DJI Air 3: What We Want to See

The DJI Air 3 is one of the major drones expected to arrive in 2023.

DJI’s naming system can be confusing if you’re new to drones. However, the latest models have gone some way to clear up the confusion.

The top one is the Mavic drone, the middle one is the Air model, and the bottom one is the Mini, which is what most people would buy. They are relatively affordable. The middle child aviation range is the least loved these days. Perhaps the time has come for the DJI Air 3.

But what can it or should it offer? We’ve revealed the most viable features for our drone. But let’s start with a few estimates on release dates and costs.

DJI Air 3 Pricing and Availability

The DJI Air 3 is the successor to the DJI Air 2S. That drone launched in his April 2021 and was itself the successor to his DJI Air 2 from April 2020. This suggests that the DJI Air Air 3 could arrive around his April 2023. Given the missing components and myriad other issues, it’s no surprise that the 2022 release was missed. These days we are facing manufacturers.

However, an image of the release schedule recently posted by DealsDrone suggests that the Air 3 could be released a bit later, in May 2023. It has also been suggested that the DJI Inspire 3 will arrive in April instead. Inspire is DJI’s series of professional cinematography drones. The Inspire 2 was released a few years ago in his 2016.

And given that there isn’t much of a price difference between the mid-range Air 2S (starting at $999 / £899 / AU$1,699) and the ‘affordable’ DJI Mini 3 Pro (starting at $759 / £709 /), the Air series costs may rise. 1,119 AUD).

Folded DJI Air 3 mockup on blue background

(Image credit: DJI)

New Micro Four Thirds sensor

The DJI Mini 3 and Mini 3 Pro introduced significantly larger sensors to DJI’s smallest drone. Would a 1″ sensor be enough if the much cheaper model already has a 1/1.3″ chip?

we say no. The next step up is the MFT sensor — as seen in the DJI Mavic 3 Classic. The Sony IMX383 chip used in the Air 2S is also five years old, and apart from the “built for smartphones” Sony IMX989, there aren’t many new successors.

The Micro Four Thirds Sony IMX472 chip is perfect for the job and could be the very sensor used in the DJI Mavic 3 Classic. That information doesn’t seem to be available now.

Larger sensors offer better low-light performance, greater dynamic range, and less noise. His IMX472 chip from Sony is a 20-megapixel MFT sensor with 3.3-micron pixels and was announced in 2021. This is much newer than the Air 2S sensor. It also has some eyebrow-raising features.

Improved 120fps 4K (or 5K) video

One of these skills is a readout mode of 120 fps with 12-bit color depth, using the full 5280 x 3956 pixels of the sensor. Does the Air 3 have a 120fps 5K mode that this suggests? However, it’s clearly better than the fairly recent Mavic 3 Classic, which offers 4K at 120fps and 5.1K at 50fps.

Still, if you dig into the Sony IMX472 documentation, you’ll find that it’s easier for the drone to capture 120fps at 5K than 4K. No native drive mode suitable for 4K capture. This is definitely a headache for DJI for those of us who aren’t software engineers.

DJI Air 3 mockup on pink background

(Image credit: DJI)

Extension of transmission distance

The DJI Air 3’s transmission standard upgrade hasn’t seen us go out on such a limb. I’m here.

This gives you up to 9.32 miles / 15 km of extra range if you live in a suitable country (U.S., basically). It also unlocks a 1080p, 60fps preview image when reviewing footage live using a DJI remote with a screen.

DJI Air 2S can only get 1080p, 30fps preview images up to 12km thanks to O3.0’s low bandwidth.

faster charging time

Drone fans always need spare batteries. But in our experience, fast charging really reduces the amount of battery headaches.

The DJI Air 2S battery can charge up to 38W, while the new Mavic model supports 65W. Faster charging could cut the Air 3 charging time from around 95 minutes to closer to an hour or less.

Improved flight time

Over the past 12 months, DJI has managed to increase flight times for drones under 250g quite impressively.

Upgrading from Mini 2 to Mini 3 will increase flight time from 31 minutes to 38 minutes. That’s a 22% increase compared to just a 9% increase in battery capacity. This suggests that we are seeing some pretty significant efficiency savings under the hood.

Expect a similar healthy increase in the jump from the DJI Air 2S to the Air 3. Perhaps a little too optimistic, but the goal is 40 minutes. 36 minutes seems likely, but this is a list of “what we want” after all.

DJI Air 3 mockup on blue background

(Image credit: DJI)

better obstacle sensors

DJI Air 2S has forward, backward, downward and upward sensors. What the Air system has never seen before, however, is the true omnidirectional sensing system (additional left and right “lateral” sensors) offered by the DJI Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Classic.

Such object sensing enables a more dynamic form of motion automation. And having it on a wide range of drones like the DJI Air 3 means DJI can justify putting more work into developing such a mode.

There’s still plenty of room for the Mavic 3 Classic to maintain its dominance here, too.The DJI Air 2S’ sensor camera has a much narrower field of view than the Mavic’s. And while the Mavic uses his two-camera system of binoculars in each direction, the Air 2S uses time-of-flight sensors to determine its distance from the ground.

We don’t think DJI Air 3’s left/right object sensing is an unreasonable expectation, but it doesn’t feel like much of an upgrade unless there are new or upgraded automation modes.

We were optimistic and realistic about our future DJI Air 3. In any case, this is the last model in the range to be updated, and its new name completes the distinct range of DJI drones for 2023.

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