Christmas Gift Ideas: Buying a Drone

Published on December 10, 2015 in Blog by Marc-André Gauthier

Ah, the Holiday Season! While our main goal at this time of year is to spend time with family, an exchange of gifts is customary, and it seems that more and more of you will be asking Santa for a drone.

If the word is unfamiliar, a drone is a remote-controlled miniature aircraft, usually equipped with a camera that will give you a bird’s eye view of your neighbourhood – in high definition!  

Following are a few tips for when you go drone-shopping. We’re not setting out to recommend one model over another, because there are hundreds of them, but rather to help you figure out which kind of drone will best suit your purpose.

Use

When choosing a drone, the first thing you need to establish is how you plan to use it. If we rule out commercial or military use, there are just two main options left: taking photographs, or using it just for fun.

There are drones designed specifically for aerobatics, while others are used mostly to shoot videos or still photographs in flight.

You will also have to think about how long you want your drone to remain airborne. This factor will have a direct impact on the size of the device. The bigger it is, the more batteries it can contain and the longer it can fly. The smallest will stay aloft for around 10 minutes, while the largest can fly for up to 25 minutes and have better cameras.

So once you have clearly determined what you want, you’ll be able to make an informed choice. Have fun with it, but remember to check what is permissible by law where you live.