DJI Mini 3 2024

This drone offers DJI’s autonomous features (minus obstacle avoidance) and  camera drones reviews a 4K camera that can shoot in portrait or landscape, and it fits all of that into a tiny package weighing less than 250 grams. The DJI Mini 3 isn’t DJI’s cheapest drone (that honor now belongs to the Mini 2 SE), and it doesn’t produce images as beautiful as those of the Air 3, but its low price, impressive capabilities (including 4K video), and tiny form make it an excellent choice for beginners.

It provides a good introduction to flying. This drone can take off, land, and return home with the push of a button. It also has a positioning system that’s intelligent enough for it to hover, stationary, in the air (the only sensors it uses for positioning are downward sensors to help with landing). And its 38-minute flight time with the included battery is quite respectable for a model at this price.

Its camera is far better than what you’d get in most other budget drones. The Mini 3’s camera, which has a 1/1.3-inch sensor, can shoot 48-megapixel photos and up to 4K video at 30 frames per second. Its wide-angle f/1.7 lens provides great low-light performance, as well.

As a bonus, the camera can physically rotate to shoot vertical (portrait-orientation) video, which is useful for sharing on apps like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. The results aren’t as clear or as detailed as what you can capture on the Air 3 or Mavic 3 Pro, but they’re more than sharp enough for posting to social media.

It’s small enough to skirt the FAA’s drone-weight limit. The Mini 3’s tiny size is its best feature. Because the drone weighs only half a pound with the base battery, it slides in just under the FAA’s 250-gram (0.55-pound) weight limit, beyond which you must register a drone before flying it for personal use.

DJI does offer the bigger Intelligent Flight Battery Plus, which increases the Mini 3’s flight time to an astounding 51 minutes but pushes it over that 250-gram limit. So if you want to use the bigger battery, you have to go through the (relatively simple and cheap) registration process.

It provides good-enough range. You can fly the Mini 3 up to 11 miles away with the standard battery, but since you need to keep the drone within unmagnified sight to comply with the law, you’re likely to reach the limits of your vision well before you run out of range.

The DJI Fly app (as well as the optional DJI RC controller upgrade, which includes a screen) maintains a smooth live stream from the drone’s camera. The app also allows access to many of DJI’s intelligent flight modes, and it can activate features such as auto takeoff and landing.