Year in review: Everything DJI launched in 2022

The year 2022 was a busy one for DJI with the company doing everything from redefining what’s possible with a sub-250-gram drone to peppering its enterprise product line with a slew of new releases.

There was a huge emphasis on making products affordable for all and ensuring that content creators could share their adventures without quality-cutting image zooming and cropping. We also saw DJI rolling out a ton of firmware updates this year, not just for adding new features and improving the functionality of its products, but also to ensure compliance with the FAA’s new Remote ID law. Read on as we recap everything DJI announced in 2022.

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March

After a slow start to the year, DJI picked up momentum in March with the introduction of new hardware and software. The company unveiled Matrice 30, an industrial drone compact enough to fit into a backpack. And it paired it with a new remote controller, DJI RC Plus, that featured a super bright 7-inch-wide HD screen. The company also introduced FlightHub 2 drone fleet management cloud software with several major improvements over the original DJI FlightHub.

Another new hardware we saw in March was the Zenmuse H20N, a night vision sensor designed especially for the DJI’s flagship enterprise drone, M300 RTK. But the one product that had the company chartering into completely new territories was the Dock, an in-house DJI drone-in-a-box solution. The Dock then eventually made its first public appearance in October at the DJI AirWorks annual conference in Las Vegas.

May

In May, DJI launched its newest and most powerful sub-250-gram drone, Mini 3 Pro, which was a huge leap forward both in terms of hardware and performance. It was clear that the company had spent a lot of time rethinking what an ultra-lightweight aerial camera can achieve, and rightly so because Mini 3’s predecessors had set the bar quite high. In addition to receiving a completely new structural design that brought about several performance enhancements, the Mini 3 Pro also became DJI’s first Mini drone to offer tri-directional obstacle sensing. Alongside this mighty li’l drone, DJI also introduced a new lightweight remote controller, DJI RC, which featured a 5.5-inch built-in touchscreen.

June

June 2022 was all about DJI’s handheld Ronin gimbals and filmmaking products. We saw the launch of new RS 3 and RS 3 Pro gimbal models for mirrorless and cinema cameras. And we also witnessed the company introducing its first independent wireless video solution, DJI Transmission, to combine reception, monitoring, control, and recording in one. The highlights for the new gimbals were a new automated axis lock system, latest generation stabilization algorithm that improved performance by 20%, and one-tap calibration.

August

Kicking off what would be a frenzied, rollercoaster-like end to the year, DJI unveiled the ultimate FPV drone for beginners, Avata, in the last week of August. Much smaller than the FPV Combo that DJI released in 2021, the CineWhoop-style Avata came with built-in propeller guards and a ton of incredible safety features that made it apt for flying both indoors and outdoors. The company also introduced its next-generation video headset, Goggles 2, alongside the Avata. These goggles were smaller and much more comfortable than their predecessor, featuring adjustable diopters so people who normally wear glasses would not need to use them while flying DJI Avata.

August also saw DJI becoming the first drone manufacturer in the world to receive the Class C1 type certificate for the Mavic 3 series under the new European drone regulations.

September

DJI released three new products in September 2022: Osmo Action 3 camera, Osmo Mobile 6 smartphone gimbal, and the Mavic 3 Enterprise drone. With Osmo Action 3, the company ditched the tiny, cube-like modular design of Action 2 and went back to the classic action camera frame. DJI also introduced several improvements, including super-fast charging and native vertical shooting, to ensure that the Action 3 would become the best action camera for its price. OM 6, meanwhile, focused more on appeasing the Apple user base with a new QuickLaunch feature for iPhones. On the drone side of things, Mavic 3 Enterprise series hit the sweet spot for commercial users by balancing a seriously impressive specs list with an equally attractive price tag.

November

While October was dominated by the AirWorks 2022, DJI’s first in-person commercial drone conference in three years, November saw the company getting back to unpacking new products. First came the Mavic 3 Classic, featuring the same 4/3 CMOS 20 MP camera, 46-minute maximum flight time, and O3+ transmission system as the original Mavic 3 drone, but without an additional (and expensive) telephoto lens. This was followed by the release of the O3 Air Unit, DJI’s latest FPV camera and transmission module system. Finally, the reliable Mavic 3 frame found its way to the company’s agricultural drone lineup where it was equipped with a multispectral imaging system for use in farming operations. And thus was born Mavic 3 Multispectral.

December

December, again, saw DJI launching a new drone just in time for the holidays — this time, a “non-pro” version of the Mini 3. Boasting a better battery performance than the Mini 3 Pro, DJI Mini 3 arrived with the same 1/1.3-inch camera sensor, vertical shooting mode, and HDR video as its elder sibling but at a much more affordable price point.

What’s next?

Despite challenges on nearly every front (Ukraine war, DoD blacklist), 2022 was a big year for DJI. There’s a lot still to come in 2023, with a couple of products already showing up on the FCC database. We are yet to see the release of Inspire 3, despite several leaks from field tests throughout the year, and the Air series is also due for a refresh. Among handheld devices, we certainly expect DJI to release Pocket 3 in 2023. Stay tuned to DroneDJ for updates on all these and more. And let us know in the comments what more you want to see from DJI in 2023!

Read: 2022 rewind: FPV drone videos that left us awestruck