Replace February 2022: This assessment has been up to date following our re-test of the DJI Mavic 3, which we performed after its two large firmware updates in December 2021 and January 2022.
Two-minute assessment
The DJI Mavic 3 is probably the most highly effective folding drone the corporate has made up to now – and in pure efficiency phrases, it is also the very best. However the large enhancements over the DJI Mavic 2 Professional include a price. Which means that for many non-professionals, the smaller and extra inexpensive DJI Air 2S is the higher all-round purchase.
The spotlight of the DJI Mavic 3 is undoubtedly its new dual-camera, which options two particular person sensors and lenses. Impressively, the primary digicam homes a 20MP 4 Thirds CMOS sensor with adjustable aperture – and this gives the very best picture high quality in its class. The drone’s second telephoto lens is rather more restricted, missing guide controls or uncooked taking pictures, however is an sometimes helpful different for capturing distant topics.
The Mavic 3 is obtainable in two variations – the Customary and the Cine. The primary distinction between the 2, value apart, is that Cine includes a built-in 1TB SSD moderately than 8GB of inside storage, with assist for Apple ProRes 422 HQ video recording. We used the Cine Premium Combo for this assessment, which presents the entire identical flight and stills images options as the usual model, with the exception being the flexibility to shoot Apple ProRes.
The improved video taking pictures powers of the Mavic 3 make it a major improve on the Mavic 2 collection, and pitch it extra at skilled photographers and videographers. It may possibly shoot 5.1K video as much as 50fps, C4K at as much as 120fps, FHD as much as 120fps when taking pictures Apple ProRes, and as much as 200fps when utilizing the H264/H.265 codecs, which incorporates D-Log (Uncooked).
The Mavic 3 presents enhancements elsewhere, too, together with improved responsiveness in flight and a greater battery life, though we discovered real-world flight occasions to be nearer to half-hour than the claimed 46 minutes. Regardless of all these upgrades, the Mavic 3’s design matches its backpack-friendly predecessors, and the load of each fashions has been saved under 900g. For Europe-based drone followers, this might assist it obtain EU classification earlier than the area’s new drone guidelines come into play on January 1 2023. This is not assured, although, so is one thing think about.
At launch, the Mavic 3 didn’t present all of its marketed options, which was a little bit irritating. However thanks to 2 large updates in December 2021 and January 2022, all performance has now been delivered to the Mavic 3, alongside a variety of fixes and common enhancements. ActiveTrack 5.0 subject-tracking, MasterShots, Quickshots automated flight modes, Panorama mode and burst taking pictures are among the options which have been made accessible within the final two updates.
The Mavic 3 is now the fully-featured drone it ought to have been at launch. And whereas the options accessible when it first arrived had been greater than sufficient for professionals and skilled drone pilots who usually use guide controls, the arrival of the lacking options additionally makes the Mavic 3 rather more beginner-friendly. The Mavic 3 is now the very best prosumer drone you should buy, and one that would present a few years of service, due to the superior options and incredible picture high quality it presents.
DJI Mavic 3 launch date and value
The DJI Mavic 3 is obtainable to order at present and in one in every of three kits. As at all times, there’s a Customary model, plus a Fly Extra Combo that gives a variety of helpful equipment (together with two additional batteries) for a cheaper price than shopping for the whole lot individually.
When you’re feeling notably flush, there’s additionally the Cine Premium Combo, which sees the drone’s storage bumped to 1TB and consists of the entire Fly Extra Combo equipment, plus the brand new DJI RC Professional controller and two units of ND filters.
The Mavic 3 Customary model prices US$2,199 / £1,879 / AU$3,099. This package consists of the Mavic 3 drone, one Clever Flight Battery, an RC-N1 Distant Controller, cellphone cables, a battery charger, storage cowl and three pairs of propellers.
The DJI Mavic 3 Fly Extra Combo prices US$2,999 / £2,549 / AU$4199 and consists of the entire above, plus two extra Clever Flight Batteries, three extra pairs of propellers, a battery charging hub, an ND Filter Set (ND4/8/6/32), and a convertible carrying bag.
The DJI Mavic 3 Cine Premium Combo, in the meantime, is available in at a whopping US$4,999 £4279 / AU$7199. This package consists of the whole lot within the Fly Extra Bundle however the drone includes a built-in 1TB SSD moderately than 8GB of inside storage, and provides assist for Apple ProRes 422 HQ video recording. Different extra equipment embrace a DJI RC Professional (with a built-in 5.5in display screen) moderately than the RC-N1 Controller, plus an extra ND Filter Set (ND64/128/256/512) and a DJI 10Gbps Lightspeed Information Cable.
The Mavic 3’s Customary model and Fly Extra Combo price nearly 40% greater than their Mavic 2 Professional equivalents did at launch, which suggests the Mavic 3 is extra of knowledgeable drone than a client mannequin. The DJI Air 2S replaces the Mavic 2 Professional on the prime of the patron line with a 1-inch sensor, whereas the Mavic 3 includes a 4 Thirds sensor in the primary digicam.
Design and controller
The Mavic 3 follows the identical design rules as earlier Mavic drones. This implies the propeller arms fold inwards to make the drone a lot smaller and extra backpack-friendly when it is not in use, earlier than folding out once more in seconds whenever you’re able to get it airborne. Regardless of its darker paintjob, the Mavic 3 additionally has that particular, iconic Mavic look and construct high quality.
The folded dimensions of the Mavic 3 are 212×96.3×90.3mm, whereas its unfolded dimension is 347.5×283×107.7 mm. This makes it just like the Mavic 2 Professional when folded, with the unfolded dimension being barely bigger.
The Mavic 3’s take-off weight is 895g for the Customary model and 899g for the Cine model. That is truly lighter than the Mavic 2 Professional (907g), which is spectacular contemplating the Mavic 3’s battery is heavier and presents the next capability of 5,000mAh in comparison with Mavic 2’s 3,850mAh battery. This time, the battery inserts into the again of the Mavic 3 physique, moderately than into the highest.
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Whereas the battery is a key participant within the Mavic 3’s improved flight time, some extra environment friendly motors and propellers (alongside the drone’s barely lowered weight) assist to extend flight occasions and supply a most velocity of 47mph / 21m/s in Sport Mode.
However these aren’t the one design enhancements, with the form of the drone, digicam and propeller arms all streamlined to cut back drag, which DJI claims provides as much as a 35% enchancment in comparison with the Mavic 2 collection. That is, in fact, not possible to check, however flight occasions have actually improved for the reason that earlier technology.
The usual controller that comes with the Customary model and Fly Extra Bundle is identical because the one you get with the DJI Mavic Air 2 and DJI Air 2S.
In contrast to the Mavic 2 collection’ controller, this can be a mounted dimension with a telescopic cellphone holder on the prime of the unit the place the cellphone cable may be saved, whereas the management sticks may be stowed away on the backside on the controller when not in use. There’s no LCD display screen displaying flight data like on the Mavic 2 controller, which is a disgrace contemplating the upper value of the Mavic 3, however this data may be seen inside the DJI Fly app.
This controller is bigger than the older foldable Mavic 2 controller, however the benefit is improved battery lifetime of as much as six hours. The RC Professional controller (above) that comes with the Cine model of the Mavic 3 is actually a brand new Sensible Controller with a 5.5in touchscreen and presents a number of different superior options in comparison with the usual controller.
The primary distinction between the Customary and Cine variations of the Mavic 3 is that the Customary model gives 8GB of inside storage, whereas the Cine options a powerful 1TB SSD with assist for Apple ProRes 422 HQ video recording.
Options and flight
The Mavic 3 is a nimble drone that’s rather more responsive in flight than its Mavic 2 predecessors. On this respect, it is truly extra just like the DJI Phantom 4 Professional V2.0. The controls are merely rather more delicate in each Regular and Sport Modes, whereas Cine Mode presents lowered management sensitivity and velocity for smoother flights and extra cinematic video footage.
Flight is as nimble or subdued as you want it to be. Whereas the Mavic 3’s options and value make it extra suited to skilled drone pilots {and professional} content material creators, it might additionally function an entry-point for novices due to its superior security options and the favored Quickshots flight modes.
Whereas the Mavic 3 is an absolute powerhouse by way of options and picture high quality, DJI is well-known for producing each protected and simple to fly drones and this drone, regardless of the excessive price ticket, might current a incredible possibility for first-time drone pilots. That is actually a drone that you would be able to develop into as your flight expertise and necessities enhance, and investing in the next stage mannequin can finally lower your expenses over the long run as a result of it may possibly scale back the necessity to improve at a later date. Though for a lot of, the DJI Mini 2 and Air 2S fashions present compelling alternate options.
By way of security options, the Mavic 3 makes use of a number of imaginative and prescient sensors to sense obstacles in all instructions, which is prolonged as much as 200m when Superior ‘Return To House’ (RTH) is initiated. It additionally presents improved impediment avoidance in Superior Pilot Help System (APAS) 5.0, which mixes six fish-eye sensors and two wide-angle sensors to sense obstacles in all instructions. When enabled, you may set the drone to fly autonomously round obstacles when detected to take care of steady flight or to brake.
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This works nicely in what you would possibly name commonplace environments and when set to maneuver round obstacles corresponding to bushes, fluid flight is maintained and you may be assured that your video footage will stay fixed with little likelihood of crashing. When flying in additional complicated environments corresponding to woodland, nevertheless, APAS can grow to be overwhelmed and trigger the drone to fly erratically.
The December firmware replace got here with enhancements to impediment avoidance, however when examined in the identical extremely complicated surroundings as our authentic check the drone carried out the identical method. When flying inside a decent avenue of bushes, the Mavic 3 flew erratically and should have crashed into tree branches if it wasn’t stopped. Nonetheless, this was an extremely powerful check and when APAS was turned off, the drone was in a position to fly rather more easily, albeit with a a lot better threat of crashing. With the spectacular onboard expertise, it might be nice to see additional enhancements to impediment avoidance in future firmware updates.
One other function that sits within the space of security is the Mavic 3’s new positioning algorithm, which claims to enhance hovering precision with much less drifting by connecting to GPS, GLONASS, and BeiDou satellites. That is, in fact, welcome, however it’s not possible to see a distinction between the Mavic 3 and previous-generation fashions when the drone is hovering.
DJI says the Mavic 3’s new 5,000mAh battery gives a most flight time of 46 minutes or a distance of 30km (with no wind). In actuality, that is by no means the case as a result of you need to think about wind, ambient temperature and the minimal battery cost earlier than ‘Return To House’ is initiated, so the marketed flight time isn’t attainable. Throughout testing, the battery did final nicely even in chilly and windy circumstances, however it was nearer to half-hour earlier than the drone recommended RTH.
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Flight and security apart, the Mavic 3 makes use of the omnidirectional impediment sensing system to enhance topic monitoring with the upgraded ActiveTrack 5.0 (coming within the January 2022 firmware replace). This and QuickShots had been unavailable within the pre-release firmware in our assessment pattern, however we’ll replace this assessment as quickly as they arrive.
QuickShots is a set of automated flight patterns for creating professional-looking movies with ease and consists of Rocket, Circle, Dronie, Helix, Boomerang and Asteroid. There’s additionally a Hyperlapse mode for creating time-lapse and hyper-lapse movies alongside panoramic modes, single shot, computerized publicity bracketing and timed pictures for stills. That is all alongside auto, aperture precedence, shutter precedence and guide taking pictures modes for each stills and video.
Flight and security apart, the Mavic 3 makes use of the omnidirectional impediment sensing system to enhance topic monitoring with the upgraded ActiveTrack 5.0. By way of efficiency, it tracks topics nicely and might observe gradual and fast-moving topics with ease. The Mavic 3 was additionally in a position to efficiently observe an individual strolling between and behind obstacles with no lack of the topic. For quicker topics, corresponding to vehicles, monitoring can also be profitable so long as the car isn’t touring quicker than the drone’s prime velocity of 42.5mph in Sport mode.
Different options embrace ‘Trimmed Obtain’, the place you may choose a part of a video clip to obtain moderately than the entire file, and QuickTransfer, which can permit you to retailer and course of content material in your smartphone utilizing Wi-FI 6 to hyperlink to the drone.
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Video and picture high quality
The jewel within the crown of the Mavic 3 is its twin Hasselblad digicam, with the primary digicam that includes a 20MP 4 Thirds CMOS sensor and an equal focal size of 24mm.
This digicam, just like the Mavic 2 Professional, presents an adjustable f/2.8 to f/11 aperture with auto and guide focus from 1m to infinity. The second digicam includes a 1/2-inch CMOS sensor with an equal focal size of 162mm, a hard and fast f/4.4 aperture and a 28x hybrid zoom.
Picture high quality from the primary digicam for stills and video is nothing in need of wonderful general, with only a small quantity of sharpness falling off on the edges of the body when viewing stills. However the stage of fall-off is minimal, and you need to search for it. It is also significantly better than the fall-off seen in DJI Air 2S’ photos.
Even in high-contrast scenes, no chromatic aberration was seen alongside topic edges and excessive ISO noise dealing with can also be wonderful, with usable outcomes all through the whole vary, even when gentle grain does start to grow to be noticeable at ISO 800.
The Mavic 3’s adjustable aperture is extra helpful for controlling publicity than depth-of-field, as a result of the 4 Thirds sensor remains to be small in comparison with a full-frame digicam. However the capability to manage the aperture is a incredible function when taking pictures video, since you may make publicity adjustments shortly within the air when the shutter velocity wants to stay at a selected setting.
The Mavic 3’s second digicam is rather more restricted and might solely shoot photos in JPEG and commonplace video (not uncooked) at 4K 30fps. This hybrid digicam solely presents fundamental performance and Auto taking pictures, with the flexibility to view distant scenes with ease.
Regardless of the constraints, it actually has some real-world purposes, and the ND filters accessible within the Fly Extra Bundle and Cine Premium Combo match over each digicam lenses, so there’s some scope to manage shutter velocity when taking pictures video. The picture high quality when zooming in does, nevertheless, diminish considerably the additional you zoom in, so don’t count on to have the ability to seize high-quality imagery on the increased zoom ranges.
Ought to I purchase the DJI Mavic 3?