The Ultimate Moza Air 2 vs DJI Ronin S Comparison!

So we have seen a constant stream of people reaching out and asking for advice on a ton of different gimbals over the last few months and with the DJI Ronin S being one of the best DSLR gimbals on the market, we are seeing a number of people ask for comparisons to it with other gimbals. One request that we are seeing more and more is people asking for a dedicated Moza Air 2 vs Ronin S comparison article we have decided to make this the subject of today’s article.

Now, in our opinion, although great camera accessories, both of these gimbals are definatley starting to show their age. If any of our readers are considering purchasing the DJI Ronin S or the Moza Air 2 then we would highly recommend that you seriously consider the Zhiyun Weebill S instead. Although it is from a range of gimbals that was originally designed for use with mirrorless cameras, advancing technology means that the Weebill S is easily able to support many light to mid-weight DSLR rigs too. Since its release onto the market, the Weebill S has managed to go from strength to strength and earn a great reputation for itself amongst the community.

That said though, we know that many people will still want the low down on the Ronin S and Air 2 so we will still be covering both gimbals in full below. Now, the DJI Ronin S is definatley the stronger gimbal in our opinion. Although the Moza Air 2 does look like it beats the Ronin S on paper, the Ronin S is in a league of its own when it comes to the actual levels of image stabilization that it is able to provide for you.

That said though, both of the gimbals have managed to earn themselves a great reputation amongst the community since they were released. You can click here to read independent reviews for the Ronin S or  click here to read third-party reviews for the Moza Air 2. Those independent reviews can offer some excellent insight into the performance of the gimbals from independent videographers who have used them as their go-to gimbal stabilizers of choice for long periods of time.

As our regular readers will probably be expecting, we have our comparison table below that goes over some of the key features for both of the featured gimbals. As we touched on above though, on paper, it does look like the Moza Air 2 beats the DJI Ronin S and the comparison table has this same flaw. This is why we have a long, in-depth look at both of the gimbals below the comparison table making up the rest of the article to go into where each stabilizer scores points over the other.

Comparison Table

Last update on 2023-09-02 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Performance And Functionality

Now, when it comes to the performance and functionality of both of the featured gimbal stabilizers there are areas where DJI pulls ahead and areas where Moza pulls ahead. This is totally normal in the gimbal space for products released around the same time frame due to the technological limitations at the time of release. One brand is often stronger in one area whereas another brand will be stronger in another. That said though, both of the featured gimbals are two generations old at the time of writing and this is why, in our opinion at least, the Zhiyun Weebill S is definatley worth considering over them due to being one of the most recent 3 axis gimbals to market with all of the latest technology.

Depending on what you are planning on doing with your 3 axis gimbal, one of the main areas that you may be focusing on is the maximum load capacity of the gimbals. Although close to each other, Moza does pull out ahead with a maximum load capacity of nine pounds whereas the DJI Ronin S comes in at just under eight pounds of total payload weight. Now, in all honesty, they are both close enough to each other to be able to support the vast majority of DSLR camera setups with ease.

Another area where the Moza Air 2 comes out ahead is in the maximum battery life of the gimbals with it providing its users with a maximum of up to sixteen hours of battery life per full charge of its batteries. That said though, the twelve hours of maximum battery life provided by the DJI Ronin S is still nothing to be sniffed at and can likley be enough juice for a large number of our readers to capture all of the video footage they need between sessions.

One area where the Ronin S does come out slightly ahead of the Air 2 is in the actual recharge times of the gimbals. The DJI unit takes around three hours to charge back to full from empty whereas the Moza unit takes around four hours. On the flip side of this though, the Moza gimbal is recharging those additional four hours of battery life that the Ronin S does not have available so it kind of balances out.

On top of this, in this day and age, the majority of videographers will have a high output USB power bank to their collection of camera accessories anyway. This can essentially let you charge some cameras and gimbals when away from a regular power outlet for an extended period of time. It can be a great way to keep your gear charged in some niches where you may be out and about, away from civilization for days at a time.

The sample video footage in the clips above has been captured using the DJI Ronin S and we feel that it does a great job of showing off the capabilities of the gimbal. You can see just how good its image stabilization actually is and unlike the Moza Air 2 that can have a few slight issues with vibration when you get closer to its maximum load capacity, the DJI Ronin S is butter smooth all the way up to its maximum.

The clips in the video footage above have been captured using the Moza Air 2 and do a solid job of showing off the levels of image stabilization that you can expect from it during use. As you can see, it is still a solid gimbal but at the time of writing, depending on the retailer, the Moza Air 2 is over one hundred dollars more expensive than the DJI Ronin S dropping it a fair few points and pushing the Ronin S out ahead.

In addition to this, the detection and correction system on the DJI Ronin S is better than the system on the Moza Air 2 helping to score the Ronin S even more points and making it the clear option in our opinion. This is due to the gimbal motors and sensors that DJI used for the Ronin S being better quality than the ones that Moza put in the Air 2. On top of this, the DJI balancing algorithm was much better than the one Moza had at the time of release too.

Although it does not help the Air 2, Moza has definatley fixed this issues and they have done an excellent job with the Moza Aircross 2 (note that it is Aircross 2 and not Air 2) and we think that it is probably the second-best gimbal on the market right now just behind the Zhiyun Weebill S. Depending on your needs, the Aircross 2 may actually be able to meet your needs and perform better than both of the featured gimbals so if you are wanting to stay away from the Zhiyun range for whatever reason the Aircross 2 could be a better option for you.

As you would expect for two professional-level DSLR camera gimbals released in modern times, both the Ronin S and Air 2 come with the majority of modern gimbal modes that you would expect. Although some of the names of the gimbal modes are slightly different to each other they are essentially the same mode offering the same performance so neither brand score points over the other here.

User Interface And Control System

The control system shown in the image above is from the Moza Air 2 and in our opinion beats the system on the DJI Ronin S with ease. We love the actual physical joystick and bright, clear LCD panel that comes with the Air 2 and were actually a little disappointed that they decided to switch the user interface for the Air 3 as we felt that they had totally nailed it.

Although we do feel that the Air 2 takes the crown when it comes to the control interface, the system on the Ronin S is still decent and allows you to get everything done that you will need with ease. If you are looking to make your first ever gimbal purchase and have never used a 3 axis gimbal stabilizer prior to either of these products both of them emphasize ease of use and are very easy to learn. In addition to this, we have also seen some people say that they were not fans of the joystick on the Air 2 and actually preferred the DJI system so personal preference will also come into it too.

The main thing to focus on is that the buttons and joysticks on both of the featured gimbals are very responsive and easy to use. They will allow you to get some great manual control of even the heaviest DSLR camera rigs with ease and ensure that you can get the gimbal to do exactly what you need it to do. The navigation menus on both systems are slightly different but are both very easy to use too.

If you are planning on using your gimbal in colder locations then even if we put our personal preference aside we feel that the Moza Air 2 pulls ahead of the Ronin S as its joystick is much easier to locate and use. If your hands are cold and numb then this can help may your life just that little bit easier and help get your session in the cold weather done that little bit quicker.

Smartphone App

Thankfully, both Moza and DJI have managed to ensure that the smartphone apps for their gimbals have always been in a pretty decent state compared to what some of their competitors have done over the years. For example, at the time of writing, the Feiyutech app is totally unusable and the Evo app is not much better, thankfully Zhiyun totally overhauled theirs so it is not up to the standards of the DJI and Moza apps.

In our opinion, neither DJI nor Moza score points over the other one when it comes to their apps as they both perform well, are easy to navigate, easy to sync with and offer very similar functionality. Both apps offer some wireless remote control of our gimbal while also providing you with some quick and easy access to your gimbals settings during use. Considering that both of the apps are free we would highly recommend that you download the relevant app to your smartphone no matter what gimbal you end up going with.

Build Quality And Design

Both the Ronin S and Air 2 follow the same traditional 3 axis gimbal design that the vast majority of gimbal companies use these days. This is due to the design being so efficient for supporting heavy camera rigs, especially with longer lenses so few companies want to risk tweaking the tried and tested design. This means that neither DJI or Moza score points over the other when it comes to the design of their featured gimbals.

Both the Ronin S and Air 2 have a solid build quality resulting in a robust gimbal stabilizer but their age is showing at this stage as both gimbals are large and heavy compared to something like the Zhiyun Weebill S tat has a much more compact design and build quality. If you are working in a niche where you are going to have to be traveling via plane on a regular basis and weight and size of your videography gear will be a factor the Weebill S is the obvious option to consider.

On top of this, both of the gimbals have a comfortable handle grip ensuring that you can hold the gimbal for as long as needed without getting cramps or pains in your hand while recording too. This is a simple feature that it still often overlooked by some gimbal brands even to this day but thankfully both DJI and Moza have nailed it. As you can probably guess, the build quality of the gimbals is another area where we have to call a draw as they are both solid camera accessories.

Our Verdict

That brings our ultimate comparison of the Moza Air 2 vs DJI Ronin S to a close and just like we have said at various stages throughout the article, we would highly recommend that our readers check out either the Zhiyun Weebill S or the Moza Aircross 2 over both of the featured gimbals. Both of these are great bits of kit and have all of the latest technology available to ensure you get the best image quality possible from their image stabilization.

Our of the two featured gimbals we have to go with the DJI Ronin S as our primary recommendation as although the Moza Air 2 comes out on top in a whole bunch of areas, the movement detection and correction system on the Ronin S just pushes it out ahead of the Moza Air 2 and makes it the obvious option in our opinion.