Top 5 Accessories for Your Brand New Drone

So you got your new drone for Christmas and if you’re lucky you will only have crashed it once already. Hopefully you didn’t get fined for nearly injuring the public below, but you’re now wondering what’s next? What accessories can you buy to make you a better pilot, or simply to make the most of your brand new drone?

No product is ever released without a ton of accessories you can buy for it. So instead of making a list of several add-on items, we’ve put together the top 5 accessories that we think are simply vital to the new pilot. If you don’t own a drone yet, head to our drone shop and read our drone reviews to find the best drone for you.

  1. Extra propellers: Even experienced pilots go through many propeller replacements in a year as accidents can happen. You don’t even have to crash your drone to render the four propellers useless. If you travel a lot with your drone, you may damage them in transit or by not packing them properly. Nonetheless, at $2-$3 a pair, it is worth getting a few spare sets, due to their fragile nature.
  2. Propeller guards: Rotating at over 3,500 RPM, it is no wonder that the propellers are the first to get damaged in case of a crash into hard or even soft objects. Amazon sells a set of 4 propeller guards for $14.95. The good thing about them is that unlike the propellers themselves, they can withstand damage, so a single set should last you some time.
  3. Extra battery: There’s nothing worse than being out in the field, and running out of juice for your drone. Although the latest DJI Phantom drones come with low battery warnings so there is low risk of crashing, it can ruin your fun if you have to return back home after 20-25 minutes. You could of course wait for about an hour for another full charge, if you happen to have a portable charger, but it’s more effective to have a second or even third spare set of batteries. Look for mAh rating of 15,000+ for drones such as the Parrot AR Drone as this will extend the flying time a lot more than the default batteries. Again, plenty of drones accessories for sale either online (eBay or Amazon) or in retail stores.
  4. Drone Case: This is pretty much essential if you are planning to travel a lot and take the drone with you as a carry-on. Even though it may fit in a standard rucksack or suitcase, there’s high risk of damaging the propellers and the transmitter antenna. Again, plenty of reasonably priced backpacks available out there. We also have this hard case for DJI Phantoms in store.
  5. Larger video storage: Some drones come with a standard 4GB SD card. However, if you are planning on recording video at 720p or 1080p, that won’t last you long. You can get yourself a 32GB card for very cheaply nowadays that can record as much as 3 hours of 1080p HD footage.