I tested the Antigravity 360 drone and only a sky-high price tag brings this unique DJI rival down to earth

Date:
Thu, 04 Dec 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Description:
The Antigravity A1 is an innovative 360-degree drone that uses FPV goggles
and a motion controller for an immersive experience while capturing up to 8K video.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Antigrav ity A1: one-minute review

The idea of a 360-degree drone may sound like an impossibility, but the Antigravity A1 is exactly that. Whats more, it manages to implement this concept in a sub-250g drone that includes collision avoidance, and which is controlled via 360-degree FPV goggles and a motion controller. Youll have to read on to discover whether its one of the best drones you can buy, but its undoubtedly one of the most interesting.

The idea of a 360-degree drone isnt a new one, and the fact that Antigravity is an offshoot of Insta360 may shed a little light on its pedigree in this department. But this isnt Insta360s first experiment in this arena; first, there was an Insta360 / BetaFPV 360-degree collaboration with the SMO 360 camera for some FPV drones. Then there was the Insta360 Sphere, which was a 360-degree camera that attached to the DJI Air 2 and Air 2S.

Both were great ideas, but no pun intended they simply didnt take off as hoped. The Insta360 Sphere was an interesting idea because it attached to a standard camera drone, but operation was fiddly, and it was tied to a drone model that would inevitably become obsolete.

The Antigravity A1 addresses this issue, as the 360-degree camera is built into the drone. You wear FPV goggles with head tracking that give you a 360-degree view during flight, while control is mostly via a motion
controller with head tracking of the goggles. One thing I must stress at this point is that the A1 is not an FPV drone. Its a 360-degree camera drone that uses goggles and a motion controller, rather than a standard controller and phone. (Image credit: James Abbott) Antigravity A1: price and release date Launched on December 4 2025 Expensive compared to standard camera drones
Three kits available

The Antigravity A1 was launched on December 4, 2025. The drone is more expensive than other sub-250g drones due to the high-quality goggles and motion controller that come with the three available kits. These certainly provide an immersive experience, but it would have been massively more affordable if the drone used a standard stick-based controller with a phone attached, or even a smart controller.

There are three kits available: the Standard Bundle, the Explorer Bundle and the Infinity Bundle. In a nutshell, the Standard Bundle includes the drone, motion controller, FPV goggles and one battery. The Explorer Bundle is all that, but it comes with three batteries, a battery charging hub, a shoulder bag, and spare propellers. The Infinity Bundle is the same as the Explorer, but it includes higher-capacity batteries for longer flight times.

The Standard Bundle costs $1,599 / 1,299 / AU$2,099, the Explorer Bundle
costs $1,899 / 1,399 / AU$2,599 and the Infinity Bundle costs $1,999 / 1,499
/ AU$2,799. To cut to the chase, you'll want to avoid the Standard Kit
because one battery isnt enough, as it doesnt provide a long flight duration. The best-value package is the Explorer Bundle, while you can enjoy more
flight time by paying a bit more for the Infinity Bundle, if youre happy for the weight of the drone to exceed 250g. Price score: 3/5 Antigravity A1:
specs Antigravity A1 specs

Camera:

Dual 1/1.28-inch sensors

Video resolution:


8K

Frame rates:


8K up to 30fps / 5.2K up to 60fps / 4K & 1080p up to 30fps / 4K & 1080p slow motion at 100fps

Video transmission range:


Up to 6.2 miles / 10km (Tested in FCC environments)

Flight modes:


Cinematic, Normal, Sport

Battery:


2360mAh, up to 24 minutes flight time / 4345mAh, up to 39 minutes flight time

Charger type:


USB-C / Battery Charging Hub

Weight:


8.78oz / 249g
(10.26oz / 291g with the high-capacity flight battery)

Dimensions:

Folded: 5.56 x 3.79 x 3.20 inches / 141.3 x 96.2 x 81.4mm

Unfolded (propellers extended): 12.15 x 15.05 x 3.51 inches / 308.6 x 382.3 x 89.2mm Antigravity A1: Design Standard folding mini drone design Vision googles for a 360-degree camera view Motion controller

The A1 sports a standard folding design that makes it look a lot like most sub-250g drones, but it also has an undeniably unique look. The two cameras that provide the 360-degree view to effectively make the drone invisible are on the top and bottom of the front section of the drone. This is dampened and has two forward-facing binocular vision sensors that look like cameras.

There's also a downward binocular vision system, alongside a 3D infrared sensor at the bottom of the drone. Without going into exact dimensions, the
A1 is the same sort of size as all other sub-250g drones, but where it
differs most notably is the retractable landing gear: two legs extend when
the drone is switched on and when its landing, while they retract when it has taken off.

This functionality keeps the lower camera off the ground, helping to maintain the invisible drone aspect of the camera stitching for clean footage. Furthermore, when you use the Antigravity landing mat, it provides a precise Return to Home point if you choose to use this functionality to bring the drone back to you at the end of flights. It works surprisingly well, too, so no complaints here. Image 1 of 4 (Image credit: James Abbott) Image 2 of 4 (Image credit: James Abbott) Image 3 of 4 (Image credit: James Abbott) Image
4 of 4 (Image credit: James Abbott)

The overall design of the A1 makes it a camera drone, but rather than using a standard controller, the A1 uses a motion controller paired with FPV goggles. The motion controller is easy to use and intuitive, and when you first
connect everything, youre taken through a short and useful tutorial that familiarizes you with the controls.

The Vision Goggles provide the camera view on dual 1.03-inch Micro-OLED screens with a 2560 x 2560px resolution. Yes, thats square, and quite different to the usual FPV goggle widescreen view, but it works well with a 360-degree drone. I was surprised because Im much more familiar with FPV goggles offering a 16:9 ratio image, but I found this square view worked well for the A1. The battery for the goggles can be attached to an included and comfortable lanyard that you can conveniently wear around your neck a well-thought-out and simple solution.

There are also diopters with a range of -5.0 D to +2.0 D, which is great if you wear glasses and need to correct the view to your prescription. Plus, theres 30GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot for capturing goggle footage. The goggles are comfortable to wear and provide a clear image for flight, while the head tracking functionality provides intuitive control alongside the motion controller. Image 1 of 4 (Image credit: James Abbott) Image 2 of 4 (Image credit: James Abbott) Image 3 of 4 (Image credit: James Abbott) Image 4 of 4 (Image credit: James Abbott)

Theres also a screen on the front-left of the googles, so people can see the forward-facing camera view while you fly. The downside to a goggles-based approach is that you need a spotter to maintain visual line of sight of the drone while you fly. This makes it much less convenient than a standard
camera drone, despite the A1s immersive and fun flying experience.

The A1 features two battery options, with the 2360mAh option offering up to
24 minutes of flight time, and the 4345mAh option providing up to 39 minutes of flight time. The higher capacity takes the overall weight of the A1 over 250g, so bear this in mind if you plan to opt for the kit with these batteries.

I used standard batteries during testing, and these typically provided around 16 minutes of flight time before Return to Home was automatically initiated. One feature of the batteries that stands out is that you only have to touch the rear end of the batteries and the lights showing the charge level light
up this is rather than pressing a button, as on other drone batteries, and
is a subtle yet neat feature. Design score: 5/5 Antigravity A1: Features and performance Intelligent flight modes Solid flight performance Subject
tracking

The A1 flies incredibly well, while the FPV goggles and motion controller approach suit the system. But and its a big but this does add cost, and requires pilots to have an observer with them to remain safe and legal during flights. Both, you could argue, are a hassle. If Antigravity had taken a standard controller-and-phone approach it would have kept the price down and removed the need for an observer, without sacrificing much, if anything, in terms of flight performance.

You would lose the immersive flight experience, of course, and the two flight modes, FreeMotion Mode and FPV Mode, are enjoyable. The former requires you
to point the controller target in the desired direction of flight, while head tracking on the goggles allows you to turn. You can also use a dial on the motion controller to do this. One point I must make is that you should read about how FPV Mode works before flying it, because its completely different
to FreeMotion Mode, and the drone feels like its out of control if you try to use FreeMotion-style control.

FPV Mode isnt true FPV, but it does allow for more sweeping and flowing drone movements where you simply tilt the motion controller left and right to turn. This was my favorite mode for flight, although I preferred FreeMotion when I needed more precision, such as when flying back to the take-off point to
land.

Standard flight modes include Cinematic, Normal and Sport, although even
Sport is quite pedestrian in terms of speed and agility. The A1 certainly lacks the excitement of the DJI Avata and Avata 2, but again this isnt an
FPV, drone despite the goggles and controller. This means that flight is fun, but not exciting. With a fly-first, frame-later approach, where you reframe photos and videos in software, you can increase speed here and make the drone appear to dive, flip and roll like an FPV drone to some degree.

Ive reviewed many drones, and Im not normally impressed with Quickshots-style automated flight patterns, but the A1s equivalent, which are called Sky
Genie, did impress me. Then theres Sky Path, which is waypoints, where you
can pre-program a flight path and someone else, a non-pilot, can wear the goggles and look around as the drone follows its course. With the goggles,
you get a full 360-degree view as you turn around, look up and look down.

Sky Genie modes include Orbit, Spiral Ascend, Comet, Antigravity Line, Fly Away and Ascend. These allow you to achieve flight thats not possible with
the motion controller, which makes them invaluable, particularly in
situations when you want to fly around a subject for visually interesting video reframing later.

Theres also a subject-tracking mode that works well once a moving subject is selected. The drone dutifully follows, and like with Sky Genie, the drone
does all the work for you, focusing on the subject so you can reframe your video later. This uses Insta360's impressive Deep Track technology. And if youre looking for a bit of fun, Virtual Cockpit in FPV mode provides an overlay that aims to inject augmented reality fun into flights. At the time
of writing, you can fly with a dragon, and more skins will be added in the future. Its a bit of a gimmick and not for me, but other people may enjoy it. Performance score: 4/5 Antigravity A1: Image and video quality Image quality on a par with 360-degree cameras Fly-first, frame-later approach Invisible drone technology (Image credit: James Abbott)

If youve ever used an Insta360 camera, such as the X5 , youll find the Antigravity A1 as easy and intuitive to use, since Antigravity is an offshoot of Insta360. Whats more, Antigravity Studio is a reskinned version of
Insta360 Studio, so if youre already familiar with it, youll be right at
home. There is a learning curve if youve never used it, and it takes time to get to grips with the software, but its far from rocket science.

The software allows you to reframe the A1s aerial photos and videos in the same way you can with a standard 360-degree camera. The only difference is that the drone is being flown rather than the camera being held, attached to
a selfie stick or something else. This ultimately combines the advantages of 360-degree cameras with the aerial capabilities of a drone.

The dual cameras both feature a 1/1.28-inch sensor and an f/2.2 aperture. These create a 360-degree view where the drone is invisible, so you dont have to edit it out just like invisible selfie sticks with standard 360-degree cameras. Photos can be captured in INSP and DNG

formats at a resolution of 14MP (5248 x 2624) and 55MP (10486 x 5248). Shooting modes include Normal, HDR, Burst, AEB and Interval. You can reframe photos in various formats and even create animated photos. Image 1 of 9
(Image credit: James Abbott) Image 2 of 9 (Image credit: James Abbott) Image
3 of 9 (Image credit: James Abbott) Image 4 of 9 (Image credit: James Abbott) Image 5 of 9 (Image credit: James Abbott) Image 6 of 9 (Image credit: James Abbott) Image 7 of 9 (Image credit: James Abbott) Image 8 of 9 (Image credit: James Abbott) Image 9 of 9 (Image credit: James Abbott)

Video can be captured in 8K up to 30fps, 5.2K up to 60fps, 4K & 1080p up to 30fps and 4K & 1080p slow motion at 100fps. The maximum bitrate is 170Mbps
and can be encoded in H.264 or H.265. Photo and video editing can take place in the Antigravity phone app or the Antigravity Studio Desktop app. The
former has more templates for creating reframed videos, which is a shame because it would be great to see these available on the desktop app, where working with 8K footage makes more sense. Reframed video

Image quality is great for a 360-degree camera its what youd expect, and capturing photos and videos in the highest resolutions possible allows you to maximize image quality. I shot in Auto mode when capturing both photos and videos, and found that the A1 did a great job in all light conditions; the exposure was balanced. The downside to this, compared to shooting in manual, of course, is that shutter speed can change during video capture. Animated photo

Image quality isnt, however, on par with standard camera drones in the same way standard 360-degree cameras arent as good as standard action cameras.
This has always been the case, and the trade-off for being able to capture an all-encompassing field of view at up to 8K. 8K, while it produces huge file sizes, isnt as high-resolution as it sounds when you realize its the entire 360-degree view, as opposed to a 16:9 view at 4K or above with standard
camera drones. Image and video quality score: 4/5 Antigravity A1: testing scorecard DJI Mini 5 Pro

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Price

The A1 is expensive as a result of the goggle-based approach.

3/5

Design

While the overall design is fairly standard, there are some innovative and unique aspects to the drone.

5/5

Performance

Excellent all-round performance, but flight feels quite pedestrian in terms
of speed and agility.

4/5

Image and video quality

Great image quality in 360-degree terms, but not as good as a standard camera drone.

4/5 Should I buy the Antigravity A1? Buy it if...

You'd like a 360-degree drone
It goes without saying that if you would like 360-degree photo and video capture in a drone, the A1 is the only option available.

Youd like an immersive flight experience
If youd like an immersive flight experience without the speed and risk of FPV drones, the A1 blends camera drone flight with FPV goggles and the motion controller.

You appreciate innovation
The A1 is undoubtedly an innovative drone with some impressive features that could pave the way for future drone innovation. Don't buy it if...

Youre on a budget
The A1 isnt cheap, coming in at double the price, or more, of other sub-250g drones, so its far from being a budget option.

You'd like the best image quality
If you want the best image quality available in a sub-250g camera drone, the DJI Mini 5 Pro is a more suitable option.

You'd prefer simplicity
Since the A1 relies on FPV goggles for the camera view and some control of
the drone, youre going to need to have a spotter with you every time you fly. Antigravity A1: also consider

DJI Mini 5 Pro

If youd like a standard camera drone but the best sub-250g model ever made, then look no further than the DJI Mini 5 Pro. This compact drone somehow manages to pack in a rotating camera with a 1-inch sensor and some seriously impressive performance. This is a drone that beginners and professionals
alike will love, thanks to its fantastic image quality, safety features and compact size.

See our DJI Mini 5 Pro review View Deal

DJI Neo 2

The DJI Neo 2 offers a huge upgrade on the original model released in 2024. Its arguably not the best selfie drone, with the HoverAir X1 Pro and ProMax offering some serious competition in this area, but the Neo 2 is an
impressive performer when it comes to subject tracking. Whats more, it offers obstacle avoidance and multiple controller options, including FPV.

See our DJI Neo 2 review View Deal (Image credit: James Abbott) How I tested the Antigravity A1 All flight modes tested Photos and videos captured Automated features tested

I tested the Antigravity A1 for a couple of months to experience all the features and functionality available, including FreeMotion and FPV mode. I captured photos and videos in the highest quality possible, and captured them in a range of conditions to assess overall camera performance.

I tested all Sky Genie Modes (Orbit, Spiral Ascend, Comet, Antigravity Line, Fly Away, and Ascend), alongside subject tracking and SkyPath functionality.
I tested the motion controller and googles for usability, and tested the fly-first, frame-later reframing workflow extensively. First reviewed: December 2025 Read more about how we test



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/cameras/drones/antigravity-a1-review


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