DJI Air 3 review – excellent dual camera drone with amazing flight time

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• VERDICT

The DJI Air 3 is one of the best and most versatile drones the company has produced with amazing cameras, excellent battery life and outstanding safety features.

Drones are going down the same path as smartphones when it comes to cameras – having just one is no longer enough. The new DJI Air 3 has two dual primary cameras.

It is the first dual camera model of the Air Series and it adds even more choices and functionality for aerial photographers.

Onboard is a wide-angle camera and a medium telephoto with up to 3x zoom that can produce stunning 48-megapixel images and 4K HDR videos at 60 frames per second.

The DJI Air 3 has a foldable design so when you’re done the props tuck away to make the drone a compact size – its about the size of a 1L water bottle.

And it weighs in at 720g which means you can only fly the DJI Air 3 a minimum of 5.5km away from a controlled airspace.

What really appeals with the DJI Air 3 is that it packed with features to capture stunning videos and images, it’s really easy to fly and has an incredible 46 minutes of flying time.

This is the first Air model to incorporate omnidirectional obstacle sensing so it can detect and avoid objects in its path and prevent crashes.

First time pilots will appreciate the safety net this provides so they don’t accidentally back into a tree or clip a building.

The sensors can be seen on the front, back and bottom of the drone and has added a little more size to the body – but being slightly larger is a small price to pay for added safety.

This increased size in no way affects the aerodynamics of the DJI Air 3.

It’s still steady as a rock even in high winds and the gimbal keeps your footage smooth as silk.

We flew the DJI Air 3 off Lurline Bay and we saw a couple of high wind warnings on the remote’s screen but it just stuck there and it’s course wasn’t affected when it was moving.

The two cameras offer excellent options for aerial photographers.

One is a wide angle camera which allows users to capture sweeping landscapes and wide shots. It is the equivalent of a 24mm format.

The other 3x medium tele camera is a 70mm equivalent and allows your subject to pop against the background with a nice depth of field.

The 3x zoom is also remarkable and does get you significantly closer to your subject.

And the quality of images and videos is also superb – 48-megapixel stills and 4K video at up to 60fps.

There’s support dual native ISO for direct output of 4K/60fps HDR video through the onboard 1/1.3-inch sensors.

And each camera also supports 10-bit D-log M, for more light and shadow detail, and 10-bit HLG colour modes, for higher dynamic range without the need for colour grading.

Our review unit included the DJI RC 2 remote with the built-in 5.5-inch display.

It was bright enough to see clearly even in direct sunlight and saved us having to connect our phone. The package that includes the RC 2 is definitely worth the extra money.

The drone also has an excellent RTH (return to home) feature which means the DJI Air 3 will land from exactly where it took off from.

This engages automatically if the drone loses contact with the remote or when it senses the battery power required to get back to the take-off spot is approaching a critical level.

This is another safety feature first time fliers will really appreciate.

Of course you have all the intelligent features at your fingertips like vertical shooting, night mode and Quickshots which gives you stunning creative movements at the press of a button.

But one of the biggest improvements with the DJI Air 3 is the flying time of 46 minutes. That’s a 48 per cent improvement.

It wasn’t that long ago when you’d be happy with 20 minutes flight time.

But the battery technology, aerodynamics and efficiency have improved so much you get a lot more time in the air.

There is also a new battery charging hub which can transfer power from other batteries to the battery with the highest charge so you can continue flying without having to go back and charge.

The drone has only 8GB of internal storage but, of course, can expand the storage with a microSD card.

The DJI Air 3 is available now and is priced at:

DJI Air 3 (DJI RC-N2) – $1,699

DJI Air 3 Fly More Combo (DJI RC-N2) – $2,049

DJI Air 3 Fly More Combo (DJI RC 2) – $2,349

VERDICT

The DJI Air 3 is one of the best and most versatile drones the company has produced with amazing cameras, excellent battery life and outstanding safety features.