HoverAir Versa Flies Past $230K Funding Goal While Dodging FCC Drone Ban
Chinese quadcopter maker HoverAir (part of Zero Zero Robotics) might have managed to bypass the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) new restrictions on foreign-made drones, launching the HoverAir Versa as a DJI Pocket-like camera with optional wings and propellers.
On the surface, the $450 device is packaged as a standalone, handheld 3-axis gimbal vlogging camera that directly competes with similar steadycams from DJI and Insta360. However, the unit turns into an autonomous selfie drone when snapped into an optional Flight Kit propeller chassis ($630). In this configuration, the Versa is a doppelganger of its older sibling, the X1 Pro series.
Because the detachable Flight Kit houses only motors and blades, relying on pogo pins for power and telemetry from the primary camera, the Versa contains no RF transmitters of its own. Consequently, the flight attachment requires no independent FCC ID or regulatory equipment listing, allowing the core camera module to clear FCC regulations, for now anyway. Of note, HoverAir's recent Aqua waterproof floating quad was blocked from shipping to American backers after failing to clear post-2025 mandates.
It's quite obvious that the Versa is tailored toward content creators. Camera-wise, there's a Type 1/1.3 image sensor that can shoot at 4K60, 12-megapixel still photos, and HDR clips, alongside built-in AI tracking and 3D Gaussian Splatting capabilities to render interactive 3D spatial models. When fully assembled with its flight frame, the entire apparatus weighs just 230 grams, which keeps well under the FAA's 250 g threshold, freeing recreational pilots from mandatory pilot registration or built-in Remote ID mandates, though commercial operators will still require an FAA-approved add-on transmitter.
Of course, the FCC retains the authority to retroactively revoke device authorizations, but for now HoverAir’s modular workaround sets a precedent as foreign (primarily Chinese) manufacturers try to navigate stricter U.S. regulations.
