Drone Buying Guide 2021

All right, Brett Garamella, the drone pilot pro  here we're gonna start by figuring out which drone   should you buy so what you need to do is decide  what your budget is for your drone is it 150   is it 800 is it 2 dollars now keep in mind that  there are a few accessories that you will likely   need when flying your drone so keep that in  mind for your overall budget and also keep in   mind that prices of drones are likely to change  over time so click the links below for the most   up-to-date prices there are so many drones i could  mention but for the sake of time and practicality   i've narrowed it down to my favorite two or  three drones for each price category to save   you time and make it easier for you you can  skip ahead to the part of the video where i   talk about the drones in your particular budget  as seen right here alright so let's get into it and i'm gonna go over the  best drones for under 500.   because there are so many drones to choose i  broke it down into two categories the first   category is 200 and less and the second category  is 200 to 500 all right so let's get into it the first category is 200 and less now the dji  tello is the first drone up dji is a leading   company in consumer drones the telo flies for up  to 13 minutes and shoots 720 hd video and takes   5 megapixel photos you can change the batteries  easily and it does some cool tricks like 360 flips   and throwing it in the air and it starts flying  you could also land it in the palm of your hand   for just 99 or 150 dollars for the combo it's  a great drone for kids families and those who   want to fly mostly indoors it will fly outdoors  on a non-windy day next up is the foldable holy   stone hs 270 drone this is a step up in camera  quality and price it shoots 2.7 k video and has   a camera that tilts down 90 degrees at just 160  at the time of this recording unlike the dji tele   which records footage on your device you have the  option of recording your footage onto a micro sd   card with the holy stone hs 270. the hs 270 also  comes with a really good controller for this price   and this is a gps drone so it should give you  relatively smooth flying and stability it has   a bunch of great features like follow me  mode point of interest waypoints and tap   fly which all function correctly but don't  expect the same smoothness and execution   of features like this that you'd see on a thousand  dollar drone they work correctly but obviously   this is a budget drone however it will return to  home just as well as those thousand dollar drones   and has landing lights on the bottom for low  light it has normal flying mode and sport mode   for faster speeds and flies for up to 18 minutes  and comes with an extra battery with four led   lights to remind you of the remaining battery life  it can handle wind gusts up to about 15 miles per   hour and it can fly about 1500 feet away with all  those features i would definitely recommend the   holy stone over the dji tello last in the 200 or  less category is the snapton sp 510 which folds   out and resembles the holy stone hs 270. now just  like the holy stone the snapping comes with one   extra battery that has led lights to remind you  how much battery life is left has a micro sd card   slot car not included and is a gps drone has a  tilting gimbal and shoots 2.7 k video so is it   better than the holy stone hs270 so even though  the snapton is ten dollars more expensive i would   still recommend the holy stone because they have  a great reputation for customer service the holy   stone hs270 also has a few more minutes of flight  time than the snapton and it flies about 500 feet   farther than the snapton the other features and  camera quality is very similar otherwise so those   weren't much of a factor so if you have 200 or  less i would get the holy stone hs 270 drone all right moving on to the second category which  is 200 to 500 first up is the power extra f11 pro   this is one of the most affordable 4k drones  it has a gopro style wide angle camera at 120   degrees field of view it is a gps drone with  no obstacle avoiding sensors however because it   doesn't have any sensors you can fly it just above  ground level and get some incredible low shots it   will follow you normally front and back and also  from a sideways profile which for this price is   incredible it has up to 28 minutes of flight time  and comes with an extra battery so that'll give   you about 50 plus minutes of flight time the f11  pro has a range of about 1600 feet away and it has   other cool features like time photos and waypoints  the only cons are the fact that the batteries take   several hours to charge and it weighs over  250 grams so you'll have to register it   both of those aren't really that big of a deal  but i wanted to let you know so all in all this   is a great drone for beginner or someone on a  budget who wants a 4k drone that is easy to fly   next up is the dji mavic mini the dji mavic mini  is smaller than many smartphones weighs less than   a mavic 2 battery and flies up to 30 minutes it  has a 3-axis gimbal and shoots 2.7 k video it   doesn't have any obstacle avoiding sensors this  is why i recommend getting the mavic mini combo   because it includes a propeller guards which can  protect your drone while flying indoors or near   obstacles in fact it seems more like a propeller  cage than a guard providing more protection than   the propeller guards for other drones for this  reason alone i recommend this drone for kids   now folded up the mavic mini and mini 2 are dji's  most portable outdoor drones and unfolded it is   nearly identical in size to the dji mavic air this  is a great drone for someone who wants a light   portable drone or who needs a backup drone for  more risky shots and the overall smoothness and   image quality will be better than the f11 pro the  last drone is the dji mini 2 which is the mavic   mini's older brother now it's worth the upgrade  from the original mini because it is better in   wind has occusync 2.0 so it can fly several  miles away if needed giving you much better   stability on a windy day and you don't have to  worry about it losing a signal it also shoots 4k   is the same size and almost the same weight as the  original mini so it comes in at under a 250 grams   with a battery if you're on a budget i would get  the f11 pro but if you can afford it the mini 2   is definitely worth it i actually would recommend  the combo which comes with three batteries and a   nice carrying case however that will put you  over 500 but you won't regret it again links   to all the drones are in the description below  so you're looking for a drone under a thousand   dollars these are what i consider cinematic drones  at a reasonable price there are so many drones   i could mention but for the sake of time and  practicality i have narrowed it down to my three   favorite drones listed from the least expensive  to the most expensive there are many discontinued   or refurbished drones in this price category  but for the sake of staying up to date with   the newest technology i will only include three  drones that are still being manufactured and you   can buy new between 500 to a thousand dollars for  the base unit excluding combos at this price point first up is a versatile parrot anafi which  is the only portable drone with a camera   that tilts 180 degrees including straight up  it also has a three axis gimbal that shoots 4k   hdr video with a hundred megabit per second bit  rate that zooms optically 2.8 times from 26 to 78   millimeters for video the anafi can fly in winds  up to 31 miles per hour and shoots 21 megapixel   photos with an ability to fly up to two miles away  it also gives you up to 25 minutes of flight time   and is portable for travel now there are  three different options in this price category   including the base model or extended which comes  with a few extra batteries and a carrying bag   the para anafi fpv with first person view goggles  and parrot anafi work for a thousand dollars which   allows you to capture 3d models on capture 4d at  no extra cost so the para anafi based model is   the most affordable but you also have options for  an fpv experience and working with photogrammetry   real estate and many other applications next up  is the dji mavic air 2 which is the best bang for   your buck this portable drone shoots 4k up to 60  frames per second has more range up to 6 miles and   flight time up to 34 minutes than any of these  drones under a thousand dollars with this half   inch camera sensor it is able to get very good  image quality taking up to 48 megapixel photos   and capturing 8k hyperlapses because the  controller is almost identical to the dji mini 2   you can use the mini 2 controller to fly the air  2 as well by the time you're watching this video   i imagine dji will sell the mavic air 2 aircraft  by itself and i imagine the mini 2 also by itself   so that you only need one controller to fly  two drones if i had to choose a drone under   a thousand dollars i would not hesitate to get the  mavic air ii and i recommend the combo because it   comes with three batteries a charging hub and  a carrying bag that you wish you had bought if   you only bought the base model the last drone in  this category is the world's best fully autonomous   self-flying drone the skydio2 which is great for  vloggers and anyone who wants to film themselves   without technical skills skydio guarantees that  this drone will not crash and will repair or   replace the drone if this happens during the first  year and can shoot 4k up to 60 frames per second   and 12 megapixel photos it also has a beacon or  what i like to call a magic wand that allows the   drone to follow you up to 1.5 kilometers away with  the remote controller you get up to 3.5 kilometers   range this drone is portable but doesn't fold up  like its peers skydio is also newer on the drone   scene the dji and it's an american company with  the best artificial intelligence on the market   it could be the dark horse in this category  but some might view it as a one-trick pony   while the artificial intelligence makes this  drone difficult to crash it doesn't provide   quite as smooth shots as i would hope for while  attracts a person or subject thus i would still go   with the mavic air 2 because of its longer flight  time better range more portable and the ability   to upgrade to more expensive drones in the dji  lineup while having the experience with dji drones   i don't think you can make a bad decision in this  price category you're going to get a great drone   no matter which drone you choose again links to  all these drones are in the description below this category is professional drones no  doubt about it from a thousand dollars to   two thousand dollars let's start with my overall  favorite drone the one i fly the most and my   recommendation in this category the dji mavic 2  pro sure it only shoots 4k up to 30 frames per   second but personally i find that this drone is  so stable and gets such smooth footage and when   you're filming with the drone it's so far from the  objects that you're filming that you don't really   need the 60 frames per second 30 frames per second  or 24 frames per second is plenty therefore this   isn't as big a deal as people make it out to be it  flies up to 31 minutes and has a really impressive   five mile maximum range it also has a hasselblad  camera with a one inch sensor with a 28 millimeter   lens and it has the ability to shoot in 10-bit log  video as well for those professionals wanting to   color grade active track is much improved and has  some cool new features like hyperlapse boomerang   and asteroid mode as you can tell i highly  recommend this drone now in a close second to the   mavic 2 pro is a dji phantom 4 pro version 2. now  one thing to consider is this drone is much bigger   and less portable than the dji mavic 2 pro which  is why i chose it second however a bigger drone   like this often looks more impressive for clients  and may be the drone that you want it does have   an advantage of shooting 4k up to 60 frames per  second and also shoots in d cine-like mode which   to me looks slightly better than the footage from  the mavic 2 pro however i'm just splitting hairs   here if you're a pixel peeper and you need the  best drone for under 2 000 this is the drone it   also includes obstacle avoidance on four sides and  is slightly faster than the mavic 2 pro but only   ever so slightly now with that said personally  flying both of these drones a lot i find the   mavic 2 pro slightly easier than the phantom 4 pro  because the phantom 4 pro drifts ever so slightly   and it's just it's just a little harder to control  than the mavic 2 pro so keep that in mind so for   that reason as well i have to recommend this drone  as second in this price category now last up is   the autel evo 2 drones the evo 2 is definitely  one of the top two consumer foldable drones in   the market so there are three different autel  evo 2 drones but they all have the same body   the only thing different are the cameras and best  of all they are interchangeable so you can buy   each camera by itself and swap it out which is  great for consumers professionals and enterprise   solutions such as inspections and search and  rescue and many more uses so when i mention   the different evo 2 drones i'm essentially just  talking about the camera and not the drone body   the evo 2 drones are the evo 2 the evo 2 pro and  the evo 2 dual so they will all fly for up to 40   minutes which in reality will be about 35 minutes  they have the ability to shoot native 10 bit 8k   and 6k video with a processor able to handle those  big resolutions the evo 2 has 12 obstacle avoiding   sensors which makes it similar to the first skydio  drone the skydio r1 they call it omnidirectional   which basically is true 360 obstacle avoidance  where the mavic 2 has some blind spots that   don't make a true 360 degrees also the obstacle  avoiding sensors on the left side and the right   side of the mavic 2 only work in active track and  quick shot modes so the evo 2 will be better at   avoiding obstacles as it always uses all of its  sensors even with its active track which autel   calls dynamic track 2.0 out of the box the evo 2  has less contrast than the mavic 2 but any app you   can adjust that of course or in post production  however because the evo 2 shoots 8k and evo 2 pro   shoots 6k you can crop into the shot and it will  still have good resolution this is perhaps its   biggest advantage over the mavic 2 pro now i think  i was a little disappointed about i wish the evo 2   was smaller but it's understandable considering  it needed a bigger more powerful battery   for longer flight time along with enough space  to process that 6k and x8k camera without   overheating so it'd be nice if it were a little  smaller but having a foldable 8k and 6k drone   is something i'm super pumped up about the  amazing thing that autel has done with the evo 2   which i've been saying for years is the fact that  you can buy the camera gimbal alone by itself   and swap the 8k version for the 6k camera with  the bigger sensor so being able to buy any of the   three camera gimbals by themselves is great  because you can have one drone and multiple   cameras thus saving you a lot of space in  your camera drone bag with all that said   i would still choose the mavic 2 pro over the evo  2 pro because of the image color and contrast look   better to me right out of the mavic 2 pro camera  whereas i'm not as thrilled with the evo 2 colors   so for someone who doesn't want to spend time  adjusting the colors in post-production the mavic   2 pro will be better and like i said earlier  the mavic 2 pro is the easiest drone to fly   in this price category buy a slim margin therefore  i wouldn't hesitate to recommend the mavic 2 pro   now dji fpv was released this year though  many would argue it is not a true fpv drone   i consider it a hybrid drone for those  looking to cross the bridge from traditional   gps drones to fpv drones having this 4k 60 frame  per second drone will enable drone pilots to get   shots they normally wouldn't be able to capture  and flying in manual mode or fpv mode which goes   up to 87 miles per hour will make you a better  drone pilot dji has created an app that allows   you to practice virtually before attempting  these aerial acrobatics in the real world   so i think this could be a great drone to have in  your drone lineup maybe not as your primary drone   but one you could use for commercial and business  purposes for certain types of creative shots dji   fpv drone requires wearing goggles that come with  the combo so in most countries this means you'll   need another person who keeps an eye on your  drone also known as a visual observer and as i   always mentioned buying the right drone is only  half of the battle learning how to technically   and creatively use them is the most important  half i made a free 30 minute dji drone training   and in that free trading i also go into my top  seven secrets for flying dji drones and answer   a ton of questions about drones so you can watch  that free training by clicking on the link below   and now let's get into the rest of the video so  we're gonna talk about the big dogs the big drones   that's right drones in this category are more than  two thousand dollars in this price range you have   a whole lot of options for example if you want  a long-range surveillance drone you can drop 45   grand on the vanguard by airborne drones but for  those 45 stacks of money you get up to 94 minutes   of flight time with an incredible 22 mile range  now money is not an object then you can spend   a few hundred thousand and flight around in your  drone but in this video i'm gonna be talking about   the best drones over two thousand dollars for  filmmaking and photography so let's get into it first thing you have to decide is whether you  want to use a dslr or a cinema camera if so i   would recommend the dji matrix 600 pro now for  sony camera users you might like the sony air   peak which is scheduled to be released in the  spring of 2021. all right so let's talk about   dji's matrice 600 pro as i like to call it the  beast it will carry a payload of up to 13 pounds   or 6 kilograms so you can mount different cameras  from mirrorless to red to alexa mini cameras   the dji ronin mx gimbal mounts directly into the  matrix 600 pro so you can use the same cinema   camera on the ground or in the air without having  to spend time balancing it thus allowing you to   get smooth cinematic footage of the highest  quality both in the sky and walking around   the matrix 600 pro can fly up to five kilometers  range now that total flight time depends on what   camera you use with a red camera or equivalent  you'll get about 18 minutes of flight time   with an x7 camera are smaller you get about 30  to 35 minutes of flight time also make sure you   get the tb-48s batteries because they'll give you  a few more minutes of flight time links to those   batteries and the entire matrix 600 pro cinema  setup in the description below a nice feature   is the fact that if one of the propellers stops  working the drone will not fall from the sky dji   also has rtk system for this drone if you  want centimeter level accuracy for mapping   and industrial applications now next up the sony  air peak drone as of the making of this video this   drone has not been released but it will be  available for purchase in the spring of 2021   according to sony so i wanted to include it so all  of this info is based on what sony has reported   so take it with a grain of salt you can equip  this drone with any sony alpha mirrorless camera   such as the sony a7s iii or the sony a1 at first  glance this drone looks a lot like the inspired 2   with an fpv camera obstacle avoiding centers on  all sides including the top now note the inspire 2   only has obstacle avoidance on the front and  the bottom and a cable for a live feed into your   sony camera this setup is ideal for two people a  pilot and a camera operator the fpv camera is most   likely for the drone pilot while the feed into the  camera is for the person operating the camera if   you're not going to use a dslr or cinema camera  you still have two of the best drones available   the dji inspire 2 or the dji matrice 300 series  now money is no object i would recommend getting   the dji matrice 300 series because it does  everything the dji inspire 2 can do only   has much longer flight time the ability to fly in  rain with an ip45 rating and most of all it's not   affected by telephone wiring and other electric  circuitry in and around buildings that cause   interference on the inspire 2. unlike the inspire  2 it has obstacle avoidance on all six sides   the matrice 300 is the swiss army knife of drones  and its predecessor the matrice 200 to 10 is also   in that category though the software in ease of  use is much better with the matrice 300 it is the   most versatile industrial and cinematic platform  available today its uses range from surveillance   thermal inspection typography and cartography  the matrice performs in extreme temperatures   and weather conditions such as arctic and rainy  conditions with the matrice 300s pilots can mount   up to three payloads simultaneously including the  h20 series payload which is four cameras in one   a wide angle 12 megapixel camera a 20  megapixel camera with 23 times optical   zoom a state-of-the-art thermal camera and a  laser range finder holy smokes are you kidding me   it's like a normal dji drone on steroids with  features like active track from extreme distances   and memory of previous shoots in order to save  time and execute your project or mission and for   cinematographers you can use a zenmuse x7 camera  with this matrice drone giving it 6k capabilities   or mount dji zenmuse p1 for photogrammetry  that gives you full frame 45 megapixel photos   without the jello effect using a global mechanical  shutter the matrice 300 flies up to 55 minutes of   flight time and a 9.3 mile or 15 kilometer range  and flies up to 52 miles per hour now the one   advantage the inspire 2 has is slightly more speed  than the matrice 300 and whereas the matrice is   built more for industrial application the inspire  2 is built with cinematographers in mind at the   moment the inspire 2 is the fastest non-fpv drone  reaching up to 65 miles per hour and also capable   of capturing stable video in 40 plus mile per hour  winds now the zenmuse x7 gimbal camera has a super   35 sensor with 14 stops of dynamic range and the  ability to shoot up to 6k in cinema dng and 5.2 k   in apple pro res while capturing raw photos  at 20 frames per second at 24 megapixels this   camera is compatible with four prime lenses  with a front fpv camera 360 rotating gimbal   and dual heating batteries the inspire 2 has the  features needed for professional cinematographers   for photographers though i would go with the  matrice 300 because you can use the zenmuse p1   which at the moment is not capable with the  inspire 2. if you want to learn more about   these drones i made a free drone gear guide  which i just updated for 2021 in that guide   you'll learn more about drones in this video  along with other drones for different budgets i   also included my favorite software and accessories  so download that drone guide by clicking up here   or on the description below. I'm Brett Garamella, the Drone Pilot Pro, and remember, Fly Like a Pro!

Channel: Brett Garamella

Views: 131,513

Keywords: dji, drones, best drones over $2000, best drones 2021, best drone 2021, 2021 best drones, over 2000 best drones, 2021 drone guide, matrice 300 rtk, dji inspire 2, sony airpeak, best drones, drone guide 2021, drone buying guide, drone buying guide 2021, 2021 drone buying guide, which drone, drone gear guide, buying drones, buying drone, best dji drone, which drone to buy, best beginner drones, beginner drones, best drones under 200, drone guide, beginner drone guide

Id: Ns-Wc5_upNE

Length: 25min 20sec (1520 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 21 2021