dji phantom gps drone review

Our editorial staff evaluates products and services independently, but Top Ten Reviews may earn money when you click on links. DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ The drone has a built-in camera and a three-axis, brushless gimbal to keep it steady. This drone isn't as simple to fly as others on the market. The Phantom 2 Vision+ drone is small but sturdy. It is a serious UAV that takes phenomenal photographs from impressive heights. The DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ is, without a doubt, the best fully assembled drone we reviewed. With its built-in, stabilized, high-definition camera, a transmitter and GPS positioning, this radio-controlled quadcopter includes everything you need to hit the skies and get great footage. It has a Wi-Fi booster to extend range, so it can fly higher and further than other RC drones. Together these traits make it worthy of the Top Ten Reviews Gold Award for the best RC drone. DJI Phantom 2 Vision+Last updated November 21st 2016The DJI Phantom 3 drone is one of the best selling drones of all time and we're excited to provide you with our long term review of DJI's ready-to-fly quadcopter .

The new sensors help stabilize the drone to a new level of accuracy making it the most stable quadcopter yet in this price range.
best drone for under 100 with camera New Drone Stabilizing Sensors The new DJI Phantom 3 borrows it's sensors from the flagship Inspire drone, which was the first one to be fitted with sonar-type sensors underneath the drone that provide positional data so the quadcopter can hover in a precise spot even when GPS isn't available. Indoor flying with the DJI Phantom 3 Most modern drones rely on GPS for positional data and that's the thing that allows them to hover a specific spot. Although the Phantom 3 also comes with GPS tracking for positional data, it automatically switches to the optical sensors when the GPS isn't available. (This happens a lot if you're flying indoors, in places with a lot trees or even places with a lot of interference.) Speaking of GPS, the new Phantom's 3 global positioning system is even better this time around as it now has access to more satellites than before.

(Apparently they signed a deal that allows them to use additional GPS satellites for more accuracy and redundancy. This means that you'll have even more coverage and accuracy.) The motors have also been upgraded with the new Phantom 3 drone. This is a big deal because the old motors have been replaced with new, more efficient motors which translates directly into longer flights. Before, we used to get a solid 15-20 minutes of flight time with the previous Phantom 2 and now, we're getting a solid 20-25. I know this might not sound like much, but a whole 5 minutes more of flying is a lot! If you're like me, you're going an extra battery on hand as well which means we'll be airborne for a long time before having to break to charge anything. Charger Tests and Batteries In our charge time tests for the DJI Phantom 3 battery, we measured 29 minutes to fully charge with the pro smart charger. That's quite an impressive feat considering we're used to having to spend a few hours charging our other batteries.

This means that if you get yourself 2 batteries, you can fly with almost no downtime. (Technically, you need three for continuous flight times seeing as it takes a little longer to charge than it does to drain the battery but two will get you pretty close.) The batteries aren't cheap but you can often get a Phantom 3 bundle with an extra battery. Alternatively, you can pick one up separately for nearly the same amount but unlike the smaller drones that only provide you with 6 minutes of flight time, the Phantom 3 goes a long time so it's entirely possible to get by with only one battery. (Although personally I happen to have 3 of them so I'm a little bias) The Phantom 3 Flight Test My first impressions when flying the Phantom 3 was... "Wow, this is just like the older model except much more stable!" It has the same intuitive (and frankly, super easy) except that it feels much more solid, stable and predictable. If other drones are bees buzzing around, this is a swan having a smooth flight.

Although flying is always a very personal opinion, when you fly the Phantom 3, you feel confident that your manoeuvres will be well executed. It turns just at the right speed, moves quickly when you want it to and slowly enough for some great cinematic shots. You get the feeling that when the engineers designed it, they weren't just thinking: "How fast can it go?" but instead "What's the ideal speed we want this drone to go?". (The official speed is rated at 35mph.) Drone Speed: The Cinematic Shots This brings me to the next component, the new camera. The DJI Phantom 3 professional comes with an industry leading 4k camera and the advanced version comes with a 1080p camera. New optics for the 4k camera The camera is vastly improved this time around and delivers some of the best footage of any drone without a third party camera. (In other words, if you want better than this, you're likely going to need to have a professional drone carrying a professional camera.) The way it's set up is ideal for light commercial production (Streaming / web video, real estate, short clips, festivals, etc).

In terms of range, the official range of the DJI Phantom 3 is 1.2 miles (nearly 2km) which is huge and vastly superior to most drones currently on the market. This type of range opens up a whole new world of possibilities (any further and you're going to have trouble seeing the drone). You just have to make you take into account the duration of the battery when traveling these distances. Flying Safety: Return To Home and Limits In terms of features, there are a few other ones worth mentioning. One of them is that they soft-cap the ceiling (maximum altitude) at 400 feet. This is a safety measure so you don't run into territory that you aren't supposed to go into. When I first heard about the limit, I thought "Hey, don't limit what I can do!" however after flying around quite a bit I must assure you that 400 feet is quite high (more than enough for your panoramic shots) and it also reassures me that I won't get into trouble for flying somewhere I'm not allowed to go. You get maps, all the data you could ever want (altitude, speed, position) and a real time view of your drone's camera in 720p.

The way it works is that you plug in your Android or iOS device into the radio control, download the app and it will act as a screen + control panel for your quadcopter. The software allows you to trace routes, handles recording, handles takes off and even landings for you. It's the closest thing to having an entire control center on your remote. Speaking of remote, it look a lot like the new Inspire remote control with the exception that it doesn't have a metal plate on the front. Rumors are that in the future you'll be able to interchange the remotes and even have live-streaming HDMI out from your Phantom 3 which is pretty cool if you're into streaming on the web. (This can be ideal if you're recording a sporting event like downhill mountain biking, skiing or even surfing) Overall, the DJI Phantom 3 proves to be one of the best drones currently on the market and we suspect it will remain the king of the pack for quite a long time. It takes off where the Vision left off with it's improved battery life, industry leading stability, refined software and feature set and upgraded camera, it doesn't get much better than this.