The DJI Mini 3 Pro (Most powerful mini drone in 2022?)
The DJI Mini 3 Pro combines the latest evolution of DJI’s ultra-lightweight Mini family with a really good camera that normally belongs on a heavier drone. It earns the ‘Pro’ name with a high-quality image and plenty of powerful features. And for the first time ever, DJI is allowing customers to choose between two controller models.
Is it worth upgrading or investing in one? Let’s find out.
Specifications
- Brand: DJI
- Camera: 48MP (effective) 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor
- Speed: 16 m/s (36mph)
- Weight: <249g (standard battery), ~290g (Flight Plus battery)
- Range: 12km (7.4 miles)
- Connectivity: DJI O3
- Battery: 34 min (standard battery), 47 min (Flight Plus battery)
- Storage : 1.2 GB (expandable up to 1TB w/ microSD)
- Dimensions: 145×90×62 mm (folded), 171×245×62 mm (unfolded)
- Video Resolution: 4K (3840×2160) @ 24/25/30/48/50/60fps, or 1080p @ 120fps
- Video Formats: MP4/MOV (H.264/H.265) @ up to 150 Mbps
- Color Profiles: Normal, D-Cinelike
Pros
- Great Camera
- Very small and lightweight
- Inteligent flight modes
- Up-angle gimble rotation
- Over 30 minutes of flight time
Cons
- Failry pricey
- Smart flight modes don't support vertical video
- Not enough internal storage
- Obstacle avoidance isn't so good on back and sides
Design, hardware
t shares the same color scheme, with an off-white body and dark gray propellers. The familiar folding arms are there, but unlike most previous models, you don’t have to unfold them in a specific order. However, one thing common to the Mini family is the lack of spring-loaded mounts for the propellers.
When the arms are folded, the Mini 3 Pro has about the footprint of a large smartphone (say a Pixel 6 Pro) and stands only about 2.5 inches high. It’s small enough to possibly fit into the loose pockets of a jacket or cargo shorts. In fact, the controller is a bit larger and more cumbersome than the drone itself.
The new controller
The new controller still has room to improve. The screen is fairly large and looks good, but it maxes out at 700 nits. At that brightness, it’s not quite bright enough to compete with direct sunlight or a bright overcast day. In those conditions, you’ll be looking at a screen with very little discernible detail. Granted, most older and mid-range smartphones don’t get much brighter, but several modern flagships can reach over 1,000 nits, which is enough to provide sufficient visibility on a bright day. Also, DJI should think about installing a screen protector at the factory since microabrasions are likely to build up over time, and they will be very visible in daylight.
What's in the package
DJI Mini 3 Pro
DJI RC
DJI Mini 3 Pro Intelligent Flight Battery
Gimbal Protector
Type-C to Type-C PD Cable
Spare Propellers
Flight performance and stability
The Mini 3 Pro design is slightly more optimized for forward motion than its predecessor, but it generally flies like any recent Mavic drone. All of the drones in this family are very easy and pretty safe to fly, so there’s not much to it.
Moderate to high wind will push it around, as you’d expect with any drone. However, the lightweight body of the Mini 3 does make it a little more susceptible to big gusts. The built-in gimbal can compensate for any shake the wind introduces, but you may want a heavier drone if you need to hover perfectly in place. Suppose winds pick up after you’ve already taken off. In that case, the redesigned body and stronger motors on the Mini 3 seem to make it more capable of flying into headwinds compared to the previous Mini models.
Camera and gimbal
The upgraded camera system is responsible for the ‘Pro’ nomenclature. Without it, this would be a fairly incremental upgrade. The Mini 3 Pro comes equipped with a 1/1.3-inch sensor, which is a massive step up from the 1/2.3-inch sensor of the Mini 2. Not only is it growing beyond its predecessor, but this sensor is larger than the 1/2-inch sensor found in the larger Air 2 drone. Of course, it still doesn’t rival the 1-inch sensor of the Air 2S — which was basically a pro variant of the Air 2. Frankly, it’s not even fair to match the Mini 3 Pro against the Mini 2 since it has more in common with the Air 2 and 2S.
Several other camera stats were improved, as well. The Mini 3 Pro can record 4K@60fps and 1080p@120fps, which is now standard on all current DJI drones, but up from the 30fps and 60fps (respectively) of the Mini 2 and a couple of other models from the previous generation. Likewise, the maximum video bitrate is up to 150Mbps, resulting in no discernible compression effects, and it adds support for natively encoding H.265 if you want to keep file sizes down.
DJI Mini 3 Pro: Should you buy it?
Yes. The Mini 3 Pro checks almost every box. It’s extremely small and lightweight, making it easier to carry around and legal to fly in many places with little or no red tape. It has great image quality straight out of camera, and 10-bit D-Cinelike support if you care to grade your footage manually. There’s now even a choice of two controllers, and the flight time is among the best on the market. Outside of upgrading to the cameras from either the Air 2S or Mavic 3, there’s not much else DJI could have added to make this a better drone.
