One of the coolest purchases I have made in a while. The Phantom 4 is an upgrade to a less sophiscated model I have had since December. The flight is so much more accurate and fulfilling that I sometimes feel like I'm just watching the show instead of flying.

Having used the P3 on a job Mozambique last year and being impressed Im glad I waited until the P4 came out. Very easy to use, great flight time and superb picture quality and features.

Great Flight Time; Great Picture Quality; Lightweight; Simple Controls

If there's a drone that can claim ownership of consumer airspace, it's DJI's Phantom. The company's white, 4K-camera-toting quadcopter is the Prius of the skies; hip, accessible, and ubiquitous.

Automated flight features make it possible to fly places and get shots previous models could not; It's harder to crash into stuff, with is safer for you and for your wallet; Insanely fast sport mode is a ton of fun; Camera improvements make for better 4K video

The batteries have changed shape again; If you're upgrading, you'll need buy new batteries again too; Collision detection could be better; You lose the object avoidance powers if you snap on the optional prop guards

DJI maintains its dominance as the class leader in the consumer drone market. The new Phantom 4 ($1,399) refines the iconic design of its predecessors with a glossier, more streamlined chassis.

Easy to fly; Extremely stable; Obstacle avoidance; Incredible operating range with 720p Live View; Return-to-home and other safety features; Automated flight modes; High-speed Sport mode; Smooth 4K video capture; 20mm wide-angle lens; Subject recognition and tracking; Raw and JPG still capture

Pricey; True mission planning requires third-party app

The drone takes off, hovering a few feet off the ground. I guide it up to about 12 feet with the throttle on the remote control. Then my three year old son takes over. He taps the screen on an iPad running our piloting app.

Great autonomous features; Reliable and powerful flight; Terrific camera and connectivity

Expensive; Only comes with one battery

The DJI Phantom 4 is not quite a drone for the non-enthusiast, then, but it's closer than ever before to that ideal, and it's the safety features – the collision-detection and tracking features, not to mention the safety net of the automatic fly-me-home feature – that take it there.

If you don't have a drone already we recommend you get one, and if you have the budget for it, we highly recommend the DJI Phantom 4 for its all-round great performance whether it's taking pictures, recording videos and following moving objects.

Steadiness; Video & picture quality; Easy to control

Price

We've written about the very popular DJI Phantom 3 drone and the company has just stepped up their game with the release of the all-new DJI Phantom 4 drone . This drone is just as amazing as the Phantom 3 and then improved in many aspects.

There's a lot to like in the Phantom 4. It shoots very-high-quality video that looks significantly sharper than what you get from the Phantom 3 and as good as the video from a 3DR Solo using a GoPro 4. The Phantom 4 is very easy to fly, even for novice users.

Longer battery life; Faster flight; Excellent image quality; App is straightforward and easy to use

Collision avoidance is not foolproof; Some modes disable collision avoidance; Flight modes are confusing; Occasionally catches sight of itself in video; Expensive

If we all start flying drones it'll be DJI's fault. The company's new Phantom 4 drone is not only the best-looking drone of its class, it also puts an incredible degree of flying intelligence in regular people's hands. I will be so sad to send this one back.