How to Enable or Disable Phone Charging From the DJI RC-N3 Remote Controller
Peter Leslie
22 May 2026
If you have plugged your phone into the DJI RC-N3 and noticed the controller battery dropping faster than expected, the setting you are looking for is one toggle inside DJI Fly. It is the same toggle whether the drone in your hand is a Neo 2, a Mini 5 Pro, an Air 3, or an Avata 2 — the RC-N3 is the part of the kit that decides whether the cable carries power as well as data.
Drones this applies to
Any DJI drone that ships with the DJI RC-N3 — DJI Neo 2, DJI Mini 4 Pro, DJI Mini 5 Pro, DJI Air 3, DJI Air 3S, and DJI Avata 2. The menu path is identical on every one, because the toggle belongs to the controller and not the drone. The same Phone Charging row appears for the older RC-N2 and RC-N1 controllers too.
Quick guide
To enable or disable phone charging from the DJI RC-N3, go to DJI Fly → Settings → Control → Remote Controller → Phone Charging. Off means the cable carries data only; on means the DJI RC-N3 trickles power into your phone over USB-C.
Step-by-step: How to Enable or Disable Phone Charging From the DJI RC-N3 Remote Controller
Follow these top to bottom the first time, and you will know the path off by heart the second time.
Slot your phone into the DJI RC-N3 spring-loaded clamp
Slide the spring-loaded clamp open at the top of the controller, drop the phone in, and let it close around the body. The phone should sit centred above the sticks.
Plug the supplied DJI USB-C cable from the controller into the phone
Use the short cable that came in the DJI RC-N3 box. Plug one end into the USB-C port on the controller and the other end into the phone.
Launch DJI Fly and wait for the camera view to load
Tap the DJI Fly app icon on your phone. With the drone and the DJI RC-N3 powered on, the app detects the link and drops you onto the camera view with the live feed across the screen.
Open the DJI Fly Settings menu from the camera view
Tap the Settings icon in the top right of the camera view. A panel of category tabs slides in from the right.
Tap the Control category in the Settings panel
Select Control from the list of category tabs down the left of the panel. The right-hand pane updates to show the stick, gimbal, and remote controller options for the connected drone.
Scroll down to the Remote Controller section inside Control
Scroll past the stick mode and gimbal settings until you reach a sub-header labelled Remote Controller. The Phone Charging row sits inside that section.
Tap the Phone Charging toggle to switch it on or off
Green means the DJI RC-N3 charges the phone over the USB-C cable. Grey means data only — no power transfer. The change is live straight away with no separate confirm button.
Peter's tip
For a long session with a healthy phone I always switch this off before takeoff. A DJI RC-N3 easily gets through six or seven flight batteries when it is not also feeding a phone — once it has to power both, that number falls noticeably.
Phone Charging ON vs OFF
Two states, two different outcomes for the controller battery. Decide which matters more for the flight you are about to do.
| Toggle state | What happens to the phone | Effect on controller battery |
|---|---|---|
| Phone Charging ON (green) | Phone charges over USB-C while connected to the DJI RC-N3. | Controller drains faster — every watt the phone takes comes from the RC-N3 pack. |
| Phone Charging OFF (grey) | Cable carries data only — no power transfer to the phone. | Controller battery lasts noticeably longer through a flight session. |
Frequently asked questions
Does the DJI RC-N3 charge my phone by default?
Yes. Phone Charging is enabled out of the box on every drone that ships with the DJI RC-N3, so the controller trickles power into a connected phone over USB-C as soon as you plug the cable in.
Will turning Phone Charging off save my drone batteries?
No. The Phone Charging toggle only affects the DJI RC-N3 controller battery. The drone's flight batteries are not in the charging loop, so they are unaffected either way.
When should I switch Phone Charging off, and when should I leave it on?
Switch it off when the controller battery is the resource you cannot afford to run flat — a long shoot, controller already at sixty per cent, phone comfortably charged. Leave it on when the phone is the bottleneck — you arrived with twenty per cent on screen and a full controller. The trickle lifts the phone roughly ten to fifteen per cent over a session, which is usually enough to keep DJI Fly alive through landing.
Does the Phone Charging toggle work reliably on iPhone?
Yes. On iPhone, off means off. If a DJI Fly update ever leaves the toggle stuck on, switch to a data-only USB-C cable with no power pin — that bypasses the toggle by design.
Why does my Android phone keep charging when Phone Charging is off?
USB-C negotiates a small amount of current to bring the data link up, so on many Android phones a stubborn trickle keeps flowing regardless of the toggle. The fix is a data-only USB-C cable, not another sweep through DJI Fly. If a USB prompt appears on the phone, pick Charge Only or File Transfer / Android Auto to keep the data link stable.
Why is my phone not charging even with the Phone Charging toggle on?
Three things usually cause this. A third-party data-only USB-C cable passes data but blocks power — swap to the original DJI cable. The DJI RC-N3 also stops feeding the phone when its own battery drops below roughly twenty per cent. Finally, check the phone is not in a low-power mode that refuses slow-amp charging — an iPhone in Low Power Mode is the usual culprit.
Can I use a power bank to charge my phone instead of the controller?
Yes. A USB-C power bank plugged straight into the phone bypasses the controller entirely. Use this approach when the phone is critically low — the controller's trickle is too slow for a fast top-up.
Does this setting exist on the DJI RC 2 or with the DJI Goggles N3?
No. The DJI RC 2 has its own internal screen, so there is no separate phone to charge. The FPV combos that use the DJI Goggles N3 and Motion Controller 3 have no phone in the loop either. The Phone Charging toggle only appears when an RC-N3 (or the older RC-N2 / RC-N1) is connected.
That is the toggle. For most flights it comes down to which battery matters more on the day — the controller pack or the phone. Once you know that, the switch is a five-second job before takeoff and the path becomes muscle memory.
Got an RC-N3 behaving in a way this guide does not cover? Drop a note to peter@hiredronepilot.uk and I will come back to you directly. If you prefer the video version of this walkthrough, the comments are open on YouTube.
References
Primary source material for this article is the official DJI documentation for the DJI RC-N3 and the DJI Fly app. External links open in a new tab.
- DJI RC-N3 — Product page · Controller battery rating, USB-C port specification, and the list of drones the RC-N3 supports.
- DJI Fly — App download and release notes · The app that exposes the Phone Charging toggle. Release notes record any menu reshuffles between versions.
- DJI — UK consumer drone product line-up · Per-drone user manuals confirm which drones ship with the DJI RC-N3 and which use an alternative controller.
Peter Leslie
Founder & GVC Drone Pilot
Peter is the founder of HireDronePilot. With thousands of logged commercial flight hours, he writes about drone technology, commercial surveying tactics, and UK aviation compliance.
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