DJI Mavic 3 Fly More Combo, Drone with 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad Camera, 5.1K Video, Omnidirectional Obstacle Sensing, 46 Mins Flight, Advanced Auto Return, Drone with DJI RC-N1, Two Extra Batteries, Gray

Product Information

This new DJI RC Pro controller only comes with the Cine Premium Combo, with the Standard and Fly More bundles instead coming with the DJI RC-N1 pad. (Image credit: Future)

Mavic 3 Pro is C2 certified, and Mavic 3 Classic is C1 certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). But this could just be wishful thinking. Our source in China doesn’t think this is in the cards, so tough to say: Text from our source…The Mavic 3 Pro Series includes DJI’s first tri-camera flagship drones with multiple focal lengths. It uses the same wide-angle 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad camera as Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Classic. Compared with Mavic 3, it adds a 1/1.3-inch CMOS 70mm medium tele camera with 48MP effective pixels. It also has an upgraded 1/2-inch CMOS 166mm tele camera with 12MP effective pixels, providing more flexible aerial photography perspectives while enhancing creative efficiency and freedom. I look forward to trying out the features that aren't available yet, especially APAS 5.0. APAS 4.0 worked well on the Air 2S so I'm expecting promising flights, weaving through trees in a forest near my house. A cellular transmission dongle will also become available in the future (although we are told that it is not expected to be available in North America, the European Union, or the United Kingdom) and this will help the drone keep its connection in congested areas, especially if it's flying between buildings. All in all, the Mavic 3 series may not be perfect, but it represents DJI's ability to innovate and iterate with every new release. What we like The Mavic 3 series has 2 obstacle avoidance sensors on the bottom of the drone plus auxiliary lights to aid in landing during low-light situations.

But more than that, it was the beginning of a new way of thinking around form and function. The Mavic Pro was immensely more portable than the Phantom line, folding down to a really compact size. It also had better flight time, and a much smaller and innovative controller. And while that controller may look slightly dated now against the current crop (Mavic AIR 2, AIR 2S controllers), it was really compact, and got the job done. Branching out The Mavic 3 Pro uses the same 5000mAh batteries as previous models. Presumably as a result of the additional weight, advertised flight times have been reduced from 46 to 43 minutes. In testing, flight times weren’t noticeably different and still sit around the 30-minute mark of the other Mavic 3 models, so this is pretty much negligible. After months of speculation and internet rumors, the DJI Mavic 3 Pro was finally announced in April 2023 with availability in May 2023. And just like the DJI Mavic 3, there are two options available: the ‘standard’ model with 8GB of onboard storage and a Cine version with a 1TB SSD. There are also two smart controller options available with the standard model; the DJI RC, which is the same controller that’s available with the Mavic Mini 3/3 Pro, and the higher-spec DJI RC Pro, which has always been an option with Mavic 3 series drones. The December firmware update came with improvements to obstacle avoidance, but when tested in the same highly complex environment as our original test the drone performed the same way. When flying within a tight avenue of trees, the Mavic 3 flew erratically and may have crashed into tree branches if it wasn’t stopped. Still, this was an incredibly tough test and when APAS was turned off, the drone was able to fly much more smoothly, albeit with a much greater risk of crashing. With the impressive onboard technology, it would be great to see further improvements to obstacle avoidance in future firmware updates.

Comments

The extra hovering time available combined with the number of options available does encourage hovering with eyes away from the aircraft which isn’t an approach recommended by many aviation authorities.

Measured in an outdoor, open environment, without interference, and with FCC compliance. The above data shows the farthest communication range for one-way, non-return flights. Please pay attention to RTH reminders in the DJI Fly app during your flight.At first glance the Mavic 3 looks the same as its forebear, the Mavic 2 Pro only it’s a bit more rounded, darker in colour and noticeably equipped with more safety cameras and sensors. However, place them side by side and the difference in size becomes apparent. Where the Mavic Pro 2 measures 214×91×84mm when folded, the Mavic 3 is 221×96.3×90.3mm. There’s an even bigger difference when unfolded – at 347.5×283×107.7mm, the Mavic 3 is visibly larger by a several centimetres. And the battery? The battery is a whopper in size and capable of keeping the drone aloft for up to a class-leading 45 minutes. Yet somehow DJI’s white-suited boffins have kept this drone’s weight to a smidge under 900g, or 895g to be precise. Compare that to the Mavic Pro 2’s 907g and you really do wonder how they did it. The main difference between the Standard and Cine versions of the Mavic 3 is that the Standard version provides 8GB of internal storage, while the Cine features an impressive 1TB SSD with support for Apple ProRes 422 HQ video recording. Features and flight There’s no question that DJI is the global market leader for consumer and Enterprise drones, selling the commanding majority of products sold on the planet (somewhere between 70 and 80%). But DJI is also very watchful of competition, wanting to always stay ahead of the game. The Mavic 3 series is clearly aimed at professional drone pilots, given its pricing. This is why, in my opinion, DJI should have continued using the GO 4 app. Maybe Hasselblad's HNCS technology is so accurate that there isn't a need to delve into the different types of White Balance settings including Sunny, Cloudy, and Incandescent. But what if I decided I wanted to shoot in Shutter or Aperture Priority mode? Why does DJI's Phantom 4, which was released over five years ago warrant these sophisticated photography settings compared to a drone that costs substantially more? This makes the airframe marginally larger than other Mavic 3 models but the weight of the drone is the most significant difference, despite it being less than 2.4 oz / 70 g heavier than previous models at 33.79oz / 958g for the 3 Pro and 33.96oz / 963g for the 3 Pro Cine. This isn’t a huge leap, by any stretch, but it’s enough to place the Pro models into the European C2 classification. This means that pilots will have to use the drone 50m or more away from uninvolved people and at least 150m away from built-up areas in Europe.