An Air 3 clone, rebrand, or a DJI manufacturer "pirated" it? The mysterious new Specta Air Drone!

[NEWorldPhoto]

I was browsing YouTube and suddenly popped up a video revealing the existence of this thing:

Specta Air Drone​

I've never before seen something like this, an exact version of a DJI drone rebranded to a strange brand! It's already being sold at Amazon and has several reviews of it!

Looks like the exact same Air 3 from DJI that has been rebranded! And it won't work with the DJI's batteries, a buyer wrote in a review that tried to insert a DJI Air 3 battery in it, and an error message popped up on the controller complaining that a Non-Specta battery was inserted and therefore flying was disabled! And also was unable to bind the DJI RC2 controller to it. So this rebranded version of the Air 3 is incompatible and software-blocked with the exact DJI batteries/controller counterparts!

What the heck is going on here? Is DJI doing the same thing as Hubsan with its EXO rebranded "U.S. version" drones? A strategy of DJI to dodge the infamous threats of a US ban? Specta claims it's not affiliated with DJI. Perhaps DJI outsourced the manufacture of the Air 3 and that manufacturer "pirated" the Air 3 and sold it to another brand?
Let's the investigation begin...!

 

[Ridgeback65]

Very curious.... I exSpecta this is going to be interesting.

 

[MARK (LI)]

And here is Amazon Ad for the dji model





It looks like the real dji is $100 less..also real dji says "Compliance with FAA Remote ID"...whereas the other one doesn't mention that...and at that weight that is a critical detail...can's see spending the extra 100 dollars for a knock off

 

[Vic Moss]

I'm checking on this with one of my DJI contacts. I'll post what I learn.

 

[GFields]

I read some time back that DJI was going to try to rebrand their products to be able to continue to sell in the USA. This looks just like the Air 3

 

[gogorokokoko]

very interesting find
from the reviews on the amazon page it seems that its a dji product rebranded, maybe to avoid the us ban

amazon reviews link is here Amazon.com

the software differs a little and the original air 3 batteries cant be used on this but the rest is identical

may be a sign that dji is preparing for worse on the us market

 

[gogorokokoko]

half chrome channel video

 

[wco81]

How would rebranding work to get around potential bans?

They could sell to a separate American company but the suspicion would be that the devices would secretly send data to China.

 

[maggior]

This is an interesting development. I'm used to seeing this with the budget drone market where 3 or more companies sell the same drone but rebrand them and you can even switch the apps between them.

 

[gogorokokoko]

How would rebranding work to get around potential bans?

the question is very good
this may be just 1st attempt to avoid bans

in fact if the us want to ban the dji products they will ban everything that looks like dji no matter of the branding

and dji will not sell to a us company, their world market is big enough to survive a us ban imo
not that i see any us company that will want to buy dji

i dont see a forced deal applying to this, just a simple ban

on the other hand if dji considered to release a rebranded product may mean that they have some real infos about the future ban or that they think that is very probable to happen

 

[Occams Razor]

Although I am not well versed on the proposed bill, my understanding is the CCP Drones Act specifically targets DJI and their drones. If DJI was able to create a company that was 100% independent of DJI and located in a different country this seems like an attempt to get around the bill. My guess is DJI is testing the waters with this Specta release and waiting to see if and how Congress will respond.

 

[gogorokokoko]

Although I am not well versed on the proposed bill, my understanding is the CCP Drones Act specifically targets DJI and their drones. If DJI was able to create a company that was 100% independent of DJI and located in a different country this seems like an attempt to get around the bill. My guess is DJI is testing the waters with this Specta release and waiting to see if and how Congress will respond.

of course nobody knows now how it will be
but this kind of measure isnt based on (technical) details
the ban may include everything they think is needed

anyway, lets wait and see what will happen
i will stop making assumptions on this
until there will be something new

 

[old man mavic]

there is one very important name missing from what is clearly a DJI air 3,and that is the DJI logo,
and to that end ,that will make it attractive to consumers, who want to have the Air 3, but dont buy it because it is a DJI brand of drone
this is simply giving consumers more choice ,DJI dont need to try and disguise its origins ,take any drone currently on sale around the world and ,90% of them are clones of DJI products,this is nothing new ,take the Apps used by different makes of drone ,there is so little difference in the formats of these Apps now,and how the info is displayed ,the technology, in cheaper drones has filtered down from what DJI produce to lesser known brands ,just the same as it does in many of the products that we use in consumer electronics ,cars and many other items

 

[Mrprop365]

View attachment 173649



And here is Amazon Ad for the dji model



View attachment 173650

It looks like the real dji is $100 less..also real dji says "Compliance with FAA Remote ID"...whereas the other one doesn't mention that...and at that weight that is a critical detail...can's see spending the extra 100 dollars for a knock off

the dji brand is the rnc2 (no screen) while this specta one has a screen. this might explain the price difference.

 

[Mrprop365]

time to make a "specta pilots" forum??

 

[wco81]

Although I am not well versed on the proposed bill, my understanding is the CCP Drones Act specifically targets DJI and their drones. If DJI was able to create a company that was 100% independent of DJI and located in a different country this seems like an attempt to get around the bill. My guess is DJI is testing the waters with this Specta release and waiting to see if and how Congress will respond.

The main sponsor of that bill may be a potential VP to a very old presidential candidate.

So she may even become president within the next 4 years.

 

[gogorokokoko]

 

[gogorokokoko]

this guy talk about the ban too

 

[Vic Moss]

From my DJI contact, "This certainly tops the list of the weird questions I've received all week! That does look exactly like Air 3…Thanks so much for flagging this to me and sharing the context. Let me look into it!"

I'll share more when she gets back to me.

 

[MotoSavy]

I watched one of the video a few days ago and the first thing that came to my mind it that it must be a US based company, but really owned by DJI or associates and it is a DJI drone clone and a way for them work around the banning of DJI drones in the USA.