so ive had the mini 4 pro since last spring and i keep seeing people ask whether its worth the jump from the mini 3 pro so figured id just share what ive actually experienced rather than the usual youtube review stuff where they just read off the spec sheet

the omnidirectional obstacle avoidance is genuinely useful, not just a marketing thing. had it save me twice in tight tree situations where i would have definitely clipped something on my 3 pro. the APAS 5.0 or whatever they call it is noticeably smoother than before too. that said i dont think the image quality difference is huge, like if youre coming from the mini 3 pro the footage is good but youre not going to have some massive revelation moment

the biggest thing for me is the vertical shooting mode for reels and tiktok content. that alone has made it worth it for the kind of work i do. if youre purely a landscape photographer type and dont care about social media formats then honestly the 3 pro might be the smarter buy especially used

battery life feels about the same in real world use. marketing says longer but wind and cold eat into that real fast. anyway curious if anyone else has been flying it long term and what they think, especially people who came from other brands not just the mini 3

pretty much mirrors my experience yeah. ive had mine since november and the obstacle avoidance thing is real, used it in some pretty dense woodland last month and it handled itself way better than i expected for something this small. one thing you didnt mention is the RC2 controller ? i actually think thats one of the hidden upsides, the screen is way more readable in daylight than my old RC-N1 setup and not having to deal with phone mounting is just... nicer

the vertical mode thing i havent used much because im mostly doing property stuff but i can see how that would be a dealbreaker for social media people. overall i think its a solid drone but youre right that the price difference vs a used mini 3 pro is hard to justify if youre not doing anything that specifically needs what the 4 adds

im actually trying to decide between this and just getting a refurbished air 2s which i can get for way cheaper right now. does anyone know if the mini 4 pro is noticeably better in low light than the air 2s? thats kind of my main thing since i mostly fly at golden hour and sometimes push into dusk a little