Finding the Ideal Drone: a Beginner’s Buying Guide

The most exciting technological advancements of this century are probably AI and self-driving cars, but there is one that usually flies under the radar for most people – drones! These amazing pieces of technology have become a real hobby for some and a trophy worthy investment for others. The likes of a DJI Phantom and Mavic have made the drone of today a filmmaker’s go-to aerial shooter. And since there are a lot of brands and types of drones you can choose from we’ve made this simple guide to help you make the right choice.

Camera

The higher the price the better the camera right? Well, this may be true for high-end drones but if you plan on getting a smaller drone a camera is more of an add-on than a built-in tool. This means that you can decide what action camera you’ll use on your drone which can lower the cost of the whole package. GoPro or DJI’s Osmo Action are great for a drone quadcopter that doesn’t have a gimbal as they have special features that stabilize the footage. If you are after one with a built-in camera then you have more options, like Resolution, shutter speed, and OIS (optical image stabilization).

Headless Mode

When a drone is flying away from you, in order to turn right you press the corresponding button or push the joystick to the right. But what do you do when it’s facing you? Will it go to the right or to the left? To avoid this confusion go for a drone quadcopter that has this mode so when you turn right it will go right no matter the direction it is facing.

Flight Time

This is directly linked to the battery of the device and drones can usually last between 5 and 30 minutes until running completely out of juice. A good rule of thumb is to have 3 or 4 spare batteries, however, for the more expensive drones, the accessories are expensive as well. As long as you can double your flight time you are good to go – just make sure you always have a spare battery with you.

Range

Depending on what you’ll want to do with your drone, its range is one of the most important features to keep in mind. Of course, if you want to capture vast landscapes, your best bet is investing in a high-end drone as they are the only ones that have a range that goes over 4km. If you just want to whiz around or race with your friends, a budget quadcopter will be enough as they have a range between 80 to 160 meters.

RTH

RTH stands for Return-to-Home which when initiated – will return the drone back to you. But, there’s a difference between the RTH function on a cheap drone and one found on a top-of-the-line drone. With the former, you need to have the headless mode on if you want the drone to get back, otherwise, it will go in the opposite direction. On a high-end drone, you have GPS enabled RTH which means that the drone knows exactly where it needs to return using a built-in GPS system.