9 Best GPS Drones in 2021: Quadcopters with GPS Tracking
DJI Mavic 2 Pro
DJI Mavic Mini
Parrot Anafi Base
It is without question that GPS is one of the best features any drone can have.
Without it, your drone can be pushed around by winds and air currents. GPS allows you to lock your drone in position and — even though wind might sway it a little — it should fight the gusts to stay in the same spot. Not only this, but it can give you the opportunity to set flight paths automatically with no hands on the controller needed.
But finding the best GPS drones on the market is not as easy — your region matters, as well as the number of satellites. So too does price; the best GPS tracking drones are more expensive than budget options.
Basic models can only connect to a couple of overhead satellites, usually finding just three to pinpoint its location. In the case that there is cloudy weather, or if one of the links is down for some reason, the connection will be lost.
Without a connection, the drone will be pushed by the wind and fall if unable to stabilize.
Thankfully, some models can connect to more than a dozen satellites and keep a stable connection. This doesn’t only make piloting the drone significantly more comfortable but allows for some advanced auto-pilot features as well as flight planning.
The Best Drones with GPS
The best GPS drones usually take the top places in these sorts of lists — even in general drone rankings. The benefits of keeping the drone partially autonomous will add to other features, making them better and more reliable.
GPS drones are easier to fly, easier to land, and can follow the remote with ease. They do so by comparing the GPS signals from the remote and the drone itself.
Additionally, all models incorporate some mode of visual or digital commands that don’t need direct controls. This makes the whole experience easy and straightforward, especially for novice drone pilots.
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This luxury drone is one of the best in the market and comes with a 4-figure price tag.
- Flight Time: 30 minutes
- Range: 7 kilometers
- Camera: 4K resolution at 30 fps; 20 MP stills
- Weight: 1.64 pounds
- Gimbal: 3 Axis
The Mavic 2 Pro is a supercharged improvement of the already well-loved original Mavic drone. And that in itself is no easy feat. DJI did it by cramming it with every advanced technology in its arsenal.
First, let’s clear one thing up. The Mavic 2 actually comes in two versions, the Pro and the Zoom. Both are identical in terms of specs and features, except for the camera.
The Mavic 2 Pro comes equipped with a Hasselblad L1D-20c camera with a 1 inch CMOS sensor, while the Mavic 2 Zoom has a smaller 1/2.3 inch CMOS sensor with a 24-88 mm optical lens.
Pound for pound, the Mavic 2 Pro’s camera quality beats the Zoom by a wide margin. It’s capable of better photo resolutions, almost like shooting RAW. It also has aperture control, which gives professional photographers massive control over their photo quality.
In fact, the photo quality of the Mavic 2 Pro is so darn incredible, it’s worth getting the drone just for this feature alone. It’s certainly the best image quality you’ll ever get out of a compact, consumer drone.
Since the Mavic 2 Pro is the better of the two, we’ll continue to cover it in this review.
Handling wise, the Mavic 2 Pro is as easy to fly as its predecessor, the Mavic. The new omnidirectional obstacle avoidance system, however, adds a layer of confidence into your flying. The drone will alert you when it’s about to encounter an obstruction, and will even brake automatically if it’s about to crash.
As for intelligent flight modes, the Mavic 2 Pro has a much-improved version of DJI’s visual recognition technology, ActiveTrack. Now ActiveTrack 2.0, it’s much more precise and makes use of the omnidirectional obstacle avoidance sensors nicely.
Build quality is still superb, and flight time is still at the DJI-level range of 30+ minutes.
Overall, the Mavic 2 series, and the Pro, in particular, are one of the most powerful compact drones in the DJI family. Its camera quality is hard to beat, with tight handling and safety features to match.
If you can afford the hefty price tag, this is THE drone to have.
+ Pros
The Mavic Mini, by our predictions, will become one of the most best selling drones of all time. The iPhone of the drone market.
- Flight Time: ~28 minutes
- Charge Time: ~90 minutes
- Range: 3000m / 9842ft
- Remote Controller: WiFi 5.4GHz & 2.4Ghz (included in the set)
- Camera: 3-axis gimbal 2K Camera with 12MP
- Live Video Transmission Range: 2500m / 8200ft
- Weight: 249g / 8.78oz
- Working Temperature: 0°C ~ 40°C
- Rated for indoor and outdoor use
This petite drone is the size of a larger smartphone and can fit comfortably in the palm of a larger human.
Small bags and large pockets are also an option. The design folds and is quite streamlined.
On the inside, the Mavic Mini is even a better GPS drone than its predecessors, compacting all of the abilities in a smaller and more agile package.
The battery can sustain the drone in the air for almost half an hour while recording. And in that time, you will have a radius of up to 3000 meters to explore with your Mini, either with a dedicated controller or just a smartphone.
The controller will extend the range to the fullest and give a more hands-on feel of the controls. But, those preferring the smartphone will be happy as ever with the DJI Fly app.
Taking the size of the drone into account, the camera is impressive. It is a full 2K piece with an 83° FOV angle. Images come at a resolution of 12 million effective pixels.
Combined with the size and ability to control your drone with gestures, the Mavic Mini opens some interesting blogging and filming possibilities.
You can effortlessly create a video by letting the drone follow you around and start filming when you emote with your hands.
The DJI has been at the forefront of GPS drones for a while now, and it seems that the DJI Mavic Mini will keep that tradition.
+ Pros
- Cons
GPS, 4K video and a staggering 21 MP camera allows for some of the most beautiful drone shots imaginable.
- Flight Time: ~25 minutes
- Charge Time: ~240 minutes
- Range: 4000m / 2.5mi
- Remote Controller: WiFi 5.4GHz & 2.4Ghz (included in the set)
- Camera: 180° adjustable f/2.4 ASPH lens 4K Camera with 21MP
- Live Video Transmission Range: 4000m / 2.5mi
- Weight: 320g / 11.28oz
- Working Temperature: -10°C to 40°C
- Rated for indoor and outdoor use
While pricing slightly above the other competitors, the Anafi can be a true eye in the sky for ambitious videographers.
In the body, it is a fully developed GPS drone with everything you would want from autopilot. It can follow waypoints, focus on the drone pilot, or circle around for a 360 shot.
It can also land and take off with a press of a button, returning in the exact place as where it left. And because it weighs only 320 grams, that place could even be your hand (though watch out for the propellers).
But, the real centerpiece of this drone is the camera.
With the HDR f/2.4 lens, it will take professional photography to the air. The image resolution is a whopping 21 megapixels, and the fact it can take bursts of up to 10 pictures a second means you can do wonders in post-production.
Even in 4K, there is minimal wobbling, keeping the video steady even in turns. If needed for any reason, you can bring the resolution down to 2k or 1080p full HD.
Even casual videos with the Anafi Base PF728000 become amazing, while travel vlogs become a true piece of art.
To top things off, the camera can also swivel a full 180 degrees in flight to get or maintain the perfect shots.
Anyone in the market for a great GPS drone who is willing to spend a bit more for a better camera will be impressed by the Anafi.
It’s worth noting that the drone has quite a few negative reviews on Amazon, though most of these are actually aimed at the customer service of the company rather than the product itself.
+ Pros
- Cons
A feature-packed drone that gets rave reviews from hundreds of happy customers.
- Follow Me Method: GPS
- Flight Time: 20 minutes
- Camera: 2K resolution camera
- Weight: 5.25 pounds
Potensic made a brave choice when designing the D88. To fit a powerful camera and a strong motor in a small casing, they opted to go boxy. The result is an amazingly affordable drone with excellent features.
For some reason, we expect flying things to be either bug-shaped or bird-shaped, but that is not really necessary. The aero-dynamics of the D88 are made by the air itself running around its reliable 1350 kV motors that can push up to 30 miles per hour (50 km/h).
The D88 might be compact, but it does weigh over five pounds, which will make it hard to carry for some.
The flight time on the 3400 mAh battery is around eighteen minutes, which is lower than the average. This is due to the motor strength, as well as the considerable weight of this product.
But this fierce little machine can withstand some severe winds.
Flying it on the ocean-side will be a much calmer breeze than the one coming from the water, and you will be able to easily use all of the GPS features without taking winds into account.
There are options for the drone to take off, follow you around, take pictures and videos, and finally land without a hitch. All of that with only smartphone commands.
For those who value function over form, this may as well be one of the best GPS drones in this price range today.
+ Pros
- Cons
Inspired by a combat jet of the same name, the F18 from Contixo provides more than just speed.
- Flight Time: ~20 minutes
- Charge Time: ~240 minutes
- Range: 600m / 2000ft
- Remote Controller: WiFi 2.4GHz with 5.4Ghz video transmission (included in the set)
- Camera: FPV 2K Camera with 12MP
- Live Video Transmission Range: 460m / 1500ft
- Weight: 453g / 16oz
- Working Temperature: 5°C to ~35°C
- Rated for indoor and outdoor use
Probably trying to emulate its much larger namesake, the F18 Hornet combat jet, the Contixo F18 brings amazing speeds and maneuverability while being very easy to fly.
The F18 didn’t just stop at having GPS, but connects to a 5G network emitted by the controller.
On top of that, there are six gyros inside to guarantee stability during flight.
These three features working together make this powerful drone exceptionally easy to navigate. It will always stay on course and balance itself even in heavy wind or swift maneuvering.
One of the best features of the F18 is the ability to “TapFly”. Here you can simply select specific coordinates on the app, and your drone will chart a flight plan up to 16 way points.
With a solid 2K camera, this feature opens some exciting filming capabilities for beginner pilots. Using the GPS function, it is possible to take excellent footage even without prior drone flying experience.
The camera itself is not extraordinary, and it is often better to scale it down to FullHD if you want more stabilization. Regardless, the shots will be pretty amazing, and more than enough quality for an amateur video or a travel vlog.
+ Pros
- Cons
The HS720 has powerful GPS features along with a sizeable 26 minutes of flight time.
- Flight Time: ~26 minutes
- Charge Time: 5-7 hours
- Range: 800-1000m / 2624-3277ft
- Remote Controller: 2.4GHz transmitter included
- Camera: 2K HD (2048 x 1152) with shock absorption
- Weight: 459g / 1.01lbs
- Rated for outdoor use
Holy Stone has set the standard when it comes to reliable midrange drones. Their HS720 model is strong, fast, has amazing GPS guidance, and can fit in most pockets.
With the weight being less than sixteen ounces, the HS720 is easily portable even without the dedicated case.
You can also fold the wings when not in flight, making the whole thing compact and without rough edges.
Inside, there is a hybrid GPS guidance mixed with optical flow positioning (OFP). Even though the drone can connect to up to six satellites, in case they fail, the drone will stay stable and secure.
Beginner drone pilots will find this assistance priceless as it is possible to fly the drone as if there is no wind resistance whatsoever.
Experienced pilots will notice a powerful 2K camera. There is no gimbal, but the wide lens stabilizes the video and gives a clear stream to your smartphone.
+ Pros
- Cons
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This Chinese drone offers surprising value for money if you buy it from the right Amazon seller.
- Flight Time: ~25 minutes
- Charge Time: ~300 minutes
- Range: 2000m / 6560ft
- Remote Controller: WiFi 2.4Ghz (included in the set)
- Camera: 90° adjustable lens FullHD Camera
- Live Video Transmission Range: 2000m / 6560ft
- Weight: 433g / 15.27oz
- Working Temperature: 0°C to ~ 40°C
- Rated for indoor and outdoor use
The first and most obvious place to start with the C-Fly Faith is that it is sold under lots of different brand names and from lots of different companies. On Amazon, there are many sellers slapping their name (and an increased price mark-up to boot) on this solid GPS drone.
The C-Fly Faith has made some sacrifices when it comes to the camera to provide one of the best drone piloting experiences for a very reasonable price.
The drone is speedy, with reliable, brushless motors that can reach up to 1600ft (~500m) in height. On a full 2400 mAh charge, the drone can fly around 25 minutes, using all of the features included with the flight assistance.
Features provided resemble some much more expensive models, as they are all provided by the excellent GPS synchronization.
Aside from the automatic takeoff and landing functions, there is the follow me mode, as well as the return-to-home button that will make the device land inside a foot of where it took off.
Also, the ‘orbital’ mode can make a nice panoramic video of whoever is holding the controller, and from a suitable distance.
The video itself is not that remarkable, providing only the standard in modern drone cameras — 1080p full HD resolution, which is still decent enough. This does make the picture more stable and less demanding on the processor, but it will not make as good a view as some other models.
Finally, this drone is quite light and can be folded. Carrying the device in your pocket or bag is easy, and the C-Fly Faith can be dispatched on a moment’s notice if you find the right occasion.
+ Pros
- Cons
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One of the best ‘bang for the buck’ products in the entire UAV space, with great GPS features.
- Flight Time: ~28 minutes
- Charge Time: ~210 minutes
- Range: 1219m / 4000ft
- Remote Controller: WiFi 5GHz (included in the set)
- Camera: 90°Adjustable 4K Camera with 13MP
- Live Video Transmission Range: 500m / 1640.4ft
- Weight: 520 g / 18.34 oz
- Rated for indoor and outdoor use
There are several reasons why the Ruko F11 is one of the leading drones on the market. The features that can be found in this compact drone are rarely seen, especially for the asking price.
The drone has a powerful AI that will help you fly. All of the additional features, like flight planning and automatic takeoff and landing, are here. Some are operated with a smartphone, while others will even have a dedicated button.
But, the centerpiece of this drone is the camera. The fantastic 4K resolution on a wide CMOS chip will give you one of the best views from up above.
The video in 4K is slightly shaky but performs perfectly in flyover shots. And, if you want to make more dramatic movements, you can always downsize to 2K and get video stabilization.
The app coming with the drone is not as feature-packed as some of the competitors but has everything you need. The transmitted view is 720p and has little to no lag.
By combining the fast and responsive camera with the GPS functions, the F11 also has visual commands. You can use gestures to make the drone follow you, take pictures, or take a video.
Pricewise, the F11 Pro is in the middle of the market, but it is an excellent value for what it provides.
For anyone wanting all of the features of a top-range drone but don’t really want to burn a hole in their budget, the Ruko F11 Pro is probably the best choice on the market.
+ Pros
- Cons
This is a great Follow Me drone if you already own a Go Pro camera, with a 55mph top speed.
- Follow Me Method: GPS
- Flight Time: 20 minutes
- Camera: none; supports mounting of a Go Pro camera
- Weight: 3.3 pounds
The 3DR Solo touts itself as the world’s smartest Go Pro done, and we’re inclined to agree with this assessment. It hosts several intelligent flight and camera features that take some of the smoothest, breathtaking photos possible in a small drone.
This is possible thanks in part to the two 1 GHz computers it has onboard. With it, you can take computer-assisted Smart Shots; simply tell the drone the exact shot you need and press “Play.”
The 3DR also has direct access to your Go Pro camera. This opens up plenty of possibilities, like directly accessing footage from your iOS or Android app.
The onboard computer also powers many of the 3DR’s autonomous flight modes. Follow Me works just as well as any other GPS powered drone. It will follow you around anywhere you go and will keep you locked into the center of the camera’s frame at all times.
Other features include Selfie Mode. The 3DR will automatically fly up and away from you, taking continuous footage in the process. The result is the classic “panning away” drone shot.
You can also utilize Orbit more, where the 3DR will go around and take photos of an object you set. Cable Cam Mode will let the drone fly in a pre-determined path. You’re then free to rotate the camera around and take footage along that path without flying it yourself.
If you own a Go Pro HERO Camera, the 3DR Solo is the perfect companion. Everything the drone does is designed to help you take awesome shots without worrying about piloting the drone itself.
+ Pros
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How Does GPS On a Drone Work?
Aside from the new battery density, utilizing GPS technology was the most significant leap in drones. By connecting to satellites, the drone can fly almost autonomously and make everything much easier for the pilot.
This makes new drones exceptionally easy to fly, as they operate more as if in a video game than in real surroundings.
Finally, the best GPS drones often don’t even need you to guide them directly. They can either focus on your face or your controller to obey commands. In this regard, drones are becoming more akin to pets than to operated devices.
Coordinate Positioning
While every drone will have some sort of internal gyro as to know up from down, the GPS will allow it to know its exact location compared to the pilot. By triangulating the position from satellites up in orbit, it will stay in the same relative place as long as it is not commanded to move.
The operating word here is ‘’relative position’’. This Planet rushes around the Sun at approximately 67000 mph and rotates at almost 1000 miles per hour. We are all but stationary.
But, for you as a pilot, you should only be concerned by the position of you and your controller relative to the drone. You don’t want to calculate rotation and wind speed as to move forward or backward.
With GPS, this is precisely what happens. Only the coordinates matter, and the drone will turn and power automatically as to stay on the same coordinates.
Advantages of a Drone with GPS
While there are some maneuvering restrictions for GPS drones, the benefits that come in return are immeasurable.
Stability
The primary advantage is the stability of the drone. As long as the wind speed doesn’t exceed the capability of the motor, the drone will stay in place. Even if you pull on it with your hand, it will swiftly return to the coordinate it used to be.
For people taking pictures and videos, this is a vital piece of technology. With GPS, you can adjust your photo and video ever so slightly. You can focus only on the picture and not spend all of your ability on keeping the drone in place.
Auto-Pilot
The second major advantage is the automatic flight. Functions like automatic landing and takeoff are impossible without GPS guidance.
As is the case with all aircraft, takeoff, and landing are the two most dangerous parts of the experience. By making these parts automatic, the drone will allow you, the pilot, to enjoy all of the fun aspects without the irritation of landing in the wrong place.
Return to Home
Finally, the last big advantage is what happens when you lose control of the drone.
Older models that didn’t have a GPS inside would simply crash when they got outside of the range. This was especially the case for more massive models that were dependent on constant height adjustments.
Models that have a GPS, even the basic ones, will stay in place until they get reconnected to the controller.
The best GPS drones today will even return to home if they lose contact. If your controller battery drains, you will find your drone right where it took off in a matter of minutes.
Is it Worth Getting a Drone with GPS?
While there are scenarios where you might want a drone free of GPS control, the answer here is a resounding yes.
GPS drones are not much more expensive than the older toy drone models, and they are significantly easier to fly. For novice drone pilots, opting for a GPS drone is a necessity.
Beginners will find out that drones without GPS fall from the sky as soon as they take off. Only not taking mild winds into account will make any GPS-less drone topple.
But, with a GPS, up will be up, and the drone will never fall unless you order it so.
Conclusion
Arguably, the introduction of GPS technology was the best thing to happen to commercial drones. It gave the ability for new people to try drones as a hobby or even a business.
Finding the best GPS drones available means mixing the cost and size of the drone with the installed capabilities it has. It is possible to find large drones that will connect to more satellites, but they will be harder to fly and out of the price range for most casual users.
The drone needs to have excellent stability, as well as all of the functions coming with GPS. Making your drone follow you, snap some pictures, and give you a bird-eye-view have become the standard in the industry.
In the end, the GPS will make flying your drone more fun, and that is the goal of ever taking flight in the first place.
DJI Mavic 2 Pro
This luxury drone is one of the best in the market and comes with a 4-figure price tag.
DJI Mavic Mini
The Mavic Mini has replaced the hugely popular Spark model and will become one of the most popular drones of all time.
Parrot Anafi Base
GPS, 4K video and a staggering 21 MP camera allows for some of the most beautiful drone shots imaginable.