A quick search for drones online will pull up a long list of products.
You’ll find drones of different sizes and styles capable of performing various tasks.
Some drones are used for fun, others are a little more advanced and while the rest are targeted towards the commercial community.
Commercial drones go beyond the functions of what you may know a drone to be capable of.
These powerful drones can be used to deliver goods or carry infrared cameras for inspections while some may be used for search and rescue in order to save lives.
In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the best drones for commercial use from some of the popular commercial drone companies.
Drone
Features
Price
- Control range: 1000 miles
- Flight Time: 10-24 minutes
- Weight: 20 pounds
- 5 best commercial drones
- The commercial use of drones
- Commercial drone data
- Commercial drone deliverables
- Photos and videos
- 3D maps
- Orthomosaics
- Actionable reports
- The top industries that use commercial drones
- Agriculture
- Chemicals
- Conservation
- Construction
- Delivery
- Filmmaking
- Mining
- Insurance
- Oil and gas
- Power generation
- Public safety
- Sewer maintenance
- Commercial Drone Regulations
- Conclusion
5 best commercial drones
- Control range: 4.3 miles
- Flight Time: 23-27 minutes
- Weight: 16 pounds
The DJI Inspire 2 is a favorite among aerial cinematographers who are looking to capture high-quality footage in a relatively small package.
Its sleek design, intelligent sensors and premium features make this unit great for cinematography.
This particular unit is the first filmmaking drone to integrate an HD transmission system, 360-degree rotating gimbal and a 4K camera.
It is also compatible with various Zenmuse sensors which further cements its place as one of the best professional drones for filmmakers.
The solid construction features a magnesium-aluminum composite shell and carbon fiber arms that provide an unparalleled 360 degrees view.
This awesome unit was built with filmmakers in mind and comes with advanced camera sensors and a Cinecore 2.0 image processing system.
The imaging processing system records at up to 5.2 K in cinema DNG raw, Apple prores and more
The 2-axis FPV camera allows users to see what’s up ahead while simultaneously recording with the main camera in the opposite direction.
Apart from its ability to run two cameras simultaneously, this unit has dual IMU’s, Barometers and a dual self-heating battery system.
The DJI Inspire 2 comes with a long list of features including intelligent flight modes, obstacle sensing and a whole lot more to make things a bit easier for filmmakers.
For more drones like this read the best drones for filmmaking reviews.
- Efficient workflow
- Sense and avoid
- Spotlight Pro; Compatible with 5.2K Gimbal Cameras
- Intelligent flight modes. Obstacle Sensing Range : 0-16.4 feet (0-5 m)
- Smart return to home.Operating Temperature:-4° to 104° F (-20° to 40° C)
- Control range: 5.5 miles
- Flight Time: 40 minutes
- Weight: 2.5 pounds
Autel Robotics has packed some serious hardware under the bright orange shell of the EVO II drone.
This unit has a flight time of 40 minutes which makes it one of the best drones with the longest flight time in the prosumer drone category.
It is great for creators, professionals, enthusiasts, contractors and first responders since it is designed with efficiency in mind.
One of the most unique features of the EVO II is the ability to switch out the gimbal payload in just a few minutes.
You can choose to use it with an 8K sensor, 6K Pro Sensor or a dual-sensor that combines an 8K sensor with a thermal sensor.
Image and video resolutions will depend on which sensor is being used at the time of capture.
This is a huge selling point for the EVO II since the ability to alternate sensors is not common in the consumer/prosumer drone market.
Other than that the EVO II comes equipped with advanced Omnidirectional computer vision sensors.
This system helps the unit to move around easily in the most challenging environments while remaining focused on the task on hand.
- 40 MINUTES OF STABLE FLIGHT TIME: From inspecting electrical cell towers to surveying property...
- LIGHTWEIGHT FOLDABLE DESIGN: Deployed in under 30 seconds, the 2.5lb EVO II is ideal for rapid...
- PATENTED LOCKING PROPELLER DESIGN: No tools required, quick release foldable propellers for the EVO...
- INTERCHANGEABLE PAYLOADS: Designed for versatile operations, pilots can alternate between the 8K,...
- LIVE CONTROLLER VIDEO FEED: Control almost all aspects of your mission right off the 3.3 inch OLED...
- Control range: 1.2 miles
- Flight Time: 30 minutes
- Weight: 8 pounds
The Parrot Disco-Pro AG was built with one purpose in mind and this is to help farmers maintain, evaluate ad secure their crops
This unit is an updated version of its predecessor the Parrot Disco that was discontinued.
The Parrot Disco-Pro AG offers longer flights, greater range and higher-end cameras.
This fixed-wing drone comes with a powerful motor and a high-capacity battery
It can cover up to 80 hectares or 200 acres at 120m/400ft flight altitude on a single charge.
The flight time comes in around 30 minutes and with the Parrot Skycontroller 2, the operating range is 1.2 miles.
The controller provides an optimized and secure Wi-Fi connection that can provide a live video streaming to your smartphone via the FreeFlight Pro app.
The Parrot Disco Pro AG uses Pix4D or Airinov First+ to provide mapping solutions of your crops to give you valuable insights into the health and viability of your crops.
- IMPORTANT: "PARROT DISCO- PRO AG WITHOUT SEQUOIA DOESN'T CONTAIN SEQUOIA IN THE PACKAGE." The...
- The fixed-wing drone solution has a powerful motor and a high capacity battery which covers up to...
- Parrot Skycontroller 2 ensures an optimized and secure Wi-Fi connection, and live video streaming on...
- Control range: 1000 miles
- Flight Time: 10-24 minutes
- Weight: 20 pounds
Agriculture has been one of the fastest-growing sectors to adopt drones over the last few years.
The DJI Agras MG-1 drone has helped this adoption even further and allows farmers to collect high-quality data on the status of their crops which enables remote crop care.
This unit especially takes it a step further and has the ability to spray pesticides and other solutions to maintain the health of crops
It can carry a payload of 10 KG which equals to 2.6 gallons and has a spray capacity of seven to 10 acres per hour with interchangeable spray nozzles.
The integrated centrifugal cooling system helps to increase reliability and longevity.
The Agras comes with a huge number of features including Terrain Follow where microwave radar scans the land to maintain a stable height above plants regardless of elevation changes.
The flight time of the unit will depend on its payload and the max flight time is 24 minutes while the max speed is at 49 mph while the control range is out to 1000 meters.
- Control range: 1.2miles
- Flight Time: 24 minutes
- Weight: 44.6 pounds
When you need a beast of a drone to haul a larger camera around the Yuneec H920 Tornado is one of the most powerful options.
It may be an older drone for DSLR-type cameras but the design on this hexacopter ensures that your camera gears are safe while in flight and keep things stable for epic aerial shots.
This six-rotor aerial platform landing gears retract to allow a full 360-degree view as the camera pans.
The Yuneec H920 can be used with any pro-grade camera including a Panasonic GH4 camera.
You can also use the GB601 gimble that stabilizes the camera as well as allow the camera to move independently.
The unit comes with an SP24 transmitter that features an integrated 7-inch Android device that provides a live feed and an OSD telemetry display.
The controller has a control range of 1.2 miles and the unit has a flight time of 24 minutes.
- Aerial Shooting with Panasonic GH4
- Carbon Fiber Frame
- Retractable Landing Gear
- ST24 Transmitter with 7" Android Device
The commercial use of drones
As the popularity of drones grows, the commercial use of drones across various industries has also grown significantly.
To have a better understanding of the ways commercial drones work, here’s a small breakdown.
Commercial drone data
Drones are a powerful tool to collect data remotely.
People use drones to collect data for things like surveying, mapping and even to help investigators find human remains among others.
An example where a commercial drone can be used to collect data is in an inspection scenario.
Using a drone can minimize the risk of persons getting hurt or putting themselves in dangerous scenarios like when climbing a cell tower to collect data.
There are a few primary types of data that are currently being collected by drones.
We’ll take a look at the 2 most common.
- Visual data- this is the most common type of data a commercial drone collects. The drone pilot simply flies over an area or object of interest and records visual data.
- Thermal data- this type of data is more common in the firefighting industry since it helps to determine where firefighters should focus their efforts during an active fire.
Commercial drone deliverables
While being able to collect data, sharing a folder that contains useful data may not be helpful to most people.
This is because the raw data needs to be converted into actual deliverables which can then be used for various purposes.
Here are a few deliverables created from drone data:
Photos and videos
Both photos and videos are the most common deliverables for commercial drones.
This can include everything from professional photography or videography purposes, aerial shots of real estate or high end cinematography.
Check out the best drone for photography now!
3D maps
3D maps are becoming a common deliverable for drone data across several industries.
They help people to better visualize spaces in which they are required to work in.
Orthomosaics
An orthomosaic is a photo representation of an open area that is created by stitching several photos together.
Actionable reports
Some industries may require a deliverable produced from drone data generated by using industry-specific software.
A good example of this is the Pix4D agriculture-specific software.
The Pix4D allows users to produce agricultural indices and have a better understanding of plant stress.
This software can also be used when aggregating vegetation index maps into zones.
The top industries that use commercial drones
What are some of the industries that use drones?
Below is a list of some of the top industries and sectors that use drones for commercial purposes and the ways that they are using them.
Agriculture
Farmers are using drones to collect data on their crops.
An agriculture drone helps them improve their yields and come up with suitable solutions to tackle any issues.
Chemicals
Commercial drones are being utilized in the chemicals industry by helping to improve indoor inspections.
These drones replace humans and collect visual data inside large assets used in chemical processes.
Conservation
Conservation efforts are being boosted by drones because they provide detailed vegetation maps to help track forestry work and water mapping.
There have even been drones invented and designed to shoot out seeds from the air to help with reforestation areas in spaces that have been cleared out.
Construction
One problem contractors have when working on a project is the slow process of mapping and surveying a construction site.
This is because walking a site takes time, especially if it’s large.
Commercial drones help to speed up this process by allowing construction companies to provide real time maps of progress and surveys.
This helps them to plan for projects and improve on projects that are already underway which can lead to significant savings
Delivery
While consumer drone delivery is to be rolled out on a large scale, medical drone delivery is currently taking place in some countries in the world.
These include Rwanda, the US and Switzerland.
Filmmaking
It’s not surprising to find higher end drones being used to capture aerial shots for movies instead of helicopters or airplanes
Using a commercial drone significantly cuts costs and allows filmmakers to save money that would have been otherwise spent hiring a helicopter or airplane to capture stunning aerial shots.
Mining
Mining is a tough industry and now they are turning to indoor drones to help them create maps of their mines.
These maps from help to improve safety as well as help companies locate ore that may not otherwise they found
Insurance
Insurance companies are always processing claims especially after big storms.
Drones help by processing claims on roof damage way faster because they allow adjusters to collect visual data from the sky instead of having someone climbing up ladders.
Insurance companies may also use drones for accident reconstruction
This helps them to piece together how the accident occurred so they can verify the viability of the insurance claim.
Oil and gas
The oil and gas industry is making use of commercial drones that provide their inspectors with a tool for collecting high-quality visual data inside assets crucial to the oil refining process.
This can include assets such as tanks, FCC units and risers.
Power generation
Drones are making quite a big impact here as well because they help inspectors access areas that would be otherwise difficult for humans to reach.
In this sector, drones keep inspectors from harm presented by radiation at nuclear power plants.
Public safety
It should be no surprise that law enforcement, fire department and search and rescue have all adopted drones in recent years.
Police now use drones to get better situational awareness and map densely populated areas.
Meanwhile, firefighters use drones to collect thermal data which allows them to pinpoint areas where they should focus their efforts.
Search and rescue personnel, on the other hand, are using both thermal and visual sensors on commercial drones to find missing people.
Sewer maintenance
Sewer maintenance is yet another industry where indoor commercial drones have been helping.
Drones enter the city’s sewer systems and collect visual data which can be used to identify the source of a problem or to evaluate the condition of the infrastructure.
This can help with the maintenance process and keep things functioning properly.
Commercial Drone Regulations
The rules for operating a commercial drone will vary from country to country but they will include these basic requirements:
- The drone pilot needs some kind of certificate or license authenticating their ability to fly a drone commercially.
- The drone pilot should follow all the guidelines set out by the drone governing body in their respective country.
- All commercial drones should be registered with the government.
- The drone pilot should hold insurance on each drone they operate.
In the US the FAA’s part 107 rules state that:
- All commercial drones must be registered.
- All commercial drone pilots are required to acquire their drone license.
- All drone pilots must follow guidelines such as not flying at night beyond the visual line of sight or in controlled airspaces without prior authorization
Conclusion
Well there you have it, the reviews of some of the best commercial drones, how they work, what they’re used for and the regulations.
Check out the drone no fly zone map to see the locations you can and cannot fly your drone.
While we’ve mentioned just a few units, we tried to stick with units that are accessible and readily available on the market.
Drone
Features
Price
- Control range: 1000 miles
- Flight Time: 10-24 minutes
- Weight: 20 pounds