“Introducing the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0,” says Chinese drone maker…

As you might have seen on YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter yesterday, the Chinese drone maker DJI announced that the company is “Introducing the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0,” and that the “DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 is back.” This is a bit weird and confusing since the iconic quadcopter has been back in stock for some time now. As you can imagine, the announcement from DJI caused some confusion among drone enthusiasts. Is this a new version of the Phantom 4 drone? No, it’s not. This is the same old, same old. SO why did DJI make this announcement? Let’s take a closer look at what might be going on here.

The DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 (DJI, Amazon) is back. Yes, that is correct. And, it has been back in stock for some time now. Since January 8, to be precise. Why did DJI find it necessary to announce the return of the iconic quadcopter so many of us love and swear by?

DJI’s tweet from yesterday:

Introducing the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0. Designed for the professional creator, this drone features a 1-inch CMOS sensor that can shoot 4K/60fps videos and 20MP photos.

Learn More: https://t.co/VyNdM9fUSM pic.twitter.com/utYwIgdWL2

— DJI (@DJIGlobal) March 25, 2020

Let’s take a closer look at what the reason might be behind this sudden marketing push from DJI.

DJI announced the (re-re-)introduction of the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 because:

1. It’s spring, let’s sell some drones! Typically, DJI has had some kind of spring promotion to kick off the drone-flying-season in the northern hemisphere. This is just business as usual.
2. Coronavirus is bad for drone business. Let’s sell some drones! The coronavirus is having an impact on DJI’s drone sales. Management is pushing to sell more product, hence the Phantom 4 announcement.
3. This is an early April fool’s joke. DJI is announcing the return of the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0, even though it was already here. That joke is lost on me.
4. DJI is on drugs and announcing things that already exist. This was suggested by somebody on Facebook. It seems far-fetched, but hey, you never know.
5. The king is dead. Long live the king! The DJI Phantom 4 is dead. Let’s sell all remaining inventory before we announce its successor, the DJI Phantom 5 (nah) or the DJI Mavic 3.
6. You fill in the blanks…

Personally, I think it’s a combination of options 1 and 2. However, I’d love to think it might option 5, although that seems unlikely now that we have seen the leaked photos of the yet-to-be-announced DJI Mavic. Let me know what you think in the poll below. What do you think is going on here?

Here’s the video that DJI uploaded to YouTube yesterday.

A good friend of DroneDJ, Mr. D. provided a little background on the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 for anybody interested in learning a bit more about this iconic quadcopter.

The DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0, announced in May 2018, improves on the existing Phantom 4 Pro with an OcuSync transmission system, improved ESCs and low-noise propellers. It uses the same camera as the first iteration of the Phantom 4 Pro. This edition also features expanded Flight Autonomy with 5-direction obstacle sensing and 4-direction obstacle avoidance. The 6-camera navigation system means the aircraft can avoid obstacles in its flight path, while flying at speeds of up to 31 mph. It’s also the very first DJI drone to feature an infrared sensing system.

A little history on this drone: [It] was introduced in 2018 and produced until early 2019. Production stopped due to a big production scandal until they could source new suppliers for certain gimbal parts. Production was resumed late 2019 and reintroduced in January 2020. There is no noticeable difference between the original version 2 and the rereleased version. The only difference is internal gimbal parts that would not be noticeable to the end user. A new firmware version was released early January to accommodate the new parts.

Stay in touch!

If you’d like to stay up to date with all the latest drone news, scoops, rumors, and reviews, then follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, or sign up for our daily email newsletter that goes out every weekday at 6 p.m. ET.

Buy your next drone directly from manufacturers such as DJI, Parrot, and Yuneec, or retailers like Adorama, Amazon, B&H, BestBuy, DroneNerds, or eBay. For our Canadian readers, we recommend buying your drones at Drone Shop Canada. By using our links, we will make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for helping DroneDJ grow!