HoverAir AQUA
A 249 g self-flying camera that floats, takes off from water and is rated for Level 7 wind. Nothing else does the job, it has no obstacle avoidance, and it is not sold in the United States.
- Weight
- 249 g
- Flight time
- 23 min
- Price
- On request
- Launched
- May 28, 2026
- Made by
- Zero Zero Robotics
Where to buyNot sold in the US; HoverAir's UK and EU stores
The HoverAir AQUA is a 249 g waterproof self-flying camera that floats, takes off from and lands on water, and follows its user with a wrist-worn RTK beacon instead of a remote controller. It records 4K at up to 100 fps on a 1/1.28-inch sensor and is rated IP67. HoverAir’s European store sells it from €1,299 and its UK store from £1,129. It went on sale in more than 50 countries on 28 May 2026, and the United States was not one of them.
Its buyers are surfers, wakeboarders, kayakers and sailors who want footage of themselves on the water without a second person or a boat to film from. HoverAir is the consumer brand of Zero Zero Robotics.
Aircraft Specifications
| Specification | HoverAir AQUA |
|---|---|
| Weight | 249 g; 249 g max takeoff weight (no ND filter is offered) |
| Dimensions | 7.95 × 8.11 × 2.46 in; the frame does not fold |
| Max flight time | 23 min |
| Max horizontal speed | 55 km/h (34 mph) |
| Max ascent / descent speed | 10.8 km/h / 10.8 km/h |
| Max wind resistance | Level 7, up to 33 knots |
| Max takeoff altitude | 5,500 m |
| Max flight height | 120 m |
| Operating temperature | -5° to 40°C |
| Waterproofing | IP67; positively buoyant, takes off and lands on water |
| Positioning | GPS, Galileo, BeiDou, GLONASS; RTK with the Lighthouse beacon; visual-inertial odometry |
| Sensing | Downward visual-inertial odometry and millimetre-wave radar |
| Obstacle avoidance | None |
| Storage | 128 GB internal; no SD card slot |
All figures are HoverAir’s published specifications. FlightBrief has not flown the aircraft.
HoverAir says the radar is there for positioning over water, where reflections and spray confuse cameras. It does not steer the aircraft around obstacles: in HoverAir’s words its products “do not use active obstacle avoidance”, and the company advises against flying it in woods or caves.
Camera
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Sensor | 1/1.28-inch CMOS |
| Lens | 24 mm equivalent, f/2.55, 85° FOV, fixed focus, hydrophobic coating with self-heating anti-fog |
| ISO | 100–12800 |
| Video | 4K at 24/25/30/50/60/100 fps; vertical 4K at up to 30 fps |
| Slow motion | 4K and 1080p at 100 fps |
| Max bitrate | 160 Mbps, H.264 or H.265; 10-bit H-Log |
| Photo | 12 MP, 4000 × 3000 JPEG |
| Stabilisation | One-axis gimbal, -90° to +30°, with electronic stabilisation and horizon levelling |
Battery and Control
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Battery | 2,013 mAh, 10.74 V, 21.62 Wh, 89 g; waterproof only when fitted |
| Charging | 52 min on the hub with a 65 W adapter; 55 min in the aircraft |
| Lighthouse beacon | Wrist-worn RTK GNSS, IPX7, floats, 100 m control distance, about 5 hours |
| Beacon and JoySticks | Handheld control, up to 1 km in ideal conditions, 30–120 m in city centres |
| Radio | 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz |
Use Cases
Filming yourself surfing, wakeboarding, foiling, paddleboarding or kayaking, with the aircraft launched off the water by one button on the wrist. Coastal and boat footage where losing a conventional drone to a wave or a gust is the usual way the day ends. On land it works in open spaces, but HoverAir’s own X1 range does that job for less.
Market Context
No other consumer drone is built to float and take off from water at this weight, which is why the best personal drone guide names it the best drone for water. The nearest relative is HoverAir’s own X1 PROMAX, the same follow-me idea in a 192 g folding airframe that must be kept dry. The DJI Mini 5 Pro has the better camera and sees obstacles in every direction, but has no waterproofing.
The US exclusion is a regulatory one. HoverAir did not obtain an FCC equipment authorisation before foreign-made drones were added to the FCC Covered List in December 2025, and new authorisations have been blocked since. On 9 October 2026 HoverAir’s US storefront returned no product page for it. At 249 g it would otherwise have needed no FAA registration for recreational flying.
Compared
| Specification | HoverAir AQUA | HoverAir X1 PROMAX | DJI Mini 5 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | 249 g | 192 g | 249.9 g |
| Flight time | 23 min | 16 min | 36 min (52 min Plus) |
| Price | On request | $699 | Not sold in US |
| Where to buy | Not sold in the US; HoverAir's UK and EU stores | Amazon | Not sold by DJI in the US; third-party sellers |
| Launched | May 28, 2026 | Aug 26, 2024 | Sep 17, 2025 |
Figures are the manufacturers' published specifications, as on each product's page.