Love my Air 3, but man, this Mini 4 Pro...

[Thmoore]

I bought the Air 3 as soon as it was available, moving up from a Mavic Air 2, and I've been very pleased with it. The firmware upgrades since its release have been terrific.

But! My family was taking a trip to Mexico last month, and though I tried to get Mexican government permission to bring in the Air 3, that did not work out. So I kind of panic-bought a Mini 4 Pro right before we left and I flew that around Mexico City for a week. It's an amazing piece of work. It basically does everything the Air 3 does, with all the same obstacle avoidance protections, flight modes, cruise control, etc. The Air 3's only major advantages are the second lens (which I do love) and better wind performance (which can also be important).

But holy mackerel – the Mini 4 Pro is amazingly easy to carry around a city for a week. The Air 3 looks like a beast next to it. Especially after having had time to savor all the great stuff in the Air 3, it's amazing to me that DJI was able to then pack so much of the Air 3 into 249 grams.

I'm glad I have both drones, but if I had to have only one – I really might pick the Mini 4 Pro.

 

[wco81]

Wow you got to fly in Mexico City?

Can you post some photos, curious how close to the city you got to fly.

Wind is definitely a big consideration. I'm in Italy and there are 15-20 MPH winds with 30-40 MPH gusts.

So UAV Forecast app says "Not Good to Fly."

I did fly a couple of times in the wind, my Mavic 2 Pro, which is 900 grams, was getting tossed around.

May have been lucky to get it back.

 

[Thmoore]

Wow you got to fly in Mexico City?

Can you post some photos, curious how close to the city you got to fly.

Wind is definitely a big consideration. I'm in Italy and there are 15-20 MPH winds with 30-40 MPH gusts.

So UAV Forecast app says "Not Good to Fly."

I did fly a couple of times in the wind, my Mavic 2 Pro, which is 900 grams, was getting tossed around.

May have been lucky to get it back.

Here's a shared album:

iCloud Photo Sharing

iCloud Photo Sharing lets you share just the photos you want with just the people you choose.

www.icloud.com

Be gentle, everyone! This is my raw footage. It's not curated at all, nor has anything been color-corrected or anything like that.

I was trying to get footage of the Chapultepec Castle to generate a "Gaussian splat" of it, and finally got it:

Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City - Download Free 3D Model on Polycam

Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City by Tom_Moore. Created with Polycam LiDAR 3D scanner app for iPhone and Android. Free 3D models, photogrammetry and LiDAR scans.

poly.cam

"Not Good to Fly" frequently means that way up at 120 meters, the winds may give you problems in getting home, but if you drop your altitude and pop into Sport mode (and have enough battery left), you can power through quite a bit.

 

[wco81]

Wow you’re right there among the skyscrapers in some of them.

You asked and got permission to fly in one of the biggest and busiest cities in the world?

Did they tell you that the size and weight of the Air 3 was too much? Did they hint ThaT ThE Mini4 Pro wouldn’t be a problem because of the size?

I know the Mini 4 Pro has the same size sensor but I thought people were saying here that the Air 3 still produces better PQ?

 

[Thmoore]

Wow you’re right there among the skyscrapers in some of them.

You asked and got permission to fly in one of the biggest and busiest cities in the world?

Did they tell you that the size and weight of the Air 3 was too much? Did they hint ThaT ThE Mini4 Pro wouldn’t be a problem because of the size?

I know the Mini 4 Pro has the same size sensor but I thought people were saying here that the Air 3 still produces better PQ?

Mexico does not require permission to fly sub-250g drones. It's a relatively new change in their laws.

 

[Sjkieffer]

dude.. its a mini. I wouldn't want a mini of anything. Go bigger, stronger, faster. No brainer.

 

[Thmoore]

dude.. its a mini. I wouldn't want a mini of anything. Go bigger, stronger, faster. No brainer.

I've been flying the Air 3 since Day One. My point is: the Mini's better than you likely think it is.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I've been flying the Air 3 since Day One. My point is: the Mini's better than you likely think it is.

Besides, the drone you can legally fly in a foreign country is always better than the one you can't legally fly, unless you enjoy Mexican prisons! LOL!

 

[Thmoore]

Besides, the drone you can legally fly in a foreign country is always better than the one you can't legally fly, unless you enjoy Mexican prisons! LOL!

Exactly! And it looks like staying under 250g is pretty helpful in bringing a drone to a lot of places around the world (but not everywhere!).

 

[bkushner]

Love my mini 4 but it's useless in wind which is a lot of the time here.

 

[wco81]

How much difference in damage could a 250 gram drone cause vs. a kilogram drone?

4 times lower? Or do heavier drones have greater speed so the difference in impact could be more than the 4x weight difference?

Did the industry decide to put out 250 grams on their own or did the authorities suggest that they put Them out because They planned to place fewer restrictions on them?

 

[Thmoore]

How much difference in damage could a 250 gram drone cause vs. a kilogram drone?

4 times lower? Or do heavier drones have greater speed so the difference in impact could be more than the 4x weight difference?

Did the industry decide to put out 250 grams on their own or did the authorities suggest that they put Them out because They planned to place fewer restrictions on them?

I get the sense that a fair number of restrictions started to get set at 250g around the world,
and DJI quickly settled on 249 as their target for all Minis.

I will let someone better at physics explain the effect of mass on damage potential!

 

[orionshooter]

dude.. its a mini. I wouldn't want a mini of anything. Go bigger, stronger, faster. No brainer.

Typical Texan

 

[Sjkieffer]

Typical Texan

Yeah.. perhaps. Our winds are almost always pretty bad and I dont go to foreign countries so I want the bigger, stronger, faster drone. I am no camera geek so I have no desire for a hassleblad and I would not want the O3 transmission so the Mavic is not my drone of choice. The Air series is always what I buy.

 

[Coskier]

I have a Mavic 3, and bought a Mini 3 Pro for situations like yours - travel to other countries. I have not been disappointed by it at all.

 

[Xitor]

dude.. its a mini. I wouldn't want a mini of anything. Go bigger, stronger, faster. No brainer.

I think the operative word there is "go" and sometimes to be allowed to "go" (aka fly in the airspace) you need the mini so its not restricted based on weight.

 

[wco81]

I think the operative word there is "go" and sometimes to be allowed to "go" (aka fly in the airspace) you need the mini so its not restricted based on weight.

But you're compromising camera quality as well as wind-resistance.

In many cases, it's probably not a good idea to fly at all if wind speeds and gusts are above a certain level.

 

[tlyons]

dude.. its a mini. I wouldn't want a mini of anything. Go bigger, stronger, faster. No brainer.

Lizzo fan?

 

[MotoSavy]

I bought the Air 3 as soon as it was available, moving up from a Mavic Air 2, and I've been very pleased with it. The firmware upgrades since its release have been terrific.

But! My family was taking a trip to Mexico last month, and though I tried to get Mexican government permission to bring in the Air 3, that did not work out. So I kind of panic-bought a Mini 4 Pro right before we left and I flew that around Mexico City for a week. It's an amazing piece of work. It basically does everything the Air 3 does, with all the same obstacle avoidance protections, flight modes, cruise control, etc. The Air 3's only major advantages are the second lens (which I do love) and better wind performance (which can also be important).

But holy mackerel – the Mini 4 Pro is amazingly easy to carry around a city for a week. The Air 3 looks like a beast next to it. Especially after having had time to savor all the great stuff in the Air 3, it's amazing to me that DJI was able to then pack so much of the Air 3 into 249 grams.

I'm glad I have both drones, but if I had to have only one – I really might pick the Mini 4 Pro.

I have both and know exactly what you mean! The Mini 4 Pro IS an excellent drone!

 

[PBDawg]

Yeah.. perhaps. Our winds are almost always pretty bad and I dont go to foreign countries so I want the bigger, stronger, faster drone. I am no camera geek so I have no desire for a hassleblad and I would not want the O3 transmission so the Mavic is not my drone of choice. The Air series is always what I buy.

". . . and I dont go to foreign countries. . ." Yep! Typical Texan!