ok so ive been lurking here for a while and i finally made an account just to ask this because i genuinely cannot make up my mind. background: i got into drones last year with a mini 2 se, flew it a lot, got pretty comfortable with it, and now i want to upgrade to something more serious. my main use is landscape and travel stuff, occasional videos for a small youtube channel, nothing commercial.

ive basically narrowed it down to the mini 4 pro and the air 3 and i keep flip flopping. the mini 4 pro has omnidirectional obstacle avoidance which seems huge for someone flying in tighter spaces like forests and canyons, and obviously the sub-250g thing is nice for traveling internationally. but then the air 3 has dual cameras ? that wide plus the medium tele ? and honestly that tele lens just looks incredibly useful for compositions you cant get otherwise.

weight isnt a massive concern for me since im usually doing hikes where another 100g doesnt matter. so is the dual camera system on the air 3 worth giving up the lighter weight and some of the obstacle avoidance capability? or am i overthinking this and the mini 4 pro does everything i need

went through this exact same decision about six months ago and ended up with the air 3, zero regrets. the tele camera genuinely changes how you think about shots ? i find myself using it almost as much as the wide now, especially for anything with mountains or subjects that need compression. the 1/1.3 inch sensor on both lenses also means low light is noticeably better than the mini 4 pro, though tbh the difference in decent light is pretty marginal for most people.

the obstacle avoidance thing is real though, the air 3 isnt quite as confident in tight spaces as the mini 4 pro from what ive seen. that said i fly in forests semi-regularly and just slow down and pay attention and havent had any issues. if you're doing cinematic travel stuff i honestly think the dual camera flexibility wins every time. you'll get shots you literally cannot replicate any other way without the tele.

i have the mini 4 pro and love it but i'll be honest the one thing that occasionally bugs me is not having that tele option. the obstacle avoidance is really good though, way better than my old mavic air 2 was. for travel the weight difference does add up when youre already carrying camera gear, lenses etc ? at least it does for me. hard choice honestly, both are great drones and you wont be disappointed either way