28d (edited) • General discussion
DJI Happenings and Alternatives
Hello all!
Just wanted to mention what’s currently big news with the DJI brand and the US government. Long story short, big US drone brands and lobbyists pushed for the US gov to kick (some) Chinese made drones (and other frequency generating products) out of the US markets for both consumers and government use, due to “possible” Chinese spying, through back doors in the tech and software. I don’t know how much of that I personally buy into. I know the CCP does like to be sneaky like that, but I personally believe this is more about securing US customers and their $$ than an actual security threat. DJI is one of the main targets of this witch hunt. Come Dec. 23rd 2025, no NEW products will be approved by the FCC going forward, if some mysterious mystery entity doesn’t perform an audit on DJI. If an audit is conducted and they pass, Yay! No further issues. If they conduct the audit and they fail, no new DJI products that give off radio frequencies. But seeing as no entity was tasked with doing the audit, it’s not likely to actually happen at all, causing the default prohibition of new models (also potential retro-active “ban” of drones released in 2025). All we can do at this time is wait and see what happens.
This “ban” should not brick existing models, cause any firmware issues, parts shortages or restrict previously sold models, just restrict NEW models from getting approval to be sold here. This may cause a minor price hike on all DJI models, until the initial dust settles, in the new year.
With all of this in mind….. What alternative brands/models are you using, researching or anticipating release of, to replace or alternatively purchase, besides DJI?
I’ve been looking at the Freefly and Skydio brands. I think I’m leaning more towards Freefly, due to Skydio’s part in the issues with DJI. The Freefly Astro series is really cool and comes in a base model and a NDAA/Blue (for gov work) versions. They’re just so damned expensive! 😂
Chime in and give us your thoughts on either subject, as I’m curious to see how others are pivoting around the DJI debacle.
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DJI Happenings and Alternatives
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