Choosing the best drone for your needs depends on several key factors, including the intended application, your skill level, budget, and more. To help you find the drone that best suits your needs, we've put together this comprehensive guide on what to look for when shopping for a drone.
What Are the Different Types of Drones?
Before diving into which drone is right for you, let's quickly recap the different types of drones currently available. Keep in mind that drones can fall into more than one category depending on their feature set, size, skill level, intended application, and cost. Some of the most common types of drones are:
Camera Drones: With the exception of certain toy and novice-level drones, most drones feature some type of onboard camera system. The quality of that camera system is a key determinant of a drone's categorization. For example, a high-quality camera system with advanced supporting features is a good indicator that a drone is either a prosumer or professional drone.
Beginner Drones: The majority of beginner drones are easy to operate, relatively durable, and come equipped with basic, user-friendly features that help novice pilots get accustomed to operating a drone. Compared to other drone categories, most beginner drones are relatively small and inexpensive.
Prosumer Drones: Drones that can be used for both personal and professional applications are often categorized as prosumer drones. These types of drones tend to include more advanced technologies and features, including a higher-quality camera with better recording capabilities, increased battery life, enhanced safety protocols and tracking functionality, and more.
Professional Cinema Drones: Professional cinema drones are strictly for the pros. These advanced moviemaking tools feature the most sophisticated aerial imaging equipment and functionality available, including cinema-grade cameras with 3-axis gimbal support, the latest image processing software and technologies, industry-leading video transmission, and much more.
Enterprise Drones: Enterprise drones are advanced, commercial-grade flyers designed for specific applications, such as infrastructure inspection, search and rescue, firefighting, and more. Because of their task-specific design, enterprise drones often feature unique technologies and accessories not regularly seen on conventional drones, such as thermal cameras and high-powered spotlights.
Mini Drones: Drones weighing less than 250 g (0.55 lb) are often categorized as mini drones. Most mini drones fall into other categories as well (such as beginner and/or camera drones), but their standout feature is their sub-250 g weight, which, depending on the use case, allows them to be flown without registration.
FPV Drones: Unlike most conventional drones, which are piloted from a third-person perspective, FPV (first-person view) drones are flown from the drone's point of view. Live video is transmitted from the drone's onboard camera to a compatible ground receiver, either a video monitor or FPV goggles. FPV drones can be used for many applications, including aerial photography and cinematography, remote inspection, security, and FPV racing.
ROVs: ROVs (remotely operated underwater vehicles) are submersible unmanned drones that are typically controlled via tether, Wi-Fi buoy, or some combination of both. ROVs are used in both consumer and commercial applications, including underwater photography, exploration, inspection, and more.
What to Consider When Shopping for a Drone
Now that you're familiar with the common drone types, let's look at some of the important features you should consider when shopping for a drone.
Camera
Apart from certain toy and novice-level drones, most drones feature some kind of camera system. However, the quality and sophistication of that camera system varies from drone to drone. To ensure a drone can deliver the image quality you desire, be sure to consider the following specs and features:
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Resolution: The higher the camera resolution, the more details (pixels) captured. If you're interested in capturing quality aerial images and video, look for a camera that shoots at least 12MP stills and can record 4K video.
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Sensor Size: Sensor size determines how much light the camera captures. More light means better image quality.
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Stabilization: Resolution and sensor size won't matter much if your drone's camera isn't properly stabilized. To ensure all of your aerial images and video are still, smooth, and shake-free, make sure your drone has an effective stabilization system, one that utilizes a reliable mechanical stabilizer (like a 3-axis gimbal) or electronic image stabilization (EIS).
Battery Life
Most consumer drones will get you between 25 to 30 minutes of flight off a full charge, which is the minimum we'd recommend—otherwise you're going to spend most of your time charging and hot-swapping batteries.
Safety Features
Flying a drone is not without risk. Crashes, collisions, flyaways—these are potential hazards drone pilots must contend with. To mitigate that risk, look for drones with these popular safety features:
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Obstacle Avoidance: An automated safety feature that allows a drone to detect and avoid obstacles in its flight path. Most obstacle avoidance systems rely on a combination of detection sensors and software to perceive obstacles and safely navigate around them.
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Return to Home (RTH): A safety feature that directs the aircraft return to its original takeoff point (or another predefined location). In most drones, RTH can be activated manually by the pilot, or in case of emergency (e.g., low battery or loss of signal), it will activate automatically.
Flight Range
A drone's flight range is the maximum distance it can fly from its controller without losing connection. Depending on the application, a long flight range can be a very useful feature—if you're filming hard-to-reach waterfalls in Iceland, for example.
Size
The size and weight of a drone helps determine its portability and categorization. Specifically, drones weighing less than 250 g (0.55 lb) are categorized as mini drones, meaning that, depending on the application, they can be legally flown without registration.
Which Drone Accessories Should You Buy?
Like drones, drone accessories cover a wide range of categories and use cases, running the gamut from absolutely niche to absolutely necessary. Some of the most common and essential drone accessories are:
Batteries: Depending on the drone, flight time can range anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. To avoid a premature grounding while your drone recharges, stock up on a spare battery or two and stay in the air longer.
Memory Cards: If you plan on capturing photos and/or videos with your drone, odds are you're going to need more storage than what your drone provides. If that's the case, be sure to stock up on compatible microSD memory cards, which will allow you to save all of your aerial imagery.
Spare Parts: Despite advancements in safety-enhancing features like obstacle avoidance, drones are not impervious to damage. To avoid a premature and possibly permanent grounding, be sure to keep plenty of spare and replacement parts handy, especially propellers.
Protective Cases: Regardless of whether you are a professional, a hobbyist, or somewhere in between, being a drone pilot definitely isn't cheap. Even so-called "beginner" drones require a fairly substantial investment. To protect that investment, we recommend a protective case or backpack, which will safeguard your drone from the elements and allow you to securely transport it from one location to the next.
Question about how to choose the best drone for your needs? Drop us a line below and we'll get back to you.
