Image source: Pixabay

5 Factors to Take into Consideration Before Buying a Drone

Imagine heading to your kid’s soccer game with a drone or quadcopter instead of a digital camera. You’re able to fly overhead and get a bird’s eye view of the action. You’ll be the envy of every parent on the sidelines as you get unique footage of your child in action. There are certain factors to take into consideration before buying a drone for this kind of activity.

Drones can also be used for security in the near future. The drone will sit on a pad outside the home and be able to detect movement on the grounds. A start up called Sunflower Labs wants to bring drones to every home where the owners are concerned about security.

The drone will be able to use artificial technology to identify intruders on the property based on their movements. It’ll send a notification to the owner’s phone asking if they’d like to investigate. The owner can stream video directly to their phone. It will lead to less false alarms like those that can occur with traditional alarm systems.

Whatever the reason for your drone or quadcopter purchase, you should always consider the following factors when choosing the type of drone.

Camera and Other Features

Some drones and quadcopters don’t have a camera installed in them. A drone with a camera installed will still be incredibly lightweight, but it can cost a bit more to include a camera. If you have a built-in camera, ensure that it has great resolution and enough megapixels to do the job.

If you’re purchasing the drone for video or picture taking, it’s best to buy a drone with a built-in camera instead of attaching a GoPro or other sports camera to it. With the controls of the drone, you’ll also get control over the camera itself too. The camera should be able to rotate and zoom while having a great resolution.

The drone should be easy to fly around. A drone that has auto-landing, FPV mode for video or pre-programmed is the one you should be looking for. The range of the drone will make a huge difference in the costs as well as your satisfaction with the drone. Pick one that gives you the greatest distance while still staying within your budget.

When choosing the drone, focus on the features that you need and avoid unnecessary ones. Budget and costs should always be a concern when choosing features for the drone.

Drone Material Quality

The budget will have a huge influence on the materials of the drone. The low-cost drones will be created from plastic and considered a “toy” drone that won’t be as durable as high-cost drones. When you crash with a toy drone from a great height, it’s unlikely that the drone will survive without getting destroyed.

The medium- and high-cost drones are made with fiberglass materials that are more durable. It’ll be able to withstand crashes without destroying the drone. In fact, the drone should be able to withstand a few crashes as you familiarize yourself with flying.

The lightweight of the plastic variety of drones means that it’s more likely to be pushed around by the wind. This can lead to drones that fly into buildings or crash to the ground because they are not heavy enough to withstand the elements.

Battery Life of the Drone

One of the biggest factors to take into consideration before buying a drone is the battery life. The toy-rated drones will have a 5 to 7 minute flight time. This means that whenever you want to play with the drone, you’ll have to charge it for a few hours to play with it for 5 minutes.

The higher-cost drones have a flight time of 2 to 30 minutes, which is much more reasonable. The camera on the unit also drains the battery, which should be kept in mind when purchasing. You might decide that for better battery life, you’d like to attach your own camera.

To combat this low level of battery life and play time, you can purchase extra batteries to change out when one is drained. Instead of bringing the copter home after a few minutes, slip in a new battery and send it flying again.

Types of Drones

The type of flying you want to do will directly influence the drone you should buy. For example, you might want an acrobatic drone to do aerial tricks. If you have a friend with a drone, you might want to compete with racing drones. Others are used for photography or video.

Acrobatic drones won’t have cameras attached. Drones focused on photography won’t be able to perform acrobatics. When you are considering a drone purchase, make sure you know exactly what you’d like to do with the drone.

With so many people buying drones in the U.S., manufacturers are coming out with newer models with more advanced features all the time. This gives buyers more choices with better features every day.

Replacement Parts for the Drone or Quadcopter

Before purchasing a drone or quadcopter, make sure that you are able to purchase replacement parts. If you plan on flying the drone every day, eventually, you’ll need to replace a broken propeller or a small part banged in a crash. The landing gear might be one of the first pieces to break in an accident.

Use the model name to search online to see if replacement parts are easy to purchase. There are manufacturers that will sell their own replacement parts, or you might have to use a reseller online who has specific parts.

While some drones can easily fit universal parts, others require original parts from the manufacturer. You should never buy a drone without researching whether it needs specific or universal parts as well as how easy it is to replace them.

These are 5 of the factors to take into consideration before buying a drone. Research is an important part of this purchase, so make sure you know the features you want as well as the activities you’re going to take part in with your drone whether it’s photography or aerial tricks.