they’re one of the hottest gadgets today
but there’s also a lot of confusion
about what to look for when buying one
I’m talking about drones also referred
to as UAVs or unmanned aerial vehicles
and sometimes quad copters see already a
little confusing hey everyone welcome to
gear up the WatchMojo series that looks
at the latest in gadgets gear and games
I’m Marc Saltzman and in this video it’s
five things to look for when shopping
for your first or next drone with so
many on the market how do you choose
which one is right for you
here are a few things to consider before
picking up a drone that suits your needs
and budget
before we begin we publish new videos
every day so be sure to subscribe for
more great content
speaking of budget the number one thing
is price there’s no easy way around this
drones range in price considerably
starting at about $20 for a small model
with no camera to more than 20 grand for
a top-of-the-line drone with a 4k camera
thermal surveying GPS and a lot more in
other words the less expensive the drone
the more of a radio-controlled toy it is
performs sharp turns or race a friend in
one of three speed settings the more
expensive the more and flash here the
features battery life will be shorter on
average for less expensive drones and
there are likely limitations in wireless
range and control options as with most
other tech toys quality of materials and
price are related generally speaking the
less expensive the drone the cheaper the
plastics and fewer safeguards if any to
protect the propellers and body from
crashes while some pricier models are
built with carbon fiber or foam many
high-end drones are made mostly of
plastic but with better controls and
smarter software to reduce the odds your
drone will do a downward dog also
consider a drone with LED lights to
visually track it in the night sky plus
there are many aftermarket kits for
hobbyists to attach lighting themselves
all right the second thing to look for
in a drone the camera if you’re buying
the drone primarily for shooting video
and snapping pics perhaps you’re a real
estate agent looking to showcase the
property you’re selling you’ll need to
ensure it has a good on-board camera or
at least can mount one like a GoPro or
another POV cam typically drones with
cam
start with VGA video quality followed by
pricier HD cameras or a 180 degree
fisheye camera ultra HD or 4k cameras
which can shoot video with 4 times the
resolution of HD are even better than
high def cameras especially if you own a
4k TV or monitor to display that footage
also look for frames per second 60 is
better than 30 for example and you
should also look at whether the drone
supports a moveable camera for those who
want it as some only look straight ahead
some wide-angle cameras let you pan and
zoom digitally as well as provide 3
access image stabilization but it’s not
as ideal as a camera on a gimbal on a
related note be aware shooting video and
snapping pics takes up storage look for
a drone with ample onboard memory or
expandable memory some drones for
example have 8 gigs of internal storage
which yields about 45 minutes of HD
recording but it doesn’t have a microSD
slot some do have expandable memory some
drones allow for remote camera viewing
and recording – or they may ship with a
special headset to see the action from a
first-person view the number 3 feature
to look for in a drone good controls
when it comes to drones there are
usually two main ways to control it a
bundled radio controller and support for
a companion app installed on your
smartphone or tablet with the former the
left stick of a remote typically handles
throttle up and down and yaw or rotation
while the right stick controls roll left
and right and pitch front and back along
with the dual joysticks the remote will
likely have a power switch color-coded
battery indicator and perhaps other
buttons for tweaking controls but this
will all vary on the make and model of
your drone fewer drones allow for smart
phone control but look for this if that
appeals to you each control scheme has
its advantages a dedicated remote
controller offers more precision for
flying and lets you keep your eyes
locked on your drone but a smartphone or
tablet screen is ideal for tapping
waypoints drawing a flight pattern with
your fingertip and seeing what the
camera sees some apps let you perform
tricks with its on-screen or virtual
buttons like 180 degree flip number for
battery life just like drone materials
can vary greatly and camera koala
battery life is all over the map with
inexpensive drone toys it could be as
low as four or five minutes then you
move up to eight to 12 minutes of fly
time with some models and then over 30
minutes with higher quality drones with
some kits you get two or three batteries
in the box for a total fly time of about
an hour
speaking of which many enthusiasts look
for a drone with a removable battery so
they can charge up a couple and bring
them along on a day trip when it comes
to battery milliamps generally speaking
the higher the milliamp the longer it
will last between charges so at five
thousand milliamp battery is better than
a two thousand milliamp battery though
there are other variables like wind
weight and so on number five automation
and more there are a few other
considerations when buying a drone one
is speed some drones can fly up to 50
miles per hour another useful feature
built into many of today’s premium
drones is the ability to land
automatically or return to its flyer if
it senses it’s going on a range or if
the battery is about to die or if it’s
about to enter a no-fly zone like an
airport government building or sports
arena look for good range how far the
drone can fly away from you and obstacle
detection is a nice feature to look for
too some drones have a follow-me mode
that tells the flying quadcopter to lock
on to you via its on-board camera that
way you can be sure every moment is
captured of your skateboard trick or
mountain-biking excursion in other cases
you can use hand gestures to control the
action and to wrap up at the risk of
sounding preachy remember to always fly
your drone responsibly hey thanks for
watching gear up I’m Marc Saltzman let
us know in the comments section what
you’d like to see more of going forward
and for more tech tastic lists be sure
to subscribe to watchmojo.com ciao for
now do you agree with our pics check out
these other great clips from WatchMojo
and subscribe for new videos every day
you
but there’s also a lot of confusion
about what to look for when buying one
I’m talking about drones also referred
to as UAVs or unmanned aerial vehicles
and sometimes quad copters see already a
little confusing hey everyone welcome to
gear up the WatchMojo series that looks
at the latest in gadgets gear and games
I’m Marc Saltzman and in this video it’s
five things to look for when shopping
for your first or next drone with so
many on the market how do you choose
which one is right for you
here are a few things to consider before
picking up a drone that suits your needs
and budget
before we begin we publish new videos
every day so be sure to subscribe for
more great content
speaking of budget the number one thing
is price there’s no easy way around this
drones range in price considerably
starting at about $20 for a small model
with no camera to more than 20 grand for
a top-of-the-line drone with a 4k camera
thermal surveying GPS and a lot more in
other words the less expensive the drone
the more of a radio-controlled toy it is
performs sharp turns or race a friend in
one of three speed settings the more
expensive the more and flash here the
features battery life will be shorter on
average for less expensive drones and
there are likely limitations in wireless
range and control options as with most
other tech toys quality of materials and
price are related generally speaking the
less expensive the drone the cheaper the
plastics and fewer safeguards if any to
protect the propellers and body from
crashes while some pricier models are
built with carbon fiber or foam many
high-end drones are made mostly of
plastic but with better controls and
smarter software to reduce the odds your
drone will do a downward dog also
consider a drone with LED lights to
visually track it in the night sky plus
there are many aftermarket kits for
hobbyists to attach lighting themselves
all right the second thing to look for
in a drone the camera if you’re buying
the drone primarily for shooting video
and snapping pics perhaps you’re a real
estate agent looking to showcase the
property you’re selling you’ll need to
ensure it has a good on-board camera or
at least can mount one like a GoPro or
another POV cam typically drones with
cam
start with VGA video quality followed by
pricier HD cameras or a 180 degree
fisheye camera ultra HD or 4k cameras
which can shoot video with 4 times the
resolution of HD are even better than
high def cameras especially if you own a
4k TV or monitor to display that footage
also look for frames per second 60 is
better than 30 for example and you
should also look at whether the drone
supports a moveable camera for those who
want it as some only look straight ahead
some wide-angle cameras let you pan and
zoom digitally as well as provide 3
access image stabilization but it’s not
as ideal as a camera on a gimbal on a
related note be aware shooting video and
snapping pics takes up storage look for
a drone with ample onboard memory or
expandable memory some drones for
example have 8 gigs of internal storage
which yields about 45 minutes of HD
recording but it doesn’t have a microSD
slot some do have expandable memory some
drones allow for remote camera viewing
and recording – or they may ship with a
special headset to see the action from a
first-person view the number 3 feature
to look for in a drone good controls
when it comes to drones there are
usually two main ways to control it a
bundled radio controller and support for
a companion app installed on your
smartphone or tablet with the former the
left stick of a remote typically handles
throttle up and down and yaw or rotation
while the right stick controls roll left
and right and pitch front and back along
with the dual joysticks the remote will
likely have a power switch color-coded
battery indicator and perhaps other
buttons for tweaking controls but this
will all vary on the make and model of
your drone fewer drones allow for smart
phone control but look for this if that
appeals to you each control scheme has
its advantages a dedicated remote
controller offers more precision for
flying and lets you keep your eyes
locked on your drone but a smartphone or
tablet screen is ideal for tapping
waypoints drawing a flight pattern with
your fingertip and seeing what the
camera sees some apps let you perform
tricks with its on-screen or virtual
buttons like 180 degree flip number for
battery life just like drone materials
can vary greatly and camera koala
battery life is all over the map with
inexpensive drone toys it could be as
low as four or five minutes then you
move up to eight to 12 minutes of fly
time with some models and then over 30
minutes with higher quality drones with
some kits you get two or three batteries
in the box for a total fly time of about
an hour
speaking of which many enthusiasts look
for a drone with a removable battery so
they can charge up a couple and bring
them along on a day trip when it comes
to battery milliamps generally speaking
the higher the milliamp the longer it
will last between charges so at five
thousand milliamp battery is better than
a two thousand milliamp battery though
there are other variables like wind
weight and so on number five automation
and more there are a few other
considerations when buying a drone one
is speed some drones can fly up to 50
miles per hour another useful feature
built into many of today’s premium
drones is the ability to land
automatically or return to its flyer if
it senses it’s going on a range or if
the battery is about to die or if it’s
about to enter a no-fly zone like an
airport government building or sports
arena look for good range how far the
drone can fly away from you and obstacle
detection is a nice feature to look for
too some drones have a follow-me mode
that tells the flying quadcopter to lock
on to you via its on-board camera that
way you can be sure every moment is
captured of your skateboard trick or
mountain-biking excursion in other cases
you can use hand gestures to control the
action and to wrap up at the risk of
sounding preachy remember to always fly
your drone responsibly hey thanks for
watching gear up I’m Marc Saltzman let
us know in the comments section what
you’d like to see more of going forward
and for more tech tastic lists be sure
to subscribe to watchmojo.com ciao for
now do you agree with our pics check out
these other great clips from WatchMojo
and subscribe for new videos every day
you
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