ok so ive been going back and forth on this for like three weeks now and i cant make up my mind. my budget is around $900-ish and im mostly shooting landscape stuff on weekends, occasional family trips. nothing commercial, just for fun and maybe some youtube stuff eventually.

the mini 4 pro keeps calling to me because of the under 250g thing and not needing to register it here in the UK, which honestly feels like a huge deal. but then i watch comparison videos and the air 3 just looks so much better in low light and the omnidirectional obstacle avoidance seems way more complete. the mini 4 pro only does front/back/down right? or did they update that.

anyway if anyone has used both or switched from one to the other id love to hear what you actually think day to day, not just spec sheet stuff. like do you actually use APAS that much? does the 1/1.3 sensor make a visible difference when youre just posting on youtube or instagram?

had the mini 3 pro before and jumped to the air 3 earlier this year so slightly different comparison but i can speak to the air 3 side of it at least. the low light thing is real, it genuinely surprised me how much cleaner the footage looks at dusk compared to what i was used to. but honestly for youtube and landscape stuff in decent light you would probably be perfectly happy with the mini 4 pro and save yourself some cash.

the weight thing in the UK is a bigger deal than people outside europe realize. sub 250g keeps you in a much simpler category for where you can fly and you dont have to think about it as much. if youre just doing hobby stuff on weekends that peace of mind has real value. the mini 4 pro obstacle avoidance isnt omnidirectional but its pretty solid for normal flying, ive borrowed one and the APAS works well enough unless youre doing something really fast or unusual.

if i was starting fresh with your budget and use case id probably go mini 4 pro and put the extra money toward ND filters and a decent case.

i literally just went through this exact decision lol ended up with the air 3 and honestly zero regrets but i dont think the mini 4 pro would have been a bad choice either. the sensor difference is noticeable if you put them side by side but like you said for instagram and youtube it doesnt matter as dramatically as the spec sheets make it sound.

one thing nobody really talks about is the controller situation ? make sure you factor in which RC controller version youre getting with each package because that can swing the price comparison quite a bit depending on which bundle you look at.