Updated 2026-09-24
Is it a bad idea to buy a DJI drone right now?
Short answer
A DJI drone you buy today is legal to own and legal to fly, and nothing is being remotely disabled. What has changed is supply: the FCC added DJI to its Covered List on 23 December 2025, which blocks new equipment authorisations, and US Customs has been holding shipments since October 2024. Models authorised before the cutoff can still be sold from stock. Models DJI never launched here — the Mavic 4 Pro and the Neo 2 among them — are either import-only or absent.
What actually happened, in order
October 2024: US Customs and Border Protection began detaining DJI shipments under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. That is an import-enforcement action, not a flight ban. December 2025: the deadline in the 2025 NDAA for a federal security agency to audit DJI passed with no agency publicly completing one, and the FCC added the company to its Covered List — which bars new equipment authorisations, the approval a radio device needs before it can legally be imported and sold.
What that means for a drone on a shelf
Models that received FCC authorisation before the cutoff keep it. The Air 3S was authorised in September 2024, the Mavic 4 Pro in December 2024, the Mini 5 Pro in May 2025. Those can be sold from existing US inventory, and the aircraft themselves are unaffected. What cannot happen is new models arriving through the normal route, or the existing ones being restocked at the usual rate — which is why 2026 pricing on DJI drones has moved with availability rather than with demand.
The models that never arrived
DJI said at the Mavic 4 Pro's May 2025 launch that it would not ship to the United States, citing tariffs and customs. The Neo 2 launched globally in late 2025 and skipped the US entirely. The Mini 5 Pro was not launched through DJI's own US store either, although US photo retailers do list it. Where those aircraft appear domestically, they arrived by another route, and DJI's warranty and Care Refresh are tied to the region of purchase — so a US buyer of one is usually outside both.
Whether your existing drone is affected
It is not. Drones already in the country were not remotely disabled, no firmware kill switch was pushed, and flying one is exactly as legal as it was. The practical risks are slower: parts and battery availability over a long ownership, and service turnaround if something breaks.
The alternatives, honestly
Autel discontinued its whole consumer line — the EVO Nano and EVO Lite series — on 18 July 2025, committing to service until 2030; its EVO II V3 range survived and is still sold. Antigravity, Insta360's drone brand, launched the A1 in December 2025 and sells it through US retail. Potensic and Holy Stone have both built genuinely competent sub-250-gram aircraft at half DJI's price, with real gaps in sensing and camera quality. There is no single drop-in replacement, which is the honest answer rather than a satisfying one.