The first real victim of the US government's DJI ban is the Osmo Pocket 4
The Osmo Pocket 4, DJI's newest vlogging camera, debuted today. The Pocket 4 won't be available for purchase in the US anytime soon, but it appears to be a good improvement over the Pocket 3, which is our best camera for creating content.
The Pocket 4 keeps the same Type 1 image sensor size, 3-axis gimbal stabilization, and handheld form factor as its predecessor, but it doubles the fastest frame rate to 4K240 for slower slow motion and enhances the camera's flat color profile to D-Log, which allows for more color correction than the Pocket 3's D-Log M recording format. Overall, it's a good improvement, but it's more evolutionary than revolutionary.
Americans, however, won't have a chance to test it out. DJI's entire product line—drones, gimbals, and cameras—was added to the FCC's Covered List in December. It wasn't a surprise: the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, a funding bill passed by Congress and signed into law by then-President Biden, set a December 2025 deadline for the government to conduct a security audit of DJI's product line. If DJI failed or no agency completed the audit, its "communications or video surveillance equipment" would automatically be added to the FCC's list of disallowed products, which includes cameras, microphones, gimbals, and drones.
As 2025 progressed, it became increasingly evident that no agency was carrying out the audit. DJI released remarks urging the completion of the work, but the Trump administration had other priorities. When the deadline finally arrived, the FCC went much beyond what was legally needed; it prohibited all drones manufactured abroad in addition to adding DJI's whole product range on the Covered List.
There were two conditions to the changes: carve-outs were established for drones approved by the Department of Defense, and previously approved equipment was exempt, allowing older drones and cameras to be used and marketed. There's no crossover between drones made for video and photography and military drones, though, so those exemptions don't mean squat for content creators, real estate agents, and shutterbugs.
But consumers haven't felt the brunt of the FCC's actions until today. DJI got several of its first-quarter products through the FCC approval phase ahead of the changes to the Covered List—the Avata 360 drone, Mic 3 wireless microphone system, and RS 5 gimbal were all released in 2026. And while DJI isn't officially selling them through its online store, independent retailers are filling the gaps for US customers.
But the story is different with the Pocket 4. DJI states that "the Osmo Pocket 4 will not be available in the US market at launch due to pending FCC authorization." In plain language, that means that the Pocket 4 was submitted to the FCC, but did not get the okay from the agency ahead of DJI securing a place on the Covered List.
I won't go as far as to say that the FCC will never approve another DJI release; after all, DJI is suing the government over the ban, and its lawsuit could change the story, but it's highly improbable. If you want my read, an about-face on DJI's future in the US is as close to the highest setting on Douglas Adams' Infinite Improbability Drive as it gets, at least for the remainder of President Trump's second term in office. The FCC's technological xenophobia has already extended to foreign-made Wi-Fi routers, so a voluntary walk back doesn't seem likely until different people are in power.
What should content producers in the US do in the interim? There is some good news among the bad if you've been considering adding a Pocket to your video arsenal. The Pocket 3, which debuted at $799, is still available and selling for about $500. In theory, the Pocket 4 is superior to the Pocket 3, but in practice, get one while it's still available. Although DJI seems dedicated to continuing to produce FCC-approved devices for the US market, there is no assurance that the Pocket 3 will be in production indefinitely.
We'll also need to monitor the release of any Pocket 4 clones. The Xtra Muse appears to be an exact replica of the Pocket 3, and while I haven't tested it myself, ReadySetDrone tried the Muse and described it as "99% a Pocket 3." We'll have to see if Xtra follows up with its take on a Pocket 4.
