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Perfect Dedicated Device for DJI Go 4

dubt

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Jan 5, 2018
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Hi ya'll,

I wanted to share the device I am using as a dedicated Spark viewfinder with my remote. I was looking at cheaper android phones with large bright screens and as big of battery as I could find and think BLU hit the nail on the head for our use case.

I found the BLU Life One X3 which checked all of my boxes for a dedicated device for DJI Go 4:

  • 5.5" screen with decent outdoor brightness
  • 5,000 mAh battery that holds up for a full day of flying
  • Metal construction that feels sturdy in the hand / controller
  • Android 7.0 Nougat, while not the bleeding edge, it's recent enough that DJI Go 4 should support it for another year or so
  • 5GHz Wi-Fi
  • $149 shipped (Amazon Prime)

My setup includes turning screen timeout to 10 minutes when not in the DJI Go app, airplane mode with Wi-Fi enabled, screen brightness 100% and all bloatware uninstalled or disabled. I'm currently using the modified app that enables Mavic Pro features on the spark and it hasn't crashed once on me.

I have yet to try the OTG connection with it's micro usb port due to not owning a proper cable, but will grab one soon and update this thread with its results.

All in all, I believe having a dedicated, long lasting device helps me fly my drone faster when on location as opposed to having to put my Pixel 2 XL into airplane mode, connect to wifi, etc. I was also experiencing app crashes quite frequently in Android 8.1, so an older version of android might actually be the better case in this regard. I understand Apple products have better reliability with DJI but I didn't want to buy a mini just for my first DJI drone. I believe this device works exceptionally well for our use case and wanted to share my findings.
 
Interesting choice...provide us with more updates as you begin to use it more. Thanks!
 
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Hi ya'll,

I wanted to share the device I am using as a dedicated Spark viewfinder with my remote. I was looking at cheaper android phones with large bright screens and as big of battery as I could find and think BLU hit the nail on the head for our use case.

I found the BLU Life One X3 which checked all of my boxes for a dedicated device for DJI Go 4:

  • 5.5" screen with decent outdoor brightness
  • 5,000 mAh battery that holds up for a full day of flying
  • Metal construction that feels sturdy in the hand / controller
  • Android 7.0 Nougat, while not the bleeding edge, it's recent enough that DJI Go 4 should support it for another year or so
  • 5GHz Wi-Fi
  • $149 shipped (Amazon Prime)

My setup includes turning screen timeout to 10 minutes when not in the DJI Go app, airplane mode with Wi-Fi enabled, screen brightness 100% and all bloatware uninstalled or disabled. I'm currently using the modified app that enables Mavic Pro features on the spark and it hasn't crashed once on me.

I have yet to try the OTG connection with it's micro usb port due to not owning a proper cable, but will grab one soon and update this thread with its results.

All in all, I believe having a dedicated, long lasting device helps me fly my drone faster when on location as opposed to having to put my Pixel 2 XL into airplane mode, connect to wifi, etc. I was also experiencing app crashes quite frequently in Android 8.1, so an older version of android might actually be the better case in this regard. I understand Apple products have better reliability with DJI but I didn't want to buy a mini just for my first DJI drone. I believe this device works exceptionally well for our use case and wanted to share my findings.
5GHZ isn't the same as 5.8 GHZ that the Spark remote can operate on though is it ? Sorry if I'm wrong .
 
5GHZ isn't the same as 5.8 GHZ that the Spark remote can operate on though is it ? Sorry if I'm wrong .

I was confused as well and started looking it up. It looks like the 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz mentioned in the app is for the link from the controller to the drone that connects video and control information.

What the BLU Life One X3 has is 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi support. While in the same frequency range, they seem to be two different protocols, and phones / tablets connect to the controller through 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. Generally though, when a phone or tablet supports 5GHz Wi-Fi, they have a higher end Wi-Fi chipset.

So not necessarily needed, but a good spec to have nonetheless.
 
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I started flying my Spark via OTG with my Lenovo P2, 5.5" and 5100mAh battery so I see where you're coming from. Having said that I prefer to fly it with my iPad 2017 now as I find the added screen real estate useful. The flipsied is that the picture isn't as sharp though with that larger screen.
 
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I started flying my Spark via OTG with my Lenovo P2, 5.5" and 5100mAh battery so I see where you're coming from. Having said that I prefer to fly it with my iPad 2017 now as I find the added screen real estate useful. The flipsied is that the picture isn't as sharp though with that larger screen.

I would agree a bigger screen is better, just didn't really wanted to spend more than $200. I have an old iPad 4 I want to test, but portability was my goal.

How's OTG on iOS? I haven't used OTG on android or iOS yet and am wondering if there's any difference between using the Wi-Fi connection?
 
That's the other reason I like flying with my iPad 2017, the WiFi connection is a lot more stable and I've never felt the need to use OTG. I'd seen quite a few comments here about iOS not "needing" OTG like Android and after giving it a try I'd have to agree.
 
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I rather pay $50 more for Honor 7X, much more bigger screen 6 inches and better performance. Not forgetting you need to stitch your Sphere Panorama.
 
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There is a thread over at the Mavic forums where they are using either the Huawei Elate for $65 from Best Buy

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cricke...phone-white-with-gray/6032705.p?skuId=6032705

or the Huawei Ascend XT2 for $89 at Walmart

https://www.walmart.com/ip/AT-T-PREPAID-Huawei-Ascend-XT2-16GB-Prepaid-Smartphone-Silver/854006794

Both are identical phones except they are used by different carriers which makes the phone for $65 at Best Buy a steal when you consider the hardware:

Android OS v7.0 (Nougat) out of the box firmware can be upgraded to a newer version of OS.

OS
Android OS v7.0 (Nougat)
Chipset
Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 MSM8940
CPU
Octa-core, Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53, Quad-core 1.1 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU
Adreno 505
MEMORY

The smartphone's memory (2 GB) cannot be expanded, but the storage (16 GB) can be expanded with a microSD card.
RAM
2 GB
Internal storage
16 GB
External storage
microSD

I'm an IOS guy and I've already purchased am iPad for my use, but if you are budget conscious then this seems like a good way to go. I'm not sure if I can post the link for the Mavic forum thread, but give those guys over there the credit for finding this as I am only passing it on to everyone here and they have done all the testing there already its a 88 page thread.

$49 Huawei Ascend XT2 aka Wunderphone = THE best Mavic screen EVER
 
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I rather pay $50 more for Honor 7X, much more bigger screen 6 inches and better performance. Not forgetting you need to stitch your Sphere Panorama.

Wow, I knew it was a good phone but I thought it was around $250. Those are fantastic specs for that price! I was limiting myself to phones available on Amazon Prime because I was leaving the country within a couple of days, but this looks like a cool phone to have as a backup phone to my daily driver.

I would also argue that having a QHD+ display over a 1080p display is a plus due to being slightly bigger and having a higher resolution, but with a 3,340 mAh vs 5,000 mAh battery, I would consider it a downside as a device that would ONLY be used for drone flying, battery > slightly larger screen.
 
There is a thread over at the Mavic forums where they are using either the Huawei Elate for $65 from Best Buy

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cricke...phone-white-with-gray/6032705.p?skuId=6032705

or the Huawei Ascend XT2 for $89 at Walmart

https://www.walmart.com/ip/AT-T-PREPAID-Huawei-Ascend-XT2-16GB-Prepaid-Smartphone-Silver/854006794

Both are identical phones except they are used by different carriers which makes the phone for $65 at Best Buy a steal when you consider the hardware:

Android OS v7.0 (Nougat) out of the box firmware can be upgraded to a newer version of OS.

OS
Android OS v7.0 (Nougat)
Chipset
Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 MSM8940
CPU
Octa-core, Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53, Quad-core 1.1 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU
Adreno 505
MEMORY

The smartphone's memory (2 GB) cannot be expanded, but the storage (16 GB) can be expanded with a microSD card.
RAM
2 GB
Internal storage
16 GB
External storage
microSD

I'm an IOS guy and I've already purchased am iPad for my use, but if you are budget conscious then this seems like a good way to go. I'm not sure if I can post the link for the Mavic forum thread, but give those guys over there the credit for finding this as I am only passing it on to everyone here and they have done all the testing there already its a 88 page thread.

$49 Huawei Ascend XT2 aka Wunderphone = THE best Mavic screen EVER

Holy cow. at around $50 - $90, that's a steal. Same screen size, slightly lower battery at 4,000 mAh and a Snapdragon 435?

That for sure beats the mediatek processor in the Blu. And as mentioned above, stitching pano's on device would help with a better processor.
 
I flied my Spark first with a Motorola e5 (Android 8.0 Oreo), then with a quite old Samsung S3 neo. This last one is very nice, except the smaller and darker screen. As for the not so large battery, if kept in airplane mode and SIM-less - it turns out it is just enough.
Both with an OTG cable.
The E5 was first paired directly to the drone, then it was coupled with the remote. The remote is way better... ;)
 
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