DJI may be readying its most affordable drone yet, with the DJI Mini SE tipped to land at just $299. As you might expect, given the rumored price tag, this won't be the most advanced or most capable drone on the market; however all signs are pointing to it being based on some reliable - and familiar - tech.
There have been concerns about using hardware from China for several years. Worries the Chinese government might have software installed to allow it access to information stored within and transmitted by devices made in China resulted in several Chinese firms being barred from use by governmental agencies. Restrictions against Chinese companies and using hardware they make for government purposes are beginning to ease under the Biden administration. A pair of Chinese-built drones made by Da Jiang Innovations, better known as DJI, have been cleared for government use by a new report published by the Pentagon.
DJI already launched no less than two new drones this year, that despite the legal debacle it has in the US over its involvement with the Chinese government's activities. Fortunately, it hasn't forgotten about its relatively young products, namely the DJI Mini 2. Owners of that drone have been reporting minor but still unfavorable issues about its LiPo battery. The good news is that it will need only a software fix. The bad news is that its arrival is still unknown at this point.
Mavic Air 2 released last year, met the excitement of the tech community by a good measure. Now, DJI has released the successor to the drone, called the “Air 2S.” It has dropped the Mavic from the name, but the quadcopter doesn’t drop on any features from its predecessor. In fact, it builds on them, and the overall performance of Mavic Air 2. The noteworthy ones being the bump-up in photography and video shooting abilities.
DJI has revealed its newest consumer drone, with the DJI Air 2S pairing the portability the Air range is known for, with a new, larger camera sensor for better video and images. The 1-inch sensor is capable of 20-megapixel still images or 5.4K video, DJI says, and there's new post-flight software which promises to do some of the heavy lifting around editing for you as well.
It has just been a month since DJI unveiled its FPV drone, perhaps one of the more interesting products it launched in the past few months. It is, however, still not done and another drone might just be around the corner. Like the DJI Mini 2 last year, it seems that the company is slowly retiring its "Mavic" brand if this upcoming DJI Air 2s is a close relative. Despite the name, however, it actually represents a rather major jump in terms of specs and features, almost making it worthy of being a DJI Air 3 instead.
DJI has revealed its latest drone, with the DJI FPV promising a first-person viewpoint for pilots and a new, single-handed motion controller for easier flying. Described by the company as a hybrid drone, it claims to combine the speed and agility of a racer while still delivering the cinematic camerawork of a traditional model.
DJI seems to have a leak problem so bad that you might begin to wonder if it's an intentional marketing ploy instead. After all, it's one thing to have photos and anonymous hands-on videos running around the Web and quite another when people can just walk into a retail store and buy one ahead of a new model's official announcement. It seems that DJI's first-ever FPV or First-Person View drone is no exception with an unboxing video now circulating a month before it officially takes to the skies.
A long time ago, when drones were first coming on the market, it wasn't uncommon at all for them to suddenly stop responding and simply fly away. As expensive as drones can be, this is a big problem as often they travel so far that it's impossible to find them. This problem is much less common today, but as expensive as drones from DJI are, it's nice to have protection in the event that does happen.
The year is far from over and, as far as the current US government is concerned, there is still plenty of time for actions that have long-lasting effects. One of those is expanding the US' notorious "Entity List" to include not just SMIC, China's largest chipmaker, but also, surprisingly, popular drone company DJI. That said, the latter was already rumored to be on the country's hit list, giving it time to make a bold response assuring customers in the country that they will still be able to buy DJI's products as normal.
This week the United States government added the drone company DJI to their Entity List. The United States Bureau of Industry and Security for Commerce added DJI to this list alongside 76 other entities on Friday, December 18, 2020. DJI and the rest of the entities added to the Entity List were determined to be "acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.
Today the United States Commerce Department added the drone company DJI to their trade restrictions blacklist. More specifically, this is the U.S. Commerce Department Entity List, making DJI subject to Export Administration Regulations (EAR). This is a move very similar to the U.S. government's move against other China-based companies like Huawei and ZTE.