so i finally feel like i have enough time on this thing to give a real opinion instead of just regurgitating the spec sheet like every youtube channel does. bought it back in spring, flew it probably 60-70 times by now, mix of travel stuff and just messing around locally.

the good: obstacle avoidance is actually way better than the mini 3 pro which i had before this. i had a close call with some powerlines in a windy situation and it just stopped, no drama. the 4k/60 footage is genuinely beautiful especially in good light. and the range, like i havent had a single dropout in normal conditions. portability is still the main sell and yeah it still fits in my jacket pocket which is wild.

the less good: the battery life claims are... optimistic. i get maybe 28-30 minutes in real conditions with any wind. the RC2 controller is nice but the screen washes out bad in bright sunlight, i have to cup my hands around it like an idiot to see anything. and dont get me started on how much accessories cost, the ND filter set from DJI is robbery.

would i buy it again? probably yeah. but if you're coming from a mini 3 pro specifically i genuinely think the upgrade is hard to justify unless you really need the omnidirectional avoidance. curious if anyone else made that jump and what they thought.

pretty much mirrors my experience tbh. been flying mine since around the same time and the battery thing drives me crazy because i planned my first big canyon shoot around the advertised time and had to cut the session way short. always carry 4 batteries now minimum. the ND filter thing is real too, ended up going with a third party set from polarpro which is half the price and honestly the quality seems identical to me, no complaints so far.

the one thing id add is that in windy conditions above like 25mph it gets pretty squirrelly and i dont fully trust the avoidance when it's fighting the wind at the same time. had it drift closer to a cliff face than i was comfortable with. nothing happened but it made me more cautious about pushing it in strong gusts.

this is really helpful, im trying to decide between the mini 4 pro and the air 3 and the price jump is making me nervous. does the better sensor on the air 3 actually make a noticeable difference or is that more of a specs-on-paper thing? i mostly fly on sunny days so maybe the mini is fine for me idk