DJI Mini 5 Pro leak hints at a game-changing ultra-light drone - but is it too good to be true?

Drone cobbler DJI looks to be gearing up for a big refresh to its featherweight drone line-up, if recent leaks are anything to go by.

And as someone who’s been hands-on with more than a few of the brand's best drone models over the years, this latest rumour has got at least one of my eyebrows well and truly raised.

Leaked images doing the rounds online - the most telling coming from Russian source Igor Bogdanov - suggest that the DJI Mini 5 Pro is on its way, and it might just be the most ambitious ultra-light drone DJI’s ever put together. Why? Because it seems to be ticking every major feature box while still staying under that all-important 250g threshold.

For starters, the Mini 5 Pro looks set to be the first drone in its class to meet FAA Category 1 specs out of the box, meaning no parachutes or extra paperwork to fly over people's heads. That’s thanks to new fixed-blade propeller cages designed to prevent injury, the leaks claim, and Remote ID baked in as standard. In short, more freedom, and less faff.

There are also some major hardware upgrades expected. Think omnidirectional obstacle avoidance with LiDAR sensors on the front, a redesigned camera gimbal that exposes the arms (and relies on those prop cages for protection), and what’s rumoured to be a one-inch camera sensor. That's a big jump from the Mini 4 Pro’s 1/1.3-inch one. If true, it could make a real difference for low-light shooting and general image quality.

Power-wise, there’s said to be a bigger 4,680mAh battery onboard, which could push flight time to around 50 minutes - nearly half an hour more than its predecessor. That’s a bold claim, but if it delivers even close to that, it’d be a big win for aerial creators.

My only real concern here is portability. With fixed arms and prop guards, it might lose that compact fold-and-go factor the Mini series is loved for - unless those cages are removable.

Leaks suggest a release around September, possibly sooner, though US availability is still a bit of a grey area.

Nevertheless, this one’s shaping up to be a seriously tempting, if it turns out to be true, that is.