DJI Dock 2, Dock 3 and Dock 4 compared: which one fits your operation

DJI's dock range now runs to four generations, and the newest is not automatically the right one. This comparison covers the three currently worth considering for a new deployment: Dock 2, Dock 3 and Dock 4. The original Dock, which carries the Matrice 30 series, is out of production and left out for that reason. DJI still supports the aircraft, released new firmware for it in August 2026 and has not announced a replacement, so an existing Dock 1 programme is not stranded. The three carry different aircraft that do not interchange, they deploy differently, and the cheapest to install is still the best answer for a particular kind of job.

Here is how they compare, and what each one means for the way you actually run an operation.

The specifications side by side

Charging figures are DJI's, measured at 25°C. Flight times are DJI's maximums under ideal conditions, and real missions come in shorter on all three.

Dock 2: the one you can move

At 34 kg the Dock 2 is the only one of the three a small team can relocate without planning the move. That matters more than it sounds. A dock covering a construction site, a seasonal risk area or a temporary deployment is a different proposition from one bolted to a roof for five years.

It is also the lightest installation. Less weight on the structure, simpler mounting, lower cost to put in place and lower cost to take out again.

What you give up is the range of weather it can work in, and the turnaround. The dock stops working below -25°C, the aircraft lands in up to 8 m/s of wind against 12 m/s on the newer docks, and a 32-minute charge is the longest gap of the three.

Best for: temporary and relocatable deployments, sites where installation cost matters more than continuous availability, and programmes still proving the concept.

Dock 3: the one you can drive

Dock 3 is the only DJI dock that mounts on a vehicle, and two of them can run from one vehicle. For a response unit, a mobile command post or an event operation, that changes the shape of what a dock is for: the coverage goes where the vehicle goes.

It also handles worse weather than Dock 2, operating from -30°C and landing in 12 m/s of wind, and it carries the Matrice 4D or 4TD with their longer endurance and better transmission.

Best for: mobile operations, event and incident response, and fixed sites in harsher climates where the Dock 2's temperature and wind limits are too tight.

Dock 4: the one that does not stop

The 25-second battery swap is the headline and it deserves to be. Every dock before it recharged the pack inside the landed aircraft, so answering one call took the dock out of service for around half an hour. That window is precisely when the second call arrives.

Swap the pack instead and availability stops being the constraint. Over an eight-hour shift, a cycle of twenty minutes flying plus a thirty-minute charge gives you around nine sorties. Twenty minutes flying plus a twenty-five-second swap gives you more than double that.

The thermal camera is the other step worth naming. The Matrice 4TD carries a 640×512 thermal sensor and the Matrice 5TD doubles that in both directions to 1280×1024, which is four times the pixels on the same scene. For search and rescue, or for finding someone who would rather not be found, that is the difference between spotting a heat signature and being able to tell what you are looking at.

It also works in colder weather, down to -40°C, and flight time goes to 59 minutes. The aircraft also carries a Flight Termination System, which DJI describes as a key technical requirement for C6 compliance. That matters in Europe, because C6 is the class marking required for STS-02, the standard scenario that runs on a declaration to your national authority rather than a full operational authorisation. Whether a given configuration actually holds C6 marking is a question for the manufacturer and your authority, and it is worth asking early because it shapes your timeline.

Best for: programmes where a gap in coverage is the thing you are trying to eliminate, which in practice means Drone as First Responder and continuous perimeter patrol.

What this means per use case

Public safety. Response programmes live or die on availability during busy periods, so Dock 4 is the obvious fit for a fixed site. Dock 3 stays relevant for mobile work: a dock on a vehicle at a large incident or a planned event is something neither of the others can do.

Security. Perimeter patrol intervals have been set by the charge cycle instead of by the risk assessment, which is a poor way to decide how often you check a fence. Dock 4 removes that. For a site that needs coverage only during certain seasons or phases, Dock 2 remains the pragmatic choice because you can move it.

Critical infrastructure. Inspection work is usually scheduled rather than reactive, so the charge gap costs less here than elsewhere. The decision tends to come down to the aircraft and its sensors, the operating temperature range at the site, and whether the dock needs to move between assets.

The part that does not change

The three docks carry three different aircraft, and they do not interchange. A Matrice 3D does not fly from a Dock 3, and a Dock 4 means a Matrice 5TD. So a hardware decision today locks in an aircraft generation for as long as that dock is in service.

Your software layer should not add a second lock on top of that. AirHub is hardware agnostic by design, so the way you plan a mission, watch a live feed, manage a fleet and produce a flight record stays the same across docks, aircraft and generations. When you replace a dock in three years, the operation around it carries over.

AirHub supports DJI Dock 2, Dock 3 and Dock 4 for automated dock operations, so the choice of dock stays a hardware decision and nothing in your workflow changes with it.

Underneath whichever dock you choose: repeatable mission planning so a patrol or a response flies the same way every time, live operations and a shared picture in the Drone Operations Centre, fleet management across aircraft, docks and pilots, and a flight record that holds up when an authority asks.

Choosing

Start from the operation, not the specification sheet. If coverage must be continuous, Dock 4. If it has to move, Dock 2 for a site and Dock 3 for a vehicle. If the site is cold, check the temperature row before anything else.

Then check the authorisation route, because that sets your start date more reliably than procurement does. Our public safety and security pages set out how the platform supports each stage, and our regulatory consultancy team works through the authorisation itself with operators.