DJI Air 3 vs Mini 3 Pro: A Detailed Comparison

[@Flamamacue]

I spent about 6 months trying to talk myself out of upgrading the Mini 3 Pro to Mavic 3/Pro as I wanted tele lens and waypoints but couldn't justify it for that and then the Air 3 came out. It's perfect. Having a tele is so good and adds so much to the aerial platform. What I was not expecting is how much more robust the Air 3 is. I love the Mini 3 Pro and it's still in the kit but even the lightest breeze makes it move around so much and the footage suffers. I also got a bit nervous flying the Mini in moderate winds, let alone high winds. I've already had the Air 3 in gale-force winds twice and it made no difference to the footage. Everything was super smooth & the 10-bit is a lot nicer to grade than the Mini footage (though it's still quite good)

[@JakeSloan]

Nice!!

[@TasmanianTiger88]

The Mini is great as a small travel companion, and even though my Mavic 3 blows it out of the water quality and wind wise, I still won't sell it because being under the 250g, I didn't need to register it at my holiday this summer in another country, lovely to just fire it up and fly and not log into a web page to approve each flight with the aviation in that country. That's why everyone should have a Mini as a backup, if you however need more specific shots, people should by the Air 3 or the Mavic 3.

[@JakeSloan]

Yep

[@reubenbrunton]

Just brought an Air 3, upgrading from the Mini 3 Pro. For me the 70mm Tele lens will give me heaps more options when I’m out there shooting. Also as you mentioned the difference in wind stability is something I’m looking forward to seeing an improvement in. Looking forward to receiving the drone next week!

[@JakeSloan]

awesome!

[@107drones]

First: Cool paraglider shot. Second: This is an "Apples and Oranges" comparison. Both are excellent for what they are designed for but if it came down to it, I'd recommend the Air3. The two biggest reasons are "Night Mode" and Ocusync 4. That said, I love my Mini 3 Pro and leave it in my car for those unexpected opportunities.

[@JakeSloan]

Agreed

[@BlairAir]

And when stealth tops function, lol! But yes. I'm trying to justify keeping Mavic 3 Pro. Obviously nothing matches the Hasselblad, but few of my clients require it. If DJI actually put a mixed pair of sensors in Air 3 to accommodate one large sensor, the ability to do everything equally, just at different focal lengths would be a challenge, more mixed bag like the Mavic 3 Pro. That "choose your focal length, everything else works the same is a direct result of using duplicate sensors. I wouldn't be surprised if Mavic 4 was multiple 1 inch sensors, vs 1 big/2 small setup we have now. They will likely continue with multi cameras but we are already pushing a lot of mass!

[@cmelochick]

I purchased the mini 3 pro at launch and have loved this little drone, recently got the Air 3 as well and by no means am I getting rid of the mini 3... But the Air 3 has become my daily driver

[@JakeSloan]

nice!

[@joshua3331980]

Very comprehensive review, nice work 👏

[@JakeSloan]

Thank you! 👍

[@2tiredtim]

An interesting comparison. I have the Mini 3 Pro and am wanting something up a level. Will wait for your Mavic 3 Pro vs Air 3 before spending more!

[@JakeSloan]

Coming soon!

[@jonathanpatterson2502]

I’m taking my mini3 to Italy and Switzerland next month. There are several places where I cannot fly a drone above 250g in Switzerland especially. If I was buying my first drone and I had intentions of traveling outside the US it would be the mini 3 hands down for this reason

[@JakeSloan]

Nice and good to know. Have a great trip!

[@femiomomo4467]

DJI drones are now divided I to categories according to the most common weight categories. So I think we will see fully featured drones in each weight category. Instead of the most expensive drones getting the best features.

[@JakeSloan]

I agree and it looks like the upcoming mini 4 will have omni directional obstacle avoidance as well

[@AutomobilesandMore]

Such a detailed comparison Jake.. I have been deliberating between these two and this video helps a lot! Thank you.

[@JakeSloan]

Glad it was helpful!

[@mattPG78]

Great comparison video Jake as always! I have had the Air 2, Mini 3 Pro and now the Air 3. The Air 3 is my favorite. I actually prefer the larger drone. While it's a beast, I def get more piece of mind flying it. I'm loving the 70mm zoom lens as well as the 360 degree obstacle avoidance. The flight time is killer as well. I have yet to drain all three batteries.

[@JakeSloan]

Agreed!!

[@techgod-h7b]

I wonder where your getting this money to buy all of these toys

[@user-gq6iv1xf4m]

I started with the original Mavic Air, then the mini 2, and now own the air 3. I think I nodded off for a sec while watching this but did you mention that the air 3 also has waypoints now? I think it's the first of the Air line to have it. It's very useful. The Air 3 is an incredible drone. The speed and power is so much fun and means you can also follow faster objects and keep up. Best drone for the price for sure

[@JakeSloan]

agreed and yes the Air 3 is the first of the air series to have waypoints which is a WONDERFUL feature

[@techgod-h7b]

I wonder where you getting all of this money to buy all of these toys

[@user-gq6iv1xf4m]

@Cayson-tg5df lol well the air 1 and the mini 2 I got in trouble for buying because we didn't have a lot of money but I couldn't resist. I thought they were the coolest thing I had ever seen. Now I have my own remodeling business and business is a boomin!

[@BlairAir]

Very impressed with DJI'S "ALL AROUND DRONE"; the Air 3 so far - if not that tagline. A few bug fixes and this will be THE tool for creators whose output is primarily KZbin & social media. Air 3 is 80%+ Mavic 3 at 50% of the price. Wide Angle lens for Mavic 3 / 3 Pro is $179. Air 3? $59. Same story with ND Filters, batteries, etc. The lively "discussion" regarding sensor SIZE, while interesting, misses the primary reason DJI used a matched pair of sensors. By doing so, both Air 3 cameras provide: ALL camera shooting modes (except panorama), all color modes & all Focus Track modes on both cameras. Further, ALL flight modes and autonomous features, Mastershots/Quickshots/ Hyperlapse and a brilliant implementation of portrait/vertical shooting work at 1x/3X some even digitally zoomed/cropped in. All we need is the 3X available in Waypoints! DJI delivered here in all the ways they couldn't with Mavic 3's multi-sensor design. Certainly not perfect. But for the KZbin and Social media creator, show me a more "all around" capable drone. Go ahead. I'll wait 😂 I kept Air 2S for now. Still need it for my Insta360 Sphere 😂 FYI Ascend in SPORT mode is also 10 m/s 22.369. Faster than Mavic 3 and INSPIRE 3 - both 8 m/s. Equals the FASTEST DESCEND fir Inspire 3 (What they call "Tilt" - yep. It's agile!

[@JakeSloan]

Agreed on all points and well said!!

[@BlairAir]

@@JakeSloan Yes - for someone who needs ONE drone to do it all, Air 3 runs the gamut (imaging humor!) Sure there's some compromises, but this is NOT a "jack of all trades, master of none", Air 3 DJI is a smorgasbord of current drone tech. DJI didn't repeat the face-plant of releasing it before any features were ready (fw tweaks notwithstanding) Looking forward to more Air 3 content!

[@CheeseheadMedia]

I own both and each has their place. The Mini 3 Pro is great when I want to be discrete about my flying. It is also much easier to travel with. The 70mm camera on the Air 3 has become my go to camera whenever I have it in the sky. If DJI made an Mini 3 Pro with only the 70mm camera I think it would be the perfect drone.

[@JakeSloan]

agreed!

[@lynsmith1096]

Good comparison video Jake. I'm sticking to the Mini 3 Pro for the moment.

[@JakeSloan]

Excellent choice

[@TravelerYaser]

Another fantastic comparison video. Thank you so much Jake for the hard work. I'll definitely use your link once I make my mind about which drone to purchase.

[@JakeSloan]

Thanks!

[@bikin_n_dronin]

Thanks for the comparison. Very informative

[@JakeSloan]

Glad it was helpful!

[@RaisedinAlaska]

Thanks for the information Jake.

[@JakeSloan]

Sure

[@leviconnelly79]

Always love your comparison videos Jake 🙌🏼😉 Thank you for making this 🙏 🌲 I fly my mini 3 pro a lot and love many things about it and you pointed out all of them. 👏🏻 The pros outweigh the cons for me. 👋🏻 Happy flying my friend 🌲🌲

[@JakeSloan]

My pleasure! And happy flying!

[@thisdroneupflying]

Great comparison Jake! 👍👍

[@JakeSloan]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@flyinolliestyle9384]

Hey Great comparison video I currently have the mini 3 pro and I use it for mainly professional property inspections I ordered the air 3 after doing research like watching your vids I really appreciate your straight forward opinions I live on the east coast most of my jobs are in the beach area so it is windy this bigger drone should handle the wind better it is arriving today I am excited love your channel appreciate all the info

[@JakeSloan]

Awesome to hear! The 3x camera should make your life easier as well!

[@techgod-h7b]

I wonder where your getting this money from to buy all of these toys

[@np_production]

Air 3 👌

[@JakeSloan]

👍🏻

[@gaylekakac313]

great comparison thank you

[@JakeSloan]

You're welcome!

[@Gabe731]

Just passed my part 107 yesterday and will be looking to get the air 3.

[@wake2779]

Nice mate same

[@JakeSloan]

Awesome and congrats!

[@techgod-h7b]

I wonder where your getting this money to buy all of these tots

[@JaxsonNZ]

What's the take on the noise? The both sounded pretty similar but I might be missing something here?

[@JakeSloan]

Very very close. The mini 3 is slightly quieter.

[@555to_infinity]

very helpful

[@JakeSloan]

Glad to hear that

[@mikkoleivonen2905]

You do a very good job in all your videos. Top drawer. I work between the EU and USA. The Air 3 has a C1 class stamp on it, even the US version. My issue is where to I buy my Air 3? I have a 107 in the US, and the basic certification in the EU, which means I can drone and get paid legally in the US, but I need to up my certification in the EU to do the same. The transmission power is higher in the US purchased models, and I am not sure if the US version (I am calling it a 'version' meaning I do not know if it is exactly the same drone but only with differing firmware that makes it legal in one place or another. I would like to know if they are physically different) is legal to fly in Europe given that its specs do not follow the law. Maybe when you boot up your drone in Europe it automatically downloads new firmware that makes the drone comply, who knows?. I know US bought models have serial numbers that comply with the FAA, so they know if you bring in a Europe purchased Air 3 and then of course require you to go through the foreign drone registration procedure. Same in Europe. If you buy it in the US, then they know in Europe it's a foreign drone and require you to register it as such. All OK with me, but I was just wondering if it is smarter to buy in Europe (it's about 10% more in money), or, in the US. My problem is so unique that I doubt anybody knows for sure but I am all ears.

[@JakeSloan]

that is an excellent question, I know when I have traveled to the EU the drone has detected the location and cut the output power to be compliant in the EU. as to the other questions I would look up the channel Mad's Tech as he is EU based and might have more info

[@luisjulianmartinelli5369]

Jake I WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU A PERSONAL FAVOUR: can you make a camparative between the Aiir 3 and Skydio 2+ ? In particular I would like your comparison: A) between the Motion Track from Skydio and the Active Track 5.O from DJI Air 3 and Mavic 3 Pro in order to know if Skydio retires as the Floyd Mayweather from tracking drones (unbeateable) or overpassed by the last tecnology from DJI Active Track. B) Comparative between Key Frames From Skydio and Way Points from DJI Mavic 3 and Air 3. I will try to enjoy my Skydio2+ as much as I can 😢. I will try to be very carefull since Skydio Care warranty is not valid in Argentina 🇦🇷 and their sunset of the consumers market will gradually make difficult for as to buy batteries, propellers, and more criticall parts as gimbals or cameras in case of a crash. I hope you have time to make that video or at least the comparative from tracking as a good bye to Skydio 2. I think it deserves a video.

[@JakeSloan]

unfortunately I no longer have access to a skydio drone, off hand though skydio will still be the best at obstacle avoidance and tracking but the air 3 is the closest yet

[@TeeEmmCee]

I find the Air 3 to be attractive compared to the M3P. However, as a Canadian the M3P is the easiest for my needs. So rather than being drawn in to the Air 3 better features, I'll wait to see what the M4P has to offer and hope that things like O4 and 360OA are a part of it. But how long will I wait for this new model???? //Tom

[@DanielCrist]

I doubt that we will get 360OA with the Mini4 Pro and possibly not even the Mini5, at least not unless they come up with a new clever method of doing it. I think it will take a few years until both the sensor tech and battery tech become even smaller and lighter to keep it under that 250g mark. The reason being is those sensors are essentially each a set of additional low resolution cameras, and each direction requires two of these cameras to create one OA sensor set, one sensor provides a visual map, but two is what allows it to calculate the distance of each point within that map, and all of those rudimentary cameras combined adds a lot of weight to the drone, plus it draws a lot of power which necessitates a larger battery which further adds to the weight. That's 2 front, 2 rear, 2 upward, 2 downward, 2 starboard, 2 port. That makes 12 additional low-resolution cameras to lift and to power, plus the power to calculate the trigonometry to determine the distance of each point from 6 different sensor pairs, and to recalculate that 2 or 3 times per second. I mean, they might be able to give us a basic 360 obstacle avoidance that is capable of braking before obstacles, but not navigating around them, using more basic simplified sensors like they use for the bottom sensor. Basically my understanding of the difference is that if you imagine a large cube in the air around the drone, with each sensor pair responsible for one of the faces of that cube, the downward sensor can just tell the drone: is there an object in this direction? = _yes/no_ distance? ≈ _7m_ Whereas the front and back sensors on the m3P, and all the sensors on the Air 3 (maybe not downward; I'm not sure there), for each direction they can actually see a two-dimensional map of any obstacles in that direction. So say that the drone is tracking a subject: it's flying close to the ground on a trail moving forward through some heavy bush, and as it's going along the two side sensors can tell the drone that there are branches blocking their entire fields and the gaps between them aren't large enough for the drone, and suddenly the front sensor can tell the drone: "there are obstacles blocking the _bottom half_ of our field" (somewhat more detailed than that, but I can't draw a picture here) so the drone knows it can no longer go straight forward, and the upward sensor can tell the drone: "there are obstacles covering the _back half_ of our field", so it also knows it can't go straight up, so instead, it's able to go diagonally forward/upward and avoid both obstacles with one movement, while the downward type sensors would only know that they can't go directly in either direction; they wouldn't be able to calculate that rising forward and upward movement to clear the obstacles. But if DJI went with the basic go/no-go sensors for 360 coverage, I wonder how they would differentiate between the two different types of 360 OA systems. I guess they could just call it something else, like 360 collision prevention, or something like that. But I'm not very hopeful for this because as great of an improvement as it would be, I think DJI would be afraid of that hurting the image of their "360° Obstacle Avoidance Systems". If they were to improve the Mini's obstacle avoidance, maybe they could use some fisheye lens to get a wider view, and slightly reposition the two front and two rear sensors further apart so that each of them covered one half of each right/left side so we could at least have full lateral obstacle avoidance, so basically it would be able to navigate around anything horizontally at a fixed height, but just with no coverage above it and only the yes/no coverage looking downward. As far as Occusync 4.0, I assume that will be in the Mini 4 Pro, along with an improved design for cooling, slightly better flight times, and either: A) a 1" sensor or B) they pull an Air 3 move and give it two cameras but decrease the sensor size - and just use an improved image processor (which seemed to work pretty well with the 1/1.3" sensor). Or maybe we'll get really lucky and the new camera's sensor size will stay the same, but they'll also give us a small sensor 3x lens, and use some fancy AI to merge the main camera image with the tiny 3x camera to boost that image quality. As for the question of "how long will we wait to see the Mini 4 Pro?" - the answer is, "fairly soon". A DJI leaker (who has been reliable in the past) has twice recently shared photos of two different instances of DJI testing the new drone, along with a photo of the controller's boot up screen which showed "DJI Mini 4 Pro" in the bottom right corner. The testing photos were taken from a far distance, so no major product features are visibly apparent, but I believe the words "Mini 4 Pro" can be made out on the arm of one of the drones. So based on the timing of previous leaks, I would guess that means we will see it released before the end of this year. Gentlemen, start your credit card's engines! ...wow, that became a real essay.

[@TeeEmmCee]

@@DanielCrist Oh geez. I didn't know all that. I feel so stupid. Please excuse my stupid comment.

[@DanielCrist]

@@TeeEmmCee only the people who spend a ridiculous amount of time reading about drones and watching drone videos would likely know all of those things. And about the sensors but understanding might not be 100% correct, but that's how it's been explained to me.

[@JakeSloan]

I think the mini 4 pro will come in October or November but I doubt it will have 360 obstacle avoidance

[@Roamwithhim]

Hello sir i am going to buy a drone and i am confuse between Dji Air 3 and Mavic 3. I am getting a deal on market place for mavic 3. Which one should i buy?

[@JakeSloan]

if you can get the mavic 3 then definitely go for that make sure it's good and hasn't been crashed though

[@Roamwithhim]

@@JakeSloan Thankyou so much❤️. Naah it is in very good condition

[@Mavic3803]

Ottima comparazione !!👍👍🔝

[@JakeSloan]

Thank you!

[@BuiltByN8]

great video. Thanks for the info.

[@JakeSloan]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ArgonautasDrone]

Ótimo vídeo sobre as diferenças. Para o meu uso o M3P está atendendo muito bem. 👍

[@JakeSloan]

I bet it is! I love mine

[@fastestmanon3legs454]

Hi, I'm looking for a decent drone with airdrop capabilities. I do lots of fishing down here in Corpus, & I'm looking for a drone that can drop my hook/bait (nothing too heavy really) for me without having to kayak back and forth. Any suggestions?? Thanks

[@JakeSloan]

I'd say you want to look at the mavic 3 series for that

[@georgefitzhugh6455]

Thanks!

[@JakeSloan]

Welcome!

[@DominicPettifer]

Is there any difference with the active track capabilities of these drones? What’s the top speed of either drone when active track is enabled? Also I’ve heard Air 3 gets waypoint support unlike the Mini 3 Pro, is this the case?

[@JakeSloan]

Yes the air 3 has waypoints which is fantastic. Active track on the air 3 is better and the top speed is about 20-25mph when active tracking

[@80gritt]

Right now, I'm struggling between getting Air 3 or Mavic 3.

[@JakeSloan]

I did do a video comparing them here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGXKlZSceMyWnac

[@TheDroneVoyager]

As a mini 3 pro owner, I can say that the only advantage is weight. The Air 3 is superior to the mini. IMHO, I've already upgraded.

[@JakeSloan]

Agreed overall it’s a much better drone

[@BruceDaviescmbaits]

I'm going to get one on Thursday I can't decide mini 3 pro or air 3?

[@emissary44]

I am very disappointed that you didn't emphasize about the noise factor between the drones as you can fly the mini 3 pro basically anywhere without causing a buzz

[@JakeSloan]

I give examples of both…

[@emissary44]

Wasn't much at all.

[@techgod-h7b]

Got a mini 3 pro like a month ago won’t be upgrading because I find no need for upgrading because of this reason

[@techgod-h7b]

I don’t use my drone for photography reasons I use it to screw around and fly it for fun

[@JakeSloan]

Then the mini 3 is a great drone!

[@techgod-h7b]

@@JakeSloan yes it is!

[@stealthshinobi3310]

Im an expat living here in shanghai, it caught my attention because that means air 3 fly more combo wth rc 2 is cheaper here because its only $1328 here

[@JakeSloan]

Wow that’s awesome!

[@tawsif-karim]

where is this place at 10:10?

[@JakeSloan]

This is Chicago in the USA

[@eganders1]

I have not found much discussion about the fact that the mini 3 and Air 3 cannot use litchi and therefore do not have the powerful waypoint capability that Litchi has. I really like waypoints and the mini 2 uses Litchi and therefore has waypoints. It is a lot cheaper too. Even though I have the Mini 3 with the smart controller, I still have the Mini 2 with the RC1 controller, because not much has been said also about the fact that the RC1 controller allows the use of Litchi and other apps that must have a phone to run the app. Not much has been said about the fact that the new RC controller cannot run a 3rd party app. I wonder why? I am impressed that the Mini 3 drone has follow-me and obstacle avoidance. The two together make follow-me interesting. I don't think it is all that useful, but ... interesting. Litchi -- with its waypoint capability -- is very useful for things like taking automated photos and videos for real estate and other projects that require a repetitive operation..

[@JakeSloan]

The Air 3 has waypoints natively but Litchi is a powerful tool for sure

[@Emuspaul]

Good info. But don't like testing out in the middle of nowhere away from power lines, etc. In an urban environment, a sub-250-gram drone is safer.

[@JakeSloan]

It is but I work in major cities a lot and drones can still be operated safely in this environments

[@Chuakiagx3]

I have a m3p and I love it

[@JakeSloan]

Me too

[@AetherScout]

Here's a good idea for a test. Put both of them up in the air together side by side in a low light situation. Set both cameras shutters to manual and the same speed. Set both cameras to auto iso and then compare the stills in both 12mp and 48mp modes. And full auto, side by side as close as possible to make sure that it's the same shot with the same amount of light hitting the lenses. I'll bet you there's not much in it. In fact the shot at 0:09 in your videos shows there's not much in it.. But some more, fair side by sides would need to be done to get a better take on it. But my money says there's not much in it and not as much of an improvement over the mini 3 Pro as there should be imho. In fact, most of the upgrades in the air 3 can be achieved in firmware o. The mini 3 Pro. Dji are sneaky fkrs. Using the same omnivision ov48c sensor in both drones but just upgrades firmware. To be fair though, the small form factor and passive cooling in the mini does create bottle necks in certain places due to not being able to cool enough to be able to increase clock speeds but still. Bit sneaky by dji imho

[@JakeSloan]

They are using the same exact sensor and aputure value so they will be the same on the main camera BUT there is no DLog-M in the mini 3 which makes a big difference in grading, to me the biggest advantages of the Air 3 are it's speed and ability to handle wind, and of course the 70mm 3x camera for being able to get closer to stuff. It looks like the mini 4 will have 360 obstacle avoidance soon

[@AetherScout]

@@JakeSloan for sure there's improvements... The 70mm lense isn't really tempting for me because it's not really a zoom/telephoto lens.. It's a 70mm equivalent. It's not 60mm plus with the ability to zoom. Besides that, yes you can get closer with it which helps with the 50m limit in congested areas but I can fly as close as I like with the mini and get full 4k portrait so for me that's not needed. 360 obstical avoidance? Who uses it anyway? It hinders more than helps me most of the time. The 48mp mode has yet to be shown to be free of colour shifts which would make them usable. As it stands, 48mp is only usable in very limited scenarios and I can't see how the 48mp AEB mode makes up for that. As for wind resistance. Yeah when wind is bad in open spaces, definitively a plus but, with a 12mp camera as opposed to a 20mp camera? And a 48mp camera which is, let's face it, rarely usable... Air 2s wins for that hands down imho. Now the dlog... That's a different story but still... In my opinion definitely not worth the extra money over the mini. I'll wait for omnivision to create a new 1" version of the same sensor and dji to bang it in the air 3 ;) I'm not trying to be horrible or anything but if anybody sold their air 2s or mini 3 Pro to upgrade to aie 3 they got bumped.