Air 3S: New DJI drone now official with upgraded cameras and improved obstacle detection
DJI's latest drone is now official, having been presented today during a 'Chase the View' launch event. As expected, the company has released the Air 3S, although it has not disclosed anything officially yet. Instead, The Verge has beat DJI to the punch by publishing its launch coverage in advance.
In short, DJI distinguishes the Air 3S from last year's Air 3 (curr. $1,549 on Amazon) through a series of camera hardware upgrades. On the one hand, DJI has replaced the 48 MP and 1/1.3-inch primary camera found in the Air 3 with a new higher resolution and larger sensor. Specifically, the Air 3S utilises a 1-inch type sensor as its primary camera that also outputs at 50 MP.
Moreover, while the Air 3S retains its predecessor's 48 MP telephoto camera (1/1.3-inch) that offers 3x optical zoom, both cameras achieve 14 f-stops of dynamic range. Theoretically, this should make the Air 3S a better option than the Air 3 when shooting in bright sunlight or as the sun is setting. On top of that, the Air 3S can shoot 4K videos at 60 FPS with HDR enabled or 120 FPS for a slow-motion effect.
Supposedly, improved compression algorithms help reduce resulting file sizes by up to 30%, which coincides with DJI expanding built-in storage from 8 GB to 42 GB while also retaining microSD card expansion. Furthermore, the Air 3S contains six cameras, a LiDAR scanner and an infrared ToF sensor for improved obstacle avoidance and providing accurate 'return to home' functionality even in low-light conditions. For reference, the drone should last up to 45 minutes between battery swaps, albeit perhaps only in ideal conditions with no wind and few obstacles.
The Air 3S will be orderable later today starting at £959, €1,099 and $1,099 with an RC-N3 remote controller. As always, DJI will offer various combo packages too, with different controllers and accessories. With that being said, it seems that the company has delayed the release of the rumoured RC Track, which is not mentioned once in The Verge's early launch coverage.
