DJI Care Refresh: Pricing, Coverage & Claims Guide

You just activated your DJI Mini 4 Pro and the app shows a prompt: "Protect your drone with DJI Care Refresh." You click through and discover a plan that costs $89 per year, promises drone replacement within 3 business days in case of an accident, and covers the scenarios that standard warranties explicitly exclude - flyaways, water damage, and collision damage.

Unlike many extended warranties, DJI Care Refresh is a well-designed program with transparent terms and a strong track record among drone pilots. This guide covers exactly what it covers, how much it costs, how the process works, and whether the math makes sense for your situation.

DJI Warranty vs DJI Care Refresh

The standard DJI warranty is free and covers manufacturing defects for 12 months; it does not cover accidents. DJI Care Refresh is a paid add-on that covers user-caused damage, collisions, water damage, and flyaways, with low-cost replacements. They are complementary: the warranty handles factory faults, Care Refresh handles pilot error.

What Is DJI Care Refresh

DJI Care Refresh is DJI's own post-purchase protection program. It is not an insurance policy in the legal sense - it is a service contract that grants the holder the right to replace their drone with a new (or certified refurbished) unit in case of accidental damage, for an additional reduced fee called a replacement fee.

The key distinction from the standard warranty: DJI's standard warranty covers only manufacturing defects - when the drone fails without any external cause. If the drone crashes, hits a tree, falls in water, or simply doesn't come back (a flyaway, when the drone loses connection and disappears), the warranty doesn't cover it. DJI Care Refresh does.

The plan comes in two formats:

• 1-year plan: up to 2 replacements within 12 months
• 2-year plan: up to 4 replacements within 24 months

Each replacement requires payment of a fee, which varies by model. The replacement fee is significantly lower than the cost of out-of-warranty repair or a new drone.

What DJI Care Refresh Covers

The program is designed to cover exactly the accidents the standard warranty ignores:

Collision damage: hitting obstacles during flight - walls, trees, poles, structures - is covered regardless of who was responsible for the error. A beginner who accelerated too fast, an experienced pilot who underestimated wind: both are covered.

Water damage: falling into the ocean, a river, a pool, or heavy rain during flight. Drones are not waterproof, and water contact typically destroys electronic components irreversibly. DJI Care Refresh replaces the unit in this situation.

Flyaway: the drone disappears during flight - whether from signal loss, interference, or technical failure - and cannot be recovered. This is the most distressing scenario for any pilot, especially on flights over water or inaccessible terrain. The plan provides a dedicated replacement for this case, typically at a higher fee than conventional accident replacement.

What is not covered: theft, damage from deliberate misuse, consumable items like loose propellers (except when damaged alongside the drone body), and accessories sold separately such as additional remote controllers.

How the Replacement Process Works

The process is straightforward: you report the accident through the DJI app or support website, describe what happened, pay the replacement fee, and send in the damaged drone (or report the flyaway) to DJI. The company ships a replacement unit with an average turnaround of 3 business days.

The replacement isn't always a brand-new unit. DJI replaces with a "like new" unit - it may be refurbished, but it passes the same factory quality tests. In practice, the overwhelming majority of user reports about received units are positive.

Activation window: DJI Care Refresh must be purchased within 48 hours of the drone's first activation. After that window, the plan is no longer available for that unit through the standard flow - with one exception: DJI offers a video verification process for out-of-window cases, where you submit a video showing the drone's current condition. This is subject to approval and not always available. Purchasing the plan before activating the drone is possible, but the 48-hour clock starts the moment you first power it on.

The plan is tied to the drone's serial number. It is not transferable to another device and does not follow the pilot if they sell the drone.

What's in the replacement box: the shipment includes the aircraft body and its battery. It does not automatically include a charger, extra batteries, spare propellers, ND filters, or a carrying case - those are billed separately if you need them, since Care Refresh replaces the drone itself, not the full retail bundle. If a replacement unit arrives and something you expected is missing, check your original order first: only items covered by the plan (and anything you paid for separately in the replacement request) ship with the unit. For anything genuinely missing that should have been included, contact DJI support directly through the app with your order and case number - most reported cases are resolved as a shipping error, not a coverage denial.

Pricing by Model

Beyond the plan cost, each claimed replacement carries an additional replacement fee. For the Mini 4 Pro, that fee is approximately $65 for conventional damage and $235 for a flyaway. So in the worst case (flyaway + replacement fee), the total cost to recover a $759 drone comes to about $324 - versus buying a new one for $759. The math works.

Plans for more advanced models - Air 3S, Mavic 3 Pro, Inspire 3 - carry higher replacement fees, ranging from $99 to $199 per event.

Where DJI Care Refresh Is Available

DJI Care Refresh is available in the United States and most major markets globally, including Canada, the UK, Australia, Japan, South Korea, most of Europe, and many other countries. You can purchase it directly in the DJI Store, through the DJI Fly app, or from authorized DJI retailers at the time of drone purchase.

The plan is region-specific: a plan purchased in the US is valid for replacements processed through DJI's US service network. If you travel internationally and experience an incident abroad, contact DJI support to understand your options before assuming cross-regional coverage.

Is It Worth It? A Cost Analysis

For the DJI Mini 4 Pro as an example:

• New drone: ~$759
• Care Refresh 1-year plan: $89
• Replacement fee for accidental damage: $65
• Total cost to replace after an accident: $154 (about 20% of drone value)
• Cost of out-of-warranty repair: $300–$600+ depending on damage

The plan pays for itself on the first use, with margin to spare. For pilots who fly regularly, in challenging conditions, or who are still learning - where the probability of an accident is highest - DJI Care Refresh is one of the most rational purchases in the DJI ecosystem.

The exception is very cautious pilots who fly rarely in controlled conditions: for them, the annual plan cost may exceed actual risk exposure.

The 2-year plan typically offers better value for those who plan to keep the drone for the full period: four replacements over two years at a price that's usually 65–70% of buying two consecutive 1-year plans.

DJI Care Refresh vs. Third-Party Drone Insurance

DJI Care Refresh is not the only protection option for drone pilots in the US. Third-party insurance providers - including Verifly (now part of Global Aerospace), Thimble, and SkyWatch.ai - offer drone insurance policies that cover liability, hull damage, and theft.

Key differences:

For recreational pilots who only want protection for the drone itself, DJI Care Refresh is typically simpler and more cost-effective. For commercial operators who need liability coverage (often required by clients or venues), a third-party policy is essential - and many commercial pilots carry both.

Sources: DJI Care Refresh - DJI Store US | DJI Care Refresh Fee Details | DJI Care Refresh Purchase Guide