Thought i'd share this. I'll start by saying I'm DJI's biggest fan. I still have my Phantom 1 and 2, and long before live video streams on the Phantoms was a 'thing', I had my Phantom 1 wired up (probably early to mid 2013). I've contributed a lot to PhantomPilots over the years, and thought the Spark would be a good product.
First reason - the DJI GO 4 app is a battery hog on Android.
I thought it might just be a bad experience, but tried it on my other phone, and same issue. Even after closing out the app forcefully, for some reason it still drains battery. In the image (attached), I hadn't used the app at all, and several times throughout the day, as is habit, i'd close all apps (typically done when I lock the phone, after a phone call, etc).
Some have said "just reinstall the app when you want to use it". This is, to me, not a viable (or realistic) solution. It's like saying Microsoft Windows has an issue, so just install Windows every time you want to use it.
Second reason - to me, whether it's acknowledged as one or not, not being able to switch between the phone as a controller and the hardware controller is a bug, and a huge one. I'm not talking about using both at the same time, but if I've used my phone as the controller, and I want to instead switch to the remote control for longer distance control, I have to power down the Spark, then reset the wireless, then walk through the pairing process. Not extremely time consuming, but to have to perform it every time I want to switch from cellphone control to external remote control is just ridiculous
Third reason is not as compelling, but the gesture controls are not where they need to be just yet. Good to see progress being made in this area though.
Indoor flying is a huge perk for the Spark, and something i'm impressed with. I can't wait to see in 6 months where this device is and what it's capable of, and at that time i'll likely be purchasing again. I'm a huge fan of DJI, and can't wait for them to go public
Anyway, hoped my feedback might help someone else considering purchasing, so at least they won't be disappointed or surprised.
First reason - the DJI GO 4 app is a battery hog on Android.
I thought it might just be a bad experience, but tried it on my other phone, and same issue. Even after closing out the app forcefully, for some reason it still drains battery. In the image (attached), I hadn't used the app at all, and several times throughout the day, as is habit, i'd close all apps (typically done when I lock the phone, after a phone call, etc).
Some have said "just reinstall the app when you want to use it". This is, to me, not a viable (or realistic) solution. It's like saying Microsoft Windows has an issue, so just install Windows every time you want to use it.
Second reason - to me, whether it's acknowledged as one or not, not being able to switch between the phone as a controller and the hardware controller is a bug, and a huge one. I'm not talking about using both at the same time, but if I've used my phone as the controller, and I want to instead switch to the remote control for longer distance control, I have to power down the Spark, then reset the wireless, then walk through the pairing process. Not extremely time consuming, but to have to perform it every time I want to switch from cellphone control to external remote control is just ridiculous
Third reason is not as compelling, but the gesture controls are not where they need to be just yet. Good to see progress being made in this area though.
Indoor flying is a huge perk for the Spark, and something i'm impressed with. I can't wait to see in 6 months where this device is and what it's capable of, and at that time i'll likely be purchasing again. I'm a huge fan of DJI, and can't wait for them to go public
Anyway, hoped my feedback might help someone else considering purchasing, so at least they won't be disappointed or surprised.
