The Best Drones for Photos and Video

If you’re an aspiring aerial photographer or videographer, a drone is your ticket to the sky. After test-flying nearly 25 models, we’ve concluded that the DJI Air 2S is the best drone because it combines a high-end camera with the latest autonomous technology for less than $1,000. We also recommend the DJI Mavic 3 and the DJI Mini 2. Pilots of all skill levels will find that DJI’s drones are exceptionally reliable and easy to fly.

How we tested

• Image quality

  We’ve made photos and videos with all 25 of the drones we’ve tested since 2016 and compared them to see which results are the best.

• Obstacle avoidance

  We fly drones through trees and at other objects that can get in their way to see if the drones detect them and avoid crashing.

After reading professional and owner reviews, plus speaking to enthusiasts, experts, and manufacturers at the CES trade show, we decided to consider the following criteria while looking for drones to test:

• Quadcopter design: Drones shaped like planes do exist, but they’re not as easy to fly as quadcopter models shaped like an X. A quadcopter shape (or alternatives, like hexacopters, that add more arms) makes for the most stable photo and video because such models can steadily hold their position in the air.
• Crash-avoidance sensors: Sensors in drones have come a long way, and you can now find some models that can sense obstacles approaching in any direction and adjust their flight path to avoid a crash. This technology removes so much stress from flying that we are willing to consider only those drones that, at the very least, can sense obstacles approaching from their front, back, and bottom. Some new drones even have the ability to track approaching airplanes and helicopters so you can avoid flying into their path.
• High-quality camera: Generally, the more you pay for a photography drone, the better-quality camera you get. We consider only those models that can shoot at least 12-megapixel photos and 4K videos.
• Three-axis gimbal: A good gimbal, which stabilizes a camera attached to a drone with accelerometers and gyroscopes even when you are flying in wind or a jerky pattern, is essential if you want usable footage. A three-axis gimbal is a general industry standard.
• Long battery life: Longer-lasting batteries tend to be larger and weigh more, so manufacturers try to balance drone size with battery life. But a shorter flight time means fewer shots, shorter videos, and less flexibility. We prefer drone batteries that last at least 30 minutes, and we recommend that pilots pick up a few extras (the batteries are rechargeable) so that they can spend more time in the field flying.
• Autonomous modes: Any video drone worth buying should have a fail-safe return-home mode that automatically brings the aircraft back to the launch point when you press a button or the drone loses contact with the controller. Additionally, we prefer drones that come preprogrammed with cinematic autonomous-flight modes; with the touch of a button, you can tell a drone to follow you while you snowboard down a mountain, say, or fly in a circle while filming for a dramatic selfie.
• Portability: The best drones are portable enough to be an everyday tool, which means they are small and light enough to pack into a camera bag or backpack. Some drones accomplish this by having foldable arms that make them more compact. Small drones lighter than 250 grams are also exempt from the requirement to register with the FAA.
• Long flight range: Federal rules say you must always keep a drone within your line of sight. But in special cases, a drone’s ability to fly an especially long distance without losing contact with a controller can be a useful feature.
• Intuitive controller: Most drone controllers look similar, with two joysticks for controlling flight and a smattering of buttons for specific tasks. Controllers with a built-in screen or with an option for attaching a smartphone (so you can gain additional abilities through an app) can extend their functions even further, often in more intuitive ways.

Using the above criteria, we were able to pare our original testing field in 2016 down to the DJI Mavic Pro, the DJI Phantom 3 Standard, the DJI Phantom 4 Pro, the Yuneec Typhoon H hexacopter, the GoPro Karma, and the Parrot Bebop 2. We tested the DJI Spark in 2017 and then the DJI Mavic Air and DJI Phantom 4 Pro v2 in early 2018. In late 2018, we tested the DJI Mavic 2 Pro (now discontinued), the DJI Mavic 2 Zoom, and the Autel Evo. We tested the Skydio R1 in early 2019 and the Parrot Anafi in late 2019. In early 2020, we tried the DJI Mavic Air 2 and DJI Mavic Mini. We tested the DJI Mini 2 in late 2020. In 2021, we considered the Autel Evo II Pro and Evo II 8K models, plus the DJI Mavic 3 and DJI FPV drones. In 2022, we tested the DJI Air 2S, the DJI Avata, and the Autel Robotics Evo Lite+.

We shot photos and videos with each drone to evaluate camera quality; the process also helped us to gauge stabilization quality and see whether propellers appeared in any of the shots. In addition, we tried all of the advertised intelligent flight modes and crash-avoidance systems by flying drones through trees. We tested maneuverability and controller sensitivity by flying fast with lots of turns.

In 2018, we spent dozens of hours evaluating and testing drone accessories—including backpacks, first-person-view headsets, and landing pads—to determine the extra gear that’s truly worth the investment for photography drones.