HoverAir Aqua review: How the waterproof 4K drone performs while foilboarding

In our in-depth review, the HoverAir Aqua proved to be a highly specialized, exceptionally easy-to-use drone with a clear USP. To complement our evaluation, an experienced water sports enthusiast put the drone through its paces in real-world conditions: Jan tested the HoverAir Aqua while foilboarding. Notably, while the footage shows impressive jumps, wind conditions were moderate, making this a test of performance rather than extreme weather resilience. For the full experience, watching the video is highly recommended.

During practical testing, the HoverAir Aqua operated smoothly without requiring active control, avoiding collisions with other water sports enthusiasts and maintaining its position. However, the drone occasionally lost tracking before reacquiring its target, leaving Jan out of the frame at times—a minor drawback during jumps in particular. We intentionally refrained from using the orbit feature during foiling, though it performed flawlessly in our SUP test. Overall, the drone leaves a strong positive impression. Nevertheless, in heavily trafficked water sports areas, users should remain vigilant regarding potential collisions, as features operating at greater distances naturally increase the risk.

A firmware update has introduced a new feature: the HoverAir Aqua can now navigate across the water like a remote-controlled boat and capture underwater footage. Since a trip to the South Seas wasn’t on the cards, we had to settle for filming underwater plants. While the feature is generally useful, the drone's square design makes it particularly vulnerable to waves. It struggles to maintain a stable position on the water, and even the image stabilization cannot fully compensate for stronger surface movement. Although image quality was solid in our test, it should improve noticeably under clearer conditions—such as off a rocky beach in the Mediterranean. The embedded video also showcases manual control at higher speeds, as well as a shot captured in the evening.