DJI
Adapted from Wikipedia · Adventurer experience
SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd.
SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd., also known as Shenzhen Da-Jiang Innovations Sciences and Technologies Ltd. or simply DJI, is a Chinese technology company based in Shenzhen, Guangdong.
The company is best known for making high-quality unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. These drones are widely used for aerial photography and videography.
DJI makes up a very large part of the world's consumer drone market. Their drones are used in many exciting ways, such as in the music, television, and film industries. They help create special effects and beautiful scenes.
Some people worry about how DJI drones are used. There have been concerns about privacy and security. Because of these worries, the United States government has placed restrictions on the company. However, their drones are still available for people to buy and use in many places.
History
The company started in 2006 by Frank Wang. He was a student at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and made early drone parts in his dorm room. With help from a friend, he moved to Shenzhen and began selling these parts.
DJI became well-known in 2013 with the Phantom drone, an easy-to-use model that many people liked. Over time, DJI grew to be the world's largest maker of consumer drones, used by hobbyists, professionals, and police forces. They also made other products, like robot vacuums, and faced some legal challenges.
Corporate structure
In 2018, DJI gathered money to get ready to sell shares to the public, but this did not happen by July 2020. In 2015, the company got money from investors like New China Life Insurance, GIC, and New Horizon Capital.
DJI has about 14,000 workers and 17 offices around the world. The company is known for having a hard hiring process and a very competitive place where teams work to make better products. Their factories in Shenzhen use smart machines to build products, with many parts made by the company itself.
Products
Flight controller
Modules
Camera drones
Flame Wheel
The Flame Wheel series are small flying machines for taking pictures from the air. As of 2016, there is the F550 and the F330 and F450 models. The most recent is the ARF KIT.
Phantom
The Phantom series combines flying controls with a camera, Wi-Fi or Lightbridge connections, and a link to a phone. Phantoms are made for professional and fun flying.
Spark
Released in May 2017, the Spark has a 12-megapixel camera and a special camera that helps the drone see what is in front of it and lets you control it with hand movements. It also works with a phone app or a special remote control.
There have been some reports that the drone can turn off and fall while flying. DJI made an update to fix this.
Mavic
The Mavic series currently includes many models like Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, Mavic 2 Pro, Mavic 2 Zoom, Mavic 3, Mavic 3 Cine, Mavic 3 Pro, Mavic 3 Pro Cine, Mavic 3 Classic, Mavic Mini, Mini SE, Mini 2, Mini 3, Mini 3 Pro, and Mini 4 Pro. The Mavic Air 2 came out in 2021.
DJI released the Air 2S on April 15, 2021.
The DJI Mavic 3 and the Mavic 3 Cine were released on November 4, 2021.
The DJI Mavic 3 Pro and Pro Cine were released in May 2023, and both have three cameras.
On 13 May 2025, DJI released the Mavic 4 Pro with a very high-quality camera, a special camera system, long flight time, and ways to avoid objects while flying.
Neo
The DJI Neo is a very light drone released in 2024.
Flip
Inspire
The Inspire series is a professional line of flying cameras with strong bodies and special parts. It started in 2017.
Inspire specifications:
Industrial and agricultural UAVs
Spreading Wings
The Spreading Wings series are mainly used for professional jobs like taking pictures from the air, making maps, searching, and watching over places. In 2013, two models were released: S800 regular and EVO.
Matrice
The Matrice series is made for industrial jobs, like checking places, searching, and helping with fires.
The Matrice 100 is a fully programmable and customizable drone, launched on July 6, 2015. It has places to add extra parts for different jobs.
Agras
Agras is DJI's line of drones for farms. These drones are used for spraying crops. Agras drones are safe for the environment and have special protections for their important parts.
Stabilized cameras
Ronin
The Ronin is a special camera system for making movies and professional videos. It uses three motors to keep the camera steady even when moving fast. Later models include the Ronin-M, Ronin 2, Ronin-S, Ronin-SC, Ronin 4D, Ronin-S3, S3 Pro, and S3 Mini.
Osmo Series
Osmo
The original Osmo is a camera that uses a phone to see what it is filming. It can record very clear video and take pictures.
Osmo Mobile
The first-generation Osmo Mobile was released on September 1, 2016, as a phone gimbal that uses the user's phone as the camera. It keeps the video very steady.
The Osmo Mobile 6, launched on September 2, 2022, adds a screen to see what the camera is doing, a wheel to change the camera focus, a way to follow a subject, and a quick way to start filming with iPhones.
Less than a year after the release of the Osmo Mobile 6, the Osmo Mobile SE was introduced as a more affordable choice. It has a foldable design, a stick to make the camera taller, and a bigger battery.
Osmo Pocket
The Osmo Pocket was released on December 15, 2018. It has a camera and a steady system in a small, easy-to-carry box.
The second-generation Pocket 2, announced on October 20, 2020, added a bigger sensor, better sound, a way to change parts, and zoom up to 8 times.
The Osmo Pocket 3 was launched on October 25, 2023. It has a big sensor that works well in dark places, a screen you can touch, and special colors for videos.
The Osmo Pocket 4, launched on April 16, 2026, added more buttons, a special control stick, better colors and video styles, a way to track things, slow-motion video, film styles, lots of space to save videos, faster charging and longer battery life compared to the Pocket 3.
Osmo Action
This first-generation Osmo Action was introduced on May 15, 2019, as a small and strong action camera with very clear video, two screens, and a way to keep the picture steady.
Osmo Action 4 was released on August 2, 2023, featuring a bigger sensor, special colors for video, and a new way to attach extra parts.
Osmo Action 5 Pro were released on September 19, 2024. It has lots of space to save videos, supports special colors, and can go deep underwater with a special feature to measure depth and height.
FPV Equipment
The DJI FPV series are special goggles for flying drones with a first-person view. There are two types, the DJI Goggles and the Digital FPV System. The DJI Goggles work with DJI drones, using two screens, wireless connections and ways to control photo and video taking. In November 2017, DJI also released DJI Goggles RE ("Racing Edition"), which works with racing quadcopters.
Educational robots
Main article: RoboMaster
RoboMaster S1
On 11 June 2019, DJI unveiled the RoboMaster S1, its first consumer ground drone, named after DJI's annual RoboMaster robot combat competition. The S1 is a tank-like rover that you control with Wi-Fi and an app on Windows, Apple iOS or Google Android mobile devices. It is made to be an "advanced educational robot", and the user has to put it together and learn to program its smart functions. Both Scratch and Python are programming languages used by DJI along with app learning modules to teach the user how to code.
RoboMaster EP
The DJI RoboMaster EP was officially released on March 9, 2020, although it was first teased in a YouTube RoboMaster S1 commercial on November 25, 2019.
The EP supports more than 20 third-party sensors and open-source hardware such as Micro Bit, Arduino and Raspberry Pi.
Controversies
Privacy and security concerns in the United States
The United States government worried that DJI's drones did not follow some security rules. DJI added features so drones could work without connecting to the internet.
Some reports said DJI's apps could be updated without user permission, which broke Apple's rules. The United States Army chose not to use DJI drones in some cases because of possible security issues.
DJI made programs to find and fix security problems in their products. But some issues were not fixed well, which caused people to talk and worry.
In 2020, the United States stopped many DJI drones from flying because of security worries. Later checks found no proof that data was sent to China, but some people were still concerned.
In 2024, DJI started a center to share news about security checks and privacy features in their drones.
US sanctions
In 2020, the United States put DJI on a list of companies to control strictly. This led to rules stopping U.S. government groups from buying Chinese-made drones.
DJI tried to fight these actions in court but still faced restrictions.
Pentagon analysis
In 2021, a report from the United States Department of Defense said that certain DJI drones for government use did not have harmful software and were considered safe to use.
Incidents involving DJI products
In 2015, a DJI drone crashed near the White House in Washington, D.C. DJI later added systems to stop drones from flying near restricted areas.
DJI drones have been used in many places around the world, sometimes by groups in conflicts. DJI has tried to stop their drones from being used in harmful ways, like making no-fly zones in certain areas.
Russian invasion of Ukraine
DJI drones were used by both sides during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. They helped watch enemy forces and share videos.
After some criticism, DJI stopped selling products in Russia and Ukraine to avoid them being used in fighting. But people still found ways to get and use the drones.
Gaza war
Reports say that the Israeli military used DJI drones during conflicts, but DJI has not stopped selling to them.
Mount Everest
In 2024, DJI provided drones to help clean up Mount Everest and support climbers. In 2026, Nepal temporarily stopped these drones from flying due to security concerns, but allowed them again after a serious ice collapse.
Images
Related articles
This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on DJI, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Images from Wikimedia Commons. Tap any image to view credits and license.
Safekipedia