The perfect drone for traveling
Does the perfect drone for backpacking exist? Drones have taken off in the last few years. But when it comes to purchasing a drone, there’s a lot to consider. First off, you’ll have to decide what your primary goal with your drone is. Do you just want to have fun? Or do you want to jump it to aerial photography and cinematography? To help you decide which drone might be best for you, read this guide.
We are traveling a lot with our drones. This guide will mainly focus on moving light, recharging your drone in remote areas and having a compact backpack.
Battery
When it comes to backpacking with a drone (e.g., thru-hike or trekking in remote areas) one of the most critical parts is battery life. Especially the Phantom 4 Pro and Mavic Pro stick out; you will be able to fly nearly for 30 minutes, but − and this is big − you will not be able to charge your drone without a power outlet or car charger. The Mavic Air and the Spark can be recharged via USB (power bank). On long hikes and adventures, we use a solar charger to charge a powerbank, and our drone will never run out of power. With just 140g (Mavic Air) and 90g (Spark), the batteries are way lighter than the opponents.
Remote
Here the Spark stands out; you don’t need a remote to fly the drone at all, which will save quite a bit of weight. We use our drone to make hiking videos; to be honest, to control a drone with just the phone isn’t easy. But with a bit of training, it can work out. I would still purchase the drone with a remote (Fly more combo) this will extend the possible distance to 1.2 mi (2 km) while increasing the height limit to 500 ft (152 m). Without a remote control, Spark’s transmission distance is limited to 328 ft (100 m) with a height restriction of only 50 m (164 ft).
The Phantom has an integrated display on the remote control, which can be helpful if your phone runs out of juice. But it weighs more than double than the other controllers.
Overall
There are two drones which stand out.
If you are planning a long hike and you want to take beautiful aerial images and videos you have to purchase the DJI Mavic Air: it is light, compact, rechargeable on the trek and still produces professional material. It is fast to setup and even has an internal storage of 8 GB (in case you forgot to put a micro SD card into the drone). Plus the batteries a quite small, so you can warm them up in your pocket while hiking in the cold (fly your drone in cold weather).
The other drone is the Phantom 4 Pro; it is more professional than all the others and the 28 minutes of flight time can be a blessing in some situations. If size and weight don’t matter, this is the drone that will capture the most breathtaking videos and images. It will take a bit longer to set up, but it is worth it.
In the end, the Mavic Air is the perfect drone for backpacking. Because it is light, small and rechargeable via USB.
