How to Charge DJI Mavic Mini Controller?

If you have got a new Mavic Mini (either the regular one or the fly combo), your first thought would about charging. For the drone batteries, the process is fairly simple but for the controller, things might confuse you a little. But don’t worry, I am going to tell you exactly how to charge DJI Mavic mini controller using your micro-USB.

For the drone batteries, there are two ways to charge them. It depends on the Mavic Mini package that you purchased – the Fly More Combo or the regular Mavic Mini. These are the simple charging methods that work for both.

Charging Mavic Mini battries

Mavic Mini regular charging

You can charge your regular Mavic Mini drone by inserting the battery, and then plugging in the Micro USB at the back.

The Mavic Mini can be charged using a computer, a wall outlet or a portable power bank. There are many options. The bad news is that you can only charge one battery at a time, unfortunately.

Mavic Mini Fly More Combo

The two-way charging hub is included with the Mavic mini fly more combo. You can charge your batteries using Micro USB, or use the USB-A cable to charge other devices. You don’t need to change batteries to charge the other batteries. It’s great!

But there is one thing.

One thing I have to say about DJI’s charging of the remote control is that it has been slow.

How to charge the Mavic Mini Remote Controller

Many Mavic Mini owners find this confusing. The Mavic Mini Controller does not have a Micro USB port like the drone and battery hub. How do you charge it?

DJI doesn’t do a good job in letting you know how the remote controller is charged. Although they recommend using the Micro USB cable, the absence of a Micro USB port is alarming. It turns out that the Micro USB cable can be used to charge your drone even though it doesn’t have a Micro USB port. Yes, it’s true. I don’t get why they do this.

You can plug the Micro USB cable into the USB OTG port of the controller to charge your Mavic Mini Controller. Although this is strange for many reasons, it becomes more understandable after looking into the reason DJI made this. It is still not something I like.

How to plug the micro-USB port into Square OTG port?

The USB OTG port is rectangular and the micro USB Cable…isn’t… how do you connect it? The longer end of the Micro USB Cable goes towards the back of your controller, so that’s how I remember it. You could damage the micro USB cable if you connect it in another way.

It makes sense to use an OTG cable to fly the drone. Your phone and remote control need to communicate with each other, and exchange data. USB OTG allows the devices to switch between host and device. It also lets more data transfer between your RC and your phone. OTG USB can also be powered. My hunch would be that they required this cable because you have the option (on DJI GO 4 App) to charge your phone using the USB connection from the remote control. The OTG cable allows your device and RC to communicate with each other.

Why not have a dedicated Micro USB port, or even better, a USB-C port to charge the remote? DJI may be listening, and will provide a simple method to charge the remote with no damage. We need some guidance on how to attach the Micro USB cable the OTG port.