One can make an educated guess that the Mavic will be significantly superior than Solo in many regards?
If one is basing their entire opinion on a spec sheet, one may indeed draw that conclusion. If one considers the ultimate goal of recording smooth cinematic shots, perhaps not. Personally, I'd take Solo's smart shots over all the collision avoidance available today. I can handle avoiding running into things perfectly fine for the type of flying I do. If I were interested in a lot of close in, weave through trees type of shots, I'd probably feel different, but that's not my interest when it comes to capturing images.
Not even 6 months later the Mavic has 4 sensors, a camera and 2 ultrasonic rangefinders and redundant IMUs.
Since you're bringing up a timeline, you might also want to consider that the Solo was released in May of 2015. Mavic will be released almost a full year and a half after Solo. Technology is progressing at a rapid pace. That sensors galore have become the standard in the past year and a half isn't a knock against the Solo, since nothing but high-end, custom built platforms had that when Solo was released.
tl;dr just take a step back. Pretend you didnt drop $2K on Solo/GoPro because that's ironically probably your biggest bias right now
I have no bias. The Mavic looks great, I love that the gimbal/camera is enclosed in a little bubble shielding it from wind/turbulence. I love how small it is. I love that it has all those sensors, and I love that it will reportedly have impressive flight times. I love the Karma, I love how small it is, I love the big screen that's integrated into the controller, I love how the gimbal is detachable for handheld work.
But none of that makes me hate the Solo. At the time I bought my first Solo, for $1500, I considered it reasonably priced against the competition and offered features and capabilities that even higher priced competition lacked. Things have changed, and I wouldn't pay $1500 or even $600 for a Solo today. But at the recent sale prices, it's still a terrific product.
If not instantly hating a 1.5 year old product I own just because something new comes out makes me biased, I'm sorry, we simply have different definitions of what constitutes bias. Your continual bashing of the Solo for supposed shortcomings you were aware of GOING IN is much more indicative of bias (a negative bias) in my book.
. Just a month or so ago you were in denial that the market value for Solo had already tanked below $600 and called me out for it when I was not wrong..
I'm sorry facts mean nothing to you. And just like you faulting the Solo for what has come out 1.5 years later, you attempt to validate your BS claim based on events that have happened since. People see right through it, so just stop.
.how has that benefited consumers so far? A $400+ flow/lidar? How many of us are actually running that? a few owners at most?
How many? Very few. So what's your point? Again, that a product released a year and a half after Solo will have it? So what? I wouldn't add it to my Solo even if it was more readily available because it's benefit would be outweighed by the hit in flight times because of the weight of the setup.
My next non-Solo quad (I'm not ruling out a 4th if the sale prices continue), will have all those bells and whistles you're so enamored with, but I still won't hate the Solo. If others surpass the Solo in automated smart shots, great, I'll repurpose my Solo's for mapping or carrying lights or something.
And I think I've spent far more time than I should responding to you about all this, so on the ignore list you go. Have a nice life, enjoy your Mavic or Karma or whatever else you buy. Just promise me you'll hate it as much as you hate the Solo as soon as something better comes out. If not, you're the one who's biased.