DJI’s Phantom series of quad-copters has become some sort of landmark for consumer drones, as they are easy to use and sell for relatively affordable price tags.

The previous Phantom 2 Vision+ was released more than a year and a half ago, and albeit bringing a stabilization gimbal into the equation to enable more professional-looking shots, the quality of the images could have still used a lot of improvement.

However, the time has come for DJI to wow us with its new Phantom 3 drone. There will be two versions of the new quad-copter, the Phantom 3 Professional and the Phantom 3 Advanced, and we’ll tell you the main differences between the two in a second.

DJI adds 4K to its line of popular Phantom drones

The Phantom 3 Professional is capable of shooting 4K at 30 fps, while the latter model will only be able to capture video footage in 1080p at 60 fps.

Even so, both models come with updated camera sensors, which promise to improve dynamic range, and with ground-scanning sensors that allow them to fly indoor. Moreover, the Phantom 3 Professional and Advanced can stream aerial footage via YouTube.

Both models are capable of flying for 23 minutes on a single charge, which doesn’t constitute an increase when compared to the current versions. Still, the new models tend to fly a bit faster than the Phantom 2.

DJI has added a new “return to home” feature which will help owners call the drone back to the base by virtue of just pressing a button. There’s also an in-app flight simulator, which lets you get used to the drone before actually taking the real deal out into the sunlight.

As before, the new drone’s flight patterns can be controlled via a remote or one of your own phones/tablets. The DJI companion app is currently compatible with iOS and Android devices (not all Androids though).

For the time being, the app works with the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note III, the Sony Xperia Z3, as well as Nexus 7 and Nexus 9 handsets.

The new drones are relatively affordable

As for pricing specifications, the Advanced model will cost you $1,000 / €930 or $1,100 / €1,023 with an extra battery (if you want to fly more than just 23 minutes), while the Professional version goes on the market with a $1,250 / €1,160 or $1,350 / €1,256 price attached to it.

Surely, these are not extremely cheap drones, but bear in mind that they do come with a camera attached and boast a lot of features that will certainly appeal to beginners.

DJI has managed to improve their camera technology a lot over the past few years. A few months ago, the company announced the professional grade Inspire 1 drone, which also arrives with a 4K-ready camera. However, with the Phantom 3 Professional, you’ll be able to remove the shooter if you want.