The DJI Air 3S Drone Is Virtually Good!

I’ve been flying the DJI Air 3S for over a month now. I even purchased one myself, however I’ve discovered just a few points that make me query if I made the precise selection. Right here’s my trustworthy take on what’s good and dangerous about this drone. Let me begin by saying I do just like the Air 3S—it’s the perfect drone I personal. I used to be a fan of the DJI Air 3 when it got here out, so when the 3S was introduced, it felt like a simple choice to purchase it.

Digicam High quality and Efficiency

Total, the digicam is nice. It’s obtained a bigger 1-inch CMOS sensor on the wide-angle lens with 12-megapixel or 50-megapixel choices. The 3x telephoto lens, just like the Air 3, makes use of a 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor with 48 megapixels—an improve over the Air 3. We now have 4K at 120 frames per second, which beats the 100 frames per second on the Air 3. However right here’s my first subject: we’re capped at 4K.

The Air 2S had 5.4K, and it’s an older drone. DJI hasn’t made many drones with 5K—solely the Air 2S and Mavic 3 Professional come to thoughts (not counting the Encourage 3, clearly). Why not embrace it? Is 5K not standard sufficient? I wished to ask Maria Davis, an Emmy-nominated drone pilot who labored with the Air 2S, about this.

Flight Expertise: Air 3S vs. Air 2S

Flying the Air 3S feels clean—like butter. With the Air 2S, you would really feel it chunking by the air, however the Air 3S is simply enjoyable and wonderful to fly. How typically do I exploit 5.4K? Actually, not a lot—lower than a handful of occasions. We don’t even use 5K when it’s obtainable until we have to punch in later. Recording at a better decision is good as a result of you’ll be able to zoom in, get extra particulars, and downsampling seems higher. Nevertheless it’s a bizarre choice to depart it out.

Is It Price Upgrading from the Air 3?

If you have already got an Air 3, I don’t see a powerful cause to improve. The Air 3 and 3S are so related. In case you examine footage facet by facet, the largest enchancment I discover is in dynamic vary and general picture element. The Air 3 isn’t that previous and nonetheless an excellent drone. The primary improve is the 1-inch CMOS sensor on the 3S, in comparison with the 1/1.3-inch sensor on the Air 3. Nevertheless, we’re capped at a smaller most bitrate—130 megabits per second—in comparison with 150 on the Mini 3, Mini 4 Professional, and even the Air 2S, which is years previous now. Software program updates would possibly offset this, however I don’t get why we’re going backward right here.

Bitrate Checks and Footage High quality

I’ve seen individuals on-line say they’re not even hitting 100 megabits per second, so we examined the Air 3, Air 2S, and 3S. The Air 2S is rated for 150 however hit 152 in 4K, 10-bit H.265. The Air 3 was at 130, although it’s rated for 150. The Air 3S got here in decrease at 90 megabits per second. Nonetheless, I desire the Air 3S footage—it’s sharper and cleaner. The Air 2S regarded a bit softer. Bitrate is simply information captured per second.

On YouTube, for instance, it’s re-encoded to round 10 megabits per second. Are you able to inform the distinction between 150 and 10 versus 90 and 10? It’s like megapixels in images—not an enormous seen distinction until you recognize what to search for. In my exams, I couldn’t spot a lot distinction between the drones at increased or decrease bitrates—the footage nonetheless seems nice.

Auto-Monitoring and Ease of Use

With older drone fashions, I examined flying whereas holding a child. Now that child’s a toddler, he’s the proper topic for the Air 3S’s auto-tracking. Spotlight him within the inexperienced field, allow ActiveTrack, and it really works nicely. In areas with poles, if he runs behind one and the drone loses him briefly, it picks him again up rapidly. One subject: the main target wheel generally gained’t modify, exhibiting an error message. It’s not a dealbreaker for me, however it could be for some. I’m nonetheless ready for an replace that lets me change a diaper mid-flight—perhaps with the Mavic 4!

Codec and Storage Concerns

There’s no H.264 possibility on the 3S. H.265 recordsdata are smaller however want extra laptop energy to play again. It’s like a zipper file—compressed information saves house in your digicam, however your laptop has to decompress it. H.265 takes a variety of reminiscence. Home windows 11 doesn’t natively assist it—you want an extension from the Microsoft Retailer, which is shocking. On Mac, H.265 has labored high-quality for years, so it’s by no means been a problem for me—smaller recordsdata, higher high quality.

Comparability to the Mavic 3 Professional

I used to be stunned how shut the Air 3S is to the Mavic 3 Professional. Facet-by-side, a variety of the footage seems very related, despite the fact that the Mavic 3 Professional prices rather more. The Air 3S remains to be a consumer-level drone, however it’s almost at Mavic 3 Professional high quality. In some pictures, I most popular the 3S—particulars in highlights and shadows had been comparable, which inspired me.

Battery Life and Closing Ideas

One small gripe: regardless of the 42GB of inside storage (which I really like), the Air 3S has much less flight time than the Air 3. I don’t like seeing new fashions lose battery life. Is it the larger sensor or tech onboard? Laborious to say. The Fly Extra Combo now consists of ND Filters (ND8, ND32, ND128), which is nice, however I’d desire an ND16 or ND64 for my work. Did I make the precise choice with the 3S?

Regardless of the minor points, I believe the Air 3 and 3S are the perfect worth for the cash. It’s nonetheless the perfect drone I personal. Wish to study extra? Take a look at our free deep dive video on the Pilot Institute web site—it’s fairly nice. See you within the subsequent one!

Because of Maria Davis for contributing music (“Pulsar” and “September”) to this Evaluate. Discover her at MariaDavisMusic.com.