Is the Mini 3 Pro an Air2S Killer? - Photo Comparison - Video Comparison
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- Опубліковано 3 сер 2024
- Could DJI's Mini 3 Pro beat out their own Air2S. This is a battle of the small drones and the small sensors. The Air2S has a 1' Sensor and the Mini 3 Pro has a 1/1.3' Sensor.
00:00 Introduction
01:37 Specifications
02:31 Flight Speed
03:07 Flight Time
04:25 Noise Levels
05:22 Recording Modes
06:19 Photo Modes
07:44 Intelligent Photo Modes
08:03 Intelligent Flight Modes
08:33 Pricing
11:06 Thrust Tests
12:36 Picture comparison
14:39 How We Use The Calibration Chart
15:04 Photo Comparison
Air2S RAW/JPEG: www.dropbox.com/sh/cv2hpuu02c...
Mini 3 Pro RAW/JPEG: www.dropbox.com/sh/sc5dfjkejv...
Full Resolution Video: www.dropbox.com/s/hdztbeh1u0x...
Full DJI Mini 3 Pro Review: pilotinstitute.com/dji-mini-3...
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Excellent review! Your reviews of the Mini 3 Pro are the best detailed reviews I have seen so far. I truly appreciate your scientific approach in the reviews and comparison with other drones. Thank you.
The best comparison video I've seen yet! Fantastic work!
Finally a real PRO review on photo quality and sensor noise... great job!
very cool test. thank you very much for the crop pictures and accurate tests
Thank you for your work on this Greg. Brilliant as always.
Those camera comparisons are the best I've seen on this platform
Very nice work, as always, n.1! Good job!
Good comparison. As of May 2022, DJI updated the firmware to support 10bit video recording on the mini 3 pro.
Great video! I love the way you test multiple drones together on the Octozilla!
As always. Enjoyed your concise comparison!
Great work mate! Very techy! Very nice video!
Hi great review by the way! Thanks. Do you know what the performance/ specs are for the mini 3 pro spherical panorama, the one that is stitched internally in the drone? Thanks.
Very good work, thanks for this video!
Mini 3 is great no doubt with that and i love it! I just sold Mini 2 and wanted something with better wind resistance, i live in USA, so I chose DJI Air 2S and i love it! It feels like step above, even comparing to Mini 3 Pro
Solid bird ;)
Smart choice!
hi.. im from malaysia.. i have one questions.. this makes me wonder.. do we need a permit to fly dji drones in US? and how much it fees??
Registration fee is $5.00
Great test, thanks! But there is one important point:
Mini with aperture 1.7 at the same shutter speed will take a picture with a smaller iso. Where the air is 2s ISO 800, the mini 3 will have iso400.
So it is more realistic to compare personnel with different ISOs, if we cannot install the same aperture on these drones.
Amazing review. Very technical. Best I hv seen. Thanks.
Thanks for the great review. While I see the advantages of the Mini 3 on your chart, picking out the fine details, the ultimate comparison is the in - air shots and while they look close I really preferred the Air 2S. You could see noticeable artifacts and "movement" of the image in the mini 3 4x comparisons and the Air 2S remains really smooth and detailed. all that said... I bought the mini 3 because of the price / size / performance which is near ideal because the quality is so very close to the Air 2S (I doubt I'd know which image is which if they weren't side by side) but I have to admit the Air 2S still have the clear quality advantage.
Yes thank you very much for the comparison, I thought that the shots would be very similar, but the mini3 is terribly shaken compared to the S2, a perfectly stable image
Thanks Greg! I'd like to know how fast it is at locking onto GPS and setting the home point, especially given that it has the GPS + Galileo + BeiDou system. That's the same GPS system as the Mavic 3 that has been plagued with GPS "lock-on" latency issues for some time now (still not totally resolved IMHO since the more recent firmware attempt to fix it). Can you share your experience with it? I appreciate your insight and comparison review.
I think the Mini 3 Pro is a good grab and go drone for traveling light and could be a great back up drone. I have an Air 2S and I'm still very interested to get the Mini 3 Pro cos of the weight and the crazy amount of features it packs in such a small body. Both for indoor and outdoor shooting the new drone will be amazing.
@pilot institute I'm a bit confused. At 20:56 you say for photos it is more obvious and you show with your hands to the air 2s. But in the comparison section I understood you would prefer the mini 3 pro. So what is correct for photos?
very nice comparison video!
Does the Mini 3 Hyperlapse function takes RAW photos every 2 seconds as the Air 2s, or 5 seconds as the Air 2?
Thanks for the very comprehensive review.
Love the scientific comparisons. Thanks!
The most scientific and thus objective comparison!
Very professional comparsion !!
That is a bunch of great testing! Very thorough!
I am checking Costco to see if they add a Mini 3 bundle like they have with Mini2 and Air 2s
no bunches here whatsoever. just solid testing
Excellent review! Thanks bud.
great testing thankyou!
wow. amazing comparison... Thank You !
Good review. I wanted mini 3 pro initially, but it wasn't available until August. So I went for air 2s.
hi- does the dji use only a proprietary battery charger that does not do balance charging. could i use my Thunder AC-6 multifunction charger? also, what restrictions are there in using the drone? does the dji mini 3 pro restrict my flying in certain places, situations and altitudes. could i fly the dji mini 3 pro indoors in a warehouse environment? or in a warehouse close to an airport to do an inspection?
Would be interesting to know if the air 2s 2x zoom in 4k is cropping the 5k sensor (like m2p hq mode) or cropping from 4k.
Great video. Does the mini 3 crop at 4k?
great job guys! thanks!
Awesome guys. 👍👍👍
Thanks for posting this.
Excellent review.... Thank you
I've ordered the Mina 3 Pro with the RC controller. I assume I can still use it with my Mini 2 RC-N1with my Tripltek tablet should I want the 1200 nit brightness? Also I understand that so far the RC doesn't support apps like DroneLink once the SDK gets updated. I could use the RCN1 if there is a need.
This is why you almost have 50k subs awesome job Greg! Air2S looks better to me more natural not SO sharp and noisy. I would rather have a little softer with the ability to add some unsharp mask.
The level of detail in this video is mind blowing! I've got an Air 2s with a Mini Pro 3 on order... Im pretty sure that i'll be selling my Air 2s
Hi, is the Mavic Air 2s Flymore a decent buy at $1049 ? As compared to the Mini Pro and its flymore combo ofcourse.
How about heat issues? I have seen videos saying the M3P gets incredibly hot! Did you find this also?
Good video ! I wish it has low light video comparison tho :)
Great comparison Greg - thank you! 👏🏻 I plan on sticking with the A2S however. My BIG question to you is: now that the Mavic 3 is out and the Mini 3 has arrived…. Do you think the price of the A2S will come down as it is now price point sandwiched between the other two platforms???
Great question! We shall see!
You might have a better chance of seeing this once they come out with an air version of the Mavic 3.
I notice the A2S price has not change one bit exempt for the FlyMore + Smart Remote Combo that recently dropped to $1499 but the regular Flymore Combo still at $1299. Now on the other hand the Air 2 Flymore Combo dropped to $780
Thank you Greg! You answered my question about using my single DJI Smart Controller for multiple drones. I like keeping my Mavic Mini 2 as a second or third sUAS option when I'm out in the field. It would be great not to have so many remote controllers. I'll hold out hope that DJI will update the Smart Controller. I am curious, is it worth the jump up from the Smart Controller to the RC Pro?
Heyy Greg, great video, yes just a lil confusing on the price points but thanks.. can you please tell me on the mini 3 pro, what happens on the weight point limit when you switch to the heavier intelligent batteries vs the original battery?😮Does Mini 3 need to be registered anyway ? Pls explain Thank you
If you're flying for fun, (recreational rules), small battery = no registration requirement, large battery = registration required.
Under Part 107 = registration required regardless of battery used.
Nice detail camera comparison. Would be even more interesting after the 10 bit Firmware for the Mini 3.
Please tell me, how does a strong wind withstand, or does the weight of the drone matter and it is better to lean towards air2s?
Привет, вес конечно имеет значение, но DJI заявляет , что Air2s и mini 3 pro одинаково сопротивляются ветру(Level 5 wind resistance). Мне кажется что mini 3 pro лучше цена/качество…
Thank you for making this. This is such an insightful review.
Great video, thanks. I have an Air 2S that I use for photogrammetry and generating orthomosaics. The Mini 3 Pro would definitely be better because the edges of the image from the Air2S are blurry and have chromatic aberration. The 3 appears sharp across the whole frame and also has more pixels
Hey man I do the same too, but I think the Air 2S is still better to generate the point cloud, since they're 20MP native photos and that means a better GSD (Ground Sample Distance). I think the Mini 3 adds more digital sharpening to the corners of the image, because you know sometimes when you have a large aperture a lot of detail goes away so they compensate that with software on the Mini 3. For example I got a f1.4 lens for my canon camera and when I shoot on that aperture the corners are awful so blurry, but when I shoot in f2 of above the detail is better.
And the 2S is a more robust drone, the Mini 3 can easily be drifted by a wind gust, which can compromise the overlap, and that new gimbal we still don't know how steady is for photogrammetry, that's what I think
you can get a renewed air 2S combo just one less battery on amazon for $850 right now, would go that route before considering mini 3 pro.
you are so wrong
Thumbs up well done, full view 👍
Great video Greg. I really like the look of the Mini 3 Pro especially with the new Rc controller. I already have a Mini2 and the Mavic Air2 which I love both. I would love a Mavic 3 but out of my price range so it would be either the Mini3 or the Air2s if I was to upgrade unless I wait and see if they do an Air3. If you had a mini2 and Mavic Air2 would you buy the Mini3 or Air2s. Thanks
Both the air 2s and mini3 are pretty major updates to the their older brother. With that said, it really depends on what you do with the drone.
Perfect... Thanks!!!
Excellent, thanks!
I keep on finding the Mini3 Pro "flatter" in terms of 3D rendition vs the 2s, am I the only one?
Just curious, why is the flight time shorter if hovering? I would think the flight times would be longer if hovering because the motors aren't spinning as fast/using less energy.
I believe while hovering, some air get recirculated through the blades...like a dirty air that wont generate as much lift. While moving forward, less dirty air, more lift, engines dont need to work as hard.
In terms of photos, what was the scale of the picture? I couldn't really get a grip on it, if you zoom in to any picture you will 'see' grain/noise, but the other thing with photos is a qualitative element, which you simply cannot judge on a chart, you can get an inpression of ability, but you need to see the big picture.From a personal point I have the Air 2, which I am very happy with, but I think Id like to keep for larger scale, landscape work, but I am interested in acquiring the mini 3 pro as it is under the 249g cut-off and therefore opens up a whole area of access denied to the larger drone, if it can use the same controller I am almost sold!
That's incredible for such a small drone.
What would the thrust to weight ratio on the Mini 3 Pro be with the bigger battery?
We tested it to be exactly the same. Th bigger batteries don’t provide more voltage, so it doesn’t change the motor speed.
@@PilotInstitute Thanks
what do you use to edit your Air 2S DLog footage?
We use Final Cut Pro X for all our editing.
Some people take money and deliberately try to belittle legends so that minions can get a place to stand.
He says he only wants to compare Apples with Apples and then in the next breath he compares Mini with Air2S. 😂
Air2S has a 1 inch sensor, it also has top sensors and I have seen it work. Take it under a tree and press RTH. The drones flies out of the tree and then starts to get to the designated altitude and then flies back. These sensors also act as front sensors when the drone is flying forward at an angle.
It has precision landing, hence landing light, flies faster, has cooling fan, can shoot Hyperlapse using way points nav, can create movies on its own by flying in patterns and compile a video in real time, can handle stronger headwinds better, shoot d-log, can lift a gopro or insta360 OneX2 with ease and a host of other features.
So don't compare a Mini with Air 2S.
There's nothing that the Mini3 has but Air2S doesn't, but it sure is the other way around.
And yes, Air2S does have Ocusync 03 and APAS 4.0.
Valued comments but I found useful. Why, simply because I worry about uk 2023 flying regs re the air 2s weight and potential re classification. This is the one I wanted, but don't now want the hassle I feel. Shame. Totally newto drones, want another toy, not another headache. Work gives me enough of those.
They are shipping in August with N1 Rc on Dji In oficial site. This date is too late for me. Where can I get the mini 3 pro faster?
See if you can buy one in Europe and have it shipped.
@@PilotInstitute I live in Turkey. And I have no relatives in Europe. I have relatives in America.
@@PilotInstitute Thank's
Make sure you look closer. On the DJI website, the 3 with RC has a May ship date, the 3 with the RC-N1 and the 3 solo have an August ship date. At least in the US...
Decibels are a logrithmic scale. A difference of 4 db is 2.5x the amount of sound energy. So the Air 2s is more than twice as loud in terms of sound energy.
+10dB is twice as loud or 10x the power, +3dB is twice the power or about 25% louder. Or something like that...
Interesting. Didn't know that, need to do more research on that! Thanks for bringing it up.
Mini 3 Pro is great for getting into spots where larger, noisier drones would draw too much attention.
These are two different drone classes.
P.S. the mini 3 has a better filter attachment method and it can gimble the camera pointed up.
Does anyone know if the Mini 3 Pro smart RC is compatible with the Air 2S?
It's not at the moment.
I hope they make it compatible and sell it separately
@@nogoodnecktie12 rumor has it it's in the works
So the mini has more thrust, but according to other UA-camrs, it has to work harder in strong winds and they are getting a lot of battery warnings popping up on screen. I also don't understand how the Air 2S can fly at a higher speed with less thrust. Something not explained here. They are both rated at level 5, but in the real world, how would both of these do in the same amount of high wind? In terms of flight capability in sports mode. Wouldn't being able to fly faster in harsh conditions suggest more stability?
More thrust to weight ratio doesn't mean more thrust. Larger motors means faster speeds. It just means that if the A2S had better T/W ratio, it would fly even faster than it does now.
We have not had a chance to do a true wind test or compare it to other drones in that sense, we are trying to figure out how to do that more scientifically. The A2S is heavier to it will be more stable in wind.
TWR over 1 means it will beat gravity. Higher TWR means more acceleration, but not necessarily faster top speed.
What's the battery life of the new controller? Like how many Mini 3 batteries can it get through on a single charge?
4 hours for the built-in screen controller and 6 hours for the standard controller that uses a phone. I had the same question so I emailed DJI and that's the answer they gave me.
The controller will last through every Mini 3 battery you have during flights on a single charge.
So from strictly a photography point of view (I don't use video) which would you say is the better drone?
I would say the Mini 3.
I didn't quite follow your thrust to weight ratios?
The formula is "(thrust + weight)/weight aka how much total thrust does it produce (that's why we include its own weight) compared to how much it weights.
For someone who still has the original Mavic Pro, the AIR2S was looking like an amazing upgrade, but regulations and no vertical camera were stopping me.
I think this Mini 3 might truly answer all my needs, especially considering that I love having amazing quality but also want to travel lighter.
Might very well be in my future shopping bag in a few months :)
I am debating whether to get the screen version (which brings it above the 1K psychological mark), or just use the normal RC. The price difference is definitely not as high as with previous drones so I might bite the bullet there. If anyone has any suggestions, happy to hear them!
would like to hear your test. do you have one without 'music'?
There is no music during the test.
you keep forgetting to mention that the Air 2s has sensors on top also.
Will the Mini 2 controller work with the M3P?
No, not at the moment.
Wish you would have compered the 5.4K video of the Air 2S with the 4K Mini 3. I get that you want to compare apples to apples but you went ahead and compared the 48 megapixel to the 20 megapixel so you already kind of broke that comparison. My point is, would have liked to see the absolute best video quality both drones could produce.
The 48MP vs 20MP was because DJI mentions that the Mini 3 was better at that level so we put that to the test. We can probably do a flight with Octozilla soon and compare 5.4k to 4k and see what happens.
48 megapixels is the native resolution of the 3 Pro so it is apples to apples. The one downside is that you don't get the raw quad bayer data, it turns it into a traditional bayer pattern
@@lalljp The mini 3 pro captures RAW images at 48MP so you get the full data! The Nano+ however doesn't (JPEG only at 50MP).
@@lalljp No it's not, I was talking about the 5K video on the Air 2S vs the 4K video of the Mini 3.
Thank you Greg! ;-) T
Biggest concern with the mini 3 is the takeoff limits for altitude, the Air2s at 5000m and the mini 3 pro at just 4000 with a heavier battery. Based on your thrust tests, it seems like DJI might be playing that number conservative. Thoughts there?
I guess the question is, do you live or fly at 12,000 or 15,000 feet MSL? The highest elevation in AZ is 12,600 feet and we can't fly there so unless you live in Colorado and hike with your drone a lot, I doubt it will be an issue.
@@PilotInstitute exactly where I live and hike 😂 usually above 12-13k ft
@@TheVirtualSherpa In this case, the Air2S is probably better suited for you.
Someone needs to get reprimanded at your headquarters, Greg. The A2S has O3, not O2. Good comparison though; A2S is a legend. Not switching to Mini 3
Well stuff happens. We have been working hard to get all these videos ready and sometimes some things slip. We put out 5 separate videos this week alone for this drone, plus a very long written review, a live Q&A and a 2hour free deep dive course on the Mini 3.
I’m sticking with the Air 2S, as well
I have a Mavic 3 and and Air2S. I sold my Mini 2 and I’m getting the Mini 3 Pro. Think it’s worth keeping the Air2S or sell?
Sell the A2S and use the Mini 3 Pro as a backup and more portable option.
Sell the mavic 3
@@mikeydurden nah
Very good, thanks. The up and coming 2023 rule changes in the UK make me feel the mini pro 3 is a safer bet sadly. I wanted To go for air 2s really but Concerned will end up only being able to fly over totally empty spaces in no where boring land as don't live near coast. Some stores tell me order what you want as rules are a sham and will change to accommodate legacy drones. They won't refund money though if rules do stick.
Do you have a mavic 3 photo test?
We do but it's over 40 photos because we took them at each ISO and at each aperture so we are still working on them and trying to figure out how to compare them. Coming soon!
Interesting that your results indicate the smaller sensor has better image taking capabilities. I'm not sure how different the dynamic range is in real world conditions. Can't imagine a M4/3 Sensor underperforming a 0.7" sensor. I'll likely buy the MP3 as the A2S seems long in the tooth now.
The A2S has a 1" sensor and not a M4/3 sensor.
I'm always a fan of MINI Series besides I opt the Phantom 4 series. I wanna upgrade my mini se. Still deciding between Mini 3 Pro between Mavic 3. For Price Wise, the Mini 3 Pro is really amazing package. I had enrolled your course for 107 license. Maybe have Mavic 3 when i got a license for real business. What's your opinion,Greg?
Two very different drones that are hard to compare because they are so far apart in price. If you can make your money back with the Mavic 3, you certainly can't go wong with that!
@@PilotInstitute Got the point, thanks Greg!
These test results are not representative of real world images. The DNGs indeed indicate that the Mini 3 pro outperforms the Air 2S - at leat up to ISO 800. At ISO1600 and above the mini 3 pro degrades very quickly, suggesting that the outperformance at lower ISOs may be due to software pre-processing. If you pull down the images from the DPR sample galleries for these two drones you will see that any time you need to aggressively pull up the shadows or control highlights the Air 2S outperforms by a large margin.
DJI lowed the price of the kit with Smart Controller to $1,499. The RC Pro still cost an added $1,199. Will DJI discontinue the Smart Controller and soon release an Air 3 including the RC Pro in kit?
Whice one is better for sunset panoramas?
They both have a panorama function.
I'm not sure pixel peeping between this level of cameras is as helpful as reliability between the 2 drones but it is helpful. Wind resistance and obstacle avoidance comparisons are what I am really interested in. Also the Air 2s has an available SDK and it could be 6-12 months or longer before we see this for the Mini 3 pro.
photographers like myself are interested in the best picture quality, so pixel peeping matters
Лучшее сравнение! То что я искал. Спасибо!
Mini 3 pro now has 10 bit in its video now as well. Crazy for such a small drone
I am still a big fan of the Mini 2. May not do the video quality of Air 2s or Mini 3, but it’s very affordable and for the price it does take some nice 4k videos for just someone that is traveling 🧳 or out learning to fly a drone. It is I think the absolute best drone out there for a beginner. 😜
Doesn’t a lot come down to what the viewer is using to watch it on? Depending on the quality of my phone, pad, TV and my my data connection. If I’m watching the video on an older iPhone it matters a lot less the differences in recorded quality. I think shot angles, lighting, timing, framing and the raw talent of the pilot creating the feel of the shot makes a video more appealing and interesting than the slight differences in quality that might be lost by the viewer anyway.
Yes, the viewing device matters a lot for sure.
I don't think you mentioned 'Dual Native ISO' ?
We mentioned that in our full review but didn't bring it up here since the images speak for themselves in terms of results, whether or not the drone has dual native ISO (since you can't turn it off). I hope this makes sense.
What is the 2nd fastest way of descending? Let's say my drone is 100m above me. Should I just hold down stick, do zig-zag, spiral...? I know the fastest method, but you can do that one just once - turn motors off in mid-air :)
Hold down the sticks will be the quickest.
Spiral. Otherwise you will suffer from the buffering generated by the props.
Bone question I think but Ive a MA2, I only really do fun stuff for fb etc but would like to upgrade so is the mini 3 an upgrade/substantial upgrade on the MA2, I could probably get maybe 60% of the mini 3 price for the air 2,
what you guys think, I really like the sub 250g and the "less regulation" that goes with it.(I'm in UK)
The more I watch the more I get confused haha.
Cheers Guys, great Vid Greg, Thank you.
The Mini 3 is definitely an upgrade over the MA2 so I don't think you would regret it, especially when it comes to regulation and video quality.
Would love to have the miny 3
Discusses it ??
Thank you for this really comprehensive video. However you mention that the Mini 3 "fly more combo" comes with the "bigger" batteries. Is that the case in every country?
It looks like some European countries will not be getting the bigger batteries unfortunately.
I like the Air 2S having a better camera and a fan so it’s doesn’t heat up like the Mini 3 Pro. I’m keeping my proven and well tested Air 2S. I love this bird!!
The camera itself is good, but soft optics kill its potential. Even the Mavic Air 2 shows more detail in the image.
Air 2s has upward sensor that You miss to tell also the low light review
Good comparison, finally I got my mini 3 Pro and I have to say that it was a right choice as it can be used way more often