Compact, lightweight transmitters. Improved battery life and range over DJI Mic 2. Smart noise canceling. Professional timecode support. Everything now fits in the charging case.
TIRED
No lavalier input on transmitters. US availability remains uncertain. Shorter battery life than Mic Mini.
When DJI announced the Mic 3 just 18 months after the excellent Mic 2, I didn’t really get it. The Mic 2 has been my own go-to wireless microphone (bought with my own money, no less) for over a year now, and it still feels new to me. What could justify yet another iteration so soon?
It took about five seconds with the Mic 3 in my hands to understand exactly what DJI was thinking. The transmitter units are dramatically smaller and lighter than those on the Mic 2, so much so that they feel like entirely different products. Taking a page from the more recent Mic Mini, they're light enough at 16 grams that you can genuinely forget you're wearing one.
Photograph: Sam Kieldsen
But the real revelation came when I opened the charging case. This time around, DJI has designed a case that can actually hold all the accessories you'll actually need. The furry windscreens that are essential for outdoor recording? They fit. The clips, magnets, and even the 3.5-mm TRS cable? All tucked away neatly.
Anyone who's owned a Mic 2 will know the frustration of having a charging case that can't accommodate the windscreens, forcing you to carry them separately. Not a problem here. It might sound like a small thing, but it's exactly the kind of practical improvement that makes the difference between gear you actually use and gear that stays on the shelf.
Professional Touches
Photograph: Sam Kieldsen
DJI hasn't just focused on convenience upgrades, though. The Mic 3 adds several features that push it further into professional territory. There's now support for timecode—something the Mic 2 lacked entirely—and the system can handle group recordings with up to four transmitters and eight receivers. I wasn't able to test the latter capability with my standard two-transmitter, one-receiver review unit, but it's a step up for anyone working on larger, multi-camera productions.
The audio quality improvements are more subtle but feel meaningful. You now get two levels of active noise canceling instead of one, and the system can transmit lossless 24-bit audio from transmitter to receiver. DJI has also added voice presets that can instantly warm up or brighten vocal recordings—useful touches that actually make a difference to the final result.
Perhaps most importantly, there’s the new Adaptive Gain Control system. It offers two modes: Automatic prevents clipping during sudden volume spikes, while Dynamic is designed for controlled two-person recordings in quieter environments. Both worked well during my testing, and they give the user one less thing to worry about when recording.
Storage capacity has been quadrupled from 8 to 32 GB on each transmitter, while wireless transmission range has increased from 250 meters to 400 meters. Battery life gets a healthy boost too; it’s up from 18 hours total (with the charging case) on the Mic 2 to 28 hours here, though that still falls short of the Mic Mini's extraordinary 48-hour endurance.
Photograph: Sam Kieldsen
The transmitters themselves are where DJI has made the biggest design changes. Beyond being smaller and lighter, they're now magnetized, allowing them to stick securely to metal surfaces, just like the Mic Mini. The clips have been redesigned so you can rotate the transmitter to ensure the microphone grille points toward your mouth, a small touch that can make a real difference to audio quality. The receiver looks virtually identical to the Mic 2's, with the same bright 1.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen and rotating dial for navigation. The 3.5-mm output includes a locking screw to keep connections secure.
In terms of actual audio performance, the Mic 3 delivers essentially the same excellent quality as the Mic 2. You get 32-bit float recording for those who want the ultimate safety net against clipping, or standard 24-bit recording with adjustable gain for everyday use. The two-level noise canceling is impressively effective without introducing obvious artifacts to speech, and its lower level still allows some ambient sounds through, which might be something you want.
I tested the Mic 3 with cameras, computers, and smartphones, using both direct connection and receiver connection methods. It paired painlessly with everything I threw at it, from my mirrorless camera to my iPhone, and the audio quality remained consistently excellent across different devices and environments. It’s part of the OsmoAudio system too, meaning the transmitter can directly link with DJI cameras like the Osmo 360, Osmo Action 5 Pro, and Osmo Pocket 3, bypassing the receiver entirely while still offering high-quality audio.
Missing Pieces
Photograph: Sam Kieldsen
The Mic 3 isn't perfect, but I found little to complain about. The transmitters no longer include a 3.5-mm input for connecting external lavalier microphones, which might frustrate people who prefer to hide their mics completely. DJI has also dropped the Safety Track recording mode that was available on the Mic 2, but it’s entirely possible to rig one up using the available options.
US availability remains uncertain; like other recent DJI products, the Mic 3 isn't officially launching in America due to ongoing tariff concerns. US consumers may be able to source units through third-party retailers, but that's far from ideal for a product that should really be widely available. At $329 for the complete two-transmitter, one-receiver, and charging case package, the Mic 3 is actually cheaper than the Mic 2 was at launch, which I think is a remarkably good value for a product that’s superior in almost every way. DJI's decision to sell individual components separately is welcome too. It means users can start with a basic setup and expand over time, or replace a damaged or lost component without too much fuss.
The DJI Mic 3 essentially combines the best aspects of both the Mic 2 and Mic Mini into a single, well-rounded package. It's more compact and practical than the Mic 2, and far more advanced than the Mini. For content creators, filmmakers, and podcasters looking for a wireless microphone system that just works, it's very hard to find fault with it.
The only real question is whether existing Mic 2 owners need to upgrade. If the improved portability and expanded feature set appeal to you, the Mic 3 represents a solid step forward. But the Mic 2 remains an excellent microphone in its own right, so there's no urgent need to make the switch unless those new features and upgrades genuinely solve problems you're currently facing.
