Pros & Cons
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- Twin camera system with wide and telephoto lenses
- 360-degree obstacle avoidance system
- Powerful motors excel in breezy weather
- 10-bit video engine with SDR, HDR, and Log profiles
- 48GB internal storage, plus microSD memory support
- Excellent battery life
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- Requires FAA registration, even for recreational use
DJI Air 3S Specs
| Dimensions | 3.5 by 4.0 by 8.4 inches |
| Integrated Camera | Integrated with Gimbal |
| Live Video Feed | 1080p |
| Media Format | Internal |
| Media Format | microSDXC |
| Megapixels | 50 |
| Obstacle Detection | |
| Remote | Dedicated with App |
| Remote | Dedicated with LCD |
| Rotors | 4 |
| Video Resolution | 4K |
| Weight | 1.6 |
In December 2025, the FCC added all foreign-made drones to its Covered List, effectively shutting the door on future product releases. Thankfully, models approved before the changes are unaffected, so you can still buy an excellent camera drone like the DJI Air 3S ($1,099) and fly it stateside. The Air 3S is an incredible performer, especially for the price—its twin-lens camera captures wide and telephoto angles, records at 4K60 with 10-bit color, and is a fantastic tool for photos thanks to its Quad Bayer tech. Add incredible battery life, 360-degree obstacle sensors, and safe, reliable flight performance, and you get one of DJI's best drones yet, earning the Air 3S our Editors' Choice award.
Design: Compact, But Heavy Enough to Require Registration
The DJI Air is the latest entry in the company's midsize folding drone line, replacing the Air 3. It's larger and heavier than the 249g-class Mini 4 Pro or Mini 5 Pro, so you'll need to pay a $5 FAA registration fee if you're flying for recreational use, but it's still small enough to carry in the field in a shoulder bag. It measures 3.5 by 4.0 by 8.4 inches (HWD) folded and has a 4.2-by-12.8-by-10.5-inch silhouette when its arms are extended for flight, not counting the propellers. The Air 3S weighs about 1.6 pounds when ready to fly.
The airframe is a high-quality gray plastic composite that feels sturdy—there's no give, unlike budget-line alternatives such as the Potensic Atom 2. The Air 3S doesn't include weather protection, a feature that's so far limited to the forthcoming waterproof HoverAir Aqua (which does not appear to be coming to the US as it's most likely now on the FCC Covered List). FAA regulations require three miles of visibility for drone flights, so you won't be flying in heavy rain, fog, or snow, regardless.
The drone uses a dual-lens camera system that's integrated into a three-axis gimbal with a big tilt range, from straight down to 60 degrees up. The main lens is a 24mm F1.8 backed by a Type 1 sensor, the same size used by the Mini 5 Pro's main camera and premium compact cameras like the Sony RX100 VII. This lens is the biggest upgrade over the Air 3, which used a slightly smaller Type 1/1.3 chip in both lenses. The telephoto lens is unchanged from the Air 3; it's still a 70mm F2.8, which is more than good enough to capture excellent video and stills.
The Air 3S also gets a boosted optical avoidance system versus the Air 3's already fantastic 360-degree obstacle evasion engine. Like the earlier model, the Air 3S can autonomously navigate around obstacles—it reads the terrain ahead and adjusts its flight path to weave through tree trunks or similar obstructions. The 3S adds a forward LiDAR sensor for improved obstacle detection in low light and at night, as well as a downward-facing light to better read the terrain and adjust altitude to avoid crashes. It does not have built-in anti-collision lighting mandated by the FAA for flights from half an hour before sunset to half an hour after sunrise; however, you'll need to add a strobe light visible from 3 statute miles to stay in compliance with FAA regs.
The Air 3S is available with a single flight battery and the RC-N3 controller for $1,099, or in a Fly More kit with three flight batteries, a multi-charger, a shoulder bag, and the RC-N3 for $1,399. The RC-N3 doesn't have a built-in screen, so you'll need to connect an Android or iOS device loaded with the DJI Fly app for full functionality and camera control. The Fly app is free to download from the Apple App Store, but it isn't on Google Play, so Android users need to download it directly from DJI's website.
You can also get a Fly More Combo for $1,599 that swaps the RC-N3 for the RC-2, which has a built-in touch screen and runs DJI Fly natively. This is the configuration I reviewed, and while it's a splurge versus the basic kit, I'd say it's worth the money. Each battery is rated for up to 45 minutes of flight time between charges in ideal flight conditions, without video recording. Realistically, you should expect 30-35 minutes of actual flight time while rolling video, depending on altitude above sea level and wind. It's an excellent figure for a drone, though not quite the best in class. The DJI Mini 5 Pro is the current champ; it's rated for 52 minutes with its extended life battery, and the pro-grade Mavic 4 Pro is only slightly behind at 51 minutes.
The Air 3S has 48GB of internal storage and a microSDXC card slot. I'm happy to see DJI put so much storage on board, though, as it lessens the need to use a card and can save your bacon if you go out on a shoot and forget to bring one. You'll want to get a decently fast card, rated for V30 speeds or better, to avoid issues when recording.
Like other drones, the Air 3S has a built-in GPS system that helps it hover steadily in place and lets you see its location on a map. It has an automated return-to-home feature and shows the remote control's position as an H icon, so you can get the drone back home manually if you've lost your bearings. Remote ID, a regulatory requirement for all drones weighing more than 249g, is included.
Flight Experience: Reliable Performance and Familiar Controls
Controls are typical, so if you've used a drone before, you'll be able to hit the ground running. The remote control has two sticks: the left controls altitude and yawing the drone around its axis, while the right controls lateral movement. There are two control wheels that adjust camera tilt and set digital zoom, plus two customizable buttons on the rear. The controller also has a toggle switch to change between Cinema (C), Normal (N), and Sport (S) speeds; just remember that the obstacle sensors are disabled in Sport mode.
Cinema mode ramps down the maximum speed, making it easier to make slow, precise movements. Normal is the default and offers a zippy response and maximum speed of around 33mph in my test flights with obstacle braking. Sport disables the obstacle sensors but ups the top speed to around 47mph; I didn't get the drone to fly that fast in my tests—still, I see a zippy 42mph in my flight logs.
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Finally, there's a combination Pause/Return to Home button—tap it to stop the drone in its tracks and hover, and hold it down to engage an automated return and landing to the launch point.
The screen, either the RC-2's built-in display or a phone attached to the RC-N3, shows a live view through the camera and uses a touch interface to let you change capture modes, start and stop video recording, take a picture, and navigate the menu system. All and all, it's a traditional control scheme and makes the drone easy to fly. It's not quite as whiz-bang cool as the FPV goggles and motion controllers that some drones like the DJI Avata 2 and Antigravity A1 use, but I don't see anything wrong with the tried-and-true approach.
The Air 3S is rated for use in 26.8mph winds, and its motors are strong enough to fight against strong gusts. Many 249g drones offer similar wind resistance but don't fly as fast, so they slow down more noticeably in a headwind. For instance, both the Antigravity A1 and the Potensic Atom 2 struggled and issued high-wind warnings in their apps when flying on days with around 10mph wind and 15 to 17mph gusts.
DJI puts its full array of automated camera movements into the Air 3S. It includes QuickShots for orbits, corkscrews, pull-back reveals, and others, and MasterShots, a mode that runs a few different flight paths in succession. It also has ActiveTrack subject tracking, which follows an object as it moves, a waypoint mode that can run through the same flight path repeatedly, and a Cruise Control option that keeps the drone moving at a constant speed so you can concentrate on camera moves. Hyperlapse, panoramic imaging, and 2.7K vertical recording are also included.
The obstacle detection system has three modes. It can be set to simply brake and stop in place when it sees an obstruction, or to a Standard or Nifty Advanced Pilot Assistance System (APAS 5.0), which adjusts the flight path to go around obstacles. The Standard mode is more reliable and conservative, while Nifty takes more risks for more dynamic footage, so it's a good idea to use it in less cluttered spaces. Both modes slow the drone down, but since you're more likely to use them for low-to-the-ground flights, they still make for dramatic, dynamic video.
Camera System: Dual Lenses With SDR, HDR, and D-Log Color
DJI is generations ahead of other drone brands in video and imaging, and while the Air 3S isn't its marquee cinema drone, it's quite capable. Both of its cameras support H.265 video with 10-bit color and a standard (SDR), HDR HLG, or flat D-Log M color profile at up to 4K60 resolution, plus have a 4K120 slow-motion mode. The latter captures footage at 120fps but slows it to 4K30 in-camera for a quarter-speed slow-motion effect.
You can opt for H.264 if you prefer; the color sampling drops down to 8-bit quality for SDR footage (it's still 10-bit for HDR HLG and D-Log M), and 120fps isn't available, but the footage requires a less powerful system for editing. If you want more than that, you can step up to the Mavic 4 Pro Creator Combo, which supports 6K60 with 10-bit ALL-I H.264 encoding, a format that results in very large file sizes, but compresses each frame individually for better overall quality. You may also want to try and track down a Mavic 3 Pro Cine; it's no longer in production, but it is the only folding drone to date with support for Apple ProRes 422 compression.
The standard profile delivers pleasing, natural colors and looks good on both SDR and HDR displays. HLG is a good option for content that you want to deliver to HDR screens, but it can look dim and show color shifts when viewed on an SDR monitor. D-Log M records with low contrast and color saturation, so you need to apply color correction in the editing room to make the video pop. The neutral starting point is desirable, however, because you can apply a creative look for stylized color, and better adjust contrast and exposure for tricky scenes.
The Air 3S's stills are just as impressive as its video. Both of its cameras use Quad Bayer sensors with high resolution support (50MP for the 24mm lens, 48MP for the 70mm) or 12MP output in either ready-to-share 8-bit JPG or editable 12-bit Raw DNG formats. Neither lens has an adjustable aperture, but you can add an ND filter if you want to try for long exposures that blur moving subjects or video with a slower, cinematic shutter speed for motion that looks like it's out of a Hollywood movie.
The dual-lens arrangement opens up some creative possibilities that you don't get with smaller, single-lens drones. The wide lens gets you the epic, sweeping landscape shots that are nearly synonymous with drone video and photos. The 70mm telephoto has a narrower angle of view so photos have a more compressed look—it's useful for creative shots, as well as real estate photos and industrial inspections.
(Credit: Jim Fisher)Put it all together, and the Air 3S is simply one of the most capable camera drones in its class, and certainly the most versatile you'll get for the price. The Mavic 4 Pro better fits into cinema production workflows thanks to its 6K recording, but it does a bit more with a triple-lens arrangement and a 360-degree spinning gimbal, and it costs an arm and a leg. The basic version is $2,999, and the Creator Combo is $4,999. The DJI Mini 5 Pro is a good alternative for less; it starts at $759 and includes a single-lens camera with the same specs as the Air 3S's 24mm. I haven't tested it, but it looks great on paper.