DJI O3 Air Unit Review: The Best HD FPV Video System in 2024? - RChobby Lab (2024)

When the original DJI FPV system first came out in 2019, I severely underestimated how popular it was going to be with FPV pilots.

It was so much more expensive than analog systems, so I assumed that the only people who would be buying the DJI FPV system would be people with a lot of money or content creators who could justify it as a business expense.

But it hasn’t worked out that way. DJI is more popular than analog in a lot of circles.

In fact, more than half of all FPV pilots in the United States own at least one DJI quadcopter. Many of them even fly only DJI drones.

Today, let’s take a look at the next generation of DJI FPV video transmitters: the DJI O3 Air Unit.

It brings a higher level of performance and an increased feature set.

What is DJI O3 Air Unit？

First, let me explain some basic concepts. If you’re familiar with this section already, skip it.

O3 Air Unit is a compact, lightweight FPV camera and transmission module system by DJI on November 22, 2022, in Shenzhen, China. The O3 stands for AccuSync 3. It is a type of radio protocol.

The system consists of three main components: the FPV camera, the video transmission module, and the antenna.

Let me break it all down and review it for you next.

DJI O3 Air Unit Appearance & design

Video transmission unit

Now, let’s look at the Air Unit itself.

The DJI O3 Air Unit’s design picks up where the Caddx Vista left off. It is a solid black box which is an all-aluminum enclosure with ventilation holes designed to improve heat dissipation.

This is very important because this new Air Unit does consume quite a bit more power and generates a bit more heat than the original Air Unit or the Caddx Vista.

On the outside of the Air Unit, there is an SD card slot where you can expand the internal storage. Even if you don’t need to expand it, the O3 Air Unit itself has 20GB of onboard storage. It is pretty nice.

There is gyro IMU information built into this as well, so not only can you record internally, like you could on the first air unit, but now you can record stabilized footage as well. You can also record 4K video at 50 or 60fps.

That stabilized footage is done with EIS through RockSteady, or if you don’t want to use RockSteady on the camera itself, you can go ahead and record and stabilize via GyroFlow. That is a nice option they are giving you.

There’s a USB-C port under the SD card slot for firmware updates and activating the device, just like the original Air Unit.

On the other side, you’ve got the bind button and a status LED as well.

Size and Weight

In terms of size, the brand-new O3 Air Unit sits in between a Caddx Vista and the original air unit, being slightly larger than the Caddx Vista yet being a lot smaller than the original air unit.

This is fantastic for those of you who are using the Caddx Vista because if you’re using a Vista, chances are this Air Unit will fit in the vast array of drone frames.

However, it should be noted that there are no mounting points on this new Air Unit.

DJI’s official stance is that you should just remove the screws from the bottom, find some longer M2 screws, put them in your frame, and screw them up through the bottom of the video transmitter.

Of course, you could also use a 3D print, tape, zip ties, or whatever else you prefer.

FPV camera

Next, let’s take a look at the camera, and I think this is where DJI has made some of the biggest changes compared to the original DJI camera.

The front of the camera is comprised mostly of glass, and this is a non-removable, non-replaceable glass element. Unfortunately, the previous generation of FPV cameras had a replaceable lens.

Another interesting thing to note about this camera system is the fact that the IMU and Gyro data information is located inside the camera.

That’s right! You can record directly to the air unit itself.

In addition, the FPV camera is connected with a braided cable and has the same 19-mm width as most common FPV cameras. I compared it with a random camera that I grabbed, and you can see that they are the same width.

So, it’ll fit in most common frames.

However, this is also the most troubling part.

Because most of the lenses on FPV cameras are M12 that easily slides between the 19-mm standoffs and have plenty of room to tilt up or down.

But on the O3 camera, the lens is almost as wide as the body of the camera, and it is just not going to fit between a lot of frames’ standoffs. Some manufacturers have had to redesign the frames.

The reason the camera is so large is that it contains a larger sensor than most FPV cameras.

It’s a over 1.7 inch sensor and that puts it closer to action camera territory than to FPV camera territory. That means you’re going to get better light, low light sensitivity, better image resolution, etc.

One of the things DJI wants you to consider is replacing your action camera with this O3 air unit and then just not running an action camera. But this camera doesn’t record sound; it doesn’t have a microphone at all, and that’s going to be a deal-breaker for some people.

Antennae

It’s very similar to the Caddx Vista antenna in its design, but it’s a diversity system.

The O3 Air Unit has two UFL antenna connectors, similar to the full-size DJI Air Unit. It’s going to use dual antennas to improve performance.

However, a lot of people might be confused by the fact that both of those antenna wires go into what looks like one single antenna. DJI has simply combined two antennas into one housing, I assume for ease of mounting.

If you decide you want to use this with some aftermarket antennas you already have, you certainly could. Any UFL antenna would work, or you could use UFL to SMA pigtails and use SMA, whatever you’d like.

DJI O3 Air Unit Performance

Compatibility

Now, let’s discuss hardware compatibility.

The O3 Air Unit is compatible with two FPV goggles and one controller, which are DJI Goggles 2, DJI FPV Goggles V2, and DJI FPV Remote Controller 2.

But the names of these goggles can be confusing, and I’d like to explain them in advance. Otherwise, you won’t be able to keep track of exactly what I’m discussing.

– The DJI FPV Goggles V2 was released in January 2021, together with the DJI FPV drone.
– In August 2022, DJI launched the DJI Avata drone and released the DJI Goggles 2 goggles together.

Now you know that DJI Goggles V2 is the old version and DJI Goggles 2 is the new version.

So, if you’re a current user of Caddx Vista, RunCam Link, or DJI Air Unit, you don’t need to buy the Goggles 2 just to get into this new system. However, you won’t experience the full performance of the O3 Air system.

Relatively, if you have a Caddx Vista, Runcam Link, DJI Air Unit, or any of the older V2 video transmitters, they currently can’t be bound to the Goggles 2. Although DJI is working on the feature and will be releasing it soon.

But my rule for DJI’s promised feature is to wait until they release it and then see how you feel about it. To be honest, DJI looks like the “Apple” of the computer industry because they are only compatible with their own products.

Image & video quality

Let’s discuss the performance differences between the O3 Air Unit when used with the new Goggles 2 and the V2 Goggles.

• With the Goggles 2, the O3 Air Unit can deliver 1080p at 100fps, with a claimed 30ms latency, or 1080p at 60fps, with a claimed 40ms latency.

• When the same Air Unit is used with the V2 Goggles, it only delivers 810p, but it can perform at 120fps, with a lower latency of about 20ms, or 810p at 60fps, with a claimed latency of about 30ms.

Therefore, if you use it with the V2 Goggles, you’ll get a slightly higher frame rate but a significantly lower resolution. The difference in resolution equates to about twice as many pixels between 810p and 1080p.

In addition to frame rates, the DJI Goggles 2 also comes with an OLED screen. OLED screens offer brighter, more colorful, more saturated, and darker blacks compared to LEDs and LCDs.

The Avada and the DJI FPV drone use both 2.4 and 5.8 gigahertz to get better range. It doesn’t seem like the O3 air unit does that. As far as bandwidth goes, we have the choice of 40, 20, or 10 megahertz, and this seems to correspond to a bitrate of 14 megabits per second, 28 megabits per second, or 50 megabits per second. Higher bitrates are going to give you better image quality—much better image quality—but are also going to take up more room in the frequency band.

DJI O3 Air Unit Price

DJI O3 Air Unit Alternatives

FAQs

Final Verdict: Should You Upgrade to DJI O3 Air Unit?

After extensive testing, I’m confident saying the new DJI HD FPV system lives up to the hype in most ways.

The O3 Air Unit delivers excellent video transmission quality and smart features that make capturing cinematic FPV footage easier than ever. And the Goggles 2 provide a stunningly immersive flight experience with their comfortable design and gorgeous OLED displays.

However, the lack of cross-compatibility may give some users pause. And the biggest downsides are the price tags – expect to spend $600+ for the headset alone and $230 for the Air Unit. So while both new products are great, upgrading is difficult to justify if you already own working Vista/V2 gear.

But looking past those issues, DJI has delivered the premium FPV experience die-hard fans were hoping for. Unless competitors really step up their game soon, I expect DJI to continue dominating the high-end digital FPV market in 2023 and beyond.

Final, I’m excited to put more flights on this new gear and see how it holds up long term. Let me know if you have any other questions about the DJI FPV O3 system!