DJI Mini 3 Review - PCMag

The DJI Mini 3 ($499 with remote) takes the camera and airframe from the pricier Mini 3 Pro ($759) and puts it into a much affordable package, dropping a fewer features to scope a little price. Notably, it skips the obstacle detection included successful the Pro exemplary and its video is restricted to 4K30. Even with these limitations, the DJI Mini 3 is easy the champion 249g quadcopter you tin find for the price, and our caller Editors' Choice grant victor for starter drones, edging retired the Mini 2.

A Lightweight Airframe for Registration-Free Flight

From the start, DJI's Mini bid was built to marque weight. In the US you tin alert a drone that weighs 249g (8.8 ounces) oregon little with acold less restrictions than those that govern heavier UAVs. You tin skip paying a $5 interest to the FAA with a drone similar the Mini 3, though you'll inactive beryllium asked to walk a basal cognition exam, the TRUST test, earlier going airborne. (TRUST is administered online, speedy to finish, and you can't truly neglect it.) Regulations alteration successful different regions, but Canadian, EU, and UK pilots payment adjacent much from a 249g bird, arsenic their respective rules are stricter than those successful the US.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

The Mini 3 isn't conscionable light, it's besides rather small. It uses the aforesaid airframe arsenic the Mini 3 Pro (minus the obstacle sensors), truthful it folds down to descent much easy into a camera bag. At 2.4 by 3.5 by 5.7 inches (HWD) erstwhile folded, it's not overmuch bigger than an mean 24-70mm lens oregon a thermal h2o bottle.

The nose-mounted camera supports 4K30 video, similar the Mini 2. While it uses the aforesaid Quad Bayer cameras arsenic the Pro version, present you're constricted to 12MP stills (48MP is not available). The 24mm f/1.7 lens inactive enjoys enactment for clip-on ND filters, 16:9 scenery and 9:16 vertical video, and ample upward tilt; it tin spell from consecutive down (-90 degrees) to 60 degrees upward.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

DJI Mini 3 Remote and Battery Options

DJI sells the drone successful a fewer antithetic configurations. You tin get the Mini 3 without a distant for $409, truthful if you already ain a DJI RC-N1 (bundled with the Mini 2) oregon a DJI RC built-in-screen remote, you tin skip buying 1 again.

The basal RC-N1 distant requires you to link a smartphone for camera review (Credit: Jim Fisher)

We expect astir pilots buying for the Mini 3 to beryllium successful the marketplace for a remote, however. For $499, you get the drone and the DJI RC-N1 together. The RC-N1 requires you to link an Android oregon iOS smartphone successful bid to spot done the Mini 3's camera.

For $639, you tin measurement up to a bundle with the Mini 3 and the DJI RC. The RC has a built-in interaction surface and its ain formation power app, truthful there's nary request to link your phone. The RC has a 5.5-inch surface with 700 nits maximum brightness. It's a small hard to spot connected agleam days, particularly if the prima is overhead.

The DJI RC has a built-in interaction show and runs the DJI Fly app connected its own, truthful you don't person to link your phone (Credit: Jim Fisher)

The DJI RC is simply a sensible splurge for pilots with so-so smartphones, but if you person a bully telephone with a agleam surface (iPhones attack 1,000 nits), you whitethorn not find the RC to beryllium an upgrade. There's 1 different drawback to utilizing DJI's built-in surface remote: you suffer entree to unrecorded maps, but you tin tether it to your phone's hotspot to marque up for that shortcoming.

There are extra-battery bundles to consider, too. The Mini 3 ships with a lightweight Intelligent Flight Battery that's bully for up to 38 minutes of formation time. An Intelligent Flight Battery Plus pushes airtime to a staggering 51 minutes, but is dense capable to propulsion the drone retired of the 249g value class. Even so, the $5 FAA interest makes it a worthwhile accessory for US customers.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

These formation times are best-case estimates, and somewhat babelike connected however you alert the drone. If you're warring against upwind oregon leaning heavy connected the high-speed Sport mode, you'll chopped into artillery life. Even so, the formation clip is ample with the modular battery. The Plus is determination for extended formation times, oregon for pilots who whitethorn privation to instrumentality the Mini 3 up successful the aerial a fewer times implicit the people of a time without worrying astir having to complaint successful betwixt flights.

DJI sells the Plus batteries arsenic upgrades. They're priced astatine $95 apiece versus $65 for the modular battery, oregon you tin walk $249 and get the Mini 3 Pro Fly More Kit Plus, an accessory bundle that includes 2 Plus batteries, a triple-battery charger, other propellers, and a carrying case. Note that portion this accessory kit is labeled for the Pro mentation of the drone, the regular Mini 3 uses the nonstop aforesaid batteries and props, truthful it's compatible.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

There are besides combos with the modular artillery for pilots who similar to ever enactment nether regulatory takeoff weight. You tin get a Fly More Combo with 3 38-minute batteries, a triple charger, and a carrying lawsuit with either the basal DJI RC-N1 distant for $658, oregon with the built-in show DJI RC for $798.

DJI's Fly and Safety Features

Regardless of whether you tally it connected a smartphone oregon the DJI RC, DJI Fly is the power app for the drone. It sends a presumption from the camera to your phone's show (or the remote's) and includes a interaction interface to set settings, entree antithetic formation modes, and configure assorted information features. The Mini 3 indispensable beryllium activated anterior to flight; you'll request to acceptable up a DJI relationship to bash so, but it's thing you tin bash from wrong the app itself.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

The app besides shows telemetry data—the orientation, existent airspeed, and altitude of the drone—and tin swap to a representation presumption to amusement its determination successful narration to section roads and landmarks. Don't interest excessively overmuch if you suffer track, though—a return-to-home relation is included. When activated, it ascends to a harmless tallness and guides the Mini 3 backmost to its takeoff point. You bash privation to marque definite that the drone has locked connected to GPS earlier taking off—the distant volition fto you know. In my trial flights, it took astir fractional a infinitesimal to get a lock.

DJI builds a geofence strategy into its drones, FlySafe. The strategy warns you if you are trying to instrumentality disconnected successful restricted airspace oregon if you're entering it. It's effectual successful practice; I unrecorded adjacent a tiny section airdrome and the app lets maine cognize if I'm astir to stray into its airspace. Additionally, if you privation to marque definite the drone stays wrong a definite region you tin acceptable a customized geofence region successful the app.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

It's a bully strategy to support beginner pilots retired of trouble, though precocious flyers whitethorn lament the request to unlock authorization to takeoff adjacent an airdrome oregon akin no-fly zone. The Mini 3 would not beryllium my archetypal prime for pilots who bash UAV enactment adjacent airports, however, arsenic it doesn't person an AirSense ADS-B sensor to pass you if manned craft are nearby. You request to upgrade to the Air 2S oregon Mavic 3 Classic to get that feature.

Obstacle sensors are besides missing from the Mini 3. It's 1 of the large differentiators betwixt the basal exemplary and the upmarket Mini 3 Pro, which includes three-way obstacle avoidance. The Mini 3 besides drops the Pro's ActiveTrack taxable tracking and APAS autopilot features (sensible due to the fact that they enactment on with obstacle detection).

A Versatile Camera for Creators

You wouldn't cognize it from a glimpse astatine the baseline specs, but the Mini 3's camera is simply a notable upgrade from the 1 successful the Mini 2. It has the aforesaid 24mm space of view, but lets much than doubly arsenic overmuch airy successful with its fixed f/1.7 aperture for amended video astatine twilight and magic hour.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

Clip-on ND filters are disposable if you attraction capable astir shutter angles to usage them; they chopped incoming airy truthful you tin acceptable the lens to visually pleasing 1/60-second (for 30fps) oregon 1/48-second (for 24fps) video. DJI's ND filter kit is simply a $55 accessory, and since the Mini 3's camera uses the aforesaid filters arsenic the Mini 3 Pro, determination are third-party filter kits from brands similar Freewell(Opens successful a caller window) and Tiffen(Opens successful a caller window) if DJI's enactment doesn't lucifer your originative needs oregon budget.

The Mini 3's gimbal is besides a superior upgrade from the Mini 2. Upward tilt and dual-orientation seizure bolster the ultra-smooth, three-axis stabilization. We're utilized to seeing drone shots with the camera pointing consecutive down, and the Mini 3 tin bash that, but its 60 degrees of upward tilt is simply a utile addition. I tried it for low-angle shots nether histrion branches and pans up to uncover the sky—shots you can't get with the Mini 2.

Vertical video is the different large change. The Mini 3's camera twists 90 degrees to grounds astatine 9:16, truthful you tin premix successful drone footage with your TikTok station oregon Instagram Reel. Photographers tin find it utile to alteration up photos too, though the quality betwixt squarer 4:3 (or 3:4) facet images isn't astir arsenic dramatic.

As for the video itself, the camera records astatine 4K successful your prime of 24 oregon 30fps with a precocious dynamic scope (HDR) effect for much item successful shadows and highlights than the Mini 2's camera, without sacrificing color. In practice, the footage looks great, with crisp item and nary signs of oversharpening effects. There's lone 1 colour illustration available; if you privation a 249g drone with enactment for a colour correction-friendly level profile, look to the Mini 3 Pro.

Editing pros should instrumentality enactment that portion the footage looks HDR, it is not saved successful an HDR format. Instead, you get H.264 video successful an 8-bit Rec.709 colour space. If your telephone supports HDR video (iPhones do), it's a bully thought to acceptable it to SDR mode for projects that premix successful video from the Mini 3 for amended colour matching betwixt the two. If you're aft a drone that records successful a Rec.2020 HDR profile, the Air 2S oregon immoderate Mavic 3 exemplary acceptable the measure with enactment for 10-bit HLG, but you'll request to person a bully editing cognition basal to get the astir retired of those drones.

The Mini 3's camera uses the aforesaid hardware and optics arsenic the Mini 3 Pro, but cuts backmost a fewer processing-dependent features. Hyperlapse and 4K60 signaling are missing, arsenic is the 48MP photograph mode. The drone inactive uses a 48MP sensor, however, and portion it downsamples photos and video, you tin leverage its Quad Bayer architecture with a good-looking 2x integer zoom for 4K video and 4x astatine 1080p.

I utilized the 2x integer zoom to drawback this photograph of horses successful a field; 12MP DNG and JPGs are disposable utilizing the integer zoom option (Credit: Jim Fisher)

The Mini 3 whitethorn not bash Hyperlapse, but it supports Quick Shots. These automated camera moves present cinema-grade results and springiness you a interruption from manual control. Dronie (a drone selfie), Helix, Rocket, Circle, and Boomerang options are included. You request plentifulness of wide abstraction for Helix and Boomerang shots, truthful you'll privation to support an oculus connected the drone erstwhile it's executing them—and beryllium prepared to deed the large Pause fastener connected the distant if it looks similar the Mini 3 is going to bump into a histrion oregon building.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

The camera does stills, too. The Mini 3 supports 12MP shots successful ready-to-share JPG oregon editing-friendly Raw DNG format. There's lone 1 colour illustration disposable for the JPG mode, truthful you'll request to sprout successful Raw if you privation to propulsion vivid colors oregon spell artsy with a black-and-white edit. Aside from that limitation, we person small atrocious to accidental astir the photograph quality. The Raw files are decidedly editable; I had nary occupation applying a black-and-white look to a framework I thought worked peculiarly good successful monochrome. I utilized an Ilford HP5 look successful Nik Silver Efex Pro for the edit.

For a superior upgrade successful representation quality, you'll privation to measurement up to a Type 1 sensor drone similar the Autel Evo Lite+ oregon DJI Air 2S, oregon DJI's flagship Mavic 3 with its oversized Four Thirds sensor camera. We omitted the Mini 3 Pro from that database for a reason—although it offers up a 48MP photograph mode, the other pixels don't marque a immense quality successful representation quality, conscionable record size. Moving up to a drone with a bigger representation sensor is simply a greater quality shaper for photography.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

The Mini 3 doesn't see immoderate onboard retention for photos (the Mini 3 Pro has a tiny 1.2GB disposable successful comparison), truthful you request to adhd a microSD paper to prevention photos and videos. The paper slot, positioned astatine the rear of the aircraft, is casual to get to and supports high-capacity microSDXC. A 64GB paper holds astir 90 minutes of 4K footage, truthful you whitethorn privation to get a 128GB paper if you're buying other batteries.

The Starter Drone to Get

We've recommended the DJI Mini 2 to beginner drone pilots since its introduction, lauding its easiness of use, camera quality, registration-avoiding 249g airframe, and $449 price. The Mini 3 lands a mates of years aboriginal with immoderate notable upgrades and a somewhat higher starting terms of $499 with a remote. If you're mulling an upgrade, you tin bargain the Mini 3 without a distant for $409 and usage the aforesaid 1 that was bundled with the Mini 2.

We deliberation the other $50 implicit the Mini 2 is worthwhile. Picking the Mini 3 implicit its predecessor gets you longer aerial clip betwixt charges, a amended 4K camera with enactment for vertical video and wider dynamic range, and a brighter lens for little sound successful twilight and magic hr footage. Even though it drops immoderate features recovered successful upmarket models, the DJI Mini 3 is easy our caller Editors' Choice for starter drones.

(Credit: Jim Fisher)

If you're looking for much from a 249g flyer, determination are alternatives to consider, but you'll request to fund much than $500. You tin look to the DJI Mini 3 Pro ($759), which shares a batch of tech with the regular Mini 3, but adds immoderate utile features, including obstacle avoidance and Hyperlapse. If you're not a instrumentality of the DJI brand, see the Autel Evo Nano+ ($949), a likewise minded drone that offers optical detection and less geofencing restrictions for flight.