DJI is releasing a new Mini 4 drone this fall. And it could be coming sooner than you think!
DJI has had a consistent calendar of product launches over the years and the Mini Series of drones perfectly illustrates that. The first Mini, the Mavic Mini was launched in October 2019, a few months prior to CES 2020. The first sub-250 gram micro-drone that boasted quality and features that rivaled much more expensive drones, it quickly found a spot in most drone users kits.
One year later DJI dropped the “Mavic” moniker from the name when it brought the Mini 2 to market in November 2020. Mini 2 had upgraded specs like 4K/30 video, 8GB on board memory and 31 minute flight time.
Then a global pandemic stalled the product release plans for just about every company on Earth.
DJI kept plugging away at the Mini Series knowing that we’d get back to normal eventually. And that ‘normal’ arrived in the spring of 2022 when the Mini 3 was released, followed by the Mini 3 Pro roughly six months later in December of 2022.
Mini 3 Pro has become the go-to folding quadcopter for content creators, travelers and even professionals. Countless professionals are producing high-quality output with a drone that literally fits in a jacket pocket.
The timing of the Mini 4 release in September or October puts DJI back on track to capitalize on the run-up to seasonal shopping (Black Friday, Christmas, etc.). Unfortunately DJI is now prevented from exhibiting at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas since it was added to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s ‘Entity List’. Instead DJI product is represented at CES by a US based retailer.
Mini 4 Leaks Ramping Up
The latest peak at the Mini 4 came as a video leaked to X a couple of weeks ago. And you have to understand these are not unintentional leaks. DJI has been doing this for many years to help build social buzz and momentum from sites like ours ahead of launch date.
Once again a wild #mini4pro appears. Now on video, spotted from a nearby drone. I guess end of September release. pic.twitter.com/uHcbAuyuUi
— Jasper Ellens | DJI Flight Club (@JasperEllens) August 10, 2023
Other leaked images and video of the DJI Mini 4 started appearing just over a week ago from the usual sources. So far there’s not much to tell but the Mini 4 upgrade we most notice is the omni-directional obstacle avoidance vs 3-direction obstacle sensing in the Mini 3 Pro. If you look at the leaked Mini 4 photo below you can see that the forward vision sensors are now mounted at an angle to the longitudinal axis giving a broader view forward and to the side.
The second difference we noticed is the more carved out body of the aircraft vs the Mini 3 Pro, that’s likely freeing up weight that’s either accomodating the new camera sensor or battery weight for extended flight time.
The Mini 4 gimbal appears to share the same setup as the Mini 3 Pro with a rotating camera allowing creators to switch between landscape and portrait orientation.
September Release Date ?
Some are speculating the Mini 4 could be released as early as September. We think October is more likely to allow the recently launched Air3 to soak up as much sales as possible before a new model appears.
Either way this means that the leaked photos and specs will keep coming faster the closer we get to release date.
If you have a scoop on new images, video or specs please reach out to us and share what you have with our readers!
