10 best features of the DJI Mini 4 Pro
The DJI Mini 4 Pro is a drone weighing less than 249 grams, perfect for capturing quality content on the go.
In this article, we will take a look at the 10 best features of this drone.
The list includes:
- Under 249g
- HDR 4K/60fps
- Real vertical shots
- Night shots
- 10-bit D-Log M color mode
- Omnidirectional obstacle detection
- Updated video broadcast
- Smart features, such as ActiveTrack 360°, Waypoints and Advanced Return To Home.
Main features at a glance
Before we delve into the main features of the Mini 4 Pro, the table below provides an overview of the main specifications of the Mini 4 Pro.
Weight | Under 249g |
Flight time | 34 minutes |
Sensor | 1/1.3-inch CMOS Wide-Angle Camera True Vertical Shooting |
Effective pixels | 12MP/48MP |
Video | 4K/60fps HDR Slow Motion: 4K/100fps Night Shots Video |
Color profiles | 10-bit D-Log M, HLG, Normal |
Safety features | Omnidirectional Obstacle Sensing, APAS 5.0 |
Smart features | Tracking, including the new ActiveTrack 360°; Advanced RTH; Waypoint Flight; Cruise control. |
Shooting mode | MasterShots; QuickShots; Hyperlapse; Panorama; QuickTransfer; LightCut. |
Internal memory | 2GB |
Transmission | DJI O4: Up to 10km (CE) 1080p/60fps Live Feed |
Radio controls | DJI RC 2 smart controller with built-in screen; DJI RC-N2 – requires separate mobile device |
1: Size
Mini in name, mini in fact. The DJI Mini 4 Pro is tiny and this has several advantages.
Weighing less than 249g, this ultra-lightweight, foldable drone is the perfect travel companion, ideal for capturing content on the go.
Its aerodynamic frame also places it in the safest weight category.
As such, it is compliant with regulations! In the UK, the DJI Mini 4 Pro can be used in the A1 subcategory of the Open category. This allows it to fly over uninvolved people, but not over crowds, offering great freedom and operational flexibility.
Furthermore, as it meets the A1 subcategory criteria, pilots do not need to undertake drone training for use in many countries including Italy.
This makes the Mini 4 Pro a great entry-level drone, for pilots flying recreationally or commercially.
2: Updated camera
The DJI Mini 4 Pro has an updated camera system compared to its predecessors, allowing it to capture stunning shots, like this one.
It features a 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor with Dual Native ISO Fusion, f/1.7 aperture and 2.4μm 4-in-1 pixels.
Below are some of the main features of the camera.
Functionality | Function |
4K/60fps HDR Video | Preserve the natural wonder of every moment. 4K/60fps HDR lets you share the nuances of the sunset or sunrise in true-to-life quality. Enjoy high dynamic range, even at high bit rates. |
Slo-Mo 4K/100fps | Immerse your audience in every frame. The high resolution improves the clarity of videos, while the high frame rate makes videos smoother. |
Night Shots | The Mini 4 Pro supports night shooting at 4K/30fps, allowing direct output of stunning night shots. The Mini 4 Pro's improved Night Shots video noise reduction algorithm effectively suppresses noise and allows for clearer, cleaner footage in low-light conditions. |
True Vertical Shooting | The rotating gimbal enables vertical recording optimized for social media and playback on smartphones. Vertical shooting allows you to better capture vertical scenes, such as skyscrapers and waterfalls. |
Wide range inclination | The camera movement is extremely smooth thanks to the maximum tilt angle of 60°, which allows you to unleash greater cinematic potential and more creative possibilities. |
Next generation SmartPhoto | Preserve every detail with 48MP RAW format and next-generation SmartPhoto (supported with 12MP photos) that combines HDR imaging, scene recognition and more for stunning images. This generation of SmartPhoto selects different stack methods such as HDR/Hyperlight to adjust and optimize parameters specifically for the scene, to obtain photos with a higher dynamic range (up to 5 stops high) and achieve the effect of a long simulated exposure. The photodynamic range is aimed to be the same as that of the iPhone 14 Pro. |
Digital zoom | Video: – 4K: up to 2x; 1080p – up to 4x. Photo: 12 MP – up to 2x. This ensures greater flexibility and increases safety, as the drone can fly further from obstacles. |
3: D-Log M and HLG 10-bit
One of the most interesting features of the Mini 4 Pro is the ability to use 10-bit D-Log M and HLG color profiling.
10-bit D-Log M and HLG help capture a stunning range of colors and offer greater flexibility when editing and sharing.
10-bit D-Log M
Recording in 10-bit D-Log M allows you to capture more than a billion colors and preserve detail in highlights and shadows.
With natural color gradations and delicate details across the entire spectrum, the Mini 4 Pro enables more flexible, professional-level post-production control and expert-level creative editing flexibility.
Creators often use Log color modes when shooting. This feature allows you to retain more image detail to improve image quality. Furthermore, the color grading of D-Log M is simpler than that of D-Log.
HLG
Regardless of where content is published, HLG ensures that natural colors and brightness remain true to life without adjustments or format conversions thanks to its high dynamic range.
Compared with D-Log or RAW, HLG can maintain high dynamic range while reducing operational difficulties.
Major editing software can automatically convert HLG to standard colors, based on which creators can directly perform color grading for more convenient post-production.
4: Improved security features
Safety is everything when it comes to drone flights and the Mini 4 Pro really delivers.
We've already mentioned its lightweight construction, but the Mini 4 Pro goes further, packed with features that ensure reliability and safety.
Omnidirectional vision tracking
Mini 4 Pro is the first drone weighing less than 249 grams to be equipped with omnidirectional vision detection.
Equipped with four fisheye vision sensors, binocular downward vision sensors, a 3D ToF sensor and an auxiliary light, the drone can detect obstacles from all angles.
As a caveat, omnidirectional obstacle detection cannot identify small objects, such as tree branches and electrical wires, and is not available at night.
However, the drone's vision sensing capabilities reduce the risk of hitting obstacles: Great for any pilot, but especially for beginners.
Advanced Pilot Assistance Systems (APAS)
APAS 5.0 ensures greater safety by enabling braking and automatic steering during flight.
It can quickly identify and navigate obstacles in all directions (forward/backward/up/down/left/right) during flight.
Lower auxiliary light
The Mini 4 Pro's bottom auxiliary light increases stability when flying at low altitude at night.
Reduces the possibility of crashing the drone on uneven terrain or without seeing the terrain well.
5: DJI O4 flagship video transmission
The DJI Mini 4 Pro features DJI's flagship O4 video transmission.
This offers live viewing quality of up to 1080p/60fps and a maximum video transmission distance of 10 km (CE) or as much as 20 km (FCC).
The robustness of O4 video transmission offers key benefits:
- In urban environments with strong signal interference, Mini 4 Pro can provide more stable signals to reduce stuttering and frame drops during video transmission compared to the previous generation. This ensures a better operating experience when shooting around a building, at low altitude or through different obstacles.
- The video transmission rate of 60fps allows for smoother live viewing. Lower latency provides a faster and more responsive operating experience.
Radio controls
To support the O4 drive system, the Mini 4 Pro is compatible with the DJI RC 2 and DJI RC-N2 controllers – two controllers launched alongside the DJI Air 3 in July 2023.
The DJI RC 2 is a next-generation remote controller for drones with a 5.5-inch FHD display…
…while the RC-N2 is a controller that integrates with a separate mobile device.
The following table provides an overview of some of the key specifications of both controllers.
RC 2 | RC-N2 | |
Number of antennas | 4 antennas (2T4R) | 2 antennas (2T2R) |
Operating time | 3 hours | Without charging your mobile device: 6 hours Mobile device charging: 3.5 hours |
Charging time | 1.5 hours | 2.5 hours |
Screen size | 5.5″ | It depends on the mobile device. Maximum dimensions of supported mobile device: 180 x 86 x 10 mm (W x D x H) |
Resolution | 1920x1080 | – |
Frames per second | 600fps | – |
Maximum brightness | 700 nits | – |
Weight | Approximately 420g | – |
Internal memory | 32GB + expandable storage (with microSD card) | – |
Third-party app support | No | Yes – subject to mobile device |
6: Waypoints
Waypoint flying is a great feature of the Mini 4 Pro, with its auto-routing functionality ensuring route repeatability.
It can be used for a variety of operations, including film content acquisition, as well as for commercial missions, such as inspections or visual surveys.
You can preset some points and the drone will fly through them automatically. The drone can also perform pre-set and highly customizable actions while flying.
Save flight routes for repeat flights.
7: Advanced tracking
The Mini 4 Pro features ActiveTrack 360°, with advanced subject tracking capabilities. It also has Spotlight and Point of Interest.
Thanks to the updated ActiveTrack, users can set the drone to follow a certain flight path during the tracking process (the previous version only supported fixing in a certain direction), resulting in freer and more diverse tracking paths.
In scenarios such as cycling, touring, skateboarding and car chasing, this allows for more stable paths and customizable flight paths to achieve tracking effects such as circles and spirals.
Meanwhile, Spotlight and Point of Interest allow you to do the following:
Spotlight : The drone does not fly automatically, but the camera remains locked on the subject while the user manually controls the flight.
Point of Interest : The drone follows the subject in a circle according to the set radius and flight speed.
8: Intelligent flight functions
In addition to advanced tracking capabilities and waypoints, the Mini 4 Pro drone has a number of other intelligent flight functions, which improve safety and ease of flight.
Cruise control
Cruise Control helps reduce fatigue during long-distance flight and stable conditions, and further reduces camera shake with smoother movement.
To activate Cruise Control simply press the shortcut button to lock the speed (based on how hard you are pushing the control stick at the time). Once locked, you don't need to keep pressing the sticks; the blocked movement will continue.
During long-distance flight, this locks the speed/direction without requiring continuous movement or use of the control sticks. The speed/direction can be manually adjusted at any time.
Advanced return home
The Mini 4 Pro can automatically plan a safe flight path back to your starting point, easily navigating obstacles. Additionally, the AR RTH route function facilitates safer control during return flights.
During flight, the drone is able to scan its surroundings, implement internal mapping, and plan the optimal route back to the starting point, including energy-saving RTH and original RTH.
It is faster, more energy efficient and safer when the battery level is low. However, please note that this feature is not available when the vision tracking system is disabled.
It also avoids the problem of the drone stopping flying when it encounters altitude zones during straight-line RTH.
9: Content creation made easy
The Mini 4 Pro is equipped with intelligent shooting options to simplify the process of creating aerial content, creating stunning images and simplifying the editing process.
Functionality | Function |
Hyperlapse | It offers Free, Waypoint, Circle and Course Lock modes with unlimited shooting time and supports composition while shooting. Feature updates (compared to the previous generation): 1. The time limit is canceled to allow users to continue shooting. 2. Supports compositing while shooting, greatly reducing the output time. |
MasterShots | It offers dynamic camera movement patterns for portraits, close-ups and long-range shots, ensuring you get the perfect shot. MasterShots automatically plans a flight route and executes camera movements to generate cinematic shots, perfect for beginners. |
QuickShots | It offers Dronie, Circle, Helix, Rocket, Boomerang and Asteroid modes for sleeker results and more streamlined content creation. |
Panorama | It supports shooting 180° panoramic, wide-angle, portrait and sphere photos to capture magnificent landscapes. Panoramic photos in 180°/Sphere mode reach 100 MP. Although the resolution of the wide-angle/portrait mode does not reach 100 MP, it has been significantly improved compared to the Mini 3 Pro. By incorporating a tilted shooting angle into the lens setup, panoramic photos can greatly enhance sky effects. Users do not need to manually capture the sky at the tilt angle to complete the panorama. |
QuickTransfer | Quickly transfer photos and videos to your smartphone without connecting the remote control. Your creations will be immediately ready to be shared. Supports downloading via Wi-Fi at faster speed (max 30MB/s). You can activate the download via Wi-Fi without connecting the remote controller. Quick and easy, just bring the switched-on drone close to your phone to pair, thus reducing waiting times for photo/video downloads. |
LightCut App | LightCut supports wireless connection and intelligent recognition of composition and flight paths, so you can quickly edit and generate eye-catching videos with just one tap. By mixing footage imported from ActiveTrack, MasterShots and QuickShots, the application automatically matches unique sound effects and templates for fast, high-quality video production. Plus, you don't need to download your footage during the editing process, saving storage space on your smartphone. |
10: Multiple Combinations – Choose the best package for your needs
The DJI Mini 4 Pro is available in three packages, offering a number of options to allow operators to choose the best option for them.
What's inside | DJI Mini 4 Pro (DJI RC-N2) | DJI Mini 4 Pro (DJI RC 2) | DJI Mini 4 Pro Fly More Combo (DJI RC 2) |
DJI Mini 4 Pro | 1 | 1 | 1 |
DJI RC-N2 | 1 | – | – |
DJI RC-N2/N1 RC Cable (USB-C Connector) | 1 | – | – |
DJI RC-N2/N1 RC Cable (Lightning Connector) | 1 | – | – |
DJI RC 2 | 1 | 1 | |
DJI Mini 4 Pro Intelligent Flight Battery | 1 | 1 | 3 |
DJI Mini 4 Pro/Mini 3 Pro Propellers (pair) (screws included) | 1 set of props 6 individual screws |
1 set of props 6 individual screws |
3 sets of props 18 individual screws |
Screwdriver | 1 | 1 | 1 |
DJI Mini 4 Pro Gimbal Protector | 1 | 1 | 1 |
DJI Mini 4 Pro Propeller Holder | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Type-C to Type-C PD Cable | 1 | 1 | 1 |
USB-C Cable | – | – | 1 |
DJI Mini Shoulder Bag | – | – | 1 |
DJI Mini 4 Pro/Mini 3 Series Two-Way Charging Hub | – | – | 1 |
Fly More Combos are always the most popular option, as they contain extra accessories that are more convenient than purchasing them separately.
The DJI Mini 4 Pro is also compatible with a number of other accessories, such as the DJI Mini 4 Pro Wide Angle Lens (with 100° super wide FOV) and the DJI Mini 4 Pro ND Filter Set (ND16/64/256) .
The two-way charging hub, available separately or as part of the Fly More Combo, is the same one compatible with the Mini 3 Series.
Summary
The DJI Mini 4 Pro is an impressive camera drone, packed with features like the upgraded imaging system, omnidirectional vision tracking, and improved transmission.
All in a lightweight body, perfect for easy transport and to make the drone compliant with regulations.
This is a drone that can be used for recreational use, content creation, and even some commercial work, such as visual inspections.
The DJI Mini 4 Pro has what it takes to attract new pilots or users looking to upgrade from a previous iteration of the DJI Mini series.