DJI’s new sub-250g drone brings a massive upgrade – the DJI Mini 5 Pro has a 1” sensor

The 250g weight limit is important due to regulatory constraints – you may not want to or be able to use something heavier like the DJI Mavic 4 Pro. However, the new mini means you can get great image quality without the hassle of a bigger drone.

The DJI Mini 5 Pro is equipped with a 50MP 1” sensor behind a 24mm f/1.8 lens. For comparison, the Mini 4 Pro had a 1/1.3” sensor. The high-resolution sensor offers a 48mm med-tele mode. DJI says that this sensor captures 14 stops of dynamic range and there’s a 10-bit D-Log M format. 4K 120fps slow-motion video is also available.

The new mini adopts a feature from the Mavic – the camera gimbal can rotate up to 225°. This allows you to shoot Dutch angles as well as true portrait video to share on social media.

Additionally, the new Mini has forward-facing LiDAR for superior obstacle avoidance (this is on top of the usual omnidirectional obstacle sensors). The LiDAR is especially useful in the dark. But if there’s enough light, the drone can remember its flight path and return back to you, even if it loses GPS signal. The drone has dual-band (L1+L5) GNSS.

The DJI Mini 5 Pro is just a better drone overall than its predecessor. It uses the DJI O4+ video transmission system (vs. O4) that has a range of up to 20km. The larger 2,788mAh battery (vs. 2,590mAh) can last up to 36 minutes (up from 34 minutes). The maximum flight distance is an estimated 21km (up from 18km). There’s a heavier Flight Battery Plus (4,680mAh), which lasts up to 52 minutes flight time and up to 32km distance. However, this battery pushes the drone over the 250g limit and is not sold in Europe.

It’s faster too, reaching 18m/s (65km/h) horizontally with the regular battery. This is up from 16m/s (58km/h). The maximum speed of ascent has doubled to 10m/s.

There are other improvements like the upgraded ActiveTrack 360°, which has a cycling mode. With the bigger sensor, DJI also spent time optimizing the portrait mode.

The DJI Mini 5 Pro is available now – the base kit (drone + controller) costs €800, but you can have the Fly More Combo for €1,000 or €1,130 depending on which controller you want (RC-N3 or RC 2). And before you ask, no, DJI drones still aren’t available in the US.