How to choose a drone?
No doubt drones are a big hit with a rising popularity in the last couple of years. Accordingly, more options and models are available. And even though you might find the variety of drone options smaller comparing to smartphones or fitness trackers, it is yet heard to figure out all the acronyms involved in buying a new drone.
So you want to know how to choose a drone? what is a gimbal? What is the difference between FPV and RTH? Keep on to get all the information you need in order to buy the best drone that fits your needs.
Types of drones:
Beginner drone — It will usually indicates: easy to flight, durable and can take some beginners hits and minor crashes, shorter range and flight time and more affordable.
Hobby Drone — this is the next step drones after the beginners one. It is still mostly durable and affordable, but hold advanced features like more specialized cameras, longer ranges, or other features that make them ideal for dedicated drone-ers.
Camera/ professional Drones — Got some advances feature, these drones are equipped with higher quality cameras and often use GPS tracking, which allows for a better “return home” feature (more about it in down the article) and makes them easy to find when lost. Accordingly, it cost more.
Racing drones — they are built for speed, the better models in this category can go up to 70MPH and reach 100 MPH in a dive. These drones are often flown competitively in races. These drone use FPV (First Person View — more about it in down the article) goggles for full flight control.
Toy and tricks — That doesn’t have to be a kids drone! (although it might). The thing about these drones is they are light, small and very agile. They don’t have camera or extra features that might make it heavier and so less maneuverable.
The drone can arrive in 1 of 3 scenarios:
RTF — Ready To Fly. Just as it sounds, it means your drone is assembled from the second you get it out of the box. Still you might need to do some simple steps like charging the batteries or connecting the controller to the quadcopter (get them talking to each other). But, no doubt this is the easiest one and the nicest to start with.
ARF — Almost Ready to Fly. These types of drones arrive disassembled into parts that needs to be put together. Which means you to practice a decent level of assembly talent. This is why this type is more appealing to the hobbyists and the DIY-lovers amongst us.
BNF — Bind-N-Fly. These drones will arrive with all the parts, just like RTF, but a transmitter. So with a BNF quadcopter you have to use your own transmitter and bind it to the receiver included with the model.
Specs:
Battery life/ Flight time — Just like a laptop, a drone will eventually run out of juice. Most drones flight time is some where between 5–30 minutes, depends on the type and size. In general, the rule of thumb dictates that most of beginners drone will have some 5–10 flight minutes, but their batteries are fairly cheap and easy to swap. It is very popular to get some 3–4 extra batteries for these drones and swap in the time of need to get a longer flight experience. The more advances drone usually have longer flight time, but the batteries are pretty expensive, so make sure you take into your budget consideration.
Range — There is a wide range of range options (J). All the way from 50–100 meters for a beginner drone and up to 5000 meters for the advanced once. Try to think what you want your quadcopters to do for you. If its fun and tricks, it better to keep it in your sight. If your are after exotic footage you might need more range.
Brushless motor — These motor type enjoys more efficiency, last longer and is generally quitter than his brushed counterparts.
Camera — As camera drones and selfy drones are becoming a great hit and a real phenomenon, most drones will come with a built in camera, but some will have an add-on camera option. Camera drones have all the extra fun: First person view (more about this next section), unique perspective to your special events with family and friends, and amazing videos there is no other way to get. BUT, the extra weight comes on the expense of flight time.
Flight performance and user experience:
First person view (FPV) — Basically it means you see on your controllers monitor a live video feed of what the drone “sees” as if you were riding it. It enhance the overall experience, improves your piloting and can be used for framing your photos and videos.
Headless mode — Control a drone can be tricky. So this great feature allows everyone to start ‘droning’. Using This mode means that the drone will go right, left, forward or backward — from YOUR perspective (rather than relatively to drones own position). If you are a beginner, or just want to enjoy easy and intuitive experience, don’t skip this feature.
GPS — This will tell the drone where he is in the world, and so enables features like return to home (see next) and improve the navigation skill, stability and even obstacle avoidance.
Return to home (RTH)- A safety feature that allows the drone to autonomously fly back to the pilot’s location or starting point.
Follow-me mode — Its like a flying go pro attached to you, automatically documents you and your surroundings. So if you are practicing some sport activity (hiking, biking, Rowing….) you want to remember without sparing a hand — this is the feature for you.
Gimbal — This system will mechanically stabilize the camera and so, will get a smooth video and sharper photos even with fast movements or in high winds. If you are looking for the best video footage and photos, insist on a drone that includes a gimbal.
Obstacle avoidance — This is a more premium feature that goes literally by its name: it will help your drone avoid crashing into a tree, or any other obstacle. As with the follow me mode, some drones do this better than others. So check the reviews online to see if it actually works as advertised.
As in every other purchase, its all about figuring out what you really want a drone for and what is important for you. And than match these with the best drones. You can try NexC, a great onlone tool that will help you find and compare the best drones to fit you.
All that is left know is start a quest to find the drone that best match your needs.
