DJI MINI 3 PRO drone announced! 4K60, vertical video, 34m flight time, new RC controller

DJI’s highly anticipated Mini 3 drone has finally been announced and picks up the ‘Pro’ tag, deservedly so, given the impressive feature list.

To kick us off, there’s a brand new design (still in the matt grey finish) including big changes to the camera, the drone offers 4K video at 60fps or 120fps at 1080p. You can also shoot up to 48MP RAW photos all from a drone that tips the scales at under 249 grams and fits in the palm of your hand (when folded).

DJI says there are two main target audiences for the Mini 3 Pro, the everyday hobby photographer and the Gear/Tech Geek. Whichever category you fall into, you’ll be excited by the new technology features that have made their way to the Mini 3 Pro.

Tri-directional obstacle sensing allows the drone to avoid collisions when moving forwards or backwards, as well as below. The drone can still land in your hand which never gets old, but the technology upgrades don’t stop there.

The Mini 3 Pro supports APAS 4.0 detects objects in the aircraft’s flight path in real-time, DJI OcuSync 3.0 enables video transmission at 1080p/30fps from a distance of up to 12 km (see CASA regulations before trying this in Aus).

The camera system also includes some zoom capabilities, 2x in 4K, 3x in 2.7K and 4x in HD. With a f/1.7 aperture, DJI are pretty excited by its low-light capability. With flying at night banned in Australia, we don’t get to test too much of this, but great to know that even on an overcast, dark day, you’ll still end up with great footage.

The drone is capable of flying in wind speeds up to 10.7 m/s and while that’s not the highest we’ve seen from DJI, it is impressive considering the size and weight of this drone.

The Mini 3 Pro becomes the first drone from DJI to offer a true vertical shooting mode, where just a tap of a button will rotate the new camera gimbal 90 degrees, allowing you to shoot great videos for social media services like TikTok.

The Pro name also hints at the smarts found in other higher-end products, including ActiveTrack 4.0, Spotlight 2.0, and Point of Interest 3.0.

There’s also the very cool MasterShots feature that helps you get impressive shots with a single tap, as well as QuickShots which are great options if you happen to be flying solo.

Quickshots include:

• Dronie: Aircraft flies back and up with the camera locked on the subject
• Helix: Aircraft flies up and spirals around the subject
• Rocket: Aircraft flies up with the camera facing down
• Circle: Aircraft circles around the subject
• Boomerang: Aircraft flies around the subject in an oval path, ascending as it flies away and descending as it returns
• Asteroid: Aircraft creates a shot that begins as a sphere panorama high above the subject and ends with a normal shot hovering near the subject.

When it comes to battery life, DJI offers the drone with two battery capacities. The standard size which has ‘249grams’ labelled on it, offers up to 34 mins from an Intelligent Flight Battery, while the Intelligent Flight Battery Plus, offers a massive 47 mins.

If you grab the SKU with the Fly More Kit (aka Combo), you’ll have 3 batteries, complete with a USB-C triple charger that charges each battery sequentially, allowing you to wake up and fly again tomorrow.

DJI has provided a great table that shows just how big the upgrade is from the Mini 2 and that many of the features now in the Mini 3 Pro, that were previously reserved for the larger, heavier Air 2, have been improved as they make their way to their newest drone.

DJI offers the Mini 3 Pro in 3 SKUs which are the DJI mini 3 Pro (No RC), DJI Mini 3 Pro and DJI Mini 3 (DJI RC).

The new DJI RC is a lightweight remote controller that features a 5.5″ built-in touchscreen designed explicitly for DJI Mini 3 Pro. With the DJI Fly app pre-installed, you can focus on flying and save your phone’s battery. This controller offers many of the same features of the RC Pro controller offered with the Mavic 3, but at a fraction of the cost.

For those still wondering why this year’s Mini drone got a Pro in the title, DJI provided some clarification.

The original intention of developing Mini Series at the very beginning was in finding the gradual clarity of regulations and policies, where drones under 250 grams can legally fly in most countries without registration. We tried to develop the best performance aircraft under 250g that we can. 

With our technology accumulation in the past few years and the progress of the industry, we are now able to put better performance into this small and ultralight airframe, which brings us to the current Mini 3 Pro. The core of the Mini series is to meet the standard of 250g or less while the regulations remain unchanged. We are following the regulations, but it does not mean that the Mini line is necessarily entry-level. “Pro” means the best performance that the aircraft under 250g can be reached.

With Mini 3 Pro, the Mini series now offers users a wider range of product choices. “Pro” means the most powerful aircraft within 250g and the pricing is relatively higher. Down the line, there will be an aircraft within 250g, which we think is the most cost-effective or balanced between performance and price, and the Mini 2 is this positioning. The Mini SE is aimed at a wider range of users, allowing more people to enjoy the fun of flying.

Price And Availability

The DJI Mini 3 Pro costs AUD $1,119, or for just $100 more, you can get the DJI Mini 3 pro with the RC controller (you should do this). If you opt for no remote control, you can pick up the drone itself for A$989.00.

You can upgrade to the Fly More Kit which adds the bag, props, 2 batteries and the triple-charger for an additional A$259.00. If you want that longer 47m flight time, grab the DJI Mini 3 Pro Fly More Kit Plus for A$359.00.

This is available for order now at DJI’s website, with availability starting on May 17th 2022.

Check out our unboxing of the DJI Mini Pro 3 and first impressions after using the drone this week, both of which contain hands-on videos.