LAS VEGAS—Consumer drones record video that is incredibly stable thanks to brushless gimbal camera mounts. Most models that sit in the $800 to $1,300 price range are a bit limited when it comes to movement: Their cameras can tilt down freely, but landing gear blocks them from turning to the left or right. Pro drones like the DJI Inspire 1 address that issue with gimbals that can spin all the way around and landing gear that raises to move out of the way of the lens, but they come with professional price tags.

Yuneec, which is doing its best to compete with DJI on quality, features, and price, is hoping to shake up that market segment. Its new Typhoon H drone includes some of the features of the high-end Tornado H920—a six-rotor design, a freely spinning gimbal, retractable landing gear, and a carbon fiber build.

Its CGO3+ camera records video at up to 4K quality and captures still images at 12-megapixel resolution. We'll have to see if it ups the video quality when compared with the CGO3 used by the Typhoon Q500 4K. It showed soft edges when shot in a flat color profile, and tend to oversharpen video captured in its default color profile when we tested it.

Numerous automated flight modes are available with the H. It can focus on a Point of Interest, Orbit an object, and fly from point to point in Curved Cable and Journey modes. It ships with an ultrasonic proximity detection feature, which works to avoid large obstacles, and even includes a failsafe system that will keep it in the air if a single motor fails.

Quick disconnect propellers and folding rotors help to reduce the footprint when transporting the drone. Yuneec plans to offer a custom hardcase backpack for storage and transportation. Obviously it's a big aircraft, so you'll need to register with the FAA if you want to fly it in the U.S.

The ST16 remote control features an integrated Android tablet with a 7-inch display. It streams video from the camera at 720p quality and also displays telemetry data when in flight. Safety features include automated return to home and landing, a configurable geofence, and recognition of areas designated as no-fly zones by the FAA.

There's room for expansion of functionality as well. Yuneec plans to market a collision avoidance module based on Intel's RealSense tech, as well as an infrared camera module.

The Typhoon H is priced at $1,799 in a ready-to-fly configuration. That's a full $1,100 less than the price of the DJI Inspire 1.