DJI unveils its first 360-degree drone amid patent dispute with crosstown rival Insta360
he Avata 360 is DJI’s first full-degree drone.
Photo: Handout China’s DJI announced its first 360-degree drone on Thursday, directly challenging domestic rival Insta360 in a nascent market segment that is now at the centre of an escalating patent war.
The new product, the DJI Avata 360, marks a significant expansion for the company beyond traditional aerial photography.
The drone features a front-mounted omnidirectional camera capable of capturing high dynamic range (HDR) images at 8K resolution and 60 frames per second, according to official information.
The drone, with prices starting 4,388 yuan (US$626), featured four propellers, giving it a similar look to DJI’s Avata 2, a first-person view drone launched in 2024, according to official photos.
The launch comes just days after it was publicly revealed that DJI had filed a lawsuit against crosstown rival Insta360 with a court in Shenzhen, in southern Guangdong province, where both companies are based.
The legal complaint involved six patents covering critical technologies including drone flight control, structural design and image processing.
The DJI logo is seen on a mobile phone screen in front of the company’s website.
Photo: Shutterstock Images In response, Insta360 founder and CEO Liu Jingkang said that, after an internal review of the patents in question, “the available evidence indicates that these are all ideas and innovations generated within Insta360”.
The Avata 360 is set to become the world’s second of its type after Insta360-backed brand Antigravity released its A1 full-view drone last year.
The A1, with a recommended price of US$1,599, is currently on sale with a 20 per cent discount under a limited-time offer that ends on April 16.
The two companies have been expanding to each other’s turf.
The A1 drone was seen as Insta360’s challenge to DJI’s dominance in consumer drones, while DJI has launched several cameras that challenge Insta360, which is best known for its omnidirectional cameras.
Last July, DJI – the world’s largest drone maker – released the Osmo 360 – its first entry in the 360-degree imaging market.
Two months later, it rolled out Osmo Nano, a small camera widely compared to Insta360’s Go Ultra.
Insta360’s Liu said on microblogging site Weibo that the Osmo 360 and Osmo Nano resembled his company’s own products, which could have justified legal action on 11 patents covering hardware and structural features.
However, he said Insta360 did not take legal action beca
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