DJI Air 3S Review

The DJI Air 3S is one of DJI's most situationally aware drones to date, with dependable omnidirectional obstacle sensing in both day and nighttime circumstances made possible through an array of visual, infrared, and LiDAR sensors. The Air 3S is a dual-camera drone, making it extremely versatile and capable when capturing 4k video or up to 50 MP stills.

Image Quality

The DJI Air 3S carries a two-camera payload, a primary wide-angle camera equipped with a one-inch CMOS sensor and a medium tele camera with a 1/1.3 inch CMOS sensor. The primary camera's larger sensor allows it to capture more light and results in ultra crisp details, large dynamic range, and ideal low-light performance. The medium tele camera is a dedicated long-focus camera solution, allowing the Air 3S to zoom up to 3x optically and still capture lossless 4k video and zoom up to 9x digitally. This pair of cameras allows the Air 3S to capture unique and distinct perspectives efficiently, making it an ideal drone for many disciplines, especially travel photography.

The dual-camera payload of the DJI Air 3S is stabilized by a three-axis gimbal that has a massive vertical tilt range of 150 degrees, ranging from -90 degrees looking straight down, all the way up to 60 degrees. The gimbal movement sensitivity changes as you adjust flight modes, with Cine Mode being the slowest and smoothest, Sport Mode being the fastest and twitchiest, and Normal Mode being a sweet spot in the middle that's fairly quick but still smooth. The Air 3S consistently impressed us throughout testing, capturing high clarity video and stills in low-light, direct sunlight, and everything in between. The stability of the Air 3S also plays a large role in its ability to capture smooth, stable footage.

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Flight Performance

When unfolded for flight, the DJI Air 3S measures just over 15 inches diagonally, making it one of the larger drones in our testing lineup. The larger size helps the Air 3S fly with superior stability, making it very consistent and predictable in flight. When taking off, hovering, and landing, the Air 3S remains consistently stable and in control, maintaining composure even in windy conditions. It's especially responsive and predictable compared to most other drones in our testing lineup. The three distinct flight modes can be adjusted on the fly, and they really do make meaningful and noticeable differences at the flight sticks, allowing you to go from slow but smooth and fluid flight movements in Cine Mode to snappy, slash-like movements in Sport Mode.

Flying the DJI Air 3S with its sophisticated array of sensors inspires confidence and precision, allowing pilots to focus on getting the shot they're after, knowing that the Air 3S will keep itself safe from a collision. It's the first DJI drone to feature forward-facing LiDAR, paired with several other infrared and visual sensors, which make up its omnidirectional vision sensing system. In testing, we found the front and back obstacle avoidance of the Air 3S to be extremely reliable. The side-to-side performance is dependable, but not perfect. There were a few circumstances when we really tried to cause a collision, and we could force it to happen, though if you're not intentionally trying to crash like we were, you probably don't have to worry about it. Keep in mind that when flying in Sport Mode, obstacle sensing is disabled.

Portability

The foldable DJI Air 3S is quite portable for being a larger, extremely stable drone. It measures just over 15 inches diagonally when unfolded for flight, but folds down to just under eight inches for transport. Although the Air 3S does not come with a case, it does include a plastic gimbal guard that captures and immobilizes the gimbal when installed, as well as covers it for safe transportation.

The propellers of the DJI Air 3S fold down and do not need to be removed for transportation. The included DJI RC-N3 Controller has removable joysticks that can be stored along the bottom of the controller in two small recesses, making it a convenient flat rectangle shape for no-fuss transport. We loved the DJI controllers, like the RC-N3, that include perfect-length cables to connect your Apple or Android phone to the controller for flight. These cables also conveniently tuck into the controller for transport, so you don't have to worry about remembering a small cable the next time that you want to fly.

Usability

Flying the DJI Air 3S requires connection to a device that can run the DJI Fly App, ideally a phone that fits in the controller's clamp, but tablet devices can be used as well. Due to security concerns, the DJI Fly App is not available in the Google Play Store and must be downloaded directly from DJI's website onto Android devices. On Apple devices, we were able to download directly from the App Store at the time of testing. The DJI Fly App interface is very user-friendly and does a great job of guiding you through features and adjustments, with settings that are easily accessible and easy to understand. Overall, the DJI App and their drones are the most polished and geared towards creative users, with simplicity and utility in mind.

In our return to home testing, the DJI Air 3S delivered acceptable results, landing within six inches of its original takeoff point. We used a three-foot diameter landing pad in our testing, and six inches still gave the Air 3S plenty of margin for error on the landing pad. It doesn't have propeller guards, but with its folding propellers and omnidirectional obstacle sensing, the Air 3S feels quite safe to fly, and we didn't have any issues with propeller strikes or damage during testing. We loved being able to access the local and SD card storage of the Air 3S without having to power on the drone, unlike some other units in our testing lineup. The Air 3S feels well thought out from a usability perspective and is ultimately a convenient and powerful drone for creators.

Should You Buy the DJI Air 3S?

The DJI Air 3S is by no means a cheap drone, and with an MSRP of just over $1,000, it is not for everyone. That being said, we feel that the Air 3S justifies its price if you're looking for a highly capable drone with steady flight capability, good wind resistance, long battery life, and extremely impressive subject tracking. Professionals and hobbyists interested in capturing high-quality, smooth 4k video or high-resolution 50 MP photos will not be disappointed by the Air 3S.

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