Review: DJI Air 3S
Explore the features, performance, and applications of DJI Neo - a dual-camera drone designed for travel photography
DJI unveils the Air 3S;
Air 3S has a 1-inch wide-angle camera and 1/1.3-inch medium tele camera;
Both cameras can shoot 4K/60fps.
Next-level safety features: First DJI drone with forward-facing LiDAR; Nightscape omnidirectional obstacle sensing; Next-gen Smart RTH;
Air 3S has 45 minutes of flight time.
DJI has launched the Air 3S: A dual-camera drone designed for travel photography and aerial content creation.
This new addition to the Air range is packed with some impressive features and advanced technology. Key features include:
1-inch-CMOS 24mm primary camera and a 1/1.3-inch 70mm medium tele camera, each with up to 14 stops of dynamic range.
Dual-camera 4K/60fps HDR video & 4K/120fps slow-motion.
New Free Panorama mode for seamless and breath-taking panoramas.
Nightscape omnidirectional obstacle sensing: Air 3S is DJI's first drone to feature forward-facing LiDAR.
Next-gen Smart RTH with enhanced precision.
45 minutes of flight time.
Three versions of the DJI Air 3S are available:
DJI Air 3S Fly More Combo (with additional accessories) with RC-N3.
DJI Air 3S Fly More Combo (with additional accessories) with DJI RC 2 smart controller.
Read this blog to find out more about the DJI Air 3S, which is available from heliguy™. If purchasing through heliguy™, add Repair Refresh crash cover to protect your drone.
DJI Air 3S - Cameras
DJI Air 3S features a dual-camera system consisting of a 1-inch-CMOS primary camera and a 1/1.3-inch-CMOS medium tele camera. The primary camera features a larger CMOS sensor (than the Air 3) and a 24mm lens, making it ideal for capturing expansive landscapes with enhanced clarity and a wide field of view.
The 70mm medium tele camera excels at portrait and vehicle shots, offering compressed depth of field to highlight any subject with a bolder, more cinematic look.
Both cameras offers 4K/60fps video, 4K/120fps slow-motion, and 10-bit D-Log M and HLG video. The table below provides an overview of each camera.
Wide-angle Camera | Medium Tele Camera | |
|---|---|---|
Sensor Size | 1" | 1/1.3" |
Pixel Size | 3.2μm | 2.4μm |
Format Equivalent | 24mm | 70mm |
Field of View | 84° | 35° |
Mega Pixels | 50MP | 48MP |
Video | 4K/60fps and 4K/120fps slow motion; 2.7K Vertical Shooting | 4K/60fps and 4K/120fps slow motion; 2.7K Vertical Shooting |
Aperture | f/1.8 | f/2.8 |
Digital Zoom | 1-2.9x | 3-9x |
Intelligent Shooting Modes
DJI Air 3S is packed with intelligent shooting modes to streamline and enhance aerial content creation.
Free Panorama
One of the new modes is Free Panorama. This enables you to create seamless panoramic shots by stitching together multiple images with a manually selected subject or area.
The wide-angle camera offers a broader FOV, boosting efficiency when capturing panorama photos. The medium tele camera significantly reduces image distortion, crafting your masterpieces into expansive shots with a wide perspective from multiple photos and rich details captured through its focal length advantages.
ActiveTrack 360°
DJI Air 3S features ActiveTrack 360° to keep any subject optimally in frame. Based on the surrounding flight environment, it automatically plans a flight path and adjusts framing to ensure stronger shots that keep your subject the centre of attention.
ActiveTrack 360° allows Air 3S to automatically avoid perspectives with cluttered backgrounds. It also has an optimised tracking performance: Once tracking begins, DJI Air 3S can keep the subject in focus even if the lower half of their body is partially obscured by bushes or if they are standing on a bridge. On top of ActiveTrack, DJI Air 3S is equipped with the new Subject Focussing feature. This keeps your subject in sharp focus, even during manual flight or when the subject moves off-centre.
User-favourite Features
DJI Air 3S is packed with popular features found in other DJI drones, such as 2.7K vertical shooting, MasterShots, QuickShots, and Hyperlapse. It also supports Cruise Control, as well as Waypoint Flight which allows you to pre-set flight paths and camera actions for automated photography/cinematography.
Enhanced Safety Features
Among the headline-grabbing features of the DJI Air 3S, the drone comes equipped with some seriously impressive safety functions.
Omnidirectional Vision Sensing System
DJI Air 3S supports the Advanced Pilot Assistance Systems (APAS). And, as the first DJI drone to feature forward-facing LiDAR, Air 3S also features downward infrared time-of-flight (ToF) sensors and six vision sensors (two at the front, rear, and bottom) to achieve nightscape omnidirectional obstacle sensing.
This feature enables the drone to automatically identify and circumvent obstacles, such as buildings, during its flight and return paths, ensuring robust safety for night-time photography.
Nightscape Omnidirectional Obstacle Sensing
Powered by real-time vision positioning and map construction technologies, DJI Air 3S memorises flight paths when adequate lighting is available. This ensures a safe return even when taking off from locations without satellite signals, such as balconies. With forward-facing LiDAR and low-light vision sensors, DJI Air 3S can detect obstacles such as high-rise buildings and navigate upwards around them, even in low-light conditions, ensuring safer returns at night.
Enhanced Vision Assist
DJI Air 3S's Vision Assist provides a downward view in addition to the front, back, left, and right views to help you better understand your surroundings.
Powerful Flight Performance
Air 3S is packed with some powerful performance features, including long endurance and ultra-smooth live feeds.
Flight Time
DJI Air 3S can fly for up to 45 minutes.
10-bit O4 Video Transmission
Powered by DJI O4 FHD video transmission technology, Air 3S delivers 10-bit video transmission at 1080p/60fps over distances of up to 10km (CE). Live feeds are reliably smooth and vivid, with ultra-responsive control for an improved overall flight experience.
Built-in Storage
DJI Air 3S comes with 42GB of built-in storage. This can be expanded by adding a microSD card.
QuickTransfers When Air 3S Is In Off-state
You can now send files from your Air 3S to a smartphone even when the drone is powered off. Transfers to a computer can also be done with the drone powered off: Simply connect Air 3S via a compatible USB cable.
DJI Air 3S Combos
DJI Air 3S offers various combos to cater to a range of needs.
These combos are:
DJI Air 3S (DJI RC-N3): Includes the standard DJI RC-N3 remote controller. Use your smartphone to check the live feed and flight status.
DJI Air 3S Fly More Combo (DJI RC-N3): Includes the DJI RC-N3 remote controller, an ND filter set, two additional batteries, a battery charging hub, a shoulder bag, and more.
DJI Air 3S Fly More Combo (DJI RC 2): Includes DJI RC 2 with a 5.5-inch 1080p 700-nit high-bright screen, an ND filter set, two additional batteries, a battery charging hub, a shoulder bag, and more.
The below table provides a comprehensive what's in the box comparison between the DJI Air 3S combos.
DJI Air 3 & DJI RC-N3 | DJI Air 3 Fly More Combo (DJI RC-N3) | DJI Air 3 Fly More Combo (DJI RC 2) | |
|---|---|---|---|
DJI Air 3S | 1 | 1 | 1 |
DJI RC-N3 Remote Controller | 1 | 1 | - |
DJI RC-N3/N2/N1 RC Cable (USB-C Connector) | 1 | 1 | - |
DJI RC-N3/N2/N1 RC Cable (Lightning Connector) | 1 | 1 | - |
DJI RC 2 Remote Controller | - | - | 1 |
DJI Air 3S Intelligent Flight Battery | 1 | 3 | 3 |
DJI Air 3 Series Spare Low-Noise Propellers (Pair) | 1 | 3 | 3 |
DJI Air 3S Gimbal Protector | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Documents (QSG and Safety Guidelines) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Type-C to Type-C PD Cable | 1 | 1 | 1 |
DJI Shoulder Bag | - | 1 | 1 |
DJI Air 3S ND Filter Set (ND8/32/128) | - | 1 | 1 |
DJI Air 3 Series Battery Charging Hub | - | 1 | 1 |
DJI Air 3S Accessories
With the launch come new accessories, such as the DJI Air 3S Intelligent Flight Battery, the DJI Air 3S Wide-angle Lens, and the DJI Air 3S ND Filter Set. The DJI Air 3S is also compatible with some existing DJI Air 3 accessories, such as the DJI Air 3 Low-noise Propellers, DJI Air 3 Battery Charging Hub, and DJI Air 3 Intelligent Flight Battery. It is worth noting that:
When using the DJI Air 3 Intelligent Flight Battery, the DJI Air 3S does not support the off-State QuickTransfer feature.
Air 3S and Air 3 batteries are interchangeable for both drones, however the Air 3S battery has a low-power bluetooth mode for fast file transfer while the drone is turned off - and this function only works with the Air 3S battery in the Air 3S drone.
Purchase the DJI Air 3S from heliguy™. Benefit from a one-stop-shop infrastructure, including training, in-house repairs, consultancy, next-day delivery, and 50-Day Free Returns on Faulty Items.