ok so ive had my mini 3 pro for about a year and a half now and honestly its been great, no real complaints but i keep seeing people talk about the air 3 and now im second guessing myself. the omnidirectional obstacle avoidance on the air 3 is the thing thats really tempting me because i fly in some pretty tight spots around trees and stuff and the mini 3 has gotten me into a few close calls.

but then i think about it and the mini 3 is under 249g which has saved me so many times from having to register or worry about flying in places that would otherwise be a pain. the air 3 blows past that weight limit obviously. im mostly shooting family trips, some landscape stuff, nothing commercial. does the sensor size difference actually show up in real footage or is that more of a spec sheet thing

honestly the weight thing is what kept me on the mini 3 pro for ages too. but i did eventually move to the air 3 and the low light performance alone kind of justified it for me personally. like there's a real visible difference when youre shooting in the golden hour or in shaded areas, the footage just looks less noisy and more natural. that said if you're mostly doing sunny day vacation stuff you might not even notice.

the obstacle avoidance is genuinely better though, the APAS on the air 3 feels a lot more confident than what the mini 3 does. i still clipped a branch with the mini 3 even with avoidance on, havent had that issue with the air 3 yet. whether that's worth the weight tradeoff and the price difference only you can really decide, depends entirely on where you fly i think.

i went through the same debate lol. ended up keeping the mini 3 pro because most of the places i go on holiday have pretty strict drone rules and being under 249g just makes life easier. the air 3 footage does look nicer but my mini 3 footage already looks pretty good to me and my family definitely cant tell the difference when we watch it on the tv