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The self-flying Skydio R1 drone now costs (only) $1,999

Skydio also announced cinematic new camera modes and a developer platform for its drone.

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Gordon Gottsegen CNET contributor
Gordon Gottsegen is a tech writer who has experience working at publications like Wired. He loves testing out new gadgets and complaining about them. He is the ghost of all failed Kickstarters.
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Gordon Gottsegen
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The Skydio R1 drone can follow you around without the need for a human pilot.

 Josh Miller/CNET

The Skydio R1 is a self-flying drone that uses 13 cameras and machine learning to automatically follow you around without crashing into obstacles. Sounds cool, right? But that $2,500 price tag? Not so much.

Now Skydio has dropped the price of the R1 drone to $1,999. That's still a good chunk of change, but the $500 discount makes it a little easier to swallow.

Originally, if you paid $2,500 for the R1 you'd get an extra battery. At $1,999 you only get one battery, with extras adding $149.

If you're not up to speed on what makes the Skydio R1 stand out, you can check out the drone in action in CNET's video review:

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Watch this: Watch us test the limits of the Skydio R1, a self-flying drone

The price drop was announced alongside more Skydio R1 updates. These include a new Skydio SDK that lets developers add movement commands to the R1 drone, as well as new camera modes for different cinematic effects. You can check out these tricks in action in the video below: