DJI’s newest premium drone has landed. Keep reading to learn how the Mavic 4 Pro compares to last year’s Mavic 3 Pro.
The Mavic 3 Pro earned a glowing five out of five stars from our reviewer when it launched in 2023, with the three-camera payload making it the best choice on the market for serious aerial photographers and videographers wanting a drone that can fold compactly for travel and taking out to shoot.
Unsurprisingly, the Mavic 4 Pro impressed us just as much – if not more – with its superb set of cameras, flexible gimbal and long battery life, among other features.
Scroll down to learn more about how the Mavic 4 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro compare.
Price
The Mavic 4 Pro was unveiled on May 13, with prices starting at £1879/€2099 for the drone alone or £2459/€2699 for the Fly More Combo, which includes the DJI RC 2, two additional Intelligent Flight batteries and more accessories.
The drone will not be available in the US from launch, likely due to the tariffs, but DJI has stated that it is “closely monitoring the situation and actively exploring every possible solution”.
The Mavic 3 Pro had an RRP of £1879/$2139 when it launched in 2023, but you can currently find the camera and RC controller listed on Amazon for £1689 – nearly £200 less than the Mavic 4 Pro. The same goes for the Mavic 3 Pro Fly More combo, which currently starts at £2299.
The DJI Mavic 4 Pro has a more streamlined design
The DJI Mavic 4 Pro weighs 1063g while the Mavic 3 Pro weighs slightly less at 958g. This means that both drones are significantly heavier than 250g, resulting in them falling under tougher operating restrictions in the UK than sub-250g drones (such as the DJI Mini 4 Pro). On the plus side, the larger size of these drones does lend them to better flight stability and higher battery capacity than smaller drones.
DJI Mavic 4 Pro
DJI Mavic 3 Pro
When it comes to the design, our reviewer noted that the Mavic 4 Pro felt more sleek and streamlined than the Mavic 3 Pro, which could aid in wind resistance and increase the flight speed.
He also noted that the drone now powers up automatically when unfolded, rather than waiting for the user to press a button. This saves a few seconds when preparing to fly the drone and makes the process feel smoother overall.
The DJI Mavic 4 Pro is better at detecting objects in the dark
One major upgrade that has arrived on the DJI Mavic 4 Pro is front-facing LiDAR. This feature works with six low-light vision sensors to improve object detection in the dark, making the drone’s obstacle-sensing vision system much more capable when flying at night.
DJI Mavic 4 Pro
DJI Mavic 3 Pro
Users can even view the feed from these low-light sensors in the corner of the controller display while in use. Low-light performance wasn’t a strong suit of the Mavic 3 Pro, so this is a huge improvement for the Mavic series.
The DJI Mavic 4 Pro can capture more camera angles
When it comes to camera performance, both the DJI Mavic 4 Pro and the DJI Mavic 3 Pro feature three cameras with three different focal lengths, giving you plenty of flexibility when shooting different scenes and subjects.
The Mavic 3 Pro features a 20-megapixel 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad camera with a 24mm equivalent length lens, a 48-megapixel 1/1.3-inch CMOS medium tele camera with a 70mm equivalent lens and a 12-megapixel ½-inch tele camera with a 166mm equivalent lens.
DJI Mavic 4 Pro
DJI Mavic 3 Pro
The Mavic 4 Pro, on the other hand, includes a 100-megapixel 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad camera with a 28mm equivalent lens, a 48-megapixel 1/1.3-inch CMOS medium tele camera with a 72mm equivalent lens and a 50-megapixel 1/1.5-inch CMOS tele camera with a 168mm equivalent lens.
While these sensor and lens combinations are similar, the Mavic 4 Pro offers improved RAW image quality and offers full D-Log colour up from D-Log M. The camera is also significantly more versatile thanks to the more flexible gimbal on the drone, making it better equipped at shooting 9:16 content for TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
The DJI Mavic 4 Pro has a longer battery life
Finally, the DJI Mavic 4 Pro has a longer battery life compared to its predecessor, allowing it to stay in the air for longer and capture more footage between charges.
DJI Mavic 4 Pro
DJI Mavic 3 Pro
The Mavic 3 Pro included a 5000 mAh battery that offered 43 minutes of max flight time and 37 minutes of max hovering time. The Mavic 4 Pro, on the other hand, has a larger 6654 mAh battery which offers an extended 51 minutes of max flight time and 45 minutes of max hovering time.
Early verdict
The DJI Mavic 4 Pro is a clear improvement over the Mavic 3 Pro, particularly when it comes to battery life, low-light shooting and capturing content for social media.
The jump in image quality might not be dramatic enough to justify upgrading from the Mavic 3 Pro for those who already own the drone, but for anyone deliberating between the two, the Mavic 4 Pro delivers a solid number of upgrades for around £200 more.
