DJI has been absolutely smashing it out of the park over the last year or two, and the thing I love most about the company is that even though they already have the best in category for so many of its products, it’s continually improving and that’s exactly what the DJI Mic 3 is. It’s the best of the DJI Mic 2 and DJI Mic Mini in a package that feels like the best of both worlds.
The DJI Mic 3 is almost half the size of the Mic 2 and just a tad thicker and larger than the Mic Mini which is super impressive. The unit itself is only 16 grams which means it can sit super well on any item of clothing and the fact that it’s smaller means it takes up less of the shot if you’re on camera.
The little unit itself retains the transparent design of the Mic 2 with a It has a brand new clip design which totally comes off magnetically which allows for a lot more flexibility and angling it. Due to the size, they lose the USB-C ports, which isn’t an issue if you’re getting the version with the charging case, and if you’re buying standalone, you’ll get a magnetic connector, which might be a tad annoying as it’ll mean you have to carry an additional cord, so I definitely recommend getting the charging case pack.
Speaking of that case, it’s also a lot smaller, and not quite as small as the Mic Mini, but again given you’re getting the best of the best capabilities, with a much smaller case and 28 hours of total battery life (an improvement of 4 hours over the Mic 2), it’s amazing that they’ve been able to make everything smaller whilst improving the battery life.
When it comes to the receiver, it’s almost identical to that of the Mic 2, but maybe just a tad smaller, and it retains the screen (which the Mic Mini) dropped, so again, I absolutely love that the Mic 3 transmitters are much, much smaller but the receiver kept the screen, which was the slight issue I had with the Mini receiver.
When it comes to audio quality there’s some big improvements. There’s now three voice tone presets that you can change on the receiver in Regular which is your standard voice setting, Rich which is enhanced bass and bright which is enhanced highs. It’s a great way to go between audio modes for those that don’t want to spend too much time editing in post.
Similarly, there’s adaptive gain control to prevent clipping if you’re someone that gets too close or shouts into your microphone and there’s also two levels of noise cancellation which obviously distorts the audio a bit, but is a lifesaver if you’re in a noisy room or maybe a windy environment, or recording where there’s air conditioning for example.
You also get 32GB of internal storage which wasn’t available on the Mic Mini, there’s dual-file 32-bit float internal recording and when it comes to the receiver functionality, it can now connect four transmitters to eight receivers with a longer 400 metres of range and timecode syncing as well, which is out of my depth as a creator that shoots primarily on iPhone and the Osmo Pocket 3, but speaking to videographer friends this is a big deal.
Obviously when it comes to connectivity, you can use Bluetooth, but I’d really recommend using the receiver which can connect to your iPhone, a DSLR camera, and if you own a OSMO Pocket 3 or 360 (or many of the other recent DJI cameras/drones), you’ll get direct connectivity through the in-built receiver.
All-in-all, this feels like the end game of portable microphones, with DJI seemingly doing the unthinkable in sizing everything down, but packing more features in and a longer battery life, and I’d highly recommend these if you’re looking for a set of wireless mics.