so ive been going back and forth on this for like two weeks now and i cant make up my mind. background: i mostly fly on weekends, hiking trips, occasional beach stuff, nothing crazy. i dont do any paid work or anything like that just personal footage for memories basically.

the mini 3 pro is sitting at a pretty reasonable price right now and i keep almost buying it but then i look at the air 3 and the dual cameras and longer flight time and i start second guessing myself again. the omnidirectional obstacle avoidance on the air 3 seems nice but honestly how often do i actually need that vs the mini 3's downward and forward sensors

i think my main hesitation is the weight thing ? keeping it under 250g genuinely matters to me because i travel internationally sometimes and the registration stuff gets complicated. but the air 3 footage does look noticeably better when i watch comparison videos on youtube, or maybe im just convincing myself of that

has anyone actually owned both or switched from one to the other? would love to hear if the air 3 was actually worth the jump or if im overthinking this

had the mini 3 pro for about eight months before i got the air 3 and honestly for casual weekend flying the mini 3 pro is probably the smarter buy, at least financially. the footage is really good, like genuinely good, and the under 250g thing is not a small deal if you travel. i flew mine through three countries without any registration headaches at all.

that said the air 3 dual camera setup is legitimately useful, not just a gimmick. being able to switch to the medium tele lens mid flight without landing is actually something i use a lot more than i expected. but if youre shooting hikes and beaches for personal memories youre probably not gonna miss it that much. i think you should just get the mini 3 pro and stop torturing yourself lol

im kind of in the same boat as you so ill be watching this thread. one thing i noticed is the air 3 battery life difference is pretty significant in real world use, not just on paper. saw someone post actual flight logs somewhere and the mini 3 pro was getting like 30-32 minutes realistically vs closer to 40 on the air 3. for hiking that could actually matter if youre far from your bag