so my brother got a mavic air 2 a couple years ago and he let me fly it once and now im completely obsessed. ive been looking at the mini 3 and the mini 3 pro and i dont really understand the difference well enough to know if the pro is worth it for someone just starting. the vertical shooting thing looks cool for social media stuff but i dont know if thats a gimmick or actually useful. also does the mini 3 even come with a controller or do you have to buy that separate because i saw some listings that seemed like they didnt include one and got confused. i live in a pretty rural area so i dont think regulations are gonna be a huge issue but i could be wrong about that.

the pro vs non-pro thing mostly comes down to obstacle avoidance sensors and a slightly better camera. for a first drone honestly the regular mini 3 is fine, you probably wont be pushing it hard enough to need the extra sensors and the camera is still really good. and yeah the combo vs fly more vs just the drone packaging is confusing, read the listing carefully because some are drone only with no rc at all. make sure youre getting the RC-N1 at minimum or the RC if you want the built in screen which i actually really like.

rural area doesnt automatically mean no regulations just fyi, you still need to be away from airports and there are national forests and stuff that have restrictions. worth spending 20 minutes on the faa website before you buy anything. not trying to be annoying about it, i just got a warning my first month because i assumed the same thing and flew somewhere i shouldnt have.