I solely rely on YouTube for reviews on new dji products.  I just seen a couple YouTube videos going around on Facebook trashing dji‘s new release of the mini 3.  I was so close to making the purchase here at the dji store, and quite frankly I think I should actually explore a couple other different brands for doing so.  The mini 3 appears to be less stable, and obviously has a range issue which is an in your face problem in my opinion.  I see others having trouble with the newer remote controller.  Loss signal at 200m or less.  Drifting away while in N mode.

Guess I’ll be keeping my mini 2.  I’m not in the mood to try dealing with dji support.   

Still looking at this Mini 3 Pro.  The number of pilots reporting range issues may be a deal breaker yet.  I live on the Great Lakes and spend a fair amount of time flying over open water chasing large ships.  From what I am seeing and reading it is, but I might be lucky to get halfway out 200 or 300 meters in wide open clear unobstructed space and the mini 3 will most likely lose signal, turn around and come back.  

warloc59 Posted at 7-4 04:23
Still looking at this Mini 3 Pro.  The number of pilots reporting range issues may be a deal breaker yet.  I live on the Great Lakes and spend a fair amount of time flying over open water chasing large ships.  From what I am seeing and reading it is, but I might be lucky to get halfway out 200 or 300 meters in wide open clear unobstructed space and the mini 3 will most likely lose signal, turn around and come back.

This last firmware update fixed a few issues and added some functions.  Personally, I'm still seeing an issue with range.  The other issue I see is the drone starts in FCC mode (which is normal for pilots in North America) but as soon as HP is set then it changes to CE mode.  I did find a temporary fix but DJI should be able to fix this with a firmware update.  The drawback I see with the new RC is that the antennas are internal and you have to keep the top of the RC aimed directly at the drone or you will drop or lose signal.  I demonstrated this by turning 15 degrees away from the drone and the signal bars dropped by 2.  The other part of signal issue may be that the Mini 3 is legless and that is way the antennas are in the Mini 2.  So location of antennas could be a part of the range/signal issue.

I'd hold on to the Mini 2 for a while and see if they can get all the issues fixed.  This situation is similar to what DJI went through with the Mavic 3.  Many months later and a few firmware updates and now it is a great drone.  

Autel Evo Nano drones have excellent signal connectivity but there software is not as polished yet as it needs to be.  Besides their customer service can be awful.  

I bought the Skydio 2+ for sports tracking and it is the best drone available for that.  However, it is not the best for general photography.  

So it is hard to find the "best" drone that has no issues and is well supported.  Just my 2 cents worth.

I had the privilege of flying my neighbors mini 3  pro day before yesterday.  The fancy upgraded controller is almost useless in direct sunlight, and we did experience range issues during the whole flight and subsequent flights on a second battery.  I’ve never had a problem flying 2 miles out to film Great Lakes freighters, with my Mavic2, Phantom 4 Pro, or my mini 2.  I can’t even get out over open water without the mini 3 overheating.  Really?  He had asked me the day before if I would be interested in buying his mini 3.  NOPE!!   Flights beyond the backyard are not advisable.  I wouldn’t waste my time with the mini 3. I offered him $100 as I figured my kid could fly it around the backyard.  Nope!  Lol.  The mini 3 is more trouble than it’s worth.  I’m sure everybody can tell I’m a little frustrated as I post this quite often hoping dji fixes it, or simply recalls the mini 3.  If they haven’t fixed this issue yet, it’s not gonna get fixed. Hence my opinion that this is strictly hardware related issues that cannot be fixed.  End of story.  {{{{{CRASH}}}}}

I am shocked - SHOCKED - that DJI's new release has issues, when every prior product release has been perfect out of the gate!



In all seriousness, I'm grateful to all you folks beta testing the Mini 3 for me so that by the time my Mini 2 requires replacement the 3 will be ready.  And before anyone gets mad, you knew darn well there was going to be bugs in the release candidate...