Mini 5 Pro vs Air 3S at a Glance
Spec | Mini 5 Pro | Air 3S |
|---|---|---|
Price | £659.00 | £911.05 |
Weight | Under 250g | 724g |
Main camera | 1-inch CMOS, 50MP | 1-inch CMOS, 50MP, 24mm |
Second camera | None | 1/1.3-inch CMOS, 48MP, 70mm, 3x optical |
Flight time | 36 min | 45 min |
Max transmission range | 20km | 20km (O4) |
Obstacle sensing | Nightscape Omnidirectional, forward-facing LiDAR | Six vision sensors + forward-facing LiDAR, Nightscape |
GNSS | Dual-band (L1+L5) | Standard GNSS |
Gimbal | 225° rotation, True Vertical Shooting | Fixed range, 2.7K vertical crop |
Same Sensor, Different Airframe
The headline number is identical, 1-inch 50MP on both main cameras, so image quality from the wide lens is genuinely comparable between them in good light. The Air 3S's extra weight buys a second camera, not a better main sensor, a 3x optical tele lens the Mini 5 Pro doesn't have at all. Anyone shooting exclusively wide-angle footage isn't losing sensor quality by choosing the lighter aircraft.
What the Second Camera Actually Adds
The Air 3S's 70mm tele camera covers subjects the Mini 5 Pro's single lens can't reach without physically flying closer, useful for wildlife, architecture detail or any shot where getting nearer isn't practical or allowed. It's a genuine capability gap, not a resolution difference, the Mini 5 Pro simply has no equivalent lens to switch to.
Weight Class Changes What's Practical to Carry
Under 250g keeps the Mini 5 Pro in the lightest registration and travel bracket, easier to justify carrying as an everyday addition to a kit bag. At 724g the Air 3S is still a compact folding drone, but it's a deliberate packing decision rather than something that rides along by default. For anyone who flies often but not always, that difference in how likely the drone is to actually be in the bag matters as much as any spec on the table.
Flight Time and Vertical Shooting
The Air 3S holds a real flight time advantage, 45 minutes against 36, nine extra minutes per battery. The Mini 5 Pro answers with native True Vertical Shooting, a 225° gimbal rotation capturing full-resolution vertical frames directly rather than cropping from horizontal the way the Air 3S's 2.7K vertical mode does.
Free Gifts Included
DJI Air 3S Fly More Combo (RC 2)
1 Inch CMOS Primary Camera · 14 Stops of Dynamic Range
Free Gifts Included
Common Questions
Yes, both carry a 1-inch 50MP sensor on the wide lens. The Air 3S adds a second 48MP tele camera the Mini 5 Pro doesn't have.
The Air 3S, 45 minutes against the Mini 5 Pro's 36, a nine-minute gap per battery.
No, the main sensor is the same size and resolution as the Air 3S's wide camera, the weight saving comes from the airframe and the absence of a second lens, not a smaller sensor.
Not natively, it crops a 2.7K vertical frame from the horizontal shot. The Mini 5 Pro's 225° gimbal rotation captures full-resolution vertical footage directly.
Not on the main camera, that's identical. The price gap reflects the second tele camera and the extra flight time on the Air 3S.
