ok so ive been going back and forth on this for like three weeks now and i need someone to just talk me off the ledge. my budget is right around $900 and im pretty much split between the Mini 4 Pro and the Air 3. i do a mix of hiking trips, some family vacation stuff, and occasionally i try to get nice sunset footage when the light is good. nothing professional, just want footage i'm actually proud of when i look back at it.

the weight thing with the mini is obviously appealing because i travel with a 20L pack most of the time and every ounce matters. but then i keep reading that the Air 3 dual cameras thing is just way more versatile and the medium tele shot is honestly kind of a game changer for landscape stuff. but then the mini also has omnidirectional obstacle avoidance now so like... theyre basically the same drone at this point?

someone who has actually used both please help me out here because all the youtube reviews just feel like they're trying to get me to click affiliate links

I went through the exact same thing last year and ended up with the Air 3, zero regrets. The dual camera setup genuinely changes how you think about shots - I use the tele way more than I expected, especially for compressing landscapes and getting subjects that are further away without having to fly right over them which honestly makes for less intrusive and more cinematic looking stuff.

That said if youre actually strict about pack weight the Mini 4 Pro is no joke. A friend of mine does serious backcountry hiking and the weight difference plus the sub-250g regulatory stuff is a real factor for him. The image quality difference is there but its not massive, you'd really have to pixel-peep to stress about it. If you mostly shoot for personal use and aren't printing huge or doing any kind of paid work, the mini would honestly make you just as happy and the footage would still look great.

The omnidirectional sensing on both is decent but I wouldn't trust either of them in dense trees at any real speed, APAS has its limits.

i have the mini 4 pro and my buddy has the air 3 and we fly together a lot so i've had a decent look at both. honestly for hiking the mini just makes more sense, you'll fly it more often because its just less of a hassle to throw in the bag. the air 3 footage is a bit nicer but like, the best footage is the footage you actually got, you know?