A difficult choice: Pro Vs Advanced! We make it simple(r)

DJI has just released the Phantom 4 Advanced model, now bringing the number of variants in the phantom 4 series up to 5. You now have the Regular P4, the Advanced, the Advanced Plus, the Pro, and the Pro Plus models to choose from. This post is largely about the similarities and differences between the Dji Phantom 4 pro vs advanced models (the “plus” variants simply have a built in screen on the controller, everything else is the same as on their regular counterparts).

Similarities between the Phantom 4 pro and advanced models

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Differences between the Phantom 4 pro and advanced models

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Range

Now the Phantom 4 pro as you’ve probably noticed, has support for 5.8 Ghz. There’s generally less interference in the 5.8 Ghz band as opposed to the 2.4Ghz band, which is also the frequency set used for devices that use WiFi, giving you an edge when you’re flying around very densely populated buildings with heaps of different wifi devices such as routers, wireless keyboards, mice, etc, where the 2.4 ghz channel would be less than optimum.
However, the 2.4 Ghz channel gives you the possibility of a greater transmission range. This is key when you’re flying your drone far far away from yourself. Which one is better? Depends upon where you want to fly.

The surprising difference between the Phantom 4 pro and advanced

The one thing that does startle me is that both the models have identical batteries and listed flight times. the only logical conclusion I can draw is that the power consumption of the extra sensors on the pro model is only insignificantly larger. Okay, I can believe that but as an engineer, It’s difficult to ignore that there is the weight addition of those sensors as well, even if the power draw alone may not seem significant. How can the flight times of both these drones be equal? Well, that, or the quoted flight times are incorrect.
Watch the video here.
I mean think about it yourself. You have to hike a mountain carrying a monkey. You have a thousand grapes to feed the both of you on your way to the top. That’s the p4Pro model. You have to hike the mountain, but remember, you also have to carry the ice cream. Now consider the p4A model. You still have to hike the mountain (flight distance) with the same amount of ice cream (battery), but now you have a smaller monkey(weight of sensors), with a smaller appetite(energy consumption). That, and there’s more ice cream(battery) for you to go a longer way.
So theoretically, the startling conclusion is that logic dictates, the flight time of the Phantom 4 advanced should be higher than that of the pro model.  Like it? Buy it now!
Some more thoughts on the Phantom 4 advanced model can be found here.