Sony has issued a notice of discontinuation of its Airpeak S1 drone. The company states that ‘Due to recent changes in the business environment, Airpeak S1 and related products will be discontinued at the end of March 2025, except for some accessories. Please see below for a list of the products to be discontinued and details of the planned termination of support, including repair services, after the end of sales.’
This doesn’t come as a huge shock as I believe the sales of the Airpeak S1 were pretty low. DJI dominates this space and it was always going to be a hard sell for Sony.
The Airpeak S1 was first announced way back at CES 2021 in January and it took a long time to come to market. At the time, Sony claimed that the S1 was the world’s smallest drone that could be equipped with a full-size mirrorless interchangeable-lens Alpha camera. The S1 was supposed to be the first drone in Sony’s new Airpeak series, but no other models ever eventuated.
The Airpeak S1, which is still available to purchase, retails for $8,999.99 USD. For your $8,999.99 USD you get the following:
- Aircraft
- 4 propellers
- Remote Controller
- 2 batteries
- Battery charger
The Airpeak S1 is considerably more affordable than the DJI Inspire 3 which retails for $16,499 USD, however, it is quite a lot more than a DJI Mavic 3 Cine. The Airpeak S1 doesn’t come with a gimbal, camera, lens, or travel case. Not including the gimbal as standard was a real head-scratcher.
If you want a gimbal you need to buy the Sony Airpeak S1 Professional Drone & Gremsy Gimbal T3 Kit which will set you back $11,199.98 USD.
For that money, you get the following:
- Sony Airpeak S1 Professional Drone
- RCRVH1 Remote Controller
- 4 x PPL1785 Propeller
- 2 x LBPHS1 Flight Battery
- LBGH1 Battery Charger
- Landing Gear
- Calibration Board
- Power Cable
- Control Cable
- 2 x USB Type-C Cable
- Micro-USB Cable
- Limited 1-Year Warranty
- Sony Gremsy Gimbal T3 for Airpeak S1 Drone
- Camera Plate
- Micro-USB Cable
- Hot Shoe Extension
- Damping Plate with Quick Release
- 12 x Mounting Screws
- Allen Key
Additional accessories like an Airpeak S1 battery cost $229 USD. A spare set of propellors is $199 USD.
Sony’s Airpeak brand was a new business that was targeted squarely at professional photography and video production.
At the time of launch, Sony also said that they were looking at expanding the Airpeak platform into the industrial and agricultural sectors moving forward.
Above you can watch Sony’s quick intro to Airpeak at CES 2021.
Above you can see footage that was shot in Iriomote Island in Japan using a Sony a7S III and a 35mm FE14mm F1.8GM lens.
Above you can see a BTS video of the VISION-S road test in Austria, shot by Airpeak.
Key Features
- Rapid Acceleration 0 – 50 mph 3.5 seconds
- Maximum Speed 55.9 mph (no payload & obstacle break disabled)
- Maximum Pitch Angle 55°
- Wind Resistance 44.7 mph (20m/s)
- Flight Time 12 min (with a7S III & 24mm F1.7 GM lens)
- Payload capacity of 5.58lb (2.53kg)
The Airpeak S1 can operate in fairly high winds, however, the maximum flight time with a payload is just 12 minutes.
So how did the Airpeak S1’s acceleration, max. speed and flight time compare to the DJI Inspire 2?
The flight time was less than half that of the Inspire 2. Why on earth Sony quoted the max. speed of the Airpeak S1 with no payload on and not with a payload baffles the mind.
The Airpeak S1 utilizes 17″ propellers and what Sony referred to as lightweight, high-performance, high-power brushless motors. These motors were developed in-house by Sony.
Sony has a video showing the Airpeak undergoing wind resistance testing. The wind tunnel at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) can generate an artificial airflow at a constant speed. Sony’s goal was to see how the drone would be affected by strong wind. They did this to work out what wind speed the drone could endure. Sony’s tests showed that the prototype could maintain stable flight up to around 20m/s. To put that figure in perspective, an average person would have trouble standing upright in wind speeds that high.
Perhaps the biggest benefit of the Airpeak S1 is that it can operate in pretty high winds and still remain stable. According to Sony, it will easily outperform the DJI Inspire 2 and even the Matrice in high wind conditions.
Sensors & Obstacle Avoidance
The Airpeak S1 has 5 stereo cameras and 2 IR range sensors on board. That means there are two cameras facing forward, down, left, right, and behind. The drone also uses Sony’s Vision Sensing Processor.
It also has what Sony referred to as Surround Obstacle Braking.
The Airpeak S1 will have several automated flight modes.
The Airpeak S1 isn’t a small, compact drone that has an in-built camera. It was designed as an in-between solution where a user wants better quality than what you get from a small-sized drone with a fixed lens/camera, but they don’t want to go to a much larger platform that can carry mid to large-sized digital cinema cameras.
The payload capacity of the Airpeak S1 is 5.58lb (2.53kg).
The drone uses a folding arm design that is similar to what DJI does with the Inspire and Inspire 2. The Airpeak S1 has a physical diameter of 64.4 cm (25.35″) which makes it slightly larger than the older DJI Inspire 2 which has a diameter of 60.5cm (23.81″).
The drone takes two quite large batteries to power it. Considering these two batteries only allow for a flight time of 12 minutes you are going to need a lot of them.
Camera & lens Compatability
The Airpeak S1 can use the following cameras:
CAMERAS
- Sony a1
- Sony a9 II
- Sony a7S III
- Sony A7R IV
- Sony FX3
Even though Sony only lists these cameras, you can in fact use basically any Sony Alpha series camera. Sony also stated that you don’t have to use a Sony camera with the Airpeak S1, but it has been optimized to work with the Alpha platform. Sony hasn’t tested the drone with other non-Sony cameras. How a non-Sony camera would interface with the system is something we just don’t currently know.
As far as lenses are concerned, Sony states that any E-mount lens from 14-85mm can be used.
The camera connects to the gimbal through both HDMI and USB. The camera can’t be powered via the gimbal or drone. You need to use the internal battery inside your Alpha camera,
Sony states that Airpeak is the industry’s smallest class of drone that can be equipped with a Sony Alpha camera system.
System Overview
Above you can see what the interface screen and controller for the system look like. The holder allows for a maximum of 178.5 mm making it compatible with smartphones and tablets. It also has an HDMI port for connecting to an external screen.
The whole Airpeak S1 system consists of:
- Airpeak S1 Drone
- Gimbal
- Camera & Lens Options
- Remote Controller
- Airpeak Flight Mobile iOS App
- Airpeak Base Web App
- Airpeak Plus Cloud Service
The gimbal being used on the drone is a Gremsy T3 that has been specifically designed for the Airpeak S1.
The drone does have a dual operation mode, so one person can fly the Airpeak S1 while another operator controls the camera.
The Airpeak Base integrated management web app allows you to utilize a flight planning editor, access a logbook viewer, as well as have a fleet manager section if you are running multiple drones.
You can also set up specific flight routes that are repeatable and make changes to max altitude, speed, etc.
“Return to Home (RTH)” will automatically activate if the battery is low or the signal is lost, bringing the aircraft safely back to the home point. And if the return route has restricted airspace or obstacles, the aircraft can automatically calculate a bypass route.
Discontinued Products & Services
- Airframe (ARS-S1)
- Accessories
- Gimbal (GBL-T3, GBL-PX1)
- Battery Charger (LBG-H1)
- Transmitter (RCR-VH1)
- Battery Station (LBN-H1)
- RTK kit (RTK-1)
- Battery pack (LBP-HS1, HS1/10SET, LBP-HM1)
- Propeller (PPL1785)
- Gimbal (GBL-T3, GBL-PX1)
- Related Applications and Services
- Airpeak Base
- Airpeak Flight
- Airpeak Protect Plan
- Airpeak Plus
- Airpeak Base
Products that are discontinued
- Airframe (ARS-S1)
- Gimbal (GBL-T3, GBL-PX1)
- Battery Charger (LBG-H1)
- Transmitter (RCR-VH1)
- Battery Station (LBN-H1)
- RTK Kit (RTK-1) March 31, 2025
- Battery pack (LBP-HS1, HS1/10SET, LBP-HM1)
- Propeller (PPL1785) March 31, 2026
Scheduled Discontinuation of Related Applications & Services
- Airpeak Base
- Airpeak Flight
- Airpeak Plus *1 March 31, 2030
- Airpeak Protect Plan *2 March 31, 2026
1. Sales will continue until March 31, 2029
2. Sales will continue until March 31, 2025
The scheduled termination date of the *1 *2 paid services depends on the timing of the usage start-up procedure to be performed by the customer after purchase, but the above is the maximum term of the services.
Schedule for Termination of Support
- Periodic inspection
- Repair
- Software maintenance March 31, 2030
