Okay let me educate you a bit on things you obviously know nothing about.
Active braking. You release the sticks the drone stops. How quickly it stops can be adjusted in the app. Defaults at 100%. If you're the punch it and release kind of pilot then it'll put a lot of stress on the drone when it brakes.
2nd. The app issues with video breaking up is with people on ios9 and older hardware. Heck some of them don't even know how to switch channels. Granted the video does breakup if your device overheats or if you're in a wifi heavy area. Happens to all the quads with wifi based feeds.
3rd. Smart shots. I've yet to see someone who relies on these for serious work. The only things I see being worthwhile is the orbit and cablecam. Both solo and the phantom have these albeit set up differently.
4th. I think you should calm down because you're getting pretty close to crossing the border into fanboy territory lol.
Okay let me educate you a bit on things you obviously know nothing about.
1. I fly for filming. No.. I am not a big time guy, but this is what I do. I VERY rarely fly full throttle for any purpose on any craft execpt straight up to get off the ground and away from obstacles. After that it is slow and steady. I emulate crane dollies and steady cams. NOTHING I do is extreme or fast. If the P3 can't do that out of the box without coming apart, it is a flaw. PERIOD.
I had the P3P for 3 weeks and flew it "gingerly" when the cracks showed up. After going round with DJI for a week, and them trying to explain that first it wasn't happening, and then it was "normal" (even with a piece of plastic in the recessed screw bay falling off and rattling around inside) They ffinally had me ship it off to China, where it sat ffor 8 weeks, and came back with a new shell, and no explanation (even after asking for it).
2. I run two tablets. The Nexus 9 and the Nexus 7. Both Android. Both with the Video breaking up and stretching after the update. After calling DJI on that, they confirm "some people have reported the problem" (which is DJI speak for "yes we have a problem") but don't actually admit it, or apparently know what is yet and have no fix.
3. Smart Shots. I have been waiting for Smart Shots from DJI since before the P3 when they first started promising them. As I mentioned, I do filming, and regardless of your not understanding their value (in that application or elsewhere) they are huge in my world and in my plans. That is in fact one of the major reasons I picked up a Solo, and one of my major excitements about it. Something as simple as a "Cable Cam" shot can be difficult to repeat exactly over and over manually, which is what you need to do for multiple takes. This is what rail dollies do now, and being able to do that reliably with FAR less setup, operators, etc. is a game chnager.... And try doing a crane dolly over a church, or a helo over a house, rail over a lake, etc. etc.
Do I rely on the P3 Smart shots? No... Not yet.... I can't. But I wanted to. When they were delayed (even longer than 3DR gimbals) I started moving toward Solo, as all I was missing there was the gimbal and was fairly confident that could be achieved. I now have two Solo's as I ideally have a backup for everything I do, down to the last cable and battery, since the terms "technical difficulties" or "It will be a while" as a bunch of people stand around is NOT an option. Today I have two Solo's. One with a gimbal, and one getting a gimbal Monday. Solo2 (with gimbal) is operating like I always wanted my tool to work, and I am confident in my ability with it. I just got done doing a shoot with Solo2 as the primary, and P3P1 (with smart shots) as the backup. I will be Happy when I have Solo1 and Solo2 as my primary secondary, for numerous reasons (same operation, same parts, same cameras, waypoints, etc.)
4. My definition of "Fanboy" in this case (rather than the larger geek culture) is a person that is willing to overlook any drawbacks of a product, and rather defends the product, glossing over major issues. With that definition, I will leave it to others to decide who the Phanboy (sic) is. lol...
Summary:
As I said earlier, I fly both, and I like both. Both have their strengths, though I would say possibly swapping the shell every few months on the P3P is pretty major downside for me. I shoot in 4K and can edit out the props, and have for ages. It is an annoyance, and limits my options, but is not a deal killer.
I am however very disappointed in the DJI "Smart" capability. I have no interest in Home lock and Course lock. The Orbit/POI and Follow are interesting, but they also have limited use for me (in either Solo or P3). The fact that I can't select waypoints without a 3rd party (unsupported) app for the P3 is a MAJOR disappointment however. I simply CAN do that with Solo with a 3DR app (Tower), that is tightly integrated, works beautiffully, and I can do it right on the tablet, with the Solo app running. It makes my job easier, and produces a better outcome, at lower risk. Simple as that.
Meanwhile, the realtime video on the P3 has recently became nearly unusable, even as slow as I go. Hopefully that will get fixed soon, though getting anything out of DJI regarding problems is like pulling teeth. They don't admit having them, you just hope they get fixed at some point, or somebody finds a work around, and DJI doesn't shut them down.
The net result is that P3 sat in the case this weekend as "Plan B" and was not used. After the gimbal (from Dronefly) gets installed on Solo1 on Monday, and a little testing, the P3 will become "Plan C". I don't plan on having a "Plan C" so it may get given to my son that is groiwing out of the Hubsan I gave him, or it will find a home elsewhere...
As for relaxing, I am editing video from yesterday, while watching the boats on the lake with a freshly made latte'. I am happy that I got all the shots I needed with my ground and aerial cameras yesterday, and am able to be home today. I am litteraly grinning while I write this, knowing my plan for my tools is working. I don't get much more relaxed than that.
Cheers
