A little wonder why many hobby drone pilots are interested in purchasing a quiet drone. It is largely a result of the quiet moment you get when flying. The noises produced by the vibration of the electrical parts of a drone can be annoying.
Some of the quietest hobby drones you can find on the market are:
- Altair Aerial Outlaw SE
- DJI Mavic Pro Platinum
- Parrot Mambo Mini-Drone
- Yuneec Typhoon Q500
- DJI Phantom 3 Pro
- DJI Spark
- DJI Mavic Mini
- FUNSKY 913
- DJI Mavic 2 Pro
- FORCE F100/ BUGS 3
Using a quiet drone for recreational activities is much more fun than using a drone that makes lots of noise. If you do not want to get annoyed or disturb other people when flying your drone, you should get a quiet hobby drone.
The Quietest Drones Available On The Market
Although you cannot find drones that are entirely silent on the market, it has not been developed yet; few drones can be labeled quiet drones compared to other drones.
As stated earlier, the sound is produced by the drones' electrical parts' vibration, which is essential in keeping your drone stable in the air. If there are no vibrations, your drones may not fly at all.
The silent drones are not available in the market as they were only developed for military use. These silent drones' designs and development are kept secret from the public because they edge in warfare.
These are the quietest hobby drones you can get on the market now.
Altair Aerial Outlaw SE
The Altair Aerial Outlaw SE is one of the quietest hobby drones available at a fairly low price, and it can be flown by anyone regardless of drone pilot experience. The drone can stay silent during flight because of the brushless motors and carefully designed to reduce many frictions with the motors.
The Altair Aerial Outlaw SE drone is equipped with a 1080p High Definition camera that provides you with amazing aerial photos and videos, a total flight time of 30 minutes, each battery has a flight time of about 18-20 minutes, a flight range of 600 meters.
This GPS-capable drone can cover a distance of up to 1000-1500 meters. With the push of a single button, this drone can find its way back to the home point. This is due to the three return home functions, lost contact automatic return or out of range return, low power return or low voltage return, and one-touch return.
The Altair Aerial Outlaw SE also has a follow-me mode. When you enable it, the drone will follow you as you walk. The drone is also equipped with a headless mode and altitude hold. The former allows you to disregard the drone's orientation, and the latter helps keep the drone suspended in mid-air, more like an autopilot flight state.
It also has a one-touch takeoff and landing. To make the drone take off, you need to push a button and make the drone land, which is why it is one of the most popular hobby drones and can be flown by anybody.
When you activate the GPS Flight Mode, it is easier to control the drone in mid-air, and the drone becomes more stable, the perfect requirement for a good aerial photograph. The best thing about this drone is despite all the incredible features and functionality it has; it costs less than $300.
DJI Mavic Pro Platinum
Compared to other DJI drones, the Mavic Pro Platinum is sixty percent quieter, one of the drones noise-conscious drone users should purchase. This drone also has a high-quality camera of 4K 30p video.
It also features an independent flight mode, and this makes piloting the drone easier. An obstacle avoidance feature is also available, preventing the drone from any form of collision or crashing.
The DJI Mavic Pro Platinum has silent propellers making it one of the quietest drones. It has a flight time of thirty minutes and a charging time of 60-80 minutes. This drone is a lightweight robot and one of the best small, silent drones on the market, making it an ideal robot for hiking trips as it can easily fit into a backpack.
The weight of the drone is 2.2 pounds, and its noise levels are at 70 decibels. Regardless of its size, it can fly for almost a quarter of an hour at a speed of 64km/h in unobstructed weather, i.e., it is not windy. The drone can fly as far as seven kilometers and also has a return to home feature.
This drone comes with two batteries, so you always have an extra if the first battery runs low. It also has an app where you can program everything on the drone, from the flight paths to the controller's button, battery allocations, sound signals, and other things necessary.
Parrot Mambo Mini-Drone
The Parrot Mambo Mini-Drone is one of the cheapest quiet hobby drones. However, the price does not affect the quality of the drone. It has a camera of 0.3 megapixels and a battery of 660 mAh. Its maximum flight time is ten minutes.
The drone is considered as one for children, but adults can also use it. It has a charging time of an hour and thirty minutes and a weight of 0.161 pounds. The drone has a control range of sixty meters and features a multi-directional flip. The Parrot Mambo is a very tiny drone and has a LED light at the front and the back, so it is safe for flying at night.
This drone can grab accessories from one place to another in the house, making it appropriate for indoor and outdoor flying. It does this with the Lego bricks' help at the top of the drone, where you can mount the accessories. It can also fly on its own because of its autopilot functionality. The drone, as the manufacturers say, is "as quiet as a wasp."
The drone's battery capacity is quite short, so it would help if you have a spare battery at hand so that you are not stuck using one battery. Flying this drone in windy weather will drain the battery quicker than normal, so you have to use it in an ideal weather condition to increase the drone's lifespan.
The Parrot Mambo Mini-Drone has a high-grade plastic covering that helps withstand high-grade alcohol cleaning. The drone is a low-energy consumer and has a great engineering system.
The manufacturing company of this drone collaborates with the best coding platform so you can code drones with your tablets. Block coding like blockly, tynker, and text coding like JavaScript and Python are available on the Parrot Mambo Mini-Drone.
Yuneec Typhoon Q500
The manufacturers of the Yuneec Typhoon Q500 developed this drone to make flying easier for all. The drone has many features making it one of the best drones in the market.
The drone has a lens protector that helps protect the screen when it is sunny. It also comes with four extra propellers, a charger, and two spare batteries. One of the best accessories that come with this drone is a style car charger to charge the drone from your car directly; hence, you do not have to wait until you are home before charging your drone.
An aluminum case is also part of the accessories that come with the drone, so you can keep the drone safe when not in use. The Yuneec Typhoon Q500 is the perfect drone for new drone pilots and is also a high-quality drone. Controlling the drone is a very easy method as there are various control buttons that makes piloting a lot easier.
You can make the drone return to you by just a push on a button from the controller; hence you can never lose your drone when flying as long as you have the controller with you. It also has a follow-me mode that makes the drone follow the controller from a safe distance.
Its propellers are fairly quiet and much stronger. It has two landing gears that make landing smoother and protect the camera from touching the ground. The flight time of this drone is twenty-five minutes.
The Yuneec Typhoon Q500 has a three-axis stabilized CGO 3.4K camera attached to a gimbal that keeps it safe from dirt, debris, and other things. The camera also has a non-distortion lens. The drone's controller has specific sliders and buttons for video footage, taking pictures, and adjusting the camera's angle.
DJI Phantom 3 Pro
The DJI Phantom 3 Pro is one of the best hobby drones; with its digital cameras and audio recorders, it is perfect for capturing memories and pictures that will last for a lifetime. This drone has a radio controller, a smartphone holder, and a smart battery pack charger.
This drone has a vision positioning system and an in-built variety of ultrasonic and optical sensors. It also has a light bridge digital streaming that allows you to watch a 720p video clip. The drone also has a three-axis gimbal that keeps the camera safe from dirt, debris, and other things.
One excellent feature of the DJI Phantom 3 Pro is that it can work with IOS and Android OS products, so you do not have to buy additional PC software for the drone. It also has a video camera of 4K UHD that captures an amazing view of pictures and videos.
Another interesting feature you will find in the drone is the return to home function; the drone will follow the remote control's GPS signal to make it return home. The DJI Phantom 3 Pro has dual joysticks for flight control, and at the top, you will find control dials to adjust the camera exposure and the gimbal tilt.
The DJI Phantom 3 Pro has a total flight time of 23 minutes, a 720p HD camera that allows you to live stream videos in high quality. You can have a clear view of the video as you fly, and thanks to the advanced feature of the DJI Pilot app, you can now share the video you take.
The DJI Phantom 3 Pro is one of the quietest hobby drones you can find available in the market, and this is a result of the vibration damping feature that keeps the drone's body intact and prevents it from shaking during flight.
The drone's body is developed to be secure, making the drone strong. The propellers are securely wound to prevent them from being noisy during flight. The wires and motors are insulated to reduce noise generation.
DJI Spark
The DJI Spark is a very small drone, so it resembles a toy, and it has a total weight of 0.66 pounds. Nevertheless, it is a silent drone making it one of the most popular hobby drones.
Interestingly, this drone produces a decibel sound level of 55. While it may be a very quiet drone, the camera quality is one of the least any DJI drones produced.
It has a 12MP 1080p camera for photos and videos, respectively; it also has a gimbal of 2-axis and stable footage, so you are assured of great video quality. The minimum shooting range is 2 meters; the ISO has a range of 100 to 1600 for photos and 100 to 3200 for videos.
The drone has a common feature, which propels the three commands: the app control gestures, the remote control gesture, and the advanced control gestures. So, you can even control the drone with hand gestures.
There are also various flight and video modes you can choose from, modes like the ActiveTrack, enabling you to make a target on a moving object and trail it. Another mode is the QuickShot; the DJI Spark drone locks onto an object and executes series of programmed flight patterns.
The drone has a dual-band Wi-Fi system with a transmission range of about 100 meters and a height of 50 meters. The drone has a Quick Launch feature, and it uses a FaceAware feature to get take off without you controlling it. It just needs to recognize your face.
DJI Mavic Mini
The DJI Mavic Mini is another powerful drone from DJI. Although it is compact, there are lots of amazing functionalities that you will find useful and helpful when flying the drone.
The drone is another quiet drone manufactured by the DJI company. Its propellers are designed to make less noise, so it more suitable for flying both during the day and at night.
This drone's weight is less than 250 grams, making it almost the same weight as an average smartphone. This is one of the few drones you do not need to register with The Federal Aviation Administration before flying it.
The DJI Mavic Mini has a maximum flight time of 30 minutes with no wind. In windless conditions, the drone's total hovering time is 29 minutes, and it uses both GPS signal and vision sensors to hover precisely.
The drone has a maximum flight speed of 29 mph, a maximum ascent speed of 13.12 feet per second, a maximum descent speed of 9.84 feet per second. The flight range of the DJI Mavic Mini is about 4.2 miles with no wind.
The DJI Mavic Mini has a 12M camera that can shoot 2.7K Quad HD videos and a 3-axis mechanical gimbal, capable of providing the camera stability needed to capture ultra-clear and super-smooth footage.
FUNSKY 913
The FUNSKY 913 drone is one of the small and portable drones on the market. With this drone, you do not have to worry about the size or the weight as its weight is just 0.507 pounds.
This drone comes with accessories like a remote controller, two spare propellers, a USB charging cable, a carry case, two propeller guards, and a battery. The drone has many incredible features, and it is also sold at an affordable price.
It has a return to home feature, and its flight time is for fifteen minutes. There is also a brushless motor on the drone that helps optimize the drone's battery life. The camera of this drone is a 1080p one, and it can be adjusted manually.
The FUNSKY 913 battery charging time is ninety minutes, and it has a 3.7V 350mAh. This drone is one with geofencing, which makes it safer to fly. It has many flight features such as altitude hold, gesture control, circle mode, and many more.
This drone is a drone that quietly operates. It has super quiet propellers and motors, so even when flying at a very fast speed, you can hardly hear any sound. It also has a GPS so you can easily find it if you lose sight of it.
DJI Mavic 2 Pro
The DJI Mavic 2 Pro is a long-range professional camera drone and was launched and released in August 2018. This drone is the first drone with an integrated Hasselblad camera.
The drone is equipped with a 4K HDR camera making it one of the best drones to capture quality images and videos. In comparison to the original DJI Mavic Pro, you have many improvements.
It has a total flight time of 31 minutes, and it has an improved system to sense the environment, which prevents it from a collision. The drone can sense objects below and behind it, unlike the original Mavic Pro that senses only objects in front of it.
The drone comes with two extra flight batteries, a charger, and 2X low-noise propellers. It can fly faster, quieter, and longer than some other drones. Its low-noise propellers make it one of the quietest hobby drones on the market.
The second generation of the DJI Mavic 2 Pro is equipped with an Omni-directional sense and avoid system, largely due to the ten sensors positioned on the top, bottom, back, front, right, and left part of the drone.
It also has a 44mph maximum speed, 8GB internal storage, and an SD card support of 128GB. The drone comes with two extra flight batteries, a charger, and 2X low-noise propellers. The DJI Mavic 2 Pro weighs 2.01 pounds and can fly as far as 6.2 miles.
FORCE F100/ BUGS 3
The FORCE F100/ BUGS 3 is one of the top-rated drones on the drone market. This drone is mostly used for photography and videography. However, it is categorized as an affordable drone.
This drone has a flight time of twenty minutes. The drone's brushless motors help reduce the drone's noise, so when flying, you can barely hear it. It also has quiet propellers making it one of the quietest drones.
The FORCE F100/ BUGS 3 has an amazing camera that makes images and videos clearers, smoother, and sharper. It comes with a 7.4v 1800mAh 2S battery and can fly for as far as 0.311 miles.
What Makes A Drone Quiet
Most drones are usually loud and make buzzing sounds that can be annoying. Because of this reason, flying a drone at night is not ideal as the buzzing sound can disturb the sleep of others. So, most manufacturers have started making quiet drones.
So, what makes a drone quiet? There are three major things you can do to a drone to make it quiet:
- You can either make use of noise-reducing propellers or reduce the noise coming from the propellers.
- Reduce the noise from the main rotors of the drone
- Use noise reduction shrouds
- Use large, slow-spinning propellers.
What Makes A Drone Loud
Some of the things that makes a drone loud include:
- The speed of the propeller rotation
- The size of the propellers
- The size of your drone.
Final Thoughts
Being a hobby drone pilot is fun, but you can sometimes have problems with your drone making lots of noise, and people around you begin to complain. This should not faze you.
There are many drones in the market that you can buy to solve this common problem. With this article presented, you can clearly understand which quietest hobby drone suits your taste.
You can finally get to choose the drone you can fly peacefully without disturbing or upsetting people around you, thanks to this article that explains all the specifications and functionalities of the quietest hobby drone available in the market.
Also read: How to Find a Hobby – Tips
Shawn Manaher loves to play with new toys and dive into new hobbies. As a serial entrepreneur, work definitely comes first but there is always room for hobbies.