so ive had my mini 3 for about 4 months now and up until last week it was flying perfectly fine. now every time i take it up it slowly drifts to the left even when i have a solid GPS lock, like 14+ satellites showing on the app. i havent changed anything, same phone, same controller, same location i always fly at. it almost looks like its fighting to stay still but losing the battle if that makes sense.

i did update the firmware like 3 weeks ago but it was fine for a bit after that so i dont think thats it. could be a sensor thing? i calibrated the IMU last night and it seemed fine. havent tried recalibrating the compass yet cause honestly im not sure when you're actually supposed to do that

any ideas would be appreciated cause im supposed to go out this weekend and film some stuff for a friend

compass calibration is almost definitely your issue. you should do it any time you change flying locations by a significant distance, or after a firmware update honestly just to be safe. the fact that it felt fine for a bit then started drifting is classic compass interference or a bad cal. go somewhere away from metal structures, power lines, all that stuff, and redo it. make sure your phone isnt too close to the drone while you do it either, peoples phones mess with it more than they realize.

also check if there's any physical damage to the motors or props, even a tiny nick in a prop can cause weird behavior that looks like drift. had that happen to me once and spent two days thinking it was a software problem.

had something similar on my mini 2 a while back and for me it turned out to be one of the downward vision sensors had a smudge on it. probably not your problem since yours started suddenly but worth a look. the compass thing the other person said sounds more likely tbh