DJI Mavic 3
Announced November 5, 2021
PixelMeter The PixelMeter is our 1–100 aggregate of reviewer scores from trusted publications and creators. Weighted by source tier — not a raw average, and not PetaPixel’s own review.
Reviewer Consensus
Strong
The DJI Mavic 3 delivers class-leading image and video quality through its large Four Thirds sensor, making it a powerful choice for professional and prosumer aerial photography. Although it offers exceptional flight performance and safety features, its high cost and some software limitations at launch may give casual users pause.
Weighted from 23 reviewer scores
Pros
- Comprehensive omni-directional obstacle sensing and safety systems
- Stable flight characteristics even in windy conditions
- Extended flight times and improved battery performance
- Flexible camera controls including variable aperture
- Excellent image and video quality from the large Four Thirds sensor
Cons
- Secondary telephoto lens lacks raw support and offers limited quality
- High purchase price compared to other models
- Missing or incomplete software features at launch
- Issues with ActiveTrack and automated obstacle avoidance
- Workflow frustrations regarding internal storage and offloading
- Launch price $2,199 (USD)
- Sensor 20MP
- Video 5.1K 50p 4K 120p
- Max flight time 46min
- Weight 895g
- Battery capacity 5000 mAh
- Dimensions 347.5 x 283.0 x 107.7 mm (13.68 x 11.14 x 4.24 in) (unfolded) / 221.0 x 96.3 x 90.3 mm (8.70 x 3.79 x 3.56 in) (folded)
What the Reviewers Say
All 23 expert reviews, weighted into the PixelMeter score.
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- PetaPixel 9.5/10
[T]he DJI Mavic 3’s image and video quality surpass anything I’ve seen before in a fixed-lens consumer drone.
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The Mavic 3 is, undoubtedly, the best drone in its class.
- WIRED 8/10
If your primary use for a drone is capturing high-quality photos and videos, this is the best drone on the market by a wide margin. Chances are you don't need footage this good, but it sure is fun and offers incredible results if you can afford it.
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If you need all these capabilities and can justify its cost, the Mavic 3 certainly won't disappoint, but we continue to recommend the DJI Mavic Air 2 and the Air 2S to anyone on a tighter budget.
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The DJI Mavic 3 is the most powerful folding drone the company has made so far – and in pure performance terms, it's also the best. But the big improvements over the DJI Mavic 2 Pro come with a cost.
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The DJI Mavic 3 will most likely be too much drone for most people; your money is better spent on the Air 2S, the Air, or the Mini 2.
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[T]he Mavic 3 is designed to take great videos and photos for professional and prosumer users.
- Digital Trends 8/10
If you want to have the best footage quality in a drone that’s portable to carry along, you won’t find anything better than the Mavic 3.
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If your priority is something small and nippy then you should look towards the DJI Mini 2 with its 4K sensor and its absolutely tiny folded-down size.
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There's little to fault with the DJI Mavic 3; its flight is solid and its image quality is simply suburb.
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[T]he Mavic 3 is a premium model offering exceptional image quality for such a small and lightweight drone and competes with more expensive drones in this area, but its cost may seriously outweigh the image quality advantages it provides [...]
- Pocket-lint 9/10
The Mavic 3 is easy to use, packs down to a convenient size and produces an image that is second to none.
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If you can afford the higher asking price, this drone is a no brainer. The quality of the video footage and stills the amazing Hasselblad camera produces is about as good as it’ll ever get.
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The Mavic 3 has become the drone that I take with me everywhere for everything that I do, whether it's for YouTube, for me personally, or for clients. It's just absolutely a fantastic drone that performs way above its weight class in drones.
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It's better in almost every way, but there are some deep frustrations that I have, and I think a lot of them can be fixed with firmware; some of them can't.
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The Mavic 3 is a clear upgrade over its predecessor. It seems almost every aspect of the drone has been upgraded.
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So all in all, I've really enjoyed the past year flying the Mavic 3. In my opinion, it is well worth the money.
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Even if you factor in the ActiveTrack issues, I still feel like the Mavic 3 would be my top choice if I had to shell out good money for a drone.
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As you would expect, the DJI Mavic 3 is a killer drone with a bunch of features and it really is the peak, the pinnacle right now of drone technology from DJI.
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Hands down the Mavic 3 is the smoothest flying commercial off the shelf drone I have flown to date. DJI is back at it again delivering another high quality product that is priced reasonably for the capabilities and performance that it offers.
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To finish off this video, to sum a little bit up guys this crazy month that we've had, I am super happy with this drone. I am happy because it seems really like a professional device now.
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The camera quality from this drone is the biggest reason why you should go out and buy this drone. It's the best drone I've ever flown and every time I fly it I'm reminded by that.
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It is becoming just the workhorse that gets everything done for me.
