DJI Mavic 3

Suprised – I have had my Mavic3 now for over 8 months. I have used other drones when I was working. Decided to get the Mavic3 as an interest and to create some small income. I am constantly amazed at how good it is and easy to use.

DJI Mavic 3 is an amazing platform – Perhaps this review is coming too late given dji has just retired Mavic 3 since the release of Mavic 3 pro. However, Mavic 3 is pretty much a platform so I think it is still very worthwhile writing about it. I also have a dji mini 3 pro and you can read about it at https://www.productreview.com.au/reviews/a603570d-547c-5189-b0d8-dd221916c378. Compared with the mini 3 pro, the Mavic 3 is a very obvious step up pretty much in every single department. I will spare you of the specs since I am looking at the Mavic 3 more as a platform than just specifically as the 2 camera Mavic 3 model. Read about specs at https://www.dji.com/au/mavic-3/specs. This is a half way comparison review between the Mini 3 Pro and Mavic 3.

Good 1. Image quality - like the Mini 3 and all other models apart from FPV & Avatar, all dji drones are flying cameras. Mavic 3 does not disappoint. Imagine quality is better in day light as well under low light conditions. It is sharper with more dynamic range and more vibrant. Probably thanks to larger pixels than the Mini 3. That said, Mini 3 Pro is nothing to scoff at. Mini 3 Pro can produce very decent and usable outputs unless you are just doing side-by-side comparison with Mavic 3's output. In fact, the Mavic 3's successor - Mavic 3 Pro appears to use the Mini 3 sensor for its 70mm camera, thus able to produce 48mp images.

2. Camera - Aperture - Mavic 3 carries 2 cameras - the standard 24mm and 163mm tele lens. I hate many who call the 163mm camera a zoom camera. It is not a zoom lens but a tele lens! Yes, they all do digital zoom, not optical zoom. There is just no room for a moving lens to give you optical zoom. In fact, few / no one mentions that the Mavic 3 Pro's tele lens has much lower aperture compared with Mavic 3. Mavic 3 Pro's tele lens is 166mm, marginally longer than 163mm of the Mavic 3.

Much better though is the aperture of the 166mm camera. It is a whopping f/3.4 (2/3 stop slower than f/2.8), compared with f/4.4 (1.33 stop slower than f/2.8) of the Mavic 3. Try Locking camera setting and use the explore mode, and you would notice a massive light drop transitioning from 24mm (1x) camera to the 163mm (7x). Mavic 3 Pro has much closer output between the f/2.8 24mm, 70mm medium and the 163mm tele lens! This, imho is a massive difference Mavic 3 Pro makes if one is demanding on usability and image quality.

The 163mm tele lens of Mavic 3 may just not be able to capture enough light to make it useful in less than bright conditions. Transitioning from one camera to another is challenging given the big aperture difference. One would find higher ISO or much slower shutter speed producing more blurred and grainy footages from the Mavic 3, not comparable to the 24mm camera.

3. Flight performance - Mavic 3 is a much more capable craft compared with the Mini 3 Pro. Mini 3 Pro tends to sway in the wind. Even at 4x digital zoom, one can quite easily see movements in the video captured. Mavic 3 of course isn't as rock solid steady as such as Matrice M300, but the difference is spectacular.

4. Omni directional obstacle sensors - Mini 3 Pro does not have side sensors which is a real shame. After all, many cinematic footages are taken sideway such as orbit. Also obstacle avoidance action - bypass mode might just lead the drone to run into a tree branch on the side. Having forward, side, backward, upward and downward collision avoidance sensors is definitely great. I haven't had any problems with them. And it is awesome that prop guards do not render the Mavic 3 sensors disabled like it would with the Mini 3 Pro.

5. Battery life - 46mins of max flight time is insane. Of course if it would be even better if it takes two batteries like Inspire and Matrice series can. Yes, I am being mean since Mavic 3 is supposed to be a consumer drone.

6. Proven platform - with no less than 8 variations (7 remaining) - Mavic 3 Classic, Mavic 3, Mavic 3 Pro, Mavic 3 Cine, Mavic 3 Pro Cine, M3M, M3E, M3T - all based on the same platform and pretty much the same drone with different camera and controller option. This platform is tested and proven reliable for consumer, prosumer and commercial use. This platform is also constantly being enhanced and is a marked improvement from when it was first released. Supporting the RC Controller is awesome.

7. Noise - while Mavic 3 is not as quiet as the Mini 3 Pro, it is actually pretty quiet, mostly because the prop noise is low pitched unlike such as FPV, which has a sharp squeal.

8. Quality - the Mini 3 Pro has a lot of play on the props, almost makes me wonder if flight performance is affected by it. Front arms also can exhibit some play over time. Mavic 3 has no play at all. Its quality inspires confidence. Obviously Mini 3 Pro's skin feels thin because light weight is it biggest goal, to fit into the sub 250g micro category. This is not a fair comparison of course since Mavic 3 is more than double the cost of Mini 3 Pro, maybe up to 3x the price.

Bad 1. Micro SD card - hard to access card slot is my biggest complaint about the Mavic 3. You pretty much need to remove the battery in order to get your finger nail on the card to pull it out. Alternatively, stick a tape on the card to give you a little lip to pull by. However, this is not a great option since there is not a lot of room behind the SD card door. This is not a big problem though. I always pull out battery after flight.

2. Battery installation - the catches on the battery securing its position is pretty low profile. Given the battery is spring loaded, I can't help but feel a bit nervous they do not catch properly and get pushed out resulting in catastrophic failure. This is why there is a market for battery fixing buckle on the market. I wonder if DJI will one day sell them as a DJI accessory.

3. N1 controller - not sure why DJI bother including this controller. Why not just sell it with the RC controller by default, like the Mavic 3 Classic package? Even the old Mavic Pro controller is better imho. With the screen as lower part of the controller makes for better weight balance. The N1 controller has no screen at all. You must rely on the led lights. Even the Mavic Pro controller has a LCD display. I have never even taken out the N1 controller and flying with the RC Controller full time. Good thing the N1 controller added little to the Mavic 3 price. If I didn't have the RC Controller, I would have put this as my biggest complaint.

4. Flight Hub - lack of flight hub 2 support makes it challenging to use Mavic 3 / Mavic 3 Pro / Mavic 3 Classic for serious tasks like mapping. Way points are smoothed out to curves. That said, got to remember Mavic 3 is a camera drone for filming. M3E is for mapping / inspection.

That's it. Mavic 3 is a joy to fly. It obviously has a fair amount of grunt with the 5A 4S battery. While I have not tested this, it feels like it can carry a fair amount of payload. After all, enterprise version, which is the same platform can carry RTK, speaker, search light, sound unit, mic, etc. This is important, not because I am planning to do delivery, but prop guards and strobe lights are common accessories required for such as flying close to people and in low light condition.

Some consider the Mavic 3 expensive given the price difference comparing with Mavic 2. However, M3 enterprise is actually cheaper than M2 enterprise advanced. Perhaps look at it from another way - you get an enterprise platform for the fraction of the price. The cheapest M3 enterprise drone is about double the price of a Mavic 3.