FPV pilot Kai Vertigoh, whose YouTube channel has 260,000 subscribers, published a test of the DJI Avata 360 on September 28 arguing that the 455-gram 360-degree drone can replace several drones for most buyers. He and his crew ran it through five jobs they normally split across different aircraft: a first-time pilot’s camera drone, an autonomous follow drone, a dual-operator rig, close-proximity FPV, and a chase camera for drift karts.

Vertigoh flies FPV first. The Avata 360 has no manual or acro mode, and its Sport mode tops out at 40 mph (18 m/s), against the roughly 100 mph he puts on the 5-inch quads he also flies.

Tracking Software Carries Vertigoh’s Case for a Drone Without Acro

Vertigoh’s case for an Avata 360 that can’t fly acro rests on its tracking software. ActiveTrack 360 and a mode DJI calls Spotlight Free let one pilot steer while the drone keeps a subject framed. He compares that to a dual-operator DJI Inspire 3, which he puts at about $16,000.

Spotlight Free is the feature he singles out. The pilot flies in any direction while the screen keeps an indicator on the tracked subject, so he can swing back to it like a beacon. In his video he says it sounded good on paper and won him over in the air.

The 360 capture also changes follow shots. The drone can fly nose-first toward its forward-facing LiDAR, which DJI’s specifications pair with an omnidirectional vision system, while recording a rider behind it. A single-camera follow drone has to fly backward to film a rider’s face, and Vertigoh says some he has used bumped into things doing it. At Battle Aero, a drift-kart builder run by his friend John, the Avata 360 simply hovered and logged the karts, and the exported clips came out already framed.

The beginner test produced the flip shot. A friend who had never flown a drone learned the stick inputs in a few minutes and flew the pass while Vertigoh backflipped over the prop-guarded aircraft. Shooting 8K at 60 fps let the crew slow the flip to 40% speed on a 24 fps timeline.

Vertigoh’s Own Verdict Keeps Specialists on Separate Drones

Vertigoh ranks the Avata 360 behind the best FPV drone and the best camera drone. Its 8K image is spread across two lenses, roughly 4K each by his count, behind a fixed ultrawide view, and anything beyond automatic tracking needs keyframing in DJI Studio afterward.

For image quality he points buyers to single-lens drones such as the Mini 5 Pro, Air 3S or Mavic 4. Sport mode also switches off obstacle avoidance, which is how his kart chase at golden hour was flown. On whether it is the best follow drone, his answer is “possibly.”

The video never puts the Avata 360 next to the Avata 2. Jeven Dovey did that in April, and DroneXL’s report on his back-to-back shootout found the 360’s obstacle avoidance made FPV footage stutter, while the 377-gram Avata 2 felt far sharper on the motion controller.

DroneXL’s Take

I’d call the Avata 360 a follow camera with prop guards, and a very good one. As an FPV replacement it comes up short on his numbers and on Dovey’s. For American buyers the choice is narrower than anywhere else. The FCC authorized the drone on November 19, 2025, 33 days before the FCC added DJI to its Covered List. In March, DroneXL called it likely the last new DJI drone US pilots can buy. A ban sold as security has left US hobbyists picking from a catalog that no longer grows. If you want one DJI drone that films you, this is it. If you want to learn FPV, a drone that won’t fly acro can’t teach you.

Sources: Kai Vertigoh on YouTube, DJI Avata 360 specifications

DroneXL uses automated tools to support research and source retrieval. All reporting and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo. Read our editorial standards.