HoverAir Aqua Is World’s First 100% Waterproof Self-Flying Camera

Aug 21, 2025

Jeremy Gray

An orange underwater drone splashes through water against a black background, with droplets frozen in midair around its curved frame and camera lens.

The HoverAir Aqua is the world’s first 100% waterproof self-flying camera. It floats, follows, and films water-based adventures, including paddleboarding, jet skiing, kayaking, and more.

First teased earlier this month, Aqua is the latest self-flying drone from HoverAir, the company behind the 8K X1 Pro and X1 Pro Max drones launched last year. The Aqua shares some key features with these drones, but HoverAir rebuilt nearly every component to ensure the Aqua is ready for waterborne adventures.

A man with tattoos surfs on a blue ocean wave under a partly cloudy sky, while an orange sandal flies through the air in the background.

While the HoverAir Aqua has the same Type 1/1.28 CMOS image sensor as the X1 Pro Max, the surrounding components are mostly different, including the new hydrophobic lens and the drone’s body itself. By virtue of the waterproof case, which is not ideal for heat dissipation, the HoverAir Aqua lacks the 8K or 4Kp120 recording capabilities of the X1 Pro Max. Instead, the Aqua is capped at 4Kp100. That is sufficiently fast for 4x slow-motion at 24/25p playback, but not quite as capable of the 120 frames per second recording of the X1 Pro Max.

Close-up of an orange underwater drone with a camera lens, resting on a wooden surface, with a blurred blue background.

HoverAir Aqua can capture H-Log (10-bit) video, 12-megapixel photos (with HDR), and includes a 2x digital zoom. As for the hydrophobic lens, it also includes self-heating technology to prevent fogging in water.

This, along with the lack of any sort of neutral density (ND) filter solution, are the two primary compromises that the Aqua makes to achieve its waterproof design. Otherwise, the HoverAir Aqua is up to par with HoverAir’s other offerings while also promising unique capabilities.

A bright orange underwater drone with yellow flotation devices floats on the surface of clear blue water.

A bright orange life ring floats on the surface of blue water, partially submerged, against a clear sky with wispy clouds.

The HoverAir Aqua features IP67 water resistance, neutral buoyancy, and AI-based tracking, allowing it to follow subjects as they enjoy their water adventures. The HoverAir Aqua features over 15 automated flight modes, including snorkel and mount modes, and has Level 7 wind resistance. For the snorkel mode, the drone’s camera can rotate to face directly down while it floats on the water’s surface, so it can follow divers as they swim.

Despite its waterproof design, the Aqua still weighs under 249 grams, so no FAA registration is required, and users in many countries and regions are free to use the drone without a special license. The Aqua’s battery provides up to 23 minutes of flight time, and the drone can reach tracking speeds up to 55 kilometers per hour (34 miles per hour). One quick note about the battery: the Aqua comes with a waterproof bag for extra batteries, and the battery must be changed in an entirely dry environment. A color-changing alert appears when the battery is wet, indicating it should not be placed inside the drone.

A person in black clothing holds an orange Hover drone with protective guards, taking it out of a bag on a beach with water and hills in the background.

The HoverAir Aqua comes with a companion device, the Lighthouse. This is not an optional accessory, but an integral part of how Aqua works. This device, worn by the primary user, provides complete control over the Aqua, its shooting modes, takeoff, landing, recording, mode selection, and recall.

Close-up of an orange HOVER device with buttons, strapped to a person's black wetsuit-covered arm, with a blue sky and part of a pool or board visible in the background. — Lighthouse is a remote controller for the HoverAir Aqua and controls the drone.

The device also has a Virtual Tether, which detects when Aqua is outside a set distance and will prompt the drone to return within range automatically. This ensures the Aqua doesn’t float away or get stuck while people are kayaking, paddle boarding, windsurfing, or doing something else swift on the water.

The Aqua has a 1.6-inch AMOLED display as well, so the user can get a live preview from the drone and quickly review footage without connecting a mobile device. This is excellent news for users who don’t want to take their smartphone with them out on the water and risk losing it.

An orange underwater drone with a screen displaying a person surfing, placed on a textured white and blue surface. — Aqua has a small screen on it so that users can quickly review footage without bringing their phone out on the water.

“Aqua represents a natural extension of HoverAir’s mission to empower users to capture their greatest life moments hands-free and without boundaries — whether on land or water,” says MQ Wang, the founder and CEO of Zero Zero Robotics. The company was founded in 2014 by Stanford Ph.D.’s Wang and Tony Zhang.

Pricing and Availability

The HoverAir Aqua is launching first on Indiegogo and starts at $999 for early birds. HoverAir has launched its prior self-flying drones first on Indiegogo as well, so this is not an unusual launch strategy for the company. HoverAir says the Aqua will begin shipping in December.

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 Image credits: HoverAir