{"id":6601,"date":"2023-07-26T17:16:28","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T17:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/?p=6601"},"modified":"2023-07-26T17:16:28","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T17:16:28","slug":"djis-new-air-3-drone-just-hit-the-market-how-does-it-stack-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/djis-new-air-3-drone-just-hit-the-market-how-does-it-stack-up\/","title":{"rendered":"DJI&#8217;s New Air 3 Drone Just Hit the Market: How Does It Stack Up?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xi85DAbv5oU\" width=\"740\" height=\"415\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><br \/>\nDJI\u2019s latest product offering \u2013 the Air 3 \u2013 has finally arrived on the consumer market.\u00a0 Now, industry analysts are trying to decide whether the company\u2019s highly-touted UAV \u2013 which, in fact, closely resembles at least two other popular DJI drones\u2013 was actually worth the wait.<\/p>\n<p>On balance, the answer seems to be yes.<\/p>\n<p>DJI clearly intended the Air 3 to be something of a middle range option between its Mavic Pro 3 geared to professional drone flyers and the far less expensive but also less well-equipped Mini Pro 3, which is actually geared to recreational users. The Mavic Pro 3 runs for nearly $2,200 \u2013 too steep for your average weekend hobbyist, especially a newbie.\u00a0\u00a0 The Mini Pro 3, by contrast, is just $750, about a third of the price.\u00a0 But make no mistake:\u00a0 It\u2019s also far less powerful and sophisticated than its better equipped and more expensive big brother.<\/p>\n<p>What are some of the differences?\u00a0 For one thing, the Mavic Pro 3 comes with three high-powered cameras; A Hasselbad and two Tele Cameras, with much wider angle lenses than the Mini\u2019s single Hasselbad.\u00a0 The Pro 3\u2019s cameras are also much better able to film in a variety of environments despite obstacle interference, and the drone itself also has twice the battery capacity, allowing for longer flights.\u00a0 And you can store lots of photos on the Pro 3 \u2013 8 GB\u2019s worth; you simply can\u2019t on the Mini Pro 3 because it lacks any storage capacity at all<\/p>\n<p>The one small advantage of the Mini 3, perhaps, is its shorter battery charging time, especially when using an enhanced charger.\u00a0 But let\u2019s be clear:\u00a0 Despite its name, the Mini Pro 3 is not just a less expensive, stripped down version of the Pro 3.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s not in the same league at all: a professional drone operator with more sophisticated filming and storage needs probably wouldn\u2019t have much time for it.<\/p>\n<p>The Air 3 does seem to represent a nice compromise between these two disparately priced and equipped DJI drone options; in a sense, it makes good on the unfulfilled promise of the Mini 3.\u00a0 For one thing, it\u2019s priced closer to the Mini \u2013 $1,100 \u2013 and yet it retains some of the more advanced features of the Pro 3, including two of the same high-powered wide-angle zoom cameras, plus the 8GB photo storage capacity.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, the Air 3 actually surpasses the Pro 3 in several areas: a longer flight range (32 km to 28 km), a longer transmission distance (20 km to 15 km) and a shorter charging time (80 minutes to 96 minutes).\u00a0 So, on its face, this is quite the bargain, in fact.<\/p>\n<p>What do industry reviewers say?\u00a0 Seth Kurkowski, who recently tested the Air 3 for <em>Drone DJ<\/em>, called it the perfect \u201dmass market\u201d drone \u2013 and potentially, the DJI\u2019s \u201cflagship.\u201d That\u2019s quite a compliment given the positive reception \u2013 and strong consumer demand \u2013 for so many other DJI drones, including both the Pro 3 and Mini Pro 3.\u00a0 Kurkowski took due note of the Air 3\u2019s 70 mm zoom camera capacities which largely match those on the Pro 3.\u00a0 And make no mistake: the\u00a0 images from these drone cameras are far superior to those obtained from the Mini Pro 3\u2019s single less powerful camera.<\/p>\n<p>The Air 3\u2019s advanced\u00a0 omnidirectional \u201csense-and-avoid\u201d technology also matches that of the Pro 3.\u00a0\u00a0 You can fly these drones around trees and buildings and behind walls, avoiding collisions with ease, and continuing to film at longer distances, even in the face of interference.\u00a0 The Mini Pro 3 will likely do just fine, but these more advanced models do offer the user more protection \u2013 and more security \u2013 while flying.\u00a0 Which also means you\u2019re less likely to have to repair or replace one, which can prove costly.<\/p>\n<p>Are there naysayers?\u00a0 Not really \u2013 in part, because the Air 3 just came out but also because it has exceeded design expectations.\u00a0 The original plan called for the Air 3 to have only one camera, just like the Mini Pro 3.\u00a0 So reviewers like Kurkowski are already pleasantly surprised.\u00a0 The Air 3 really does seem to be a poorer man\u2019s version of the Pro 3.<\/p>\n<p>But there is one possible concern: Could the Air 3, coming so closely after the release of\u00a0 DJI\u2019s Air 2, be something of a redundant model?\u00a0 The Air 2 was developed in response to customer reviews of DJI\u2019s Air 1; in fact, it was released on the market only last year.\u00a0 So, why is another Air series drone even needed, especially so soon?<\/p>\n<p>The short answer is: it may not be, not in a strict technical sense.\u00a0 But that\u2019s never kept DJI from continually upgrading its series offerings, if only to preserve its market dominance.\u00a0 But also look at the specs more closely: the Air 2 represents only a slight upgrade compared to the Mini Pro 3.\u00a0 The Air 3 takes that upgrade much further, making it a model closer to the Pro 3.<\/p>\n<p>The upshot?\u00a0 If you\u2019re on a tight budget, and extremely price conscious anyway. you might decide to stick with relatively inexpensive models like the Mini Pro 3 or the Air 2.\u00a0 They\u2019re a great way for a new drone hobbyist to take the plunge and get started without making a huge upfront investment.<\/p>\n<p>But if you\u2019re truly ambitious, take the next step and purchase an Air 3.\u00a0 After a while, you might find there\u2019s\u00a0 a demand for your services not just from friends, but from organizations in your community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ufeff DJI\u2019s latest product offering \u2013 the Air 3 \u2013 has finally arrived on the consumer market.\u00a0 Now, industry analysts are trying to decide whether the company\u2019s highly-touted UAV \u2013 which, in fact, closely resembles at least two other popular DJI drones\u2013 was actually worth the wait. On balance, the answer seems to be yes&#8230;. <a href=\"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/djis-new-air-3-drone-just-hit-the-market-how-does-it-stack-up\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,21],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6601"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dronevideos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}