DJI Mavic 3 Missing Features: What Mavic 2 and Air 2S Owners Still Have Over It

Introduction

The DJI Mavic 3 is an impressive drone on paper, but its launch state tells a more complicated story. Around 20 to 25 features that were available on the Mavic 2 and the Air 2S were simply absent when the Mavic 3 shipped, and DJI was not upfront about most of them. Only Active Track was clearly communicated as arriving later.

This breakdown walks through what is genuinely on the Mavic 3 today, what is confirmed as coming, and what has no plans to arrive at all. It also explains why, at a much lower price, the Mavic 2 and Air 2S remain sensible choices if the missing features matter to how you fly.

What Is Actually on the Mavic 3 Today

Not everything is missing. APAS 5.0 obstacle avoidance is one of the few intelligent features that shipped fully working, and it performs impressively in real-world testing. The new return to home behavior is also live and genuinely clever, plotting creative routes back to the pilot instead of simply climbing, crossing, and descending.

Air Sense is present and functional as well, showing nearby aircraft on the display. D-Log, 120 frames per second slow motion, 10-bit video, and ProRes on the Cine version (main lens only) are all there too. So the foundation is solid; the gaps are what raise eyebrows.

Intelligent Flight Modes: The Biggest Gaps

This is where the Mavic 3 loses the most ground. There is no Active Track in any form, no Master Shots, no POI orbit mode, and no Spotlight mode. Hyperlapse was confirmed for a January 2022 update. All the QuickShots, including Dronie, Circle, Helix, Rocket, and Boomerang, were absent at launch despite being present even on the budget Mini SE.

Waypoints are the sharpest omission: DJI stated there are no plans to bring them to the Mavic 3, even though the Mavic 2 supports them. The argument that professionals never use these automated modes does not hold up either. Pros use them constantly because they save billable time, which is exactly why DJI includes the same features on the Inspire series.

Video Features: What Works and What Does Not

D-Log works on the main camera, but not on the telephoto secondary lens. The same restriction applies across the board: no HDR or HLG mode at launch (confirmed coming in January 2022), no 200 frames per second despite being on the spec sheet, and ProRes and 10-bit limited to the main lens.

The most surprising limitation is that none of the advanced pro-mode video settings work on the secondary lens at all. You cannot lock shutter speed, aperture, ISO, or white balance in telephoto mode; only exposure compensation is available. Given that the telephoto camera is one of the main reasons to buy this drone, that restriction is worth thinking about carefully.

Gimbal smoothing settings, histograms, and overexposure indicators do work across both lenses.

Photo Mode Gaps Worth Knowing About

Photo mode has its own shortfalls. Burst mode was missing at launch and confirmed for January 2022. RAW support works on the main lens only, so the telephoto camera is JPEG-only. Time shots and exposure bracketing are also main-lens features only.

HDR, or Smart Photo in DJI’s terminology, is baked in automatically with no menu control to enable or disable it, which removes the visibility and control you would expect from a drone at this price point. All four panorama modes, including Wide Angle, Vertical, Sphere, and 180 degrees, were confirmed coming in January 2022 but absent at release.

The Controller and Transmission Story

The 4G cellular dongle was slated for January 2022, but not for the US, UK, or EU due to government restrictions on 4G spectrum use. Wi-Fi quick transfer was also missing at launch, despite the Air 2S already supporting it with DJI’s smart controller.

That controller situation is a sore point. The remote bundled with the base Mavic 3 is the same RC-231 unit that ships with the Air 2S, and it operates on the same frequencies. DJI’s new O3+ transmission applies only to the RC Pro remote, and the existing smart controller has been given no compatibility plans at all, with no clear technical reason why.

Dual controller mode, which lets one person fly while another operates the camera, has no plans either. That is a significant omission at this price, especially since the Mavic 2 supports it at roughly a third of the cost. For two-person commercial operations, that alone can decide the purchase.

Should You Buy the Mavic 3, Mavic 2, or Air 2S?

If you need waypoints, dual controller operation, Active Track, or Master Shots today, the Mavic 2 and Air 2S cover nearly all of the features discussed here, with the exception of the 4G dongle. The Air 2S in particular delivers strong imaging at a far lower price. The Mavic 3 makes sense if its camera hardware and APAS 5.0 are your priority and you are comfortable waiting on firmware updates for the rest.

Conclusion

The Mavic 3 is capable hardware hampered by an unfinished feature set. Some gaps arrive in updates, but waypoints, dual controllers, and smart controller support have no confirmed future. If those features matter to your workflow, the Mavic 2 and Air 2S remain the more complete choices today.