so anyway i finally pulled the trigger after sitting on the fence forever and went with the Air 3 over the Air 3S mostly because of price honestly. been flying it pretty regularly for about a month now, mix of coastal stuff and some urban shots, and here are just some random thoughts since i know a lot of people are in the same position i was

the omnidirectional obstacle avoidance is not something i thought id care about but its genuinely changed how relaxed i feel flying near stuff. with the Mini 2 i was always nervous in tighter spots but now i actually trust it to sort itself out a bit more. the dual camera setup is also more useful than i expected ? i mostly shoot on the 70mm equivalent and just leave the wide for establishing shots

one thing that did catch me off guard is the RC 2 controller, the screen is great in sunlight but it gets pretty warm after like 45 minutes which is a bit annoying. also the fly more combo comes with the shoulder bag and honestly the bag is kinda useless for anything except storing it at home, too bulky to carry around on a hike

battery life feels about right, getting 35-38 minutes in calm conditions which is solid. overall happy with the choice but curious if anyone else made the same jump and what accessories they actually found worth getting

the RC 2 heat thing is real, especially in summer. i started just propping mine up slightly against my bag strap so air can get around the back of it and it seems to help a little. not a proper fix but whatever

for accessories honestly the only thing i found actually worth buying beyond the extra batteries was a decent ND filter set. i went with the Kase ones and the build quality is really nice, the magnetic system means you can swap them really fast which matters when the light is changing. skipped the official DJI NDs because they were more expensive for basically the same results from what i could tell

I made almost the exact same jump about six months ago, Mini 2 to Air 3, and agree with basically everything you said. The bag is genuinely terrible, I gave mine away. What I use now is just a Lowepro Fastpack that fits the drone broken down with three batteries and the controller and it's way more practical for anything involving walking more than five minutes.

One thing I'd add ? if you havent tried the master shots mode yet its worth messing with even if it feels a bit autopiloty. I was skeptical but for quick social content when you dont have time to set up proper shots manually it does a decent job. Wont replace real flying but its handy