DJI unveils Matrice M30 series enterprise drone

Today sees drone manufacturer DJI unveil its new Matrice M30 series line of enterprise drones, and this has features that those flying consumer drones can only dream about.

The M30 series comes in two versions, the M30 and the M30T.

The M30 model features a 48 megapixel 1/2-inch CMOS sensor zoom camera with 5x to 16x optical and 200x digital zoom, a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera with 8k photo 4K/30 fps video resolution, and a laser rangefinder that can give the precise coordinates of objects up to 1,200 meters away. 

The M30T is the same but adds a 640 x 512-pixel radiometric thermal camera.

But there’s so much more to the M30:

• Six-way obstacle avoidance sensors
• IP55 weather rating for protection against the elements
• -20° C to 50° C operating temperatures
• Three-propeller emergency landing capability 
• Four-antenna OcuSync 3 Enterprise transmission 
• Smart BS30 charging case allows quick battery charging from 20% to 90% in 30 minutes
• SD card AES encryption

There’s also a new DJO RC Plus enterprise-grade controller for the drone, featuring:

• 7-inch-wide high-definition display
• IP54 certified
• Six physical buttons 
• 6 hours runtime from the internal battery, and it also features a swappable external battery
• Ports for microSD card, USB, HDMI, USB type C, and 4G connectivity

There’s no pricing available for the Matrice M30 (expect many thousands of dollars).

For consumers looking for a drone, I recommend either the DJI Mini 2 or, going to the other end of the spectrum, DJI’s Mavic 3. Both excellent drones, with one coming in at a few hundred dollars, and the other a couple of thousand.