Sony Airpeak Drone, the newest robust DJI rival.

Sony unveiled the Airpeak drone at CES 2021, the newest serious drone to compete with DJI. The Airpeak drone has obstacle avoidance, FPV camera and serious payload.

Just a few hours ago, SONY announced their new tool kits for visual creators, which included the Airpeak Drone.  Sony's newest drone showcases some features you would expect from a DJI rival.

Sony announced the new drone today during a press briefing at the Consumer Electronics Show.  The quadcopter drone showcases some serious potential with powerful motors, folding propellers and even smart batteries.  This video from Sony showcases the Airpeak drone having dual smart batteries and even an FPV camera for the drone pilot.   The drone touts sensors for obstacle avoidance, a consumer feature expected from any drone manufacturer.

The Airpeak drone also seems to have folding landing gear.  The drone is shown with the Sony A7rIII and provides creators with a new pathway to create, according to Sony. This particular aircraft was made for the Alpha series of mirrorless cameras to ensure high quality, full frame aerial photography and videography.

Sony eluded that this might not be the only drone they are about to release.  In the press release, Sony showcased that the Airpeak is the smallest drone that is capable of carrying the Alpha system.

DJI Blacklisted, opening door for SONY.

With DJI having acquired a nice shiny spot on the US Commerce Departments Blacklist, finding DJI products might get harder.  SONY seems to have teased this new drone back in November of 2020, but never released details. With DJI being placed on the Blacklist, did the opportunity just arise for a powerful manufacturer to step in DJI's place?

It seems SONY has DJI in their sights.  Some of the parts on this particular aircraft do look familiar. We're wondering if this drone is made with parts that might be from a familiar manufacturer. Without having our hands on the Aircraft, it is hard to truly know.

The SONY Airpeak drone does look like a prosumer drone.  The aircraft is shown with articulating landing gear to ensure the camera is never in the shot.  The arms of the Airpeak drone look angled, just like the Inspire 2 drone.  The motors on the gimbal look extremely robust as to offer the ability to change lenses on whatever camera you fly.

Competition for a prosumer, American contract friendly drone just heated up with the Airpeak drone from Sony.  It will be interesting to see how much this drone is, and when it will launch.  The Freefly Astro drone, appears to be similar in size.  Will the Astro drone compete with the Airpeak from Sony? Only time will tell...