Parrot Drone: Privacy, Transparency, And Easy To Use
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In a highly-innovative market that marks the drone industry, competition is always a good thing. That said, with DJI being so far ahead in front of its competitors, it’s hard to see any of the trailing drone manufacturers overtaking them any time soon. Moreover, most drone companies go out of business in their first couple of years.
Today, there’s only a handful of trusted and high-quality drone manufacturers that are worth your time and attention. And Parrot, one of the industry’s pioneers, is undoubtedly one of these companies. Parrot is still going strong more than ten years after launching its first consumer drone.
But, how far has this company progressed over the previous decade, and does it have what it takes to compete for the top spot in the industry? On this page, we’ll answer these and many other questions and share with you the best Parrot consumer drones in 2021.
Why Buy a Parrot Drone?
Parrot is a unique drone manufacturer because it heavily emphasizes one crucial factor many drone pilots often overlook – privacy. They are the most transparent drone manufacturer in the industry. Their drones deliver maximum privacy and don’t collect any data aside from that required for flight. Even when it comes to this, users can delete their flight history to maintain utmost data privacy and anonymity.
Of course, aside from privacy and security features, Parrot drones offer a long list of other advantages. Here are some of the most notable reasons why you should consider buying a Parrot drone over other products:
Very Portable and Easy to Use
All of Parrot’s consumer drones are generally very simple and easy to use, even if you’ve never piloted a drone before. Not only this, but they are lightweight and compact. Their controllers can be a bit clunkier than what you can expect from some other companies but still are very portable and convenient to carry in your backpack.
Excellent Support
Parrot offers excellent support through its website, where you can find helpful information, tips, and guides on everything you need to know regarding each of their drones. You can also reach out to them through their contact form, and they will reply promptly.
Wide Availability
Parrot drones are widely available in stores worldwide so that you won’t suffer from any issues regarding the lack of needed spare or replacement parts, accessories, or extra add-ons. In the US alone, you can purchase Parrot drones through almost two dozen retailers. This includes well-known retailers like Amazon and Best Buy.
Broad Use Cases
The company is best known for manufacturing consumer drones that range from entry-level products to top-of-the-line gadgets. However, what many flyers don’t know is that Parrot products are actually used in many fields, ranging from power line inspections to military, defense, and law enforcement.
The Best Parrot Drones For Sale
Okay, now when we understand the general features and characteristics that are expected of Parrot drones, let’s take a closer look at the specific aspects and performance qualities of their top-performing drones.
What’s especially interesting in Parrot drones is that all of them are created with a particular purpose in mind. Each drone is built on a pre-set frame and falls into a specific category, which you’ll quickly see in our list. Without wasting any of your time, here’s a detailed rundown of the best Parrot drones for sale, including the most important traits and attributes of each product:
Parrot Mini Drones
Parrot mini drones are essentially toy-class drones. These drones are small, compact, easy to fly, and affordable. They are the ideal choice for first-time flyers looking to get into drones and children who are just learning how to fly a drone. This is the category in which Parrot perhaps excels the most, as you can find a very diverse selection of mini drones. Here are the best ones:
Parrot Hydrofoil
The Parrot Hydrofoil is a water and air-ready mini drone equipped with a VGA mini camera. It packs a reliable 550mAh battery which can last up to 9 minutes and can be fully recharged within 25 minutes. It’s shock-resistant and very durable, making it an excellent drone for beginners and those who want to practice acrobatic stunts and flips.
The drone weighs just 8.6 ounces (0.54 pounds), meaning that you don’t need to have an FAA license to fly it if you live in the US. The Parrot Hydrofoil doesn’t come with a dedicated controller. Instead, you can download the free flight app and hook up the drone to your smartphone or tablet device.
Parrot Swing
The Parrot Swing drone is one of the most interesting and uniquely-designed drones on the market. It weighs only 2.56 ounces (0.16 pounds) and has a size of 13x5x5 inches. But, despite its lightweight and small stature, the Parrot Swing drone packs quite a punch. It can achieve speeds up to 19 mph, which is very impressive considering this drone’s compact nature.
You can purchase this drone without the flypad or with it. We recommend choosing the latter option, as having a flypad will allow you to practice more precise piloting and more intuitive acrobatics. Not only this, but you’ll be able to extend your drone’s flying range up to 196 ft.
Parrot Mambo
The Parrot Mambo lightweight drone weighs only 2.2 ounces and is very easy to and safe to pilot. What makes this Parrot mini drone so interesting is that it allows users to create code for this drone through blocs coding and text coding. This way, Parrot Mambo pilots can practice their coding while creating custom flight and behavior patterns for their drones.
The drone has a range of up to 65 ft with a smartphone or tablet and up to 300 ft with the Parrot Flypad. It also has advanced stabilization, which helps make this drone suitable for both indoor and outdoor flying. You can expect to get a flight time of around 10 minutes, though this might vary depending on whether you purchase the Parrot Mambo Fly, Mission, or FPV version.
Parrot Drones
The three mini drones we’ve discussed above are excellent in indoor flying environments and outdoor ventures in very stable weather conditions. That said, the drones we’ll highlight in this section are more serious than the previous ones. They are more robust, perform better, and can offer stable flying even in mild winds. Of course, they also come at a higher price point. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the best Parrot drones:
Parrot Disco
If you want to get into drone flying a bit more seriously and have the budget to back it up, the Parrot Disco drone is an excellent choice. This fixed-wing drone can reach speeds of up to 50 mph and a range of up to 1.2 miles when paired up with the appropriate Parrot controller. The Parrot Disco FPV version also comes with FPV Parrot Cockpitglasses, which provide an immersive flying experience.
The drone boasts a fantastic battery life of up to 45 minutes, as it comes with a powerful 2700mAh battery. It also comes packed with useful features such as assisted piloting, automatic take-off and landing, an anti-stall system, and a very well-designed return home functionality.
Camera-wise, the drone can shoot Full HD videos and 14Mpx photos in several formats. Priced at around $800, depending on where you find it, the Parrot Disco drone certainly isn’t for everyone’s budget. But, for those who can afford it, this drone is more than worth its price tag.
Parrot BeBop 2
The Parrot BeBop 2 drone is a perfect choice for those who want to move away from the mini drones but aren’t prepared to cash out larger amounts of money to do so. Same as the Disco, this drone comes with a Full HD camera that can take 14Mpx photos. Moreover, the BeBop 2 also supports a stunning 186-degree field of view.
The BeBop 2 is equipped with very powerful motors and can support flying at relatively high altitudes, at a speed of up to 38 mph. It can support up to 25 minutes of flight time in ideal conditions. The drone weighs just over 1 pound. Because of this, the BeBop 2, much like the previous drone on our list, requires an FAA license before you can take it flying.
How to Pick the Right Parrot Drone
With prices under a thousand dollars, Parrot drones aim more for recreational drone users than professional ones. Although their drones can’t compete with DJI’s products in terms of professional photography capabilities, they can still hold their ground in many vital aspects. They are very smooth to fly, offer outstanding performance characteristics, and most importantly, excellent value for money.
Overall, Parrot is an excellent drone manufacturer, and you won’t go wrong no matter which drone you decide to purchase. Hopefully, this detailed page has helped you pick the most suitable Parrot drone based on your flying needs and personal preferences.