DJI - Air 2S

Your iPhone won't overheat. If you're using the variant without the screen, the remote is doing all the heavy lifting and not stressing your antenna chips on the phone. Personally, I would recommend going with current gen drones, Mini 4, Air 3, Air 3S, Neo, Avata 2. If you go down a generation, the only drone I would recommend is the Air 2S, or Mini 4K. But their remotes are NOT compatible with any forward generation of drones. Tariffs, and price gouging is affecting drones across the board with imports being blocked, and you'll unfortunately have to suffice with third party if you live in the US as you will very unlikely clear customs with overseas import buying new. You'd have to Ebay, or use like Adorama. Air 3S is being scalped for 2K+ (supply & demand really), and Air 3 non S variants are still within reasonable prices including screened remote 1100-1400. Mini 4's is increasing in price significantly these last few weeks, floating around 1K+ $300 over MSRP. You won't be able to find a Mavic 3 Pro or Mavic 3 anywhere either, unless you just buy the drone itself.

100 percent this. I have recently upgraded to a 3 Pro from an Air2S and I am unbelievably impressed with certain aspects of the drone, but I think my old Air2S could handle 85 percent of the high paying work I do with my new one. The Airs are a fantastic balance of price and power.

A strong underrated fairly cheap drone now is air 2s. They have a great camera and can handle a good amount of wind. Much more than the mini 4 pro.

I still use an air 2, haven’t found a reason to upgrade.

Depends on your country. In the US? Good grief just get whatever drone you want and pay $5 to register it. That's it, you're done for three years when it'll have to be registered again for $5. You can fly it in all the same places you can fly a less than 250g drone. The Air 2, 2s, 3 or soon 3s is so much better than a mini. You don't need a part 107 certificate unless you are using the drone to make money. And if you are using it to make money, the weight of the mini drone is now irrelevant and you need the part 107 anyhow. Don't be stupid and fly it where you aren't supposed to and nobody will ever give you grief (except ugly women, they'll accuse you of spying on them any chance they get - my new response to them is to let them know they can complain to the FAA about a legal drone flight taking place in unrestricted air by a certified drone pilot (don't lie if you don't have a part 107 certificate though)). Not in the US? Get a mini. Those sub 250g laws are pretty restrictive from what I understand.

Depends on your country. In the US? Good grief just get whatever drone you want and pay $5 to register it. That's it, you're done for three years when it'll have to be registered again for $5. You can fly it in all the same places you can fly a less than 250g drone. The Air 2, 2s, 3 or soon 3s is so much better than a mini. You don't need a part 107 certificate unless you are using the drone to make money. And if you are using it to make money, the weight of the mini drone is now irrelevant and you need the part 107 anyhow. Don't be stupid and fly it where you aren't supposed to and nobody will ever give you grief (except ugly women, they'll accuse you of spying on them any chance they get - my new response to them is to let them know they can complain to the FAA about a legal drone flight taking place in unrestricted air by a certified drone pilot (don't lie if you don't have a part 107 certificate though)). Not in the US? Get a mini. Those sub 250g laws are pretty restrictive from what I understand.

I still think that the Air 2S is the best drone for your money. Yeah, it's a little older but it's still worth the buy. It handles wind great, it's got a one inch sensor, and you get great looking pictures, and obstacles avoidance, plus a lot more.  That's my preferred drone until the Air 3S comes out. Blue skies 

Had the air 2s for the past two years and never had any trouble with the legality side of it

why can't you buy a used air 2 on ebay? Or get the air 3 because mini 4 pro isn't as good in the wind.

Anything in the DJi Mini series for hobbyist use. I have a DJi Air 2S that I travel with extensively but it is significantly bigger and heavier than the Minis.

Hey all. Had an irrecoverable flyaway event with my old dji air2. Stuck with extra batteries, blades, sticks, and controller. A replacement model is roughly $500, an air 2s is compatible with all my old stuff but those replacements are like $700-800. Now I’m researching all new drones and think it’d be smart just to snag a mini 4 pro fly more combo at ~$1099. Since it’s a significant step up in capability compared to the air 2 and 2s. I don’t want to go more expensive than that though. Input from others? I am skeptical of the minis in windy conditions. I liked how resilient my air2 was in high winds. Also, if I get the mini 4 pro, any advice on selling my kit from my air2? Figure I could let it all go for like $120 on marketplace or eBay. My use case is mostly over ocean for footage of wild life or my friends and I surfing (we hand off the controller, we’re not surfing AND flying) Or over sheer cliffs for footage of friends and I climbing. Nothing professional. Just raw stills from unique angles. I would like to have something that is a bit more capable in motion and the omnidirectional obstacle avoidance is appealing in the M4P too.

Hey all. Had an irrecoverable flyaway event with my old dji air2. Stuck with extra batteries, blades, sticks, and controller. A replacement model is roughly $500, an air 2s is compatible with all my old stuff but those replacements are like $700-800. Now I’m researching all new drones and think it’d be smart just to snag a mini 4 pro fly more combo at ~$1099. Since it’s a significant step up in capability compared to the air 2 and 2s. I don’t want to go more expensive than that though. Input from others? I am skeptical of the minis in windy conditions. I liked how resilient my air2 was in high winds. Also, if I get the mini 4 pro, any advice on selling my kit from my air2? Figure I could let it all go for like $120 on marketplace or eBay. My use case is mostly over ocean for footage of wild life or my friends and I surfing (we hand off the controller, we’re not surfing AND flying) Or over sheer cliffs for footage of friends and I climbing. Nothing professional. Just raw stills from unique angles. I would like to have something that is a bit more capable in motion and the omnidirectional obstacle avoidance is appealing in the M4P too.

Thats why I posted this, I wanted input from someone who's used the mini 4 pro to get a gauge on how well it performed in windy conditions compared to the heavier systems. When I first bought my air2, I didn't think I'd be able to use it in high winds then it surprised me with how well it actually did, so I'm looking for advice on how well the mini actually does in the wind. Wind performance is my deciding factor, if the mini 4 pro gets knocked around in small gusts and gets poor footage then I don't want it. If its more robust than that then great. Air2/2S con: They're older systems and don't have omni directional obstacle avoidance. These limitations kept me on specific use cases for the drone. The price difference is minimal between the 2S and the mini 4 pro \~$200 for fairly substantial upgrades. Air 3 is off the table because its just as expensive as the mini 4 pro, capabilities are worse and none of the equipment I already have would work with it. Its only upside is wind performance. mini 4 pro...con: Price, none of my current gear works with it, and potentially the wind effect. I've never used one so idk how the wind would impact it.

air 2s, 1 inch sensor 5.4k best image around

If you like zoom lenses Air 3. Its such a sick drone. I have the fly more. My buddy just bought the same one. If the zoom lens didnt exist Id probably have done the mini 4 pro. The Air 3 has great range and does incredible in high winds, way more quiet than I was expecting as well. Highly recommend getting the controller with the built in screen. Its a game changer Previously Ive had the Air, and Air 2

Air 2s ... mini 2 if learning to fly. They tend to bounce more .... worst you'll probably have to do is replace the blades