DJI

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, which are widely used for aerial photography and videography.

As of June 2024, DJI made up over 90% of the world's consumer drone market, showing just how popular and important their products are. Their drones are used in many exciting ways, such as in the music, television, and film industries, helping create amazing special effects and beautiful scenes.

However, some people worry about how DJI drones are used. These drones have been used by different groups during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and there have been concerns about privacy and security. Because of these worries, the United States government has placed restrictions on the company, although their drones are still available for people to buy and use in many places.

History

The company was started in 2006 by Frank Wang. He was a student at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and had built early drone parts in his dorm room. With help from a friend, he moved to Shenzhen and began selling these parts.

DJI made its first big splash in 2013 with the Phantom drone, an easy-to-use model that became very popular. Over the years, DJI grew into the world's largest maker of consumer drones, used by hobbyists, professionals, and even police forces. They also began making other products, like robot vacuums, and faced some legal challenges along the way.

Corporate structure

In 2018, DJI collected about $1 billion to get ready for a possible public offering of shares, but by July 2020, this had not happened. Earlier, in 2015, the company got $500 million from investors such as New China Life Insurance, GIC, and New Horizon Capital.

DJI has around 14,000 workers and 17 offices around the world. The company is famous for having a tough hiring process and a very competitive atmosphere where teams compete to create better products. Their factories in Shenzhen use advanced automatic 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 a needed update to fix this in August 2017.

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, but some people were upset because a safety feature called AirSense would not work on models outside the US. This was because of problems making enough of the parts during the COVID-19 crisis.

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 Mavic 3 Enterprise and Mavic 3 Thermal were released on September 27, 2022. 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.^{[citation needed]}

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, but does not have the wheel or quick start feature.

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, of which it is now an unofficial mascot. 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.^{[citation needed]}

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 raised concerns about DJI's drones not meeting certain security requirements. In response, DJI introduced features that allow drones to operate without connecting to the internet.

There were reports about DJI's apps having software that could be updated without user permission, which went against rules set by Apple. The United States Army also decided not to use DJI drones in certain situations due to possible security issues.

DJI created programs to find and fix security problems in their products. However, some issues were not handled well, leading to public discussion.

In 2020, the United States grounded many DJI drones due to security worries. Later analyses found no proof that data was sent to China, but concerns remained.

In 2024, DJI started a center to share updates about security checks and privacy features in their drones.

US sanctions

In 2020, the United States added DJI to a list of companies for strict control. This led to rules stopping the purchase of Chinese-made drones by U.S. government groups.

DJI tried to fight these actions in court but faced ongoing restrictions.

Pentagon analysis

In 2021, a report from the United States Department of Defense found that certain DJI drones meant for government use did not contain harmful software and were considered safe for 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 various situations around the world, including by groups in conflicts. DJI has taken steps to prevent their drones from being used in harmful ways, such as creating 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 with watching enemy forces and sharing videos.

After criticism, DJI stopped selling products in Russia and Ukraine to avoid them being used in fighting. Still, people found ways to get and use the drones anyway.

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.