Best American made drone?

[Len750]

I fly the Watts Prism X8, but it's overkill for most applications. At full 55 lbs takeoff weight it flies like a bus, but is very stable and will carry a 20 lb video camera.

And starting at only $22,000, I'm buying three!!

 

[karlblessing]

Its not American made but the Xioami FIMI X8SE 2022 for only $400 is an incredible drone for the price. No sensors but the range beats any of my DJI drones and I don't mind risky flights should I lose it. FLying conservatively you do not need the sensors and even with the DJI drones I rarely needed them. Add in their remote and its a joy to fly.

How does the DJI Mini 2 compare seeing as they're down to about that price now too.

 

[JavaJack]

Well there is the Freefly Alta, made in the USA. I used to own one as I’ve been a commercial Drone pilot for a decade and owned some big machines, and sold them all, eventually. Imagine paying more that $30,000 for an Alta, by the time you add all the batteries, chargers, controllers, and landing gear of choice. We mounted a Redcam on the Alta and it flew like a tank so I sold it at a huge loss. Sorry, but the DJI products are still the best flying machine, offering great features features at a great price point. Cannot believe the image quality from my Mavic 3 Cine when shooting D-log.

 

[C.W.]

Autel is a Chinese company and probably the only real competitor to DJI. Skydio is ok but I never see anyone bragging about its photo capability. It’s always emphasizing follow mode. Exo drones are just rebranded husban drones and I believe they just got sold to another company.

 

[drakkor]

I believe that Skydio is 100% made in the USA. The company is located right next to where I live too, in San Mateo, California. You can even find on YouTube some video if their headquarter about how they build their drone and such. Like someone else mentioned, those are not drone you can use to fly at night though, since they will not take off when dark (unless they improved this now with the Skydio 2?).

In any cases, they indeed don't have Geo-fencing, BUT when contacted they confirmed that they will implement the remote-ID feature sometimes next year in a firmware update in all their drones. Something to keep in mind.

 

[karlblessing]

Like someone else mentioned, those are not drone you can use to fly at night though, since they will not take off when dark (unless they improved this now with the Skydio 2?)

Not even the 2+, they prioritize obstacle avoidance, if it can't do that it doesn't fly.

 

[jmaganaski]

Autel is a Chinese company with headquarters just down the road from DJI in Shenzen.
Their drones are made in China too.

Huh? Autel Robotics is an American company in Bothell, WA. I owned an X-Star Premium and had to send it there for repair. Their customer service was much more helpful than DJI’s have ever been in my experience.

 

[Tufargon]

Huh? Autel Robotics is an American company in Bothell, WA. I owned an X-Star Premium and had to send it there for repair. Their customer service was much more helpful than DJI’s have ever been in my experience.

Read the thread. Go to the Autel forum where this has been discussed to death. They are not American. No matter what you think. I bought the XSP when it first came out and many here have also and it is well known. They are based in China and put a shop up in Bothell WA (another place before that before they went there) to make it look like they were based here. They sent some of their staff from China to WA. They may put them together in WA but everything is made in China.

 

[jmaganaski]

Read the thread. Go to the Autel forum where this has been discussed to death. They are not American. No matter what you think. I bought the XSP when it first came out and many here have also and it is well known. They are based in China and put a shop up in Bothell WA (another place before that before they went there).

Nah. Why read it when you’ve so emphatically disagree. Ok. So what? They’re good e’nuf for government work. That’s good enuf for me.

 

[Tufargon]

Nah. Why read it when you’ve so emphatically disagree. Ok. So what? They’re good e’nuf for government work. That’s good enuf for me.

Nah, why believe it if you just want to believe something else if it's convenient to you. Here, give them a call or contact them whichever way you want. They are huge in the automotive business and have been for years and their main headquarters are below. They just branched off to drones in 2015-2016.

China Headquarters:​

• Phone: +86-0755-8614-7779 (Monday-Friday, 9:00AM-6:00PM Beijing Time)
• Fax: +86-0755-8614-7758
• Tech Support Email: [email protected]
• Sales Email: [email protected]
• Address: 7th, 8th and 10th Floor, Building B1, Zhiyuan, Xueyuan Road, Xili, Nanshan, Shenzhen, 518055,
  China
• Web: www.auteltech.cn

Sure gets tiresome when people spread misinformation (please stop it if you don't know the facts). This is facts from way back and tons of research from many people that have done the leg work.

 

[Tufargon]

Also when the XSP was originally produced they did not have a U.S base. So if yours was made and assembled in the U.S, you have the only one. They used the verbiage as "assembled in the United States" to try to fool consumers into thinking they were actually made there. They have bases all over the world. Doesn't mean their main base isn't China. But you now have contact info to ask.

 

[jmaganaski]

Nah, why believe it if you just want to believe something else if it's convenient to you. Here, give them a call or contact them whichever way you want. They are huge in the automotive business and have been for years and their main headquarters are below. They just branched off to drones in 2015-2016.

China Headquarters:​

• Phone: +86-0755-8614-7779 (Monday-Friday, 9:00AM-6:00PM Beijing Time)
• Fax: +86-0755-8614-7758
• Tech Support Email: [email protected]
• Sales Email: [email protected]
• Address: 7th, 8th and 10th Floor, Building B1, Zhiyuan, Xueyuan Road, Xili, Nanshan, Shenzhen, 518055,
  China
• Web: www.auteltech.cn

Sure gets tiresome when people spread misinformation (please stop it if you don't know the facts). This is facts from way back and tons of research from many people that have done the leg work.

Lol. Nah. I’ll just call them in Bothell, WA. Look. I can cut and paste too. Now go away dude. You’re behaving like a gorilla with a new piece of luggage.

 

[Tufargon]

Lol. Nah. I’ll just call them in Bothell, WA. Look. I can cut and paste too. Now go away dude. You’re behaving like a gorilla with a new piece of luggage.

Just trying to inform the uninformed. Sorry you refuse to become a little more educated from someone who knows about it. Keep those blinders on

 

[jmaganaski]

Just trying to inform the uninformed. Sorry you refuse to become a little more educated from someone who knows about it. Keep those blinders on

 

[jmaganaski]

Contact us​

If you have any questions about our products, please contact our professional technicians.​

• Address
• 22522 29th Dr SE, Ste 101
• Bothell, WA 98021
• United States
• Customer Service
• United States
• Email: [email protected]
• Toll-free: (844) MY AUTEL or (844) 692-8835
• For Enterprise support, please contact us via
• Email: [email protected]
• Toll-free: (844) 460-0454
• New Zealand
• Toll-free: +64 800 627010
• European Union
• Email: [email protected]
• For Dealer Inquiries
• North America: [email protected]

 

[jmaganaski]

Lol. I think that fish you’re holding is older than you. Goodnight!

 

[Tufargon]

Lol. I think that fish you’re holding is older than you. Goodnight!

I guess some people just insult when they don't hear what they want. It's a way of making them think they won a discussion.
Just curious how your XSP (made in 2015-2016) was made in Bothell WA since that establishment was only there in 2017. It's not their home base. It's their American base of many all over the globe. Not their home base, China.

 

[sar104]

Contact us​

If you have any questions about our products, please contact our professional technicians.​

• Address
• 22522 29th Dr SE, Ste 101
• Bothell, WA 98021
• United States
• Customer Service
• United States
• Email: [email protected]
• Toll-free: (844) MY AUTEL or (844) 692-8835
• For Enterprise support, please contact us via
• Email: [email protected]
• Toll-free: (844) 460-0454
• New Zealand
• Toll-free: +64 800 627010
• European Union
• Email: [email protected]
• For Dealer Inquiries
• North America: [email protected]

About Us-Autel Robotics Camera Drone, Quadcopter & UAV for Sale | Leader in Drones

 

[SkyeHigh]

I guess some people just insult when they don't hear what they want. It's a way of making them think they won a discussion.
Just curious how your XSP (made in 2015-2016) was made in Bothell WA since that establishment was only there in 2017. It's not their home base. It's their American base of many all over the globe. Not their home base, China.

The more you try and educate/convince people who are clearly wrong/misled the more they try and prove their view or belief (read ‘fact’) no matter how increasingly incredulous their responses become. Finally desperate not to appear ignorant they rely on insults and an ‘I don’t really care anyway’ attitude.

Case in point.

 

[Meta4]

Huh? Autel Robotics is an American company in Bothell, WA. I owned an X-Star Premium and had to send it there for repair. Their customer service was much more helpful than DJI’s have ever been in my experience.

Yes .. Autel is a Chinese company, just like DJI.
They have a sales and service centre in Bothell, WA, just like DJI have a sales and service centre in California.
But that doesn't make either of them an American company.

The difference is that everyone knows DJI is Chinese and Autel is happy to let you think they aren't.