The Mavic Mini’s headline feature is its minuscule size, making it DJI’s smallest and exceptionally light folding-drone that’s “portable, easy to fly, designed for safety and perfect for everyone who wants to experience the fun of flying.”. However, it still manages to deliver many of the features found inside of DJI’s larger Mavic models.
What’s arguably more notable than the Mavic Mini’s size is its weight. It’s no accident that the Mavic Mini weighs in at 249g – just under the 250g limit where additional regulations for heavier drones kick in in many countries.

Diving into the specs, the DJI Mavic Mini features a 12MP 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor that can shoot 2.7K video at 30fps or 1080p video at up to 60fps. The camera is mounted onto a 3-axis motorized gimbal, and the removable Lithium-Ion battery promises 30 minutes of flight time on a single charge.
Although the video and photo specs aren’t quite as impressive as what you can get with a full-sized Mavic, that extra level of stability in flight will make a difference when it comes to capturing cinematic footage.

DJI has also designed the Mavic Mini to be as easy-to-fly as possible. Built-in WiFi and GPS allows you to control the drone from up to 2.5-miles away, DJI’s safety technology makes sure you don’t fly where you shouldn’t or run out of battery while flying, and downward-facing sensors keep an eye on the ground to enable “precise hovering, stable flying, and accurate landing.”

It doesn’t come with the obstacle avoidance features of some of DJI’s larger models, nor does it have quite as many options for Quickshots (pre-programmed flight maneuvers for cool photography), but that’s the pay-off for its trim, palm-of-your-hand sizing – plus it’s designed for fun, everyday use, not as an intense aerial imaging workhorse.

As DJI president Roger Luo says, “Most importantly, it’s easy to fly, no matter your experience level with drones.”

The Mavic Mini uses DJI’s new app, DJI Fly, for remote control. DJI Fly promises to make the process of flying a drone and capturing images simpler and more accessible to pilots, particularly beginners. During our hands-on time with the Mavic Mini the Fly app was still a pre-production version, so we weren’t able to demo all of the forthcoming features.

The new app will feature tutorials to help new pilots pick up tips and tricks for flying as well as pre-set editing templates for footage. The app allows users to fly in Position mode for the most basic operation, Sport mode (designed for folks with a little more experience with drones) or CineSmooth mode, which extends braking time for footage with a more cinematic look. There will also be a number of the DJI-standard pre-programmed QuickShot modes like Rocket, Circle, Drone, and Helix.

Preorders for the Mavic Mini begin October 30 starting at $400. That will get you the Mavic Mini, one battery, extra propellers, and necessary tools and wires. For $500, you can get the Fly More Combo which includes everything in the basic package as well as 360-degree propellor cages, a two-way charging hub, three total batteries, even more extra propellers, and a carrying case. Everything starts shipping November 11, just in time for the holiday drone gifting season.

More info on DJI’s website.