DJI Mavic 3

The always windy south coast of Bonaire

The more I get a chance to fly with the Mavic 3 the more I am convinced this is an incredible offering from DJI. I have owned and flown the prior Mavics along with 3 Inspire 2’s and this is by far the best all around drone offering from DJI. Yes, I prefer the interchangeable lens system of the Inspire, but it is a beast to fly and transport not to mention expensive to repair (flew one into the side of building once….). So for all but the most specific of needs, the Inspire is just not practical for everyday flying.

Enter in the Mavic 3 with its upgraded camera and more importantly, its upgraded flying abilities. While the Mavic 2 was no slouch, it struggled in windy conditions. Whatever DJI did to the Mavic 3, it is pure magic. I am able to fly in windy conditions that I never would have done with the prior versions. While the camera improvements are more incremental, the flying capabilities are what sets it apart for me.

In my opinion, if you have a Mavic Pro 2 and fly in conditions with lots of wind, upgrading is a very sensible course of action. If you mostly fly in calm conditions and are happy with the imaging from the 2, then I would say hold out for the next iteration of this drone.

Now, if they would make a folding Inspire 3 based on the new Matrice platform with interchangeable cameras.