The DJI Mini 3 Pro is the biggest change in the Mavic line of drones we’ve ever seen, and that’s a good thing. In addition to a new camera gimbal design, you can now unfold the propeller arms in any order you desire.
The new iteration to the mini line offers 4K video at up to 60fps, and maintains the 249g weight for legal ease. If the default 34 minutes of flight time is not enough, the optional Battery Plus will get you up to 47 minutes in the sky.
This is a quick overview of the new DJI Mini 3 Pro, please head over to Drone Rush for our full coverage.
DJI Mini 3 Pro overview
From first glance, you’ll notice that something has changed. The overall form-factor of the Mini 3 Pro is similar to previous Mavic drones, offering a compact, folding design in a rectangularly shaped fuselage with the camera up front. Unlike most other Mavic drones, however, the propeller arms are not also the landing gear, and the camera does not hang under the nose of the craft.
The landing gear is built into the airframe on the front, and is a part of the battery on the rear. This is similar to the DJI Spark from back in the day, with four small feet on the bottom of the drone itself. Without the foot on the front propeller arm, the front and rear arms are now able to operate in any order without bumping into each other. That said, DJI swapped their orientation. The front propeller arms swivel under and out to the front, and the rear arms flip straight out.
The camera gimbal is the exciting update for us, allowing the camera far more flexibility in movement, and the ability to point further upward. DJI also enabled the camera to rotate 90 degrees to the side, allowing you to capture portrait video.
Capitalizing on the lessons learned on the larger Mavic drones, DJI managed to get multi-direction obstacle avoidance set up on the Mini 3 Pro. This enables APAS 4.0 and other automated flight modes.
The orientation of the drone is a little changed as well, the motors point a forward, which means the nose of the craft is far higher than the rear when in flight. This helps for the obstacle avoidance sensors, as well as for aerodynamics. The fuselage can help create lift during forward flight, a typical feature of a VTOL design, and plain old airplanes.
DJI Mini 3 Pro camera and features
The camera on the Mini 3 Pro is bar far the best in DJI’s Mini line, producing 4K video at up to 60 fps, and capturing up to 48MP images. Under the hood is a 1/1.3-inch sensor paired with a f/1.7 aperture lens that can zoom to 2x on 4K video, 4x on 1080p video. HDR reduces the framerates, dropping 4K video to 30 fps.
We like the overall image quality from the Mini 3 Pro, producing clean shots with pleasantly over-saturated colors.
Thanks to the obstacle avoidance sensors, pilots can enjoy almost all of DJI’s automated flight features. It’s nice to see Quickshots, Mastershots, Focustrack, and Hyperlapse modes on the Mini 3 Pro, they were not all available on the other Mini drones.
Keeping things ticking along, the standard battery offers up to 34 minutes of flight time. The key there is that the drone remains under 250g, so you do not have to register before you fly. If you are willing to register the drone, to follow stricter rules in most countries across the globe, we are very pleased with the Battery Plus, which bumps flight time to as much as 47 minutes. If you are unfamiliar with modern consumer drones, let me say that 47 minutes is huge. In fact, the Mini 3 Pro will be the highest positioned consumer drone on our Best battery life list.
DJI RC remote control
DJI is also introducing a new controller. The DJI RC is exclusive to the Mini 3 Pro for now, but it runs Ocusync 3.0, so could be updated to work with other Mavic drones in the future.
The controller is Android powered, and has a built-in 5.5-inch display. Multiple addressable buttons enable customization of controls. We like that the right hand dial on the rear operates camera zoom, while the dial on the left moves the camera gimbal up and down. We would set the left rear custom trigger to center the gimbal, but that’s just one of many options available.
The remote is as reliable as any DJI remote we’ve tested, a worthy upgrade over the base RC-N1 controller that requires your smartphone to operate.
DJI Mini 3 Pro price and availability
The DJI Mini 3 Pro will sell in three different packages, and the Fly More kit will be sold separately. The drone packages are identical save for the controller included.
All of the drone packages come with the airframe, one battery, extra propellers, and the required cables and tools you need to fly.
- DJI Mini 3 Pro with RC-N1 controller $759
- DJI Mini 3 Pro no controller $669
- DJI Mini 3 Pro with DJI RC controller $909
The Fly More kits differ based on the battery included. The base kit maintains the 249g weight limit, you’ll see the words “249g” printed on the battery. The ‘Plus’ kit includes the larger battery that puts the drone over 250g.
- DJI Mini 3 Pro Fly More kit $189
- DJI Mini 3 Pro Fly More kit Plus $249
You can order the DJI Mini 3 Pro today, deliveries are expected “before summer” 2022.
DJI Mini 3 Pro
Ultra portable • Good 4K video • Sub-250g • Optional 47 minutes flight time
DJI Mini 3 Pro redefines the Mavic line with a new design, offering 4K video and a sub-250g weight.
The DJI Mini 3 Pro is an impressive update in the Mini line. For that matter, the Mini 3 Pro is an impressive update in the Mavic line, and one of the most drastic airframe changes we’ve seen to date. Overall, the Mini 3 Pro employs the same design and flight philosophy, you still get a compact, folding drone with a nose mounted camera, but for the first time in the Mavic line you can unfold the propeller arms in any order you choose. The new camera gimbal suspension system allows more flexibility than before, allowing you to swivel the 1/1.3-inch camera in a greater range of motion, all the better to capture your 4K video at up to 60fps, and 48 MP stills. The standard Mavic 3 Pro weighs less than 250g, so you can skip some drone laws in some countries. However, DJI knows that there are folks that don’t mind the laws, a Battery Plus is available that brings the drone over weight, but increases flight time to 47 minutes!
