Amid the fanfare that greeted DJI's release of the long-anticipated Air 3S evolutionary design step above the year-old Air 3, I noted immediately that the 4241 mAH battery of the Air 3 is directly interchangeable with the slightly larger capacity 4276 mAh battery of the newly released Air 3S. The 35mAh difference in the charge capacity of these two batteries could conceivably translate into five additional minutes of flight time if the older Air 3 is retrofitted with the newly released Air 3S battery that is slightly larger than stock.
As I await the delivery of my new-to-me eBay-bought DJI Air 3 drone sold with a single stock 4241 mAh battery, I got to pondering my options for a second and third battery purchase. Donning my conical thinking cap, I ruminated over the existential question of whether the additional $60 I would need to shell out for the larger capacity Air S3 battery would translate into a few more precious minutes of flight time than the tested 40 minutes of flight time found by users to be possible with the stock battery of the Air 3.
If any of the DJI Air 3 owners who frequent this forum are going to be in the market for a new battery soon, I would like to thank them in advance for volunteering their drones as guinea pig experimental subjects, by conducting range tests after replacing the stock battery with the slightly larger capacity plug-and-play Air 3 S battery.
If no one in this forum is expecting to buy a new battery for their Air 3 any time soon, the delivery of my Air 3 in a couple of weeks will increase the odds that I might become the brave soul who first takes the plunge by procuring a new Air 3S battery and then running range tests while the drone circles my abode at 30mph following preset waypoints until the 40-minute mark is reached and hopefully exceeded.
As a footnote, the Air 3S is rated for a 45-minute battery life as opposed to the 46-minute battery life of the older Air 3. This is likely because the newer Air 3S is heavier than the Air 3, thanks to a beefier payload of power-hungry sensor electronics, which explains why the battery life of the Air 3S is shorter than that of the Air3 despite the Air 3S using a larger capacity battery in its stock configuration.
So, to summarize my rambling dissertation today, I look forward to hearing from any Air 3 owners who are willing to boldly go where no armchair pilot has gone before, by installing a newer Air 3S battery to power their Air 3 as a prelude to conducting range and battery duration tests whose results they would be willing to share in this forum for the enlightenment of drone lore historians like yours truly.
As I await the delivery of my new-to-me eBay-bought DJI Air 3 drone sold with a single stock 4241 mAh battery, I got to pondering my options for a second and third battery purchase. Donning my conical thinking cap, I ruminated over the existential question of whether the additional $60 I would need to shell out for the larger capacity Air S3 battery would translate into a few more precious minutes of flight time than the tested 40 minutes of flight time found by users to be possible with the stock battery of the Air 3.
If any of the DJI Air 3 owners who frequent this forum are going to be in the market for a new battery soon, I would like to thank them in advance for volunteering their drones as guinea pig experimental subjects, by conducting range tests after replacing the stock battery with the slightly larger capacity plug-and-play Air 3 S battery.
If no one in this forum is expecting to buy a new battery for their Air 3 any time soon, the delivery of my Air 3 in a couple of weeks will increase the odds that I might become the brave soul who first takes the plunge by procuring a new Air 3S battery and then running range tests while the drone circles my abode at 30mph following preset waypoints until the 40-minute mark is reached and hopefully exceeded.
As a footnote, the Air 3S is rated for a 45-minute battery life as opposed to the 46-minute battery life of the older Air 3. This is likely because the newer Air 3S is heavier than the Air 3, thanks to a beefier payload of power-hungry sensor electronics, which explains why the battery life of the Air 3S is shorter than that of the Air3 despite the Air 3S using a larger capacity battery in its stock configuration.
So, to summarize my rambling dissertation today, I look forward to hearing from any Air 3 owners who are willing to boldly go where no armchair pilot has gone before, by installing a newer Air 3S battery to power their Air 3 as a prelude to conducting range and battery duration tests whose results they would be willing to share in this forum for the enlightenment of drone lore historians like yours truly.
