so ive been flying my mini 3 pro for about a year now and honestly i love it but i keep running into the range limit on longer coastal shots. im not doing anything crazy, just landscape stuff mostly, but theres been a few times where id kill for another 2-3km of reliable signal without it getting choppy.

been looking at the air 3 and also the mavic 3 classic but the price jump to the mavic 3 is pretty steep and im not sure i can justify it for what i actually shoot. a guy at my local club swears by the air 3 and said the omnidirectional obstacle avoidance alone made it worth the upgrade from his mini 3 but idk if he was just excited about a new toy.

anyone gone from the mini 3 pro to the air 3 and actually noticed a real world difference in range and video quality? or am i just buying range i'll never actually use lol

did exactly this switch about 6 months ago and honestly the air 3 is just a better camera in my opinion, the dual camera setup was what got me more than the range honestly. the range improvement is real but youre right that most people dont actually need it for day to day flying. what got me was being able to do a wide shot then cut to a medium tele without landing, that workflow change was huge for me.

the mavic 3 classic is overkill unless you're doing paid work imo. like the hasselblad sensor stuff is genuinely nice but for landscapes that most of us post to instagram or youtube the air 3 files are more than good enough. also the air 3 rc2 combo with the screen controller is really solid now, early versions had some firmware weirdness but mine has been rock stable for months.

im in a similar spot actually, been going back and forth on this for weeks. one thing i keep seeing though is people say the mini 3 pro low light is actually competitive with the air 3 which surprised me. might depend a lot on what you're shooting and when. coastal sunsets should be fine on either probably