Best Drones in 2016: The Powerful, The Submersible and The Weird-Looking

By Mara Anton

Posted on December 22, 2016

This year, most of you invested in a drone or received one as a present. Ranging from a hundred of dollars to a couple of thousands, quadcopters, fixed wings and a lot of UAVs in weird shapes and sizes launched every month of 2016. As you can imagine, our list of desirable drones grew and we bet you’ve been waiting to see which of them suits your needs best. Should it be a selfie drone? A submersible one? A security or an industrial drone? We gathered the best drones from 2016 in the top below #actionmagic

The Mighty & Popular

1.Prodrone, a drone resembling a spider, can lift up to 10 kg (22 lb) thanks to its six propellers and two robotic arms. It’s definitely a heavy-duty drone, but it can still go up to 60 km/h (37 mph) at a maximum altitude of 5,000 m (16,404 ft). It can play an important role on construction sites or disaster relief emergencies. See it in action, here.

2.DJI Phantom 4 & Phantom 4 Pro are one of the best known commercial drones out there. DJI was already in out top drones with its Phantom launch in March, but it really convinced us with the Pro model last month. The top speed remains the same, an impressive 45mph (72 kph), in Sport mode but the obstacle avoidance range has increased to 98ft (30m) and the flight time is now 30 minutes. The drone’s camera was improved with better sensor and DJI has worked on a touchscreen remote so you don’t have to rely on your smartphone anymore.

3.Certifiable Predator B is the military drone we all know so well but with big improvements and rights to enter civilian airspace in Europe. Check out all the specs of this bad boy here.

DJI Mavic Pro

4.DJI Mavic Pro. Yes, this is the second “nominee” for the Chinese manufacturer but let’s admit it, they’ve done a pretty good job this year. Plus, Mavic Pro was left out without a serious competitor when GoPro’s Karma, launched in the same time frame, was recalled. This drone has an ingenious foldable design that makes it light (1.65 pounds) , an Active Track system, collision avoidance feature, besides a great foldable controller with haptic feedback. For speed and flight time info, go here.

5.Parrot Disco is the best two-winged drone the French manufacturer has developed so far. It can fly for 45 minutes, reach speeds of 80 kph and offers a FPV with its own Parrot Cockpitglasses. See it in images at IFA 2016.

The Selfie Drones

yuneec-breeze-drone-front

1.Yuneec Breeze is the quintessential selfie drone with a Selfie flying mode that allows you to establish the height from which you want your picture to be taken.The camera can capture 13MP images or videos in 4k/UHD that can be shared and live streamed directly from its app. The flight time is relatively short but you won’t care too much if you’re focused on taking pics. Read more about it here.

2.Xiro Mini Drone was an IFA surprise. We loved the cool design but also the selfie features (360 Selfie and Follow Snap modes) and the focus on social media sharing with extra filters for editing content.

AirSelfie drone

3.AirSelfie is a cute quadcopter that can be easily carried in your pocket. It’s not the best on the market but it’s pretty convenient and a fun gadget for those of you who will use it sporadically.

The Mission Drones

1.Pouncer is one of the few drones that are doing more for this planet than just entertain us. Engineer Nigel Gifford came up with the idea of a drone that’s part food, part, wood. Its purpose is to provide sustenance to people found war zones or remote areas. Check out his project!

2.iBubble is an underwater drone that drew our attention this spring. Yellow as a minion, the drone has sense and avoid technology, can be controlled from a wristband you wear and ensure light under the sea thanks to two 1000 lumen lights.