I realize there are a bazillion DJI FPV drone unboxing videos out there, but I couldn't resist filming my own since this is such an exciting new piece of tech! I picked up the drone plus the fly more kit (which I know from experience I will end up buying anyway), and the motion controller (which was too cool to resist!). Unfortunately, I couldn't get through the activation process in time to take it for a spin on the day I filmed/edited the video.
For anyone else having trouble with these issues I'll explain what happened and how I finally solved the problem.
First, I launched the DJI Fly app and connected it to my phone as instructed, however, the app refused to acknowledge the connection.
I spent some time tinkering with my phone and the cable to the drone before I resorted to taking to the forums where I found that apparently the DJI Fly app in the Google Play store is outdated, and that I needed to download it from the DJI website directly.
I got it downloaded, but for some reason it wouldn't install, so I tried hooking up the drone to my PC and using DJI Assistent 2, but that refused to recognize the drone as well. With some more research I discovered that you actually need a specific DJI FPV version of DJI Assistent 2.
I got that installed, and was able to update the firmware on the drone, headset, and controller. However, I couldn't activate the drone via DJI assistent, and after yet more forum research I found that the drone can ONLY be activated via the DJI Fly app, so I was back to square one and out of both patience and daylight, so I filmed the rant at the end of the video and went to bed.
The next morning I finally got the DJI Fly app working on my phone. One of the things I did that morning was delete a bunch of stuff off my phone, so maybe there just wasn't enough room, but that doesn't entirely make sense because the DJI Fly app from the app store installed with no trouble the previous day. In any case, I had the correct version of the app up and running, but it still wouldn't recognize the drone.
I was just about ready to give up and declare the drone faulty and send it back to DJI when I decided to try swapping out the USB-C cable for one of my own. I plugged it into the the OTG cable and connected the headset to my phone one last time and miraculously it worked! I was finally able to activate the drone and take it out for a spin.
This whole series of issues is absolutely bizarre to me, and it seems like there are a lot of firmware and software issues surround the DJI FPV system that need to be worked out ASAP.
#1. Why is the incorrect version of DJI Fly in the Google Play store?
#2. Why does the USB-C cable in the DJI FPV combo work to update the firmware via DJI Assistent 2 (DJI FPV), but not to connect to the app on the phone?
#3. Why is there a separate version of DJI Assistent 2 for DJI FPV? Why not just update the main version DJI assistent 2 to support DJI FPV?
#4. Why can't DJI FPV be activated via DJI Assistent 2?
Of course, if you use an apple device you won't have a problem, since by conversations I've seen online it's only the Android version of the app that has been neglected and which suffers from the connection issues. However, a lot of people (such as myself) prefer Android, and it feels like that version of the app has been badly neglected in favor of the Apple version.
Anyway, I hope someone finds my description of these issues and the steps I went through to troubleshoot them helpful. The drone is awesome, but I can't help but feel like the software/firmware is still very much a work in progress, but that's kind of standard for DJI products in my experience - the hardware is always incredibly solid, but the software/firmware always has to catch up. I guess that's the price I pay as someone who is way to eager to be on the cutting edge of technology though lol!
DJI FPV Combo (Affiliate link)
