DJI Mini 3 Pro is a 249-gram miracle of a professional drone. It’s easily the best mini-folding drone DJI has ever produced, and yet my favorite part of the $ 909 / £ 859 / $ 1,299 package is the game-changing DJI RC.
The new remote control includes a 5.5-inch full-color, high-resolution display.
Before I tell you why I love this remote so much, it’s worth explaining that you’ll be paying for a DJI RC. You can order the DJI Mini 3 Pro for $ 669 / £ 639 / AU $ 989, which means you’ll get a drone, but without a remote (the drone works with DJI’s RC-N1, which doesn’t have a screen). If you want a drone and an RC-N1, it will cost you $ 759 / £ 709 / AU $ 1119. The package you want, I think, is $ 909, which includes the new DJI RC.
This is not the first shielded DJI remote. This was the discontinued DJI Smart Controller. At first glance, these two devices are quite similar (the same square shape, the same 5.5-inch display), but the lines are smoother than the light gray DJI RC and there are no antennas to expand.
(Image Credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Why love
To understand why I love this new remote so much, we need to go back to my first days of DJI drone flying. For almost every one of them, this is a marriage between my iPhone and the remote. Over the years, DJI has come up with different ways to provide smartphones of different sizes and route the cable from the remote to the phone’s data port / power supply.
Since they had to build it as universal, marriage is always a little awkward. DJI’s early drone remotes offered these training arms that you could unfold from the remote and then press against the edges of your phone. He looked and felt confused, but my iPhone never came out of place. However, passing the cable to them was a nightmare.
The remote DJI, presented with the DJI Mini 2 (RC-N1), is a significant improvement. The hands were gone, replaced by a fine spring clip at the top of the remote. Just pull it up, release the phone, and let the spring tension pull it back into place on the phone. This also made running the cable easier.
However, even with this remote, there were countless worries: Did I have the latest DJI software installed? As mobile editor and drone novice Tom Bedford recently noted, DJI tends to launch new applications for various drones. You just have to pay attention to which one you need to install.
Then there are the batteries. Most DJI drones actually take battery life, but I’ve always worried about getting enough juice in my iPhone. I was afraid that if my screen was dark, I would lose track of the drone.
A better way
(Image Credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
You can guess the obvious and significant benefit of DJI RC: There is no iPhone or smartphone of any kind.
I don’t need to connect the remote to Wi-Fi (unless I want to), find an app, or put the cables and smartphone in place. If I forget my iPhone, I could still fly a DJI Mini 3 Pro.
This is freedom.
This is easy to use.
This is funny.
None of this would have been true if DJI had not created a stellar drone remote control. Although heavier than previous remotes (and the ultra-lightweight DJI Mini 3 Pro), the DJI RC is a pleasure to hold. The metal joysticks (which you pull out the back and turn in the front) are perfectly positioned just above the screen, which is a smart location because my fingers never covered the display.
The front has a set of easy-to-reach controls for quickly taking a photo or starting or stopping video recording. Just below are the dials (one on each side). One allows you to control the orientation of the camera with a gimbal, and the other allows you to digitally enlarge the live image that the drone transmits to the remote.
There are also a pair of buttons for quick access to things like reorienting the camera forward or straight down, plus access to some of the other advanced camera settings (there are also customizable ones).
Between the joysticks there are buttons to return home and pause, power and a slider for flight mode. It’s a simple but sensible layout.
Although there were no visible antennas on the DJI RC’s remote control, it maintained perfect communication with the drone as it flew 400 feet above me and then more than a mile away.
(Image Credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
The 5.5-inch LCD screen is bright enough for direct viewing, but my son noticed that he couldn’t see what was happening, even though he was standing next to me. Not a problem for pilots, but not a screen for group viewing,
The touchscreen, which is also touch-sensitive, doesn’t require you to do much, as the remote automatically connects to the DJI Mini 3 Pro. When that was over, I just had to press “Go Fly” to go into the controls and see through the drone’s 4K camera.
I tap the screen to launch it, and I can swipe to access various controls.
I can also swipe twice from the top of the display to see what seems to be the basis of Android. It was in these settings that I entered my DJI account information and added Wi-Fi connectivity so I could download the latest firmware directly to the remote control and the drone.
I would expect the battery life to be less good with a full-size screen, but it easily lasts a few 30-minute flights.
If there is one caveat here, it would be that the lack of a direct connection to a smartphone limits your ability to download media. I can play photos and videos taken on the DJI Mini 3 Pro directly from the microSD card of the drone on the RC display. I can also download photos via DJI RC, but not videos. If I had a phone attached, I could download everything.
Yes, the DJI Mini 3 Pro is one of the best drones you can buy, and the one I loved to fly, but I have to say that the experience may not be so good without the DJI RC.
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