DJI's new drone folds up to size of water bottle

GoPro has not been in the drone business for very long, but DJI is already striking back. The Karma drone is not even released yet, but DJI is hot on the heels of GoPro's announcement. The Shenzhen-based company has unveiled its own compact, foldable Mavic Pro drone. The Mavic Pro is at $1,000, which is $200 more expensive than Karma's starting price. Mavic, however, offers a unique value for the money. It integrates some of the automation features seen in DJI's Phantom 4, including obstacle avoidance. Karma does not offer that. GoPro's stock price fell 4.6 percent the afternoon after the announcement, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The base price of the Mavic is more expensive, but in some ways DJI is offering a different value proposition from GoPro. The Mavic has a built-in 4K camera. GoPro is offering a bundle with its new Hero 5 Black for $1,100 and will offer a $1,000 bundle with its Hero 5 Session next year. GoPro wants users to have the ability to use their cameras in different ways but DJI is simply focused on drone video.

The Mavic can fold down to become as "small as a bottle of water," according to the company. It has a top speed of 40mph and can fly for up to 27 minutes on a single charge. The device has a transmission range of up to 4.3 miles and can be controlled with a smartphone in addition to an included remote control. It has DJI's smart features such as tracking and obstacle avoidance, which is probably the most important feature that GoPro left out. It also has vision positioning that works with GPS and GLONASS.

GoPro has taken a simpler approach with its drone. Its controller has fewer buttons and includes a screen so people do not have to plug in their smartphone to see a live feed. The Karma also comes with a backpack carrying case and a camera grip in case people want to use it with the GoPro camera by hand instead of on the drone.

DJI is offering a bundle with a backpack, a car charger and an extra battery and propellers, but it costs additional $300. That means people just looking for a basic drone with a carrying case are looking at $800 from GoPro or $1,300 from DJI. On the other hand, GoPro has left people looking for advanced features with no option but to go with a competitor. Smart features such as user tracking is becoming one of the main distinguishing factors between high- and low-end drones. People looking for basic UAVs without a lot of bells and whistles have many options from China suppliers these days selling at half the cost or less than GoPro's starting price.