Drones have become surprisingly easy to get in the last few years, but DJI’s newest Mini 5 Pro costs more than $700 before you even buy extra batteries and other necessary accessories. The Mini 3 costs about half as much as that flagship phone, but it has specs that are honestly all you need to take amazing aerial videos.
And the good news is that Amazon has two great deals right now: The standard Mini 3 package goes down from $419 to $335, and the Fly More Combo, which comes with three batteries and DJI’s built-in RC controller, goes down from $719 to $575 (most popular). Both of these prices are the lowest they’ve ever been, and they come with a guarantee that they will arrive before Christmas (if you order today).
Flight Performance That Is Better Than It Should Be
The DJI Mini 3 can fly for 38 minutes on one battery which means it can actually film instead of just hovering nervously and watching the gauge drop. With that longer flight window, you can look around, set up shots, and actually get the footage you planned without having to land in an emergency halfway through. The Fly More Combo gives you 114 minutes of airtime across three batteries which is enough time to shoot for an entire afternoon before you need to recharge. Once you get the hang of it, changing batteries quickly takes about fifteen seconds, so you can keep flying while your creative energy is high.
In perfect conditions, DJI’s video transmission can go up to 32,800 feet, or about 10 kilometers. You can still fly the drone far beyond your line of sight and keep a clear 1080p video feed on your controller and this lets you explore places you couldn’t get to in person or check property lines without losing connection. If the battery gets too low or the signal is lost, GPS auto-return will bring the drone back home. This has saved many pilots from crashing into trees or water, which would have cost a lot of money. The system figures out the best way to get back and changes the altitude to avoid things it remembers from the flight out.
The 4K camera records amazing video at 30 frames per second with a 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor that does a great job with dynamic range for a drone that weighs less than 249 grams. You can take pictures of the sunrise or sunset without losing detail in the shadows on the ground or blowing out the highlights in the sky and this is where cheaper drones usually fail. When you use true vertical shooting mode, the whole camera turns 90 degrees which lets you take pictures that are already formatted for Instagram Stories, TikTok, or YouTube Shorts without having to crop them later.
The DJI Mini 3 drone is light enough to stay under 250 grams in most places, so you don’t need to register it with the FAA in the US or get a similar drone license in many other countries – and that weight limit is important because it gets rid of bureaucratic problems and lets you focus on flying instead of doing paperwork. Even though it’s very light, the drone does surprisingly well in moderate winds because of its three-axis mechanical gimbal stabilization, which keeps the footage smooth even when the drone is fighting gusts.
The Fly More Combo comes with a built-in DJI RC controller, so you don’t have to mount your phone and drain its battery while flying. The built-in 5.5-inch screen is much easier to see in direct sunlight than phone screens, and the controller’s battery lasts through several drone battery swaps without needing to be recharged. You don’t have to worry about phone notifications interrupting flights, deal with mounting brackets that never quite hold on tight enough, or deal with cables.
DJI’s smart flight modes can take complicated shots that would be hard to do by hand without professional pilot skills: ActiveTrack automatically follows subjects while keeping a distance and framing, making it great for tracking runners, cyclists, or cars without having to manually pilot. With just one tap, QuickShots can do pre-programmed camera moves like orbits, boomerangs, and rocket ascents. The results are cinematic and will impress clients or followers on social media.
The $335 standard package has everything you need to start flying, but you’ll need to buy extra batteries separately for about $60 each and you’ll need at least two batteries for any serious shooting session. The Fly More Combo costs $575 and comes with three batteries and the much better RC controller, which costs about $200 on its own which makes the combo’s price very good value. Both deals are much better than previous prices, and they include drone capability that cost twice as much just two years ago. If you order right away, you can still get it by Christmas.
