You can do a lot with this little combo. | Image: DJI

Drones aren’t just fun to fly — they’ve also become nearly mandatory in creative arsenals to satisfy clients and social media followers hungering for aerial photography and video. Thankfully, the entry-level price barrier has come crashing down over the years.

The previous-generation DJI Mini 3, for example, is now just $329 ($90 off) at Amazon, down from its recently reduced starting price of $419. You can find discounts on various bundles, too, including one that throws in the video RC remote for $429 ($120 off) or the Fly More combo for $459 ($130 off) that packs three extra batteries and a carrying case. All are down to the lowest prices we’ve seen.

As you’d expect, the Mini 3’s feature set is a tier below the newest Mini 4 series and slightly cribbed compared to the Mini 3 Pro. It doesn’t have the omnidirectional vision or object avoidance, for example. The DJI Mini 3 is still surprisingly stable in the air — it weighs only 8.8 ounces and is small enough to comfortably rest in the palm of your hand whether or not its collapsible propeller-holding arms are folded in. However, new pilots should probably stick to more open areas as it only has downward-facing vision to help with landing.

The DJI Mini 3 camera’s fidelity also doesn’t match its newer counterparts, although you can still achieve good results when snapping 48MP photos and shooting 4K HDR video at up to 30 frames per second (or up to 60 frames per second when shooting in 2.7K or 1080p). You can shoot vertically in addition to horizontally.

One small benefit to its basic trappings is that its 38-minute maximum flight time beats the more substantial models by a few minutes. And because of its light weight, you won’t even need to secure a license before takeoff as long as you’re flying it in the US.