DJI has turned up the heat again in the mid-range consumer drone market with the release of its most affordable Phantom 3 ever — the new Phantom 3 Standard. This brings the number of models in DJI’s popular Phantom 3 lineup to three which includes the Professional, Advanced and the new Standard.
Retailing at $800, the Phantom 3 Standard is the most basic of the 3 models in the Phantom 3 lineup. DJI has chosen to drop the ultrasonic/range sensor on the Standard and has equipped it with only GPS (both the Professional and Advanced feature GPS and GLONASS). The Standard also lacks DJI’s Lightbridge.
Oddly enough, the camera on the Standard appears to shoot video in 2.7K resolution which is higher than the Advanced’s 1080P and sports a slightly cheaper image sensor. The camera is also capable of shooting 12MP still images in JPEG or RAW format.
Other than these differences, the Phantom 3 Standard looks exactly the same as its more expensive siblings (apart from the red stripes). It uses the same body, motors, propellers and battery as the Professional and Advanced. DJI hopes to market the Phantom 3 Standard to beginners who want to own a Phantom 3 but find the price tags of the two earlier models a bit steep.