DJI has officially unveiled the Air 3S, the company’s first new flying machine since the Neo beginner drone that launched in September.
The Air 3S builds on the success of the Air 3 and offers travelers a great way to capture aerial photos and footage from wherever their adventures take them. DJI’s newest quadcopter comes with a 1-inch-CMOS, 50-megapixel sensor with a 24mm lens capable of 4K/60 frames per second) fps HDR and 4K/120 fps video. It also features a 48-megapixel, 70mm medium telephoto lens with a 3x optical zoom.
The Air 3S comes with omnidirectional obstacle sensing via six vision sensors, and is the first DJI drone to feature forward-facing lidar. It also has new nightscape obstacle-sensing capability, enabling peace of mind when sending your quadcopter skyward in darker conditions.
The new foldable flying machine comes with DJI’s ActiveTrack 360-degree flight mode, ensuring that the subject remains in the frame, and also introduces a new Subject Focusing feature that keeps the subject in sharp focus during manual flight or when the subject moves off-center. DJI says the feature allows the pilot to concentrate on the creative aspects of perfecting a shot, such as composition and camera movement.
You’ll get a decent 45 minutes of flight time from a single charge of the swappable Air 3S battery, and any content you capture will go straight to the 42GB of built-in storage — the most found on any of DJI’s consumer drones.
“The DJI Air 3S takes our Air Series to new heights by offering professional features like dual primary cameras and omnidirectional obstacle sensing while retaining its light weight of just 724 grams (1.6 pounds) for boundless freedom and flexibility,” DJI executive Ferdinand Wolf said in a release. “The Air 3S is the perfect all-rounder for travel photography, capturing all your special moments during vacation while also providing safety and security if operating at night.”
The DJI Air 3S is available now via the company’s website and starts at $1,099 for the quadcopter only, while the Air 3S Fly More Combo, which offers extra accessories, costs $1,399. There’s also the Air 3S Fly More Combo with accessories and the DJI RC 2 controller, which will set you back $1,599.
