skyrover x1

SKYROVER's New Drone Combos Add a Touchscreen Remote — and Fuel More DJI Speculation

SKYROVER's S1 and X1 drones now come in Fly More Combos with a built-in touchscreen remote. Here's what's new — and the DJI-adjacency speculation worth knowing about.

SKYROVER just gave its sub-249g S1 and X1 drones a notable controller upgrade, bundling both into new Fly More Combo packages with a dedicated touchscreen remote. It's a packaging update, not an aircraft redesign, but it's a meaningful one for anyone who's been flying these off a phone clamp.

What's actually new?

The headline feature is the remote itself: a built-in 5.5-inch multi-touch display running at 1080p60 with 700 nits of brightness and up to three hours of battery life. That lets pilots keep telemetry and a live first-person view in front of them without tethering a phone to the controller — a small but real quality-of-life upgrade for anyone who's fumbled with a phone clamp mid-flight.

The aircraft themselves carry over unchanged, and both still land under the 249-gram threshold that exempts them from FAA registration for recreational use in the US.

S1 vs. X1: what you're actually choosing between

SKYROVER S1 (entry-level): 1/2-inch CMOS sensor, f/1.7 aperture, up to 4K60 video and 48MP stills, SR-Log 8-bit color (proprietary flat profile, LUT pack available), true 2.7K vertical video for TikTok/Reels/Shorts, forward and downward obstacle sensing, up to 40 minutes flight time, ~7.45-mile transmission range
SKYROVER X1 (step-up): Larger 1/1.32-inch CMOS sensor, f/1.7 aperture, 4K60 HDR video with SR-Log 10-bit HLG color, 4K/100fps slow motion, true 4K vertical video (full sensor, not cropped), one-tap AI Night Mode, 360-degree omnidirectional obstacle sensing, Dual Track + Spotlight subject tracking, up to 32 minutes flight time, ~9.32-mile transmission range

Both share SmartGo automated flight modes (Lift, Vista, Loop, Twist, Asteroid), Hyperlapse support, panorama capture, and a smart return-to-home function triggered by low battery or signal loss.

The part worth knowing if you're shopping this category

CineD's coverage flags something worth passing along rather than glossing over: there's persistent speculation in the drone community that SKYROVER is connected to DJI rather than being a fully independent company.

Per their reporting, the speculation is based on the S1 and X1's physical and functional resemblance to DJI's Mini series, software/app behavior that reportedly mirrors DJI's own, SKYROVER's own statement that it was founded by engineers with DJI backgrounds, and its Hong Kong registration sitting near DJI's Shenzhen headquarters.

To be clear, that's reporting and speculation from CineD, not something BRC has independently verified — but it's relevant context, especially given the timing: the FCC added DJI and effectively all foreign-made drones to its Covered List in December 2025, which blocks new equipment authorizations and keeps DJI from legally bringing new models into the US.

For filmmakers who rely on small drones for B-roll and social content, that regulatory backdrop is the actual reason a brand like SKYROVER existing — and growing a controller lineup right now — is worth paying attention to, independent of whether the DJI-adjacency speculation holds up.