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If you’ve watched videos posted to the various social media platforms from nearly any content creator in the last couple of years you’ve no doubt seen some fantastic drone footage. Those creators don’t use the same Unmanned Aerial Systems as the United States military’s drones, but they’re still pretty high tech.
Some of the most popular consumer-grade drones come from a Chinese tech company called Shenzhen Da-Jiang Innovations Sciences and Technologies Company Limited, commonly known as DJI Technologies. If you’ve searched online for “best drones,” the results are overwhelmingly dominated by various DJI models.
The problem surrounding DJI drones, if you’re not aware, is that the U.S. government is considering a bill to include any “telecommunications and video surveillance equipment or services produced or provided” by DJI Technologies. The bill, known as the Countering CCP Drones Act (CCP, as in Chinese Communist Party), indicates such goods and services from DJI “pose an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security.”
While the proposed ban may not immediately ground all DJI drones, it could make obtaining DJI drone replacement parts difficult. For that reason, many aspiring drone pilots are searching for DJI drone alternatives.
Potensic Atom SE: Value drone
The Potensic Atom SE, with a list price of $299.99 on Amazon, is Popular Mechanics’ choice for the best value drone that’s not from DJI. If the Potensic name is familiar, you may remember it from SlashGear’s Best Drones for Beginners in 2021 list. That drone, the Potensic Dreamer (now available as the Dreamer Pro 4K) garnered praise for its range of temperature endurance, battery life and quick charge speed, and its intuitive controller and app.
As a budget-friendly drone, the Potensic Atom SE supports 4K HD video at 30 fps and captures still images at 12MP formatted in either JPEG or RAW (DNG). The camera features a 118-degree field of view and adjusts from 20 degrees above vertical to negative 90 degrees for those straight-down bird’s-eye shots. Electronic image stabilization ensures high-quality images and video even under shaky conditions.
The onboard 2,500 mAh battery supplies up to 31 minutes of flight time between charges. The four-kilometer (2.5-mile) range allows transmission of 720P HD video at a top speed of 35.8 mph. Ultimately, if it gets lost in flight, the dedicated Return to Home button will bring the Atom SE back to its launch point.
All this in a package that weighs under 249 grams (8.8 ounces) and folds to a compact 88 x 143 x 58 millimeters (3.46 x 5.62 x 2.28 inches). The low weight avoids scrutiny from most aviation administrations (such as the FAA), and the compact dimensions allow slipping it into a backpack.
EMAX Tinyhawk II: Racing drone for beginners
Are you interested in drone racing? If so, a quick internet search will reveal events close to major metropolitan areas and even some smaller ones. Ready to learn how to race drones? The Drone Racing League Academy is a great place to learn without any pressure.
While some racing drones can reach speeds of over 100 mph, the beginner-friendly EMAX Tinyhawk II (available from Amazon for $128.99) only achieves about half that speed. However, when CNET named the Tinyhawk II as the best racing drone for beginners, it wasn’t because of its speed.
Features that make the EMAX Tinyhawk II ideal for beginner drone racers include simplicity and ruggedness. Unlike custom DIY drone projects that require assembly and soldering in many cases, the Tinyhawk II comes fully assembled. In addition, the racing drone’s speed and agility increases the potential for crashing, so the Tinyhawk II features a redesigned polypropylene frame with LED lights integrated into the rotor-prop cages that glow brighter as more throttle is applied.
The EMAX Tinyhawk II features an adjustable 1080p video camera; however, as a racing drone, the camera is primarily forward-facing and adjustable to suit the pilot’s angle of attack. It comes with four spare props, 300 mAh and 450 mAh Lithium Polymer batteries (one each), a USB battery charger, a screwdriver, and hardware kit. As the Tinyhawk name implies, it’s small, measuring 8 x 6 x 4 inches (203 x 152 x 102 mm) and tipping the scales at 43.5 grams (1.5 ounces).
HoverAir X1: Selfie drone
If you’d like to capture drone footage of yourself hiking, biking, or just hanging with your friends and family but don’t want to actually mess with learning to fly the thing, consider a selfie drone. Selfie drones practically fly themselves, often launching from the palm of your hand, completing one of several pre-programmed routes, capturing video and aerial photos along the way, and returning to its launch point autonomously.
The Verge ranks the HoverAir X1 ($299 at Amazon if it’s still on sale) from Zero Zero Robotics as the best option for a selfie drone. It offers preset functions such as Hover, Follow, Orbit, Zoom Out, and Bird’s Eye. In Hover and Follow modes the X1 can remain aloft for several minutes, while Orbit, Zoom Out, and Bird’s Eye modes typically follow flight paths that last under a minute. The HoverAir X1 allows personalizing the altitude, distance, and image capture parameters of automatic flight modes.
The HoverAir X1 can store 32 GB of up 2.7K MP4 video at 30 fps and 12MP JPEG photos through its 90-degree field-of-view camera. In addition, the X1 is highly portable, folding to 127 x 86 x 31 mm (5 x 3.39 x 1.22 inches) and weighing 125 grams (4.41 ounces).
While its simplicity makes it attractive, there are some downsides to consider. The lack of obstacle avoidance can lead to crashes, although it mostly survives them well. In addition, its 7m/s (15.7 mph) top speed can cause issues in Follow mode if you’re driving or biking too fast.
Autel Robotics Evo Nano Plus: Non-geofenced 249g drone
While flying a drone lacking geofence technology puts the responsibility of avoiding restricted airspace on the pilot, flying geofence-compliant drones can prove frustrating at times. When in doubt about airspace restrictions, it’s a good idea to verify your intended flight path using the FAA’s B4UFLY tool prior to takeoff.
PCMag ranked the Evo Nano+ ($899 for the Premium Bundle on Amazon) from Autel Robotics as the Best 249g Drone Without Geofence for 2024. As a sub-250g drone, the Evo Nano+ avoids FAA registration requirements. However, don’t let its light weight lead you to think it’s anything less than a full-featured drone.
The Autel Robotics Evo Nano+ is capable of automatically avoiding obstacles at up to 22.3 mph (33.5 mph maximum top speed) and 28 minutes of flight time per charge of its 2,250 mAh battery. Its f/1.9 aperture camera takes up to 50MP (12.5MP default) photos and 4K video, and while the Nano+ lacks built-in storage, it supports SD cards up to 256 GB.
In addition to its 249g weight, the folded dimensions of the Evo Nano+ measure 142 × 94 × 55 mm (5.59 x 3.70 x 2.17 inches). Unfolding the Nano+ increases its wingspan to 260 x 325 mm (10.24 x 12.80 inches).
Autel Robotics Evo Lite Plus: Photography
It’s no secret that the aerial video footage and still images captured by drones are among the primary reasons for their popularity. Much like the cameras in today’s smartphones, drone cameras keep getting better.
PCMag ranked the Autel Robotics Evo Lite+ (Premium Bundle priced at $1,199 on Amazon) as 2024’s Best Drone for Photography. In addition, SlashGear named the Evo Lite+ among the best drones of 2022 and as one of the coolest drones that money can buy in 2023.
The highly acclaimed Autel Evo Lite+ features up to 40 minutes of flight time thanks to a larger, 6,175 mAh battery. While it supports the same 256 GB SD card, the Evo Lite+ provides an additional 6 GB of internal storage capacity.
In addition to its extended flight time and onboard storage, the Evo Lite+ receives an upgraded camera capable of capturing up to 6K video. While the Lite+ only boasts up to 20MP photo resolution, its adjustable aperture camera, with settings ranging from f/2.8 to f/11, provides more creative control.
The Autel Evo Lite+ is slightly larger than the Nano+ with its 210 × 123 × 95 mm (8.27 x 4.84 x 3.74 inch) folded and 427 × 384 × 95 mm (16.81 x 15.12 x 3.74 inch) unfolded dimensions. It also weighs 835 grams (1.84 pounds), substantially above the 249g threshold, placing it among drones that must be registered with the FAA.
Why these non-DJI drones were chosen
While many of these non-DJI drones were tested or reviewed by SlashGear staff, this grouping relies heavily on the expert opinions gathered from other sources to prevent bias. In addition, these drones were rated at the top of their respective categories by drone experts and not simply the best alternatives to DJI drones.
Source: http://www.slashgear.com/1723099/best-non-dji-drones/
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