your typical company who sits on the top as #1 and got complacent. Never put any real innovation into any of their aircrafts after the P3 and now, well now they are going to do everything they can to stop Yuneec. Yuneec is #2 and they are doing exactly what any truly good #2 does; works harder and is more innovative than #1 because they want that spot and with the Typhoon H, it obviously shows.
