Sony Reveals Airpeak S1 Professional Drone With US$9000 Pricetag

Sony officially pulled the curtains back from the Airpeak S1, the Japanese electronics firm’s first professional drone. Initially announced during CES 2021 earlier this year, the Japanese brand divulged little detail about its drone, up until today.

According to its official product page, the Airpeak S1 is designed to work with Sony’s own lineup of mirrorless cameras, such as the A7S Mark III and Alpha 1. Specs-wise, the drone has a maximum speed of 90km/h, a maximum angular velocity of 180° per second, and an attitude angle of up to 55°. Additionally, Sony says that the Airpeak S1 can remain stable in winds of up to 72km/h.

As for flight time, Sony says the Airpeak S1 can fly for 12 minutes straight with a camera attached, which is a little on the low side, especially when you consider the air time of most drones on the market. However, without a camera attached to it, Sony says that its drone will fly for 22 minutes on a single charge. On top of that, the Airpeak S1 can go from zero to 90km/h in 3.5 seconds.

There are some caveats to using the Airpeak S1, unsurprisingly. Firstly, the drone does support a special Gremsy T3 gimbal that helps to connect the external camera to it, but sadly, it is a separate purchase. Further, you will need to ensure that you have a sufficient number of batteries for the camera, as the drone does not provide additional power to it.

Lastly, the Airpeak S1 is also bundled with a controller, as well as a dedicated app called Airpeak Flight. Funnily enough, the app is only available on Apple’s iOS and iPadOS, meaning that you’ll only be able to fly the drone using an iPad or iPhone. Sony says that this limited availability is only temporary and that the app will be available for Android – hopefully, its Xperia lineup of devices will be first in line – but did not specify when.

As for availability and pricing, Sony says that the Airpeak S1 will be available sometime during Q3 this year and will cost an eye watering US$9000 (~RM37093). For that price, you also get two pairs of propellers, controller, two batteries for the drone, along with their charger.