PatR
Premium Pilot
For me it's not about flight time as much as it is about battery quality and user selection options. My camera rig roots originate with larger rigs having only 8 minutes or so of useful flight time on a 20k mA battery costing over $450.00 so 15 minutes on a single battery is a whole new world. More flight time would of course be nice but as one that intends to operate commercially I want as much control over the quality of my batteries as I can have. I prefer buying batteries from manufacturers that are known to have been providing high quality cells for a long time, not some brand or maker that is totally unknown and may be the supplier only because they are low bidder.
Price is another factor. A high quality 6000mA battery can go for $50.00 or more less than what Yuneec has fixed battery pricing at. That disparity is even worse for DJI. The lower price makes it possible to have more batteries on hand for less money. That after market batteries would be of better quality is a given, which means they are even less expensive because they would provide more use cycles with only average care. Neither DJI or Yuneec is selling us proprietary case designs because they love and want to care for us. They are doing it to assure higher long term profitability. What better way to do that than to assure owners can't use any battery, or replacement part, but theirs?
If you have a good rig and don't crash all the time batteries can last for several years, or hundreds of charge cycles. There's no reason to have to replace worn out batteries in that time span if you started out with good ones and took care of them.
Price is another factor. A high quality 6000mA battery can go for $50.00 or more less than what Yuneec has fixed battery pricing at. That disparity is even worse for DJI. The lower price makes it possible to have more batteries on hand for less money. That after market batteries would be of better quality is a given, which means they are even less expensive because they would provide more use cycles with only average care. Neither DJI or Yuneec is selling us proprietary case designs because they love and want to care for us. They are doing it to assure higher long term profitability. What better way to do that than to assure owners can't use any battery, or replacement part, but theirs?
If you have a good rig and don't crash all the time batteries can last for several years, or hundreds of charge cycles. There's no reason to have to replace worn out batteries in that time span if you started out with good ones and took care of them.
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