DJI pilots may soon find themselves facing an unexpected challenger in the skies. After years of dominating the drone market, DJI is getting pushback — not just from camera rival Insta360, but now from a household name in vacuums. Dreame, best known for its robot cleaners, is moving aggressively into drones following DJI’s own foray into ground robotics with its Romo launch earlier this month.
China’s Dreame is best recognized for its sleek cordless vacuums and smart robotic cleaners, competing with the likes of Dyson and Roborock. But now, the company appears to be assembling a specialized drone team in Suzhou, a city in eastern Jiangsu province, and Shenzhen, which happens to be DJI’s headquarters.
According to job postings and insider chatter, Dreame looks to be building out a full-stack drone operation, recruiting talent ranging from navigation algorithm engineers and drone test pilots to operations leads and even a business director focused on the wider aviation market. Reports also say that Dreame has already poached talent from DJI, along with drone delivery heavyweight Meituan.
Earlier this month, DJI introduced Romo: a robot vacuum cleaner powered by drone-level perception, AI path planning, and striking design. The move raised eyebrows because it showed that DJI is no longer content with the skies alone; it wants to dominate land robotics too.
For Dreame, a robotics-focused company with success in autonomous vacuums, DJI’s ground invasion likely felt personal. If DJI can roll into Dreame’s world of household robotics, why shouldn’t Dreame take off into DJI’s skies?
It’s an industry tit-for-tat, but it also highlights how blurred the boundaries between categories have become. Just as smartphones absorbed point-and-shoot cameras, and tablets evolved into laptops, drones and robotic vacuums are converging around a shared set of technologies: computer vision, autonomous navigation, obstacle avoidance, and AI integration.
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Antigravity: The first revenge drone
If Dreame’s drone plans sound ambitious, they’re following in the footsteps of Insta360. The action camera brand, once dismissed as a DJI underdog, unveiled Antigravity this month, a new independent drone brand focused on 360-degree aerial storytelling. Insta360 said it’s targeting creative explorers, outdoor lovers, and tech-forward users who are tired of drones that “feel like flying a clunky camera rig.”
The announcement came days after DJI officially unveiled the $550 Osmo 360 camera, the company’s first 360-degree camera. The message was clear: if DJI is going to encroach on Insta360’s 360-degree turf, Insta360 is ready to challenge DJI in the skies.
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What’s next for DJI?
In the US, DJI’s future remains uncertain. Lawmakers continue to push for restrictions, citing national security concerns, and several states have already moved to limit government or law-enforcement use of DJI drones. Federal bills targeting DJI are still winding their way through Congress, raising the possibility of tighter import restrictions or outright bans.
Despite these headwinds, DJI continues to release products outside the US at a steady rate, and its diversification strategy looks designed to hedge risk. Even if drone sales face hurdles in North America, its growing foothold in consumer tech (cameras, vacuums) and mobility (e-bikes) provides alternate revenue streams, and potentially new customer pipelines.
But what once looked like a one-way expansion from DJI into new industries is turning into a two-way street. As DJI steps onto the ground with vacuums and wheeled robots, vacuum companies are taking off, literally. The revenge drone may not dethrone DJI overnight, but it signals that the battle for autonomy, robotics, and consumer robotics supremacy is just beginning.
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