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The best drones you can buy by Christian de Looper on Oct 31, 2017, 11:00 AM The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase. 
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The humble drone has come a long way over the last few years. Even cheaper drones now offer excellent image quality, flying features, and other great tech. Of all the drones out there, the DJI Mavic Pro is our top pick, but we have drones in this guide that cost much less (and much more). Drones are pretty cool. Sure, often you may not need one, but whether you need one or not, we think a household could always benefit from having a drone lying around. Whether it’s just for fun, or to use as a filmmaker, or to spy on your neighborhood. Of course, they can get a little pricey, and before dropping the cash on a drone, it’s a good idea to think about exactly what you’re looking for. While normally you might have to do hours of research before buying, we’ve done all the work for you so that you don’t have to. So what should you consider when buying a drone? Well, for starters, especially if you’re looking for a drone for filming purposes, you’ll want to think about video quality. Like any other camera, the footage that a drone can capture is only as good as the camera on the device, so resolution will come into play. You’ll have to consider how you can view that footage — whether you can live-stream it to a phone or computer, or if you have to wait and view it later once you have access to the SD card. You also need to decide whether you want a drone that’s ready to fly out of the box (RTF) or a drone that you might have to assemble or buy extra parts for. Many recent drones are RTF, but some still require a little assembly, and if you’re not comfortable doing that, you’ll want to steer clear of buying one. Next up is battery life. Drones are still relatively new, and they’re not able to fly for hours on end just yet. Some, in fact, can only fly for five minutes or so before they have to be recharged. The better drones available can fly for up to 30 minutes before needing a charge. Last but not least is your level of experience when it comes to flying a drone. Unfortunately, this is a case of you get what you pay for. Cheaper drones are often harder to fly, while more expensive ones have auto features and landing features that make them easier to keep safe. With all that in mind, read on in the slides below to see why the DJI Mavic Pro is our top pick, and why you should also consider the GoPro Karma, the Yuneec Breeze, the DJI Inspire 2, and the Parrot Mambo.SEE ALSO: The best action cameras you can buy The best drone overall  Why you'll love it: The DJI Mavic Pro is portable, relatively inexpensive, and it captures high-resolution 4K footage. DJI is perhaps the most well-known and respected brand in the drone business these days, and for good reason. The company has long offered excellent drones with top-tier cameras that are easy to fly. The latest and greatest of these is the DJI Mavic Pro, which offers a 4K camera, is solidly built, and features DJI’s self-built video transmission system OcuSync, which is built to transmit high-quality video straight to your controller. The drone doesn’t just offer an excellent camera and the ability to view streamed footage, it also has awesome flying features, like a decent flying time of almost 30 minutes per charge and a top speed of 40 miles per hour. It’ll also help you protect it from crashing with its front collision detection system. Buying the DJI Mavic Pro is a somewhat big investment, but then again, drones in general are expensive. Compared to some of the other drones on this list, the DJI Mavic Pro is relatively inexpensive with its $950 price tag. Still, most reviewers agree that for those interested in getting a high-quality drone, this is the best one to get. Digital Trends gave the drone 9/10, while Trusted Reviews took things a step further with a 10/10 score. Portability is an important thing to keep in mind when buying a drone, and thankfully, the Mavic Pro is relatively small. It’s much smaller than most other drones on this list, and yet it still offers all of the features and top-quality footage you would expect from a top-tier device. Perhaps the only downside is that, while portable, the drone’s gimbal assembly is a little fragile. Pros: Extremely portable, excellent camera, 4K video Cons: Slightly fragile, still expensive
The best drone under $200  Why you'll love it: The Parrot Mambo offers pretty decent flight controls and an included controller, but the best thing about it is the fact that it costs only $109.99. Not everyone has a ton of money to spend on a drone, but thankfully those of you who don’t aren’t left out in the dark. Parrot has some excellent options for less than $200, the best of which is the Parrot Mambo. There are a ton of things that make the Parrot Mambo a great option. While it's cheap, it still has great auto flying features, including three different flying modes: Easy, Drift, and Racing. Even beginners can get used to this drone thanks to Easy mode, and you will feel like a pro within minutes. The drone is also pretty versatile. You can use the included controller if you so choose, but you can also use the smartphone app to control the drone. Reviews suggest that both are pretty easy to use, but the controller offers a much better flight range. Speaking of reviews, they’re pretty good. Trusted Reviews and TechRadar both gave the drone 4/5. While the reviews were good, they did note some downsides. For starters, the battery life is pretty short, coming in at only eight minutes, and the image quality isn’t quite as good as the others on this list. Pros: Cheap, easy to use Cons: Low battery life, sub-par image quality
The best starter drone  Why you'll love it: If you’re looking for your first drone, you probably don’t want to pay too much money, and that’s where the Yuneec Breeze comes in. If you’re looking to get started in the drone world, you probably don’t want to spend a lot of cash, and you probably want a drone that will be easy to keep safe and sound. That’s where Yuneec steps in, with the Yuneec Breeze. There are a number of things that make the Yuneec Breeze a great drone. The drone is small, light, and portable, which is awesome for those who want to take it on the road. That, however, doesn’t mean that it isn’t feature-packed. It offers a camera capable of capturing 4K video at 30 frames per second, and it can live-stream video straight back to your smartphone. Beginners will want a drone that can practically fly itself, and thankfully, the Yuneec Breeze is pretty good at that. It has four modes: Orbit, in which it will fly around you; Follow Me, in which it will follow you; and Selfie, in which it will take a photo of you. Of course, you can also take control yourself, if you want. Not everything is perfect here. With the absence of a dedicated remote, the drone relies on the app to be controlled, and it’s a little slower to respond than a controller would be. Still, you can pick up a dedicated remote for an extra $70 if you really want to. On top of that, the video footage isn’t stabilized, and the drone has a relatively short operating range. Last but not least is the fact that a charge only lasts around 12 minutes. You would expect such trade-offs from a budget and beginner drone, and despite them, most reviewers consider the Yuneec Breeze to be a relatively good choice. PCMag gave it a “Good” rating of 3/5, while Digital Trends gave it a slightly better 7/10. Pros: Compact, inexpensive, decent video capture, automatic modes Cons: 4K footage not stabilized, smartphone control only
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