The HoverAir Aqua achieved something that none of the other drone companies thought was possible. Until it's launch, every consumer drone was expected to take off from land or, perhaps, a hand.
The water posed a lot of trouble for the sensing technology used by most consumer drones – a drone couldn't judge how far it was from a moving surface, or how far it had travelled.
HoverAir had already solved other problems to create the impressive A.I. tracking drone, the HoverAir X1, that tracked users (like a flying GoPro that magically keeps up with you); it, too, was a new category and I dubbed it a 'follow-me' drone.
Then they had pushed the resolution and quality for premium users with the X1 Pro Max.
But no one seemed to imagine that it'd make sense to deliver a camera drone product to the niche like paddle boarders and water sports fans.
In 2026, though, they did, and it remains the only off-the-shelf drone that can land on the water, and take off again.
“If we can conquer the mountains, why [couldn’t] we venture into the ocean?” said CEO MQ Wang, rhetorically.
The answers – other than potential market size – were the weight (for legal reasons ideally under 250g) of any waterproof frame, and the need for the drone to be able to flip itself right-side up should it land the wrong way.
This it can do, and the frame is also bright orange to make it easy to spot in the water.
Waterproofing was also needed for the motors, and a maintenance routine that wasn't too taxing.
It'd also need to handle strong winds despite the high 'sail area' of the polystyrene frame, and keep track of the user – who would likely not have a spare hand for a controller, and might occasionally fall in the water.
It copes with wind about two force strengths higher than the average lightweight consumer drone, and the controller issue was solved with a strap-on device with a voice of its own.
In my testing I found that some aspects weren't perfect, but everything that HoverAir set out to solve is actually solved, which is a significant achievement.
The prior alternative to get close-up footage of, say, paddleboarding would be to get a friend to manually pilot a drone from a nearby boat. Now you can set out alone, and have a drone which will come back to you – and orbit you and keep you in shot so there is no need for a friend or a yacht. Much more useful for solo creativity, and effectively creating a hovering GoPro alternative for a whole new category of sports and activities.
And in the busy creative landscape, unique is always an advantage!
