Image: DJIAs of the beginning of June, it is officially summer, and that means sunny days, perfect for taking the drone out for some fun or professional flying sessions.
But with DJIs drones becoming closer and closer in specs and now having multiple classes and families of drones, whats the best option?Were breaking this suggestion up into a few categories to give everyone of every use case a drone to get.
These will be Best of the Mavics, which includes the original three categories DJI had: Mini, Air, and full-size Mavic, Best Overall, Best Professional, Best Enthusiasts, and Best Beginner.Best of the MavicsBefore DJI went on to expand its drone offerings with the Neo and Flip, it originally had three options: Mavic, Mavic Air, and Mavic Mini.
DJI has since dropped the Mavic nomenclature for the Air and Mini series, but in our hearts, theyre still the Mavics.Currently, DJI is up to its third and fourth generations of drones for these families: the Mavic 4 Pro, Air 3S, and Mini 4 Pro.
Even with all the other options, 90% of potential use cases for anyone looking for a drone can be found here.Advertisement - scroll for more contentThe Mavic 4 Pro is the top-of-the-line offering with all the bells and whistles.
Its also the newest, being released this spring.
However, it carries a heavy price tag, and due to US tariffs and border scrutiny, it is unavailable for US buyers to purchase easily.
Its predecessor, the Mavic 3 Pro, is still listed for sale on DJIs website and can be found at third-party retailers, but in limited stock.Stepping down is the Air 3S, the second newest of the drones, which is available in the US and actually has plenty of features that later came to the Mavic 4 Pro.
The Air series has always been the best bang for your buck drone, with a lower price tag and enough cutting-edge features for professionals.Finally, we get to the oldest drone of the three, the Mini 4 Pro.
What was once the drone for beginners or low-skilled hobbyists has become a great contender to its bigger siblings.
Paired with being below the 250-gram weight limit of more intense FAA regulations, it makes for a great option.For the Best of the Mavics, we have to give it to the Air 3S.
While the Mavic 4 Pro has better features, its limited availability here in the States makes it a difficult suggestion.
Also a difficult suggestion is the Mini 4 Pro, which is expected to have a replacement as soon as later this year.Best BeginnerThis is where we have to introduce DJIs other two drone families into the mix, the Neo and Flip.
Both are well below the $1,000 price point, which makes them much easier gifts or first drone purchases.
DJI markets both towards beginners; however, they have very different use cases.The DJI Neo is what the community has classified as a flying camera.
A term coined when Snapchat launched the ill-fated Pixy drone, as it didnt want it to be called a drone.
DJI is the opposite; this is very much a drone that is just smaller, lighter, and designed to be used primarily with a phone or hand gestures.
However, it does have support for DJIs RC-N3 controller.
It features a small but usable 1/2-inch sensor that can capture up to 4K/30 video.The DJI Flip is a foldable, compact drone that could be seen as the new budget Mini drone.
Having the exact same camera on paper as the Mini 4 Pro, you can end up with almost exactly the same built drone for about $400 less.
What you wont get? True vertical video, which is currently only on the Mini 4 Pro and Mavic 4 Pro.So for beginners, the best drone you can buy for them or yourself is easily the DJI Flip.
For as low as $439, you can find yourself an extremely capable and easy-to-fly drone to get your feet wet, and if you wish, get started with some small gigs.Best EnthusiastsNext on the evolution tier of drone pilots are the enthusiasts.
Those that want the best bang for their buck and drones that have as many bells and whistles as possible.
This is also the start of those looking to get started with drone gigs to hopefully make a return on their hobby.Since weve already gone over all of DJIs droneswell, almostwell get right into it.
As stated previously, the Air series has always served this segment of pilots well, and it continues to do so with the Air 3S.
With no replacement in the rumor mill yet, I expect this to continue being one of the more popular drones in the community for the time being.Best ProfessionalThis is where we get to acknowledge that the Inspire line of drones exists.
Because honestly, unless youre doing this for a living and your clients require the extra codecs that the Inspire drone supports, then you have no need to pay the amount of a really nice used car for this drone.The current model of DJIs professional drone is the Inspire 3, a massive drone that sounds almost like a helicopter when it takes off.
Its camera can capture up to 8K footage with the option of shooting in CinemaDNG or Apple ProRes Raw with the add-on license.
Flight time can be a pain; the size and noise are not ideal for quick and easy use, but youre a professional, probably part of a crew, and could likely handle it.However, the $16,000 price tag and completely unnecessary features for even most professionals make it a hard sell.The best professional DJI drone is in a weird spot; usually, we would just suggest the Mavic 4 Pro or Mavic 3 Pro, but both are hard to find.
So for now, our suggestion is to get the best drone you can, which could be a Mavic 4 Pro, a Mavic 3 Pro, or even an Air 3S.
All three capture great footage and feature the medium telephoto camera, which, in my opinion, creates the most professional-looking footage.Best OverallNow that weve gone over all of DJIs drones, what is the best overall without worrying about what the use case is? This is difficult because the use case matters so much in which drone you should get.
But DJI and U.S.
Customs and Border Protection have made it pretty easy on us this year.In our opinion, the best DJI drone of summer 2025 is the Air 3S.
Yup, if youve read this whole article, this has probably sounded pretty repetitive, but with the Mavic 4 Pros availability in the US still in question and the low stock of the Mavic 3 Pro, the Air 3S still shines as the best bang for the buck drone DJI makes.Honorable Mention Just for funIt felt almost wrong to leave out both of DJIs FPV drones from our list.
With FPV drone shots becoming more and more popular in commercials and commercial marketing, they could have had a place in the Best Professional segment.
But really, most drone work is still done with the traditional camera drones on the market.DJI has two FPV drones, the Avata 2 and its original FPV drone.
Both are great, but the Avata 2 is just an extremely easy drone to fly and a fun drone to operate.
You dont even need to capture any footage with it; just putting on the goggles and flying it is joy enough.So if your purpose in flying a drone is to have fun, its hard not to suggest the Avata 2.
Even if you have no experience flying FPV drones, with the Motion controller youll be a pro in just a few minutes.
Just be careful flying around campsite pavilions, speaking from experience.FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.