3 budget friendly camera drones available in South Africa

Let’s face it, drones are cool.

Military style equipment that you can fly around to see the world from the skies above? Cool. Aerial photography without having to board a plane? Cool. Feeling like a futuristic superhero? Cool. Spying on your neighbours? Not so cool.

Either way, the problem is drones is that they’re expensive. And as an expensive hobby, you’re going to need to fork out a trunk-full of cash to afford the queens of the skies. But, if you don’t have R1.5-million to spend, we’ve hunted down a few budget friendly drones, so you can be cool without being broke.

Here are three notable options available in South Africa.

shoX Raptor Plus | R999.90

Yes, the brand you most probably know for its Bluetooth speakers also has a line of drones. The shoX Raptor plus looks quite edgy, yet fun and comes in a black or camo skin.

Features include:

• First-person view from a 480p video camera
• A smartphone mount
• 2.4GHz control frequency with 50m range
• It can also perform “acrobatic flips”

Voyager A10 Cyclone Drone | R1299

This bright orange device had a more conservative design, but still looks covertly cool.

Features include:

• A 2MP camera capable of 720p video
• An operational range of 50 to 80m
• A flight Time of around seven minutes

DJI Tello Drone | R 1999

With a much more serious look, and a slightly more serious price this drone looks somewhat futuristic and fresh.

Features include:

• A 5MP camera can record 720p video
• An Intel processor
• It’s programmable via the Scratch SDK
• Controls via the Tello smartphone app
• Compatibility with Bluetooth controllers
• A flight time of around 13 minutes

If you’re looking for something a lot cheaper however, you may have to sacrifice the dream of a built-in camera.

Feature image: DJI