Some U.S. retailers had the DJI Mavic 4 Pro for sale… how?

By the time you’re reading this, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to find any of the Mavic 4 Pros for sale at these locations, but for a limited time, three sites had the drone for sale: B&H, Adorama, and DJI’s own New York City retail location.

Prior to launch, DJI confirmed with DroneDJ and other publications that the new Mavic 4 Pro, its most advanced drone yet, would not be available for purchase in the United States and US reviewers wouldn’t be able to receive units.

Both of those seemed to not be entirely true, as a small number of drones did end up online for sale through online retailers and DJI’s own store in New York. But also, a handful of U.S. reviewers received review units and even flew them in the United States.

Specifically, YouTuber Billy Kyle showcased the new drone in his review, flying the Mavic 4 around Philadelphia and Miami. Potato Jet also shared his review of the drone, and although nothing he showed specifically screamed USA, other than the burnouts in the middle of the road, I would guess they were likely in the hills of California.

Go check out both of these reviews, as they showcase some great hidden features that are only in the Mavic 4 Pro, like the now much easier startup process of just unfolding the drone’s legs to turn it on. Also… fold-down joysticks… proof we’re living in the future.

Back to buying the so-called unavailable Mavic 4 Pro in the US. Early Tuesday morning, both B&H and Adorama posted listings for the new drone on their websites. While B&H has marked it as “preorder,” Adorama apparently did have stock of the drone and was selling them left and right.

The store confirmed to The Verge that they had at least 70 drones in stock and were selling fast. As of now, Adorama has the Mavic 4 Pro marked for preorder.

Preordering the Mavic 4 Pro is a risky bet, as the drone could come if the barriers are removed; however, they could also never come at all. Remember, it’s not just tariffs that are the holdup. It’s also the CBP’s added investigations into all DJI drones being imported to ensure none are made using forced labor. DJI has repeatedly denied this claim, but CBP continues to hold up DJI products at ports of entry for months at a time.

That added scrutiny began during President Biden’s administration, so it crosses political parties, likely meaning it isn’t going anywhere.

To add to the confusion, DJI’s NYC store posts on social media about the Mavic 4 Pro’s launch and that it could be purchased there. Another Instagram user confirmed the store’s stock with a photo holding the drone that he just purchased.

DJI did not respond to questions prior to publishing this story.

The likely reason for this small and unshared launch was that DJI was able to get a handful of drones into the United States but canned sending the rest. Will there be more? I would expect not, but DJI tends to surprise me often.