DJI Mini 3 Review: Palm-Sized Powerhouse

Worth When Reviewed

From $469. Mannequin reviewed $858

Greatest Costs At the moment: DJI Mini 3

When DJI launched the Mini 2 again in 2020, it addressed quite a lot of the criticisms levelled on the unique Mini. But it surely nonetheless lacked some options that will have been fascinating similar to ActiveTrack, which permits the drone to comply with a topic – an individual or automotive, for instance – whereas flying robotically.

Then, DJI launched the Mini 3 Professional which had all of the bells and whistles, however got here at a reasonably steep price.

Now, although, the corporate has added a extra reasonably priced choice: the Mini 3.

It’s comparable in some ways to the Mini 3 Professional, but in addition lacks a few of its greatest options. And that’s comprehensible: there must be a motive to nonetheless purchase the Professional.

The query is, must you purchase a Mini 3 or not? And that’s a query you’ll have the ability to reply by the point you’ve learn the remainder of this evaluate.

Options & design

• Weighs <249g
• As much as 38 minutes of flight time with ultra-light battery
• Appropriate with RC-N1 and DJI-RC remotes

Facet by facet, it’s not simple to see the variations between the Mini 3, its predecessor (the Mini 2) and its large brother, the Mini 3 Professional.

All have the identical type issue with fold-up arms, a three-axis gimbal that retains the digicam regular and a battery that slots into the rear.

Jim Martin / Foundry

All weight lower than the essential 250g threshold, which suggests they’re exempt from registration in some elements of the world, and in these the place it does nonetheless should be registered, exempt from pilot exams.

You’ll be able to fly all three drones rather more freely than heavier ones, nearer to folks and buildings and over folks.

It’s vital to know and comply with the foundations in your space, although.

Jim Martin / Foundry

The Mini 3 makes use of the identical batteries because the Professional however can fly for longer: as much as 38 minutes when utilizing the usual battery. In some locations, together with Australia, you should buy a ‘Plus’ battery that extends flying time to 1 minutes, nevertheless it’s heavier and means the Mini 3 not counts as a sub-249g drone.

Identical to the Professional, you possibly can fly it with the RC-N1 distant, which requires a smartphone, or the costlier DJI RC, which has a built-in display and doesn’t want a separate telephone.

DJI additionally sells the Mini 3 by itself, if you happen to occur to have already got a suitable distant.

Lacking options

Importantly, the Mini 3 doesn’t have the impediment sensors of the Professional, which suggests it’s very similar to the Mini 2 and gained’t cease earlier than crashing right into a tree or anything.

Jim Martin / Foundry

The opposite main distinction is that it has no monitoring capabilities, so can’t lock onto a topic and comply with them just like the Professional can.

It doesn’t have any computerized flying modes in any respect – no Hyperlapse or MasterShots – and might solely carry out a number of what DJI calls QuickShots. These are computerized, and might circle round you, fly straight up, fly away from you, boomerang away after which again, and corkscrew round you.

These are helpful for fast clips to share on social media, however for the whole lot else, you’ll have to pilot and management the place the digicam factors manually.

The Asteroid QuickShot mode, oddly, shouldn’t be current, simply because it isn’t on the Mini 2.

One other distinction is that the Mini 3 makes use of the lesser O2 video transmission system. This supplies a 720p video feed at 30 frames per second as much as 10km away, although in lots of international locations it’s essential to fly with the drone in line of sight, so these lengthy ranges aren’t significantly related anyway.

And whereas the digicam is identical because the Mini 3 Professional’s, its capabilities are curtailed.

Jim Martin / Foundry

There’s no choice to file video in D-Cinelike, which Execs use to allow them to post-process footage, and no choice to shoot at 10-bit.

You wouldn’t count on these on an entry-level drone, however it’s a disgrace that DJI has additionally restricted body price to 30fps at 4K, and 60fps at 2.7K and under. This implies no slo-mo. And with out Hyperlapse, which means you possibly can’t actually get any slowed-down or speeded-up footage from the Mini 3 except you ‘pretend’ it in a video editor afterwards. And there’s a restrict to how a lot you possibly can sluggish it down even if you happen to drop down from 4K so you possibly can choose 60fps.

Efficiency

Aside from impediment avoidance, flying the Mini 3 is precisely the identical because the Mini 3 Professional. It’s comparatively quiet and hovers nicely when it has picked up an excellent variety of satellites.

It’s simply as fast and manoeuvrable, and has the identical Cinematic, Regular and Sport modes, and the identical wind resistance. You gained’t need to fly it on very windy days, however for a light-weight drone, it handles even pretty robust winds nicely, and higher than the Mini 2 does.

Jim Martin / Foundry

It’s reassuring, too that the return-to-home operate will robotically kick in when there’s solely simply sufficient energy to fly again to the house level, or if the sign from the distant management is ever misplaced. You can too have interaction it manually utilizing a button on the distant, or within the app.

If you happen to do lose monitor of it, or crash it and might’t see the place it landed, the ‘discover my drone’ operate makes it beep pretty loudly that can assist you.

After all, the one function the Mini 3 shares with the Professional however is missing from the Mini 2 (and all different earlier Mini fashions) is vertical taking pictures. Within the app or utilizing a button on the distant, you possibly can rotate the gimbal so the digicam sits vertically, which is what you want if you wish to file vertical video and never lose a great deal of decision.

It’s helpful for a similar motive when taking portrait photographs, too, though the automated panorama creation on the Mini 2 means it might maintain its personal for vertical photographs because it merely takes a number of and stitches them collectively, resulting in even greater decision.

Listed below are some photographs I took on the Mini 3. It doesn’t mean you can entry the complete 48Mp mode, however you possibly can shoot in JPEG + RAW concurrently.

Jim Martin / Foundry

Jim Martin / Foundry

Jim Martin / Foundry

Jim Martin / Foundry

Sadly, the panorama modes didn’t work for me: all I discovered had been the person photographs in a Panorama folder on the microSD card, however no precise panoramic photograph. This appears to be right down to testing utilizing early software program and {hardware}.

The digicam has autofocus, however there’s a restrict to how shut it might focus. If you happen to’re making an attempt to take photographs of individuals or objects up shut, they might find yourself blurred. You’ll be able to faucet on the display to concentrate on a particular space, however the distant has a half-press for focus lock as nicely.

With nearly similar video specs to the Mini 2, you would possibly surprise if there’s any level in spending extra on the Mini 3 when the older, cheaper drone may file 4K at 30fps, has the identical most bitrate of 100Mbps, affords the identical ranges of digital zoom and information in the identical H.264/MP4 format.

The distinction is that the Mini 3’s digicam has a bigger sensor and a lens with an even bigger f/1.7 aperture. What this implies is it might seize extra mild than the Mini 2’s digicam, which in flip means higher high quality video – cleaner, crisper and with higher colors – and an identical improve in high quality in low mild, making evening photographs and movies sharper and extra detailed.

I didn’t have a Mini 2 to seize any comparability photographs, however listed below are a few photographs taken at evening on the Mini 3:

Jim Martin / Foundry

Jim Martin / Foundry

Plus, the Mini 3 can file HDR at its high decision, however the Mini 2 doesn’t provide HDR in any respect.

Don’t overlook, too, that the Mini 2 can’t shoot vertically just like the Mini 3 can, and it’s price noting that QuickShots are supported within the Mini 3’s vertical mode.

One other distinction is that the Mini 3’s gimbal can rotate upwards by 60°, which is much more than the Mini 2’s 20°, and it might additionally transfer additional in different instructions, which suggests video is extra steady even in greater winds.

As I mentioned in my Mini 3 Professional evaluate, it is advisable know what you’re doing and make the most of the D-Log taking pictures mode to get the very best high quality out of it.

The very fact the Mini 3 removes these choices means it’s a lot less complicated to make use of: you simply select the decision and body price and hit the file button. As a facet be aware, it’s irritating that the default video mode is 1080p, so the very first thing you’ll need to do is alter the settings when your first fly the Mini 3. The decision for QuickShots must be set individually: you would possibly in any other case assume you’d already executed it, and surprise why they didn’t look pretty much as good as your common 4K footage.

One factor I observed when flying the Mini 3 at evening was that the LEDs, that are solely on the entrance arms, are nearly invisible except it’s going through you, and so they flash so slowly that it may be fairly troublesome to maintain tabs on it in opposition to a darkish sky.

Worth & availability

You should purchase a Mini 3 for $469 / £439, which sounds low cost, however that’s the drone solely, with no distant.

With the RC-N1 (the identical distant you get with the Mini 2), it prices $559/£519, or $110/£100 greater than the Mini 2.

You’ll be able to as a substitute go for the DJI RC, under, which could be very handy in comparison with utilizing your telephone, however this prices $699/£669.

Jim Martin / Foundry

Then there are Fly Extra bundles, once more with the choice of each distant controls. These include a complete of three batteries, a charger that holds all three, plus a carry bag that holds the drone, distant and batteries.

With the RC-N1, that prices $718/£768, and with the DJI RC prices $858/£828.

You should purchase all of those from DJI immediately, however you’ll additionally discover them at different retailers for precisely the identical costs.

For different choices, learn our roundup of the most effective drones.

Verdict

The Mini 3 could also be a comparatively large enchancment over the Mini 2, nevertheless it comes at a better value. With the RC-N1 distant, it’s much more costly, which can little question trigger some to determine to avoid wasting their cash and go for a Mini 2 as a substitute.

It’s not clear how lengthy DJI will preserve the Mini 2 in its vary, however on the time of writing, there have been some tempting reductions on the Mini 2 and Mini 2 Fly Extra bundles that made it much more interesting.

It’ll be some time earlier than there are any offers on the Mini 3 however in order for you 4K HDR video, the flexibility to shoot vertically, and have longer flying time, all with out paying a fair greater value for a Mini 3 Professional, then DJI’s latest sub-250g drone affords a fantastic all-round package deal.

After all, if you happen to can afford extra, the Mini 3 Professional is a way more succesful drone and is actually price it.