Antigravity A1: Revolutionizing Drone Technology with 360-Degree Cameras

I flew Insta360's Antigravity -- it could change how drones are made

I know my way around a pair of joysticks -- but I'd prefer to soar. I don't want to think about filming while I'm flying. I'd rather explore. Now, camera maker Insta360 is launching its first drone, under a new drone company, to serve that exact demand. It's called Antigravity, and in January 2026, it'll ship a flying 360-degree camera which -- unlike today's drones -- will always come bundled with goggles that put you inside its virtual cockpit. It looks and flies a bit like a DJI Mini, with similar folding arms and sub-250-gram weight, but the experience of using the new Antigravity A1 is totally different. Like the Hover X1, which ditched controllers entirely, it feels like Antigravity might have just unlocked a whole new category of drone. Because it has a 360-degree camera, you can fly up into the sky, or through a park, and simply turn your head to look in any direction. You don't have to fly straight at things you want to see or aim a camera. And because it's recording 8K footage in every direction simultaneously, you can direct an entire video, with virtual zooms and pans and spins, long after your flight is finished. On the sunny day I flew a prototype in a Northern California park, I remember seeing a few birds fly by. But reviewing my footage weeks later, I discovered I'd filmed an entire flock -- over 40 in all, when I pan and zoom my virtual camera and take the time to count. Check out my embedded video to see what I'm talking about. Don't get me wrong, it's still a drone, and it's still a 360-degree camera, with inherent limitations of both. While it's quieter than some, I still wouldn't want its noisy blades spinning through the middle of my wedding party, even if I'd appreciate having an omnidirectional recording afterwards. And even though it records at 8K and is aiming for similar image quality as the acclaimed Insta360 X5, 360-degree cameras spread out those pixels across an incredibly wide canvas: it's not yet enough to zoom in on many things without a dramatic loss of image quality, or to truly immerse someone wearing a VR headset, particularly since it's limited to 30 frames per second at that 8K resolution, or 5.7K at 60fps. (I tested my early footage in a Quest 3, and you can check it out on YouTube 360.) So for best results, you won't want to fly high above things: you'll want to be close. But not so close that you see the stitching lines between the Antigravity A1's top and bottom cameras. The nearly invisible stitch neatly keeps the drone's frame from appearing in your field of view, but it's noticeable when it artificially shortens people and objects that are perfectly level with the drone. Still, watching my early footage was a thrilling experience, particularly because I never had to think about filming while I flew. And frankly, I didn't need to think about flying that much, either. In 2022, I was wowed by the new bar the DJI Avata set for beginner drones, letting me simply tilt a motion-sensing joystick and pull a trigger to feel like a pilot flying through the air, with optional goggles for a first-person view. But Antigravity's goggles give me nearly double the field of view (roughly 90 degrees diagonally) and while its Grip controller looks similar, this one's as easy as point and shoot. You can aim the drone to fly in an entirely different direction than you're facing, just by pointing your controller hand that way, and get a picture-in-picture view of the direction it's flying to help you avoid crashes. There's also a traditional twin-stick controller in development if you prefer, as well as propeller guards. But you should know the A1 is probably not for thrillseekers. Compared to an Avata, the prototype I tried is slow and steady, flying more like a traditional camera drone, and its front-facing obstacle sensors were very aggressive in my demo, refusing to let me easily fly under a wide-open play structure in my local park. I also hope the final version has a bit less visual artifacting and a bit stronger wireless signal than the prototype: the range and visual transmission in the headset weren't bad, but they were definitely not up to DJI's very high bar. I'm also not sure about some of the A1's snazziest features. It's fun to watch its landing gear automatically fold and unfold, and I'm sure my kids will get a kick out of seeing where daddy's flying on the goggles' external screen, but I'd probably prefer to pay less for fewer components and fewer points of failure. By the way, I can't tell you how fast the Antigravity A1 technically is, or how much range or battery life it claims just yet. The company isn't releasing full specs or pricing today, and it declined my request for a full interview about how this Chinese company plans to sell it in the US at a time when DJI is experiencing a de facto ban and Trump has made it clear that US drones should "dominate." But spokesperson Ben Liu was willing to speak to that for a bit. He tells me that US retailers like Best Buy and Amazon have been "very welcoming" even if final contracts have yet to be signed, and that the company believes the drone will make it to the United States even though "it's definitely a really big risk." He admits it might have different prices in different regions due to tariffs, but that the complete package with goggles and controller should cost less than a DJI Mavic, perhaps as little as $1,300. Also, Insta360 claims it's standing up Antigravity as a whole new company with its own dedicated team and its own servers in the US, and it's working on features with the hopes of proactively showing governments that it's not a threat. Before I finish my demo, Liu insists I try the "payload detection" feature that he claims is designed to prevent the Antigravity AI from being weaponized as a flying bomb. The drone, loaded down with many tiny metal weights, immediately forces itself to land after I make it take off. "We just want to show our attitude that this drone is only for fun," says Liu. I don't know if that demo proves much, as I suspect the US government would be more concerned about the Antigravity as a powerful surveillance tool since its 360-degree camera can cover more area at a time. But for others, this fundamentally feels like a different and potentially easier way to fly and film. Even if the Antigravity A1 doesn't wind up being a winner, I'm now convinced DJI and competitors will follow.

I'd never flown a drone until the Antigravity A1 -- look at what I could shoot after only five minutes

When I was invited to test out the Antigravity A1 360-degree drone in Germany a few months back, I was more than a little apprehensive. Sure, I was excited to go and test the A1. After all, this isn't just a brand new drone, but a brand new concept -- putting the 360-degree cameras from the formidable Insta360 X5 into a consumer drone. The thing is, I'd never flown a drone before the A1. Literally not a single one. Thankfully, the Antigravity A1 is designed to be as easy to use as drones get. Anyone should be able to pick up this tiny drone and come away with slick looking footage, comparable to video shot by experienced pilots the best drones. Here's what happened after I went hands-on with the Antigravity A1 for the first time. First up, a very quick explainer for those not in the know. The A1 is the first drone from a new brand, Antigravity. It's set to launch in January 2026, although we got hands on with working R&D units that seemed to be most of the way towards fully developed. Antigravity is a spun-off sub-brand of Insta360, and as such the drone uses Insta360's camera tech. Specifically, it uses the 360-degree camera system from the Insta360 X5. Insta360 is marketing Antigravity as a wholly separate entity "incubated by Insta360", but make no mistake, this is a sub-brand -- most of the staff at the test event were borrowed from Insta360. 360-degree cameras record a full 360 field of view (FoV) all at once. This gives you lots of flexibility with framing and position. You don't need to be pointing the drone camera directly at a subject; you just need to be near it and can line up your footage later in post. The frontal lenses are only there for object avoidance, while the 360 cameras sit on the top and bottom of the drone. Like the X5, the A1 shoots in 8K, giving you a maximum 16:9 reframed resolution of 4K. It will weigh under 249g when it launches, meaning you won't need FAA registration in the U.S. (or registration with similar regulatory bodies in other countries). The production model will feature return to home and payload detection, although take-off payload figures haven't yet been confirmed. Nothing has been confirmed in regards to battery life, nor whether the drone can be operated without the headset. Given the A1 borrows so much tech from the X5, it's reasonable to assume it will use the same pair of 1/1.28-inch sensors, which delivered strong low light performance in the X5's testing. But again, Antigravity hasn't divulged that technical info yet. It would also be great to see the X5's replaceable lenses reused in the A1, as the bottom lens in particular could be liable to damage while landing. No word on that, either. We've given a full rundown of the drone's features (confirmed so far) in our Antigravity A1 launch coverage article. In short, incredibly easy. I was a total first-timer before using the A1, and I was flying confidently via the headset and controller in under a minute. Below you can see what I shot after a couple of minutes (with manual reframing in post). Thanks to the 360-degree footage, I didn't actually need to be that accurate with drone placement. I simply flew in the center of the race track and then did all of the framing later on in post production. My first attempt with the software was a bit ropey, as you can see below. However, I then used some of the companion software's subject detection and automatic reframing, and came away with the footage below, which I'm much happier with (and I added in some Tiny Planet effects at the end just for fun, because I love that mode). All of this was shot within the first few minutes of a 7-minute flight. The A1 makes it incredibly easy to get awesome looking chase footage without the piloting skills you'd need to get similar footage on a traditional fixed FoV lens drone. I managed to shoot the video above with no experience at all -- imagine what you could do with a bit of practice? For consumers, newbies and content creators, the A1 could be a game-changer, allowing them to shoot professional-tier footage much more easily than when using a traditional drone. I can't see a way back from 360 drones now. The most important question is, how will DJI respond? We'll have to wait and see, but with the launch of the DJI Osmo 360, Insta360's rival has finally step foot in the 360 arena. It's only a matter of time before that tech makes it's way into DJI's drones. The A1 uses a handheld controller, which took a bit of getting used to but was fairly intuitive, featuring a trigger for throttle-forward, a jog wheels for rotating and a slider for ascending/descending. It also requires a headset, which is extremely immersive as it effectively puts you in the air with the drone. Lifting off the ground for the first time and looking down put butterflies in my stomach. There's no news yet as to whether you'll be able to fly without the headset using a smartphone app for an FoV. The headset also features OLED displays in the front so those around you can see what you see, although these weren't working in the pre-production model I tested. Thanks to the 360-degree cameras, you can fly up into the sky and look around in full 360-degrees. It's pretty awesome. Your field of view is also where the drone will head when flying, which I found very intuitive for piloting. The Antigravity A1 will use similar reframing software to Insta360 products, which use the Insta360 Studio desktop app and Insta360 mobile app. In fact, to edit the test footage above, I used jerry-rigged Insta360 Studio beta software. You can expect bespoke Antigravity-branded desktop and mobile applications, but they shouldn't differ much from the Insta360 versions they'll be based on. That's great, as Insta360's software is super easy to use, even if you aren't familiar, and comes with handy automatic (supposedly "AI") features like the subject detection/tracking I used in the second video above. The Antigravity A1 is slated to launch in early 2026. However, we're expecting to be able to test and review a production model before then. Hopefully later this year. The units we've tested are pre-production units, which is why we can't confirm more tech specs right now. As soon as we know more about the details, we'll cover them. We're also very eager to see how DJI responds to this. After all, DJI made its first step into the 360 camera market recently, with the launch of the Osmo 360. I said at the time that DJI's decision to do so was likely with a greater ambition in mind, to bring 360 cameras into its bread-and-butter drones lineup -- looks like that was indeed the case. Regardless, it looks as though we're about to witness an arms race between the two Chinese camera giants. And that the consumer drones market is set to get very interesting, very soon.