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 $800-900 and i keep landing on either the mini 4 pro or the air 3 and then second guessing myself every single time i get close to clicking buy.

my use case is mostly travel stuff, some hiking shots, maybe a few short films here and there ? nothing super professional but i do want footage that looks genuinely good, not just passable. ive been flying a mini 2 se for about a year so im not completely new to this but im also not pulling off anything crazy technical.

from what ive read the air 3 has dual cameras which sounds really nice for the variable focal length thing but then the mini 4 pro has omnidirectional obstacle avoidance and is obviously lighter which matters when im already carrying a bunch of hiking gear. i live in the EU so the sub 250g thing is also kind of a nice bonus i guess but its not the main deciding factor for me.

has anyone actually used both and can tell me which one they'd pick if they were in my shoes? not looking for spec sheet comparisons, genuinely just want to hear what people think from actually flying them

I had the Mini 4 Pro for about four months and then ended up trading up to the Air 3 and honestly? i miss the mini 4 pro sometimes. the size difference is real when youre packing light and the obstacle avoidance on the mini 4 is no joke, it really does work in all directions which saved me a couple times in tight forest spots.

that said the dual camera on the Air 3 is legitimately useful, not just a gimmick. having the medium tele available without zooming in digitally changes the way you shoot. but if travel and hiking is your main thing i'd lean mini 4 pro. the weight savings add up and the footage at 4k/60 looks great. the Air 3 is the better drone objectively but not by a huge margin for your specific use case imo

i was in literally the exact same position lol ended up going with the mini 4 pro about two months ago and haven't regretted it. the footage is really nice especially in d-log m which i was not expecting to care about but now i color grade everything. also the rc2 controller screen is so much nicer than messing with your phone in bright sunlight, dont underestimate that if youre shooting outdoors a lot