Long gone are the days when the drones were “Flying Frankenstiens” with horrible designs that made them look everything but pretty. Luckily, the times have changed, and today’s drone models are an absolute work of art, both in aesthetic and functional way.
Also worth mentioning that modern drones come with advanced cameras that allow you to capture some amazing, high-quality footage and pictures. Not only that you will have a chance to film in 4K resolution, but some models will allow you to control the movement of the camera by moving your head in the desired direction, while wearing a VR headset. However, with high-quality comes a high price and we are fine with that because if you want some jaw dropping videos, you better be prepared to pay up.
On the other hand, for those with a bit more shallow pocket, the market offers numerous camera drone models that don’t offer the highest possible video quality, but are great for family and vacation videos, plus they are usually small and lightweight so you don’t even have to register them. Also, these are the best drone models for the inexperienced pilots as they don’t cost too much, and are easy to learn to control.
The Best of the Best
Without further ado, we present you the best 5 drone models that are both beautifully designed and offer the best features on the market.
Inspire 1 Pro
With a width of 1.5 feet and 6.5 pounds of weight, this drone can seem intimidating, and you immediately realize that this is not a toy-grade drone but a serious professional filming model. Under the belly of the beast, you can notice the latest Micro 4/3 camera from Zenmuse and the new 4K, f17 zoom lens from DJI.
However, when you look at the design of this drone in whole, even though it seems like a model some super villain would use to take over the world, the shape and the futuristic, alien Transformer robot look, is what makes this one, one of the sexiest models on the market.
The Inspire’s main housing comes in the recognizable “Stark White” and boasts a fighter jet highly aerodynamic, metallic appearance. Two carbon fiber, motor holding bars go right out from the main body, and the overall build of the drone is unbelievably well designed. In fact, the design is so great that the all-praised Phantom 4 looks like a toy made from plastic when compared to the Inspire 1 Pro.
When you take a look at this drone while it’s on the ground, you might get the impression that the legs are in the way of the camera. You are right, but this flying work of art comes with a design that allows you to take off with the drone, and simply flip the switch so that the mentioned legs raise over the Inspire’s body and get out of the camera’s way. How’s that for a design solution!
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Phantom 4
When it comes to the design, the newest addition to the Phantom series family, the P4 model, looks pretty much the same both design and build quality vise. However, that is just at the first glance. The new Phantom comes with a similar hull shape design as the P3 series, but much more aerodynamic and more sexy, which makes it the most attractive drone available.
We are always amazed how DJI manages to equip their new Phantom models with a bunch of new features, and keep the famous Phantom looks. The P4 comes with some additional sensors placed inside its landing gear, and optical and infrared sensors on its sides.
The newly designed 4K camera is bigger than on the previous Phantoms, and designed to be even more aerodynamic which is a significant factor for even more stable footage.
If you are looking for downsides of this model, the only one we could name is maybe the lack of portability as the Mavic Pro model is designed to be much more portable and fitted into a side pocket of cargo pants if needed. Phantom’s props, don’t fold down as Mavic’s, neither does its landing gear collapse or retract, but, we have to keep in mind that this model wasn’t created with portability as its first objective, and that it can still be safely placed inside a backpack if you need to. You would only need to take off the props, though.
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Mavic Pro
It is a well know fact that today’s drone pilots, are looking for models that they can simply pick up and take anywhere. Therefore, portable drones are the latest THING. But, having a drone that is small and compact, usually means it doesn’t come with too many features. To a certain point that is true, but when that certain point is named Mavic Pro, all above said falls into the water.
Beside the fact that the Mavic Pro is probably the most portable drone ever made, it is likewise one of the drone models that offer the biggest number of features, flight modes and a bunch more, from all the models on the current market.
As far as the design goes, DJI should get a medal for it! It is absolutely beautiful and puts the Mavic Por in a class of its own. We have all seen numerous folding drones in the last few months, but this one is light years ahead of all of them. With its smart hinge system design, the arms are capable of folding inside the main body, making the drone highly portable and not bigger than a good ol’ brick. But, it flies much better than a brick and can be put in a purse if needed.
We wanted to also mention a design feature that totally blew our mind – the controller! Unlike the so called selfie drones, that use an app for piloting, and offer you the dreadful virtual joysticks, or the hideous oversized FC controllers that take all the space of your average backpack, leaving no room for the drone itself, the Mavic’s controller comes with a sexy design that allows you to have the best features of the both worlds.
When you are not using it, it folds up to a size of a smartphone, but once you decide that it’s action time, you can unfold it, pop out the antennas, and fit a smartphone in the bottom part and a full sized highly advanced FC controller with an unbelievable range and plenty of features appears before your eyes.
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Spark
As we already mentioned in this post, when it comes to packing a small drone with tons of features, the house of DJI takes the crown. Their latest model, Spark, is the true confirmation of that statement.
Actually, when it comes to the design, beside the fact that this model is the smallest one from this manufacturer and with the most modern design, it is probably their most durable drone. Why we say that? Well, with a safely placed, mechanically stabilized, camera within the main body, and short, durable arms without the landing gear, this drone will stay in one piece even if it falls down. Okay, it would probably not survive a nose dive on the concrete from some 30 meters, but from some 10 meters, on a grassy surface, we strongly believe that nothing would happen, and, after a reset, it would go up in the air again like nothing happened.
Even though this is not the most compact drone model on the market, the Yuneec’s Brezee and the Hover Passport Camera are smaller and more compact, there is one feature that gives the Spark an advantage when it comes to the design. Namely, the ability to swap the top plate of the drone, and choose a different color. This makes it highly customizable and more eye appealing to a wider range of potential customers. We are aware that this is not some new, revolutionary feature, but it is nice to know that you can change the appearance of your drone to fit your personal preferences, as a kind of a flying personal statement.
