Air 3S - Wondering why I upgraded.

[bkushner]

I have flown my air 3s illegally at almost 2 miles from home point with still a few bars showing. I would have felt comfortable going another mile out. I see no reason to go further. l don't understand what you guys are asking for in distance?

I can fly 3 miles too. That's isn't the issues I have. I fly along the river near Philly. Lots of nooks and crannies where signal issues occur. I know it well, fly there almost everyday since 2015 with many drones. The Air 3 was better for me then the Mavic 3 because of 04. The 3S is having issues the air 3 didn't have nor does my Mini 4 Pro. Signal wisde for me the mini 4 pro is more reliable. Also images are not much better then the mini 4. Reasons I don't fly mini 4 only.
1. Wind
2. Speed
3. No Zoom

 

[bkushner]

The cameras are still a bit meh, the main sensor is not really 50 megapixels, and noticed DJI quoting "effective pixels" now which is rather misleading. Other features look very decent though, the LIDAR and RTH quite amazing, plus it can fly fast. Don't think worth an upgrade if you already have an air 3 given the cameras, but if you can't stetch to a mavic 3 pro and moving up from a mini 3/4 then can see may tick the boxes for some - I still find the air series a bit of an odd platform though.

It said EFFECTIVE PIXELS in the specs from the beginning I believe. I knew what it was. It would be like calling the Air 3 48mp effective pixels.

 

[ryguy80]

Yes I owned the Mavic 3 Pro for a while. I found the Air 3 to be as good image wise for me.

The real advantage of 4/3rds over the one-inch sensor is in low light conditions. In normal light, you probably won't see much difference.

 

[Rchawks]

I upgraded from Mavic Air 2 and Mini 3 P to the Air 3S. Still have all three. I bought the Air 3S while it's still available to be purchased in this country as I felt there was no point in waiting for something that wouldn't be allowed to enter the country in the future. New Return to home feature and Lidar was what got my attention at first viewing. As far as flying long distances, I've never been interested in doing that with my Drones. I spent many many years doing exactly that with sailplanes and have completely got that out of my system. I understand about the concern with photo quality but for me I just love the act of flying and the photos are just the extra plus of flying drones. Whenever a new style drone comes out it's always billed as The Only Drone You'll Ever Need by the YouTube Money Maker community. Hopefully as stated there will be a software upgrade in the future to improve the issue as every newly released drone seems to go thru that process. It's still a step up from where I was and since I fly for fun it's good for me. Still, I do understand why the op is unhappy about the "upgrade" he was promised with the purchase and hopefully it will be resolved.

 

[ryguy80]

I bought the Air 3S while it's still available to be purchased in this country as I felt there was no point in waiting for something that wouldn't be allowed to enter the country in the future.

Not to mention, without getting too political, there is talks of the new administration placing tariffs on goods entering the U.S., so drone ownership may get a bit more expensive.

 

[bkushner]

Not to mention, without getting too political, there is talks of the new administration placing tariffs on goods entering the U.S., so drone ownership may get a bit more expensive.

Didn’t happen the last time he did it.

 

[Rchawks]

Time will tell.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Not to mention, without getting too political, there is talks of the new administration placing tariffs on goods entering the U.S., so drone ownership may get a bit more expensive.

Didn’t happen the last time he did it.

Last time with Trump it turned out to be a negotiating ploy in the illegal border crossing issue, was 5%, and resulted in the "Stay in Mexico" agreement, the tariff never going into effect.

This time the threatened tariff is 25%, both Mexico and Canada, and includes fentanyl smuggling in addition to illegal human crossings as the metric.

It will likely end in the same result this time too, after a lot of noise and heated rhetoric.

 

[phemmert]

With your observations, sounds like a bad purchase for you.

As there are many opinions, and some presented with side-by-side comparisons with real images and video, others have shown me, to a convincing degree, that the 3S is substantially better for video, my main use, than the A3 I currently own.

When this customs garbage gets sorted out I'll be upgrading.

Just ordered a 3S from DronePoint CA.

 

[russellg]

This is my opinion only. After several weeks with this new drone I'm wondering why I ever sold my Air 3. For my flying and photography here are my observations.

Cons:
1. Don't find the images to be any better then the Air 3 and the video might be worse.
2. Battery life not as long.
3. Range is not as good. Places I routinely flew to with the Air 3 I'm having signal loss with the Air 3S
4. Issues with Avoidance System


Pros: It can fly a little faster.

It must be you, there are a lot of youtube videos of air 3 and air 3s comparisons, they are not seeing what you are seeing.

 

[Lazerbrains]

I've seen too many videos from the 3S showing moire and ugly artifacts. Bigger sensor hobbled by lower bitrate and aliasing filter removed. I'm sticking with the Air 3.

 

[parkgt]

I've seen too many videos from the 3S showing moire and ugly artifacts. Bigger sensor hobbled by lower bitrate and aliasing filter removed. I'm sticking with the Air 3.

I have seen too many videos of very good footage captured by the A3S. I'm sticking with it unless I need to bring out my 4/3s for better low light.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Conclusion: Chocolate ice cream is better than strawberry.

No it isn't.

Yes it is.

 

[Rchawks]

I like coffee icecream, lol.

 

[dronethrust]

The air 3S got a lot of positive yt write ups. Most of the critics liked it, I just wonder if it is worth the cost.

 

[ryguy80]

Kind of like DJI's recent product launches lately (Air 3S, Neo, Osmo Action 5 Pro) ... it's a "love it or hate it" type mentality.

 

[Nick 207]

I can fly 3 miles too. That's isn't the issues I have. I fly along the river near Philly. Lots of nooks and crannies where signal issues occur. I know it well, fly there almost everyday since 2015 with many drones. The Air 3 was better for me then the Mavic 3 because of 04. The 3S is having issues the air 3 didn't have nor does my Mini 4 Pro. Signal wisde for me the mini 4 pro is more reliable. Also images are not much better then the mini 4. Reasons I don't fly mini 4 only.
1. Wind
2. Speed
3. No Zoom

I have both A3 and A3s and A3 has better range ,not sure why but it does.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I have both A3 and A3s and A3 has better range ,not sure why but it does.

How much better is the Air 3 range?
Can you add some relative range distance numbers between them, in the same environment, using the same controller?

 

[parkgt]

A detailed look at the camera differences in real life.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Lazerbrains]

A detailed look at the camera differences in real life.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Just watched that. I have to laugh. He says no banding in Air3 shot, when it obviously has more banding than the Air3. In the first set of images, he claims Air3 has more detailed image - it is obviously over sharpened, but not more detailed. Not a very good comparison.