DJI introduced the launch of the DJI Mini 4 Professional in the present day, and it lastly presents freshmen essentially the most important security options — most notably omnidirectional impediment avoidance. The Mini 4 Professional is simple to fly and attainable to get your arms on given its reasonably priced value level beginning at about $750.
When the DJI Mini 3 Professional dropped final 12 months, we known as it the very best drone for freshmen but. The brand new DJI Mini 4 Professional is not any totally different: sharp picture high quality, extremely small and light-weight, simple to get arrange and within the air, and, now, even safer to fly.
Most important is the truth that it has what’s arguably the No. 1 security function each drone pilot ought to have: omnidirectional impediment avoidance–a primary for the Mini Sequence. (Extra on why this is a wonderful new addition later).
Some extra upgrades are in video capturing, clever options, computerized flight, and video transmission.
Among the many different highlights of the DJI Mini 4 Professional:
- Weights lower than 249 grams
- 4k/60fps, 4k/100fps, Night time Mode
- True Vertical Capturing
- ActiveTrack 360°
- 34-minute flight time (or extra)
- 20km max transmission
Study extra in regards to the latest drone within the Mini Sequence, extra of those standout options in my evaluate, and guided to the DJI Mini 4 Professional right here:
Omnidirectional impediment sensing on the DJI Mini 4 Professional
One of many largest upgrades from the earlier Mini line is Omnidirectional Impediment Sensing, that means it’s extra ‘crashproof’ than any of its predecessors. (The Mini 3 has Tri-Directional Impediment Sensing).
Beforehand, the shortage of omnidirectional sensing was a serious distinction between the Mini and Air collection. The Mini 4 Professional not has any blindspots, and whereas DJI gained’t outright name it crash-proof, that is just about as shut as you may get.
The Mini 4 Professional presents consciousness detections in all instructions. With omnidirectional impediment sensing, you’ll be able to plan your flight route and bypass obstacles, reaching smoother and extra secure monitoring.
DJI Mini 4 Professional’s impediment avoidance system isn’t just about seeing objects; it additionally actively avoids them. That is performed through the use of APAS 5.0, which routinely generates a brand new path to bypass obstacles easily.
Moreover, superior RTH (return to dwelling) means that you can ship the drone dwelling safely, supplying you with peace of thoughts figuring out that your drone will return safely even if you’re not actively flying it.
Because the Mini collection is good for freshmen, the addition of omnidirectional impediment sensing is large. I do know if I used to be planning to spend money on my first drone, I’d need the piece of thoughts that I’d have a really arduous time crashing the drone.
The DJI Mini 4 Professional offers you peace of thoughts each time you fly.
O4 video transmission and slow-motion
One other big purpose to improve to the Mini 4 Professional over the Mini 3 is O4 Video Transmission, the next-generation O4 video transmission system that gives a transmission distance of as much as 20 km. O4 Video Transmission was an epic addition to the DJI Air 3 drone, which launched in August 2024 — albeit at a far greater value level than what we’ve on the Mini 4 Professional.
It’s fairly beneficiant to see DJI’s O4 tech being applied in DJI’s most entry-level drone. The sooner fashions throughout the Mini line had been far much less highly effective. The DJI Mini 3 was outfitted with an O2 transmission, which delivered a 720p/30fps stay feed from as much as simply 10 km away. The DJI Mini 3 Professional did one higher by offering upgraded O3 transmission, however it’s spectacular that DJI would put its latest tech into its most entry-level drone.
With the clever function, Waypoint Flight, you’ll be able to set an computerized route whereas minimizing operation fatigue with Cruise Management for long-distance, steady-state flights.
If you’re an motion photographer trying to decelerate the motion for dramatic impact, the DJI Mini 4 Professional has an improve you might be positive to like: the digital camera now permits for 4K video capturing at as much as 100fps. That’s a pleasant improve from its predecessor, the Mini 3 Professional, which provided 4K at simply 60fps.
The capturing in gradual movement was once more one thing that set aside the Mini from the Air collection, however not any longer. Now you can instantly report a 4x slow-motion video. For people who’d in any other case attempt to edit their video into slow-mo in post-production, it is a big time saver.
Given the mixture of gradual movement and ActiveTrack 360°, you’ll be able to monitor a fast-moving object, say a jetski, and movie in gradual movement. That would make for some fairly epic video popping out of what’s in any other case a fairly entry-level drone.
Good capturing modes
The Mini 4 Professional presents three intuitive strategies for capturing photographs which DJI calls Highlight, Level of Curiosity, and ActiveTrack 360°. These are all good capturing modes we’ve seen earlier than within the Mini Sequence — however this time round they’ve gotten efficiency upgrades.
ActiveTrack 360° permits customers to bypass obstacles and obtain smoother, extra secure monitoring.
You’ll be capable to decide a topic and the drone will comply with it round. The system has tremendously improved accuracy and may rapidly auto-recognize and re-plan the monitoring route after dropping the topic.
With the omnidirectional impediment sensing and the upgrades to ActiveTrack 360°, one thing tells me we’ll quickly discover the DJI Mini 4 Professional on Drone Lady’s checklist of the very best follow-me drones.
Different Clever options on the DJI Mini 4 Professional embrace:
- MasterShots: Delivers dynamic digital camera motion templates tailor-made for portrait, close-up, and long-range photographs, making certain you nail each shot
- QuickShots: Supplies Dronie, Circle, Helix, Rocket, Boomerang, and Asteroid strikes for extra fashion outcomes
- Hyperlapse: Supplies Free, Waypoint, Circle, and Course Lock modes with limitless capturing time and helps compositing whereas capturing
- Panorama: Helps capturing 180, Vast Angle, Vertical, and Sphere panoramic images to seize landscapes
Tremendous gentle and small design (below 249 grams!)
The Mini 4 Professional stays true to its identify, as it’s really mini. The Mini 4 Professional shares the identical compact modern design because the Mini 3 Professional. And there are fairly just a few benefits to smaller-size drones.
Drones below 250 grams are a giant deal. Weighing below 249 grams exempts drones from many types of regulation, notably, they don’t have to be registered with the FAA for leisure operations and don’t have to be Distant ID compliant.
Many nations classify drones primarily based on their weight and construct extra rules or restrictions primarily based on that. Usually, the bigger the drone, the extra regulation it’s topic to. In lots of nations, together with the U.S., drones weighing below 249g don’t have to be registered.
Additionally, smaller drones are on the whole safer. Most consultants agree that smaller drones are usually safer for a easy purpose: the impression generated by a tiny drone is inherently a lot smaller than an even bigger drone, ought to it crash.
And eventually, as any frequent traveler is aware of, smaller means extra space for all of your journey necessities and fewer want for a checked bag. The modern foldable design makes the Mini 4 Professional a wonderful journey companion.
34 minutes of flight time (and 45 minutes, sort of)
This drone presents a formidable 34 minutes of flight time with a single cost. Just like the Mini 3 Professional, the arms and propellers have considerably enhanced the drone’s aerodynamic efficiency setting it other than different Mini drones when it comes to flight period.
However why have 34 minutes of flight time when you’ll be able to have 45? DJI has launched a specialised battery, the “Clever Flight Battery Plus” accessible at an additional price. This superior battery extends the flight time to a most of 45 minutes on a single cost.
Needless to say the improved batteries are heavier. Choosing the “Plus” model will push the drone’s weight past 249 grams. When you’re in an space the place rules apply to drones weighing 250 grams or extra, compliance with the regulation is critical, which incorporates drone registration within the U.S.
A better have a look at the Mini 4 Professional digital camera system
The Mini 4 Professional shares most of the identical digital camera specs because the Mini 3 Professional, with a view of notable upgrades. Listed below are some extra DJI Mini 4 digital camera specs:
- A 1/1.3-inch CMOS digital camera sensor with twin native ISO: This implies footage from both digital camera may be filled with wealthy coloring and pure lighting transitions.
- Aperture: f/1.7, which is good for low-light and nighttime efficiency
- Excessive-quality seize: It shoots photographs at as much as 48MP and video at as much as 4k/60fps
- Digital video zoom: It’s accessible as much as 2x in 4k, as much as 4x
- HDR Video recording: Out there in 4k/60fps
- Night time Photographs video: Delivers clear, cleaner footage in low-light situations
The Mini 4 Professional presents superior management by means of 10-bit D-Log M recording, offering entry to a variety of colours. HLG maintains pure colours and brightness throughout numerous platforms resulting from its excessive dynamic vary. Seize wonderful particulars with 48 RAW and SmartPhoto know-how, a mix of HDR imaging and scene recognition, leading to compelling photographs.
The gimbal redesign for TikTok stays
Between the interval after DJI launched its personal built-in, brushless gimbals till the time of the DJI Mini 3 Professional, gimbals didn’t are inclined to obtain a ton of consideration. However with the Mini 3 Professional, we noticed a whole redesign that allowed for not simply conventional horizontal video however enabled tilt-up photographs and vertical capturing. The DJI Mini 4 Professional retains the identical redesign.
Vertical capturing is the kind of capturing that most individuals are aware of taking by way of their smartphones –and what you see on the TikTok and Instagram reels.
To movie vertically along with your DJI Mini 4 Professional, merely press a button to rotate the digital camera 90 levels for True Vertical Capturing. This provides you images and movies in portrait orientation without having to zoom in or crop your authentic picture, as you beforehand needed to.
If you’re a TikTok or Reels content material creator trying so as to add a drone to your filming repertoire, the true vertical capturing function on the Mini 3 Professional — and now the Mini 4 Professional — is a should.
Is the DJI Mini 4 Professional price it?
The addition of Omnidirectional Impediment Sensing and O4 Video Transmission are main additions to the Mini Sequence. With the Mini 4, it seems like DJI curated the options and specs excellent for individuals trying to buy their first drone (though I like to recommend working towards on a low-cost toy drone in case you’re model new).
Certain, you’ll make some tradeoffs in selecting this drone over a higher-end Mavic 3. And also you’ll pay greater than you’ll for the Mini 2 or Mini 3 — however you might be getting a considerably safer drone and significantly better video footage.
At below $1,000 and mainly crash-free, the Mini 4 Professional is unquestionably price it for comparatively new drone pilots, social media content material creators, vacationers, and extra. And now with the addition of O4 tech, the DJI Mini 4 Professional is even a wide variety for a lot of varieties of skilled photographers who don’t want all of the options of the DJI Mavic 3.
DJI continues to pack so many options into such a small dimension and a formidable value.
The Mini 4 Professional presents numerous totally different configurations when it comes to pricing and packages. Here’s a nearer have a look at what every bundle contains:
DJI Mini 4 Professional (DJI RC-N2) ($759): one drone, a DJI RC-N2 Distant Controller, an Clever Flight Battery, a pair of Propellers (Screws Included), a Screwdriver, a Gimbal Protector, and a Propeller Holder
DJI Mini 4 Professional (DJI RC 2) ($959): one drone, a DJI RC 2 Distant Controller, a Clever Flight Battery, a pair of Propellers (Screws Included), a Screwdriver, a Gimbal Protector, and a Propeller Holder
DJI Mini 4 Professional Fly Extra Combo (DJI RC 2) ($1,099): one drone, a DJI RC 2 Distant Controller, three Clever Flight Battery, three pairs of Propellers (Screws Included), a Screwdriver, a Gimbal Protector, a Propeller Holder, a DJI Mini Shoulder Bag, and the Two-Manner Charging Hub.
DJI Mini 4 Professional Fly Extra Combo Plus (DJI RC 2) ($1,159): one drone, a DJI RC 2 Distant Controller, three Clever Flight Battery Plus, three pairs of Professional Propellers (Screws Included), a Screwdriver, a Gimbal Protector, a Propeller Holder, a Shoulder Bag, and the Two-Manner Charging Hub.
