Parrot Anafi folding 4K drone challenges Mavic

Well, we called it. Parrot has finally unveiled the Anafi. Moreover, this new drone clearly targeted at DJI’s Mavic line.

The French flying tech company say that their new portable UAV is the product of two years of development and a “wish list of user feedback and a biomimetic design inspired by insects.”

Parrot Anafi 4K drone

It is difficult not to compare the Anafi with the Mavic. Firstly, the new 0.7-pound Parrot drone is foldable. This is one thing that I really love about the DJI device. This allows photographers to be able to stash it away along with the rest of their equipment for travel. It also means that you can just stuff it in your jacket pocket or small bag.

Secondly, there’s a 4K HDR camera on-board, and a 21-megapixel still unit mounted on a gimbal.

Parrot tells us that the battery should last around 25 minutes in flight, which is pretty decent. If you are planning on spending a day out flying capturing scenes, you can swap the dead cell with additional batteries. Additionally, you can recharge the drone via USB-C using regular phone chargers or by plugging it in to your car power port.

The company also claims the drone is the quietest in its class. It’s not silent, of course, but that buzzing lawn mower sound has been reduced by about a third compared to earlier models from the company.

Control

The drone has a controller that plugs into an iPhone or Android device, for touchscreen visualisations via the FreeFlight 6 app.

Just like the Mavic line, there’s a number of different control modes focused on capturing different camera content, including an option for following a subject. Naturally, it of course has a selfie mode.

Video

• 4K Cinema: 24 fps
• 4K UHD: 24, 25, 30 fps
• 1080p: 24, 25, 30, 48, 50 or 60 fps

Clever Wi-Fi

Each foot of Anafi is equipped with a dual-band antenna (2.4GHz and 5GHz). This ensures optimal connection with the Parrot Skycontroller 3 regardless of the orientation of the drone.

This omnidirectional transmission system uses Wi-Fi compliant protocols developed by Parrot.

The drone constantly monitors its Wi-Fi environment in order to switch to another channel when the one it uses is too crowded. This guarantees optimal spectrum utilisation performance and allows Anafi to fly up to 4kms without interference, keeping video transmission.

Price and availability

The price should get DJI worried. Parrot are asking £650 for the Anafi. That’s £120 less than the Mavic Air.

The Anafi is due out July 1st from Parrot, Amazon and “selected retailers.”