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DJI Phantom 3 Standard Review

The DJI Phantom 3 Standard is a fully integrated, user-friendly quadcopter that is ready to fly right out of the box. The drone is geared towards amateur videographers who would like to break out from the limited perspective offered by traditional cameras.

Its lower price compared to the Advanced and Professional versions put it right between affordable and pricey. This review is going to tell you whether the lower cost comes at the expense of some essential features, or if DJI Phantom 3 is the ultimate drone for demanding beginners.

Design and Hardware

DJI Phantom 3 Standard closely resembles his bigger brothers from the Phantom 3 family. Just like them, its body is made out of plastic materials, with red decals, which distinguish it from the Advanced and Professional versions.

When you inspect the drone from the bottom side, you will notice bright LED lights, which inform you about its current rotation. The top team is dominated by four colour-coded propellers and a small logo situated right in the very centre. The drone feels very sturdy and gives you the confidence to start flying.

The Standard version of DJI Phantom 3 weights 1.2kg (or 2.68 pounds) and can be easily packed and transported in a carrying case or backpack. This makes it perfect for relatively lightweight outdoor trips where it would be very burdensome to carry a more massive model.

Included with the drone itself is a custom-built remote controller. It’s visually similar to the version that ships with higher versions, but it lacks some critical features. Most notably, it can’t hold tablet devices, and it also has just a single antenna which offers approximately 100m reach (350 feet).

The Camera

The integrated camera can record footage at a 2.7k resolution at 30 frames per second. For comparison, the Phantom 3 Advanced can record just 1080p footage (albeit at up to 60 fps), and the Professional offers a 4k resolution. The Standard video camera isn’t as sharp as the 4k one, but it still outputs very representative video. The footage is dead stable thanks to the great gimbal the camera is mounted on.

The Standard model isn’t capable of the full 360-degree rotation of the Pro model. The camera always faces forward and is adjustable only along its vertical axis. The 95-degree FOV lens has a fixed focus with a bright aperture of f/2.8. This eliminates focus from the equation and everything stay crisp and in concentration throughout video recording.

Flying

The Phantom 3 Standard is just as easy to fly as other Phantom drones. The capable DJI Go application for iOS and Android devices includes a flight simulator mode, which lets you practice your heath’s content before you take off for real. The application contains useful information overlays that provide real-time information about speed, altitude, battery status and GPS.

The drone requires a GPS lock before it allows you to take off. Once you do, you merely use dual control sticks on the remote to control its tilt, rotation and altitude. We have found the drone to be very stable and secure to manage under all conditions. That says a lot because the Standard version doesn’t feature the Vision Positioning System that would otherwise allow the drone to hover in place even without GPS positioning information.

This DJI Standard 3 drone also does a lot to ensure that beginners won’t run into sticky situations, as it automatically returns to the home location when it detects that the battery power is running low.

DJI Phantom 3 Standard vs Other Versions

The Standard version is surprisingly similar to its bigger brothers. All versions share a similar chassis and the same battery and advanced navigation system that enables you to easily return-to-home base and keeps you steadily in the air.

Apart from the apparent differences in cameras and the lack of support for GLONASS satellite system, the only noticeable difference is the use of Wi-Fi transmission instead of DJI’s proprietary Lightbridge system. As a result, the Standard version has dramatically reduced maximum transmission range and the quality of the video stream. The video stream is prone to suddenly cut off without any notice as you approach the edge of maximum effective transmission distance. This should, however, not be a big issue for most users, since those interested in long-range flying would probably purchase one of the more expensive models anyway.

Pros

Great camera quality

Flight stability

Good value

Very easy to operate even for complete beginners

Cons

Limited camera adjustment

Can’t fly indoors

Summary

While the Phantom 3 Standard doesn’t have so many impressive features as the two more expensive models in the Phantom 3 family, it still represents the very top of current drone technology aimed at amateur and semi-professional costumers.

The drone offers excellent video quality, excellent flight stability and ease of use, and, above all, fantastic value for your money. The level of quality that you get with an established brand like DJI merely is unheard of in the lower segment of drone market.The DJI Phantom 3 Standard is a fully integrated, user-friendly quadcopter that is ready to fly right out of the box.

The drone is geared towards amateur videographers who would like to break out from the limited perspective offered by traditional cameras. Its lower price compared to the Advanced and Professional versions put it right between affordable and pricey.

This review is going to tell you whether the lower cost comes at the expense of some indispensable features, or if DJI Phantom 3 is the ultimate drone for demanding beginners.