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

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

Just nine months after we tried out the Phantom 3 Professional, DJI is back with the fourth-generation Phantom. Costing a not-inconsiderate ￡1,229, this a serious piece of kit for those who want the ultimate consumer drone.

Incredibly stable flight; Controls are simple once familiar; Great design and robust build quality

Number of features and settings intimidating at first, Rotors appear in footage when changing speed and direction quickly, Very expensive; not a toy

It's all in the experience.

Yep, it's not cheap, but DJI has made one of the smartest drones available with the Phantom 4.

The DJI Phantom 4 is a very polished drone compared to its competition, and for those who've flown a quad before, you'll have no trouble getting started with this one; The new Sport mode lets you get to your location faster or just have some fun; Its Obstacle Sensing System can help avoid head-on collisions as well as track subjects; Slow-motion video is a nice addition to an already excellent camera.

The Obstacle Sensing System only sees things in front of the drone; You still need a tablet or phone ready to go along with the controller and drone battery; Extra batteries are expensive; Landing gear and camera are fixed to the body, so you can't collapse it entirely for travel and if you break or want to upgrade the camera, that's not an option.

It's the first consumer drone which will actively avoid objects, and that's a huge deal. With almost every other quadcopter, you're in charge of making sure there's nothing in the way.

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.

With its new collision-avoidance system and upgrades all round, this is the top-end, all-in-one drone to buy

The Phantom 4 is a beautifully designed camera drone. Its smooth curves and crisp white exterior make it a natural fit for Apple stores, where its being sold exclusively for the first few weeks. The last thing you want to do with a ￡1,299 drone with a top speed of 45mph is crash it.

Excellent quality footage; intuitive app and controls; sleek and polished design

Only shipped with one battery; propellers obscure footage at high speeds; object tracking isn't always accurate

The DJI Phantom 4 is a slick, feature-packed drone. People say it's the drone that anybody can fly, the quadcopter that you just can't crash. Let me be painfully clear about two things: 1) Not everyone can fly the Phantom 4, and 2) It's pretty damn easy to crash.

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.