The Dark Matter hX Gen2 - a Great M600 Alternative!

Are you still looking for a replacement for your DJI M600 drones?
 

Many companies have successfully integrated the M600 drone in their UAV operations since it was released in April 2016. You see it being used for LiDAR surveys, inspections, or even drone deliveries!

But DJI decided to discontinue it in 2021… Not the first time they stopped production and support of a popular product, and probably not the last time either!

As of 2023, you can still find companies trying to source and stock up on DJI M600 spares…

But this is not a long-term strategy!

In this article, we will cover the reasons why our Dark Matter hX Gen 2 is a great alternative to the DJI Matrice 600 / 600 Pro and why it actually trumps its performance in several ways.

About the Matrice 600

The M600 is a hexacopter is the <25kg category with heavy lift capacity of 6kg. The six rotors are there to give redundancy and extra stability compared to a quadcopter. It is not the only DJI hexacopter, as they offered a few products with this configuration before: the first one was the Flame Wheel F550 (ARF) in 2012, the S800, the S900 (getting bigger, as this number is for the diagonal wheelbase),  then there was the M600 in 2016, and the Agras T30 (>25kg) in 2020.

To continue on the redundancy scheme, the Matrice 600 drone operates on multiple batteries (6 actually!) and once the A3 flight controller was released, you could get IMU redundancy and GPS-compass module redundancy.

For its intended use, the M600 has some great features like a retract system (with springs) giving a 360° field of view. It is compatible with multiple payloads, such as the DJI Zenmuse gimbal range (X5 and XT no longer in production) and the Ronin-MX (also no longer in production). The drone can still carry a wide range of cameras when these are still available.

Some people say the M600 was too customisable for DJI’s liking!

Drone performance is obviously key to any organisation and the specifications were pretty good, as follows:

M600 Specifications:

Country of Origin:                            China

Dimensions (unfolded, RTF):      1668mm x 1518mm x 759mm

Diagonal Wheelbase:                    1133mm

Dimensions (folded):                     437mm x 402mm x 553mm (excl. landing gear)

Propellers:                                          Folding 21” carbon fibre (CW, CCW)

Weight:                                                 9.6kg (with TB47S batteries)

                                                                 6.0kg without batteries

Flight Time:                                          32mins without payload (TB47S batteries)

                                                                 16mins with 6kg payload (TB47S batteries)

Maximum payload:                          6kg

MTOM:                                                   15.5kg

Max pitch angle:                               25°

Range:                                                  up to 5km

Maximum speed:                              20m/s

Maximum ascent speed:               5m/s

Maximum wind resistance:          8m/s

Operation conditions:                    -10°C to 40°C

                                                                 Can not fly in rain

For transportation and storage, the M600 benefits from being foldable and the TB47S batteries can be taken with you on most commercial flights, as they are below the 100Wh mark at 99.9Wh. If you have the bigger batteries TB48S (129.96Wh), you will get slightly improved flight times and can still transport them on some commercial flights.

The drone can be assembled and ready-to-fly in a few minutes.