One of the most flexible and fascinating inventions we have today is the drone. They are slowly becoming a part of our lives. However, most drones are associated with a large buzzing sound that can be irritating; the good news is that there are silent drones you can buy, and you can also make a drone quiet.
Some of the quietest drones are:
- DJI Mavic Pro Platinum
- FUNKY 913
- Altair Aerial Outlaw SE
- DJI Spark
- Force F100
- BUGS 3
- DJI Mavic 2 Pro
- Parrot Mambo MiniDrone
- DJI Phantom 3 Pro
- Yuneec Typhoon Q500
You can make a drone quiet by using noise-reducing propellers or noise reduction shrouds.
One major concern of drone pilots is the noise produced by the vibration of different electrical parts of the drone when flying it. There are different ways to avoid this before you start flying a drone; you can make the drone you have silent or purchase quiet drones.
The Quietest Drones
You cannot find a completely silent drone. As the drone's engine works, a soft whine is created. Additionally, as you use the drone, wear and tear occur, and the drone produces more noises as the electrical parts function. Nonetheless, we will look at some of the quietest drones you can get.
DJI Spark
Weighing 0.66 pounds, the DJI Spark is one of the smallest drones. This drone, however, is one of the quietest hobby drones. It produces a sound decibel of 55. It has a 12MP 1080p camera for photos and videos. The drone's camera has a 2-axis gimbal that ensures stable footage and great video quality.
The drone's minimum shooting range is 2 meters; the ISO has a range of 100 to 1600 for photos and 100 to 3200 for videos. It has a feature, which propels the three commands:
- The app control gestures.
- The remote-control gesture.
- The advanced control gestures.
So, you can even control the drone with hand gestures.
Some of the flight and video modes of the DJI Spark are ActiveTrack which allows you to target a moving object and trail it, and QuickShot QuickShot, which enables the drone to lock onto an object and execute a series of programmed flight patterns. It also has a flight time of 16 minutes and a maximum speed of 31 mph.
Parrot Mambo Mini-Drone
Even though the Parrot Mambo Mini-Drone is one of the cheapest quiet drones on the market, it also has many amazing features that make flying better. It has a camera of 0.3 megapixels and weighs 0.161 pounds. The maximum flight time of this drone is 10 minutes, and its charging time is 1 hour 30 minutes.
The drone has a control range of sixty meters and features a multi-directional flip. It also has some LED lights that make it suitable for night flights. This drone can grab accessories from one place to another in the house, making it appropriate for indoor and outdoor flying. An autopilot functionality is also featured in the drone so it can fly on its own.
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 experience. This drone is equipped with a 1080p HD camera that provides you with amazing aerial photos and videos.
It has a total flight time of 30 minutes; each battery has a flight time of about 18-20 minutes and a flight range of 600 meters. The Altair Aerial Outlaw SE also has a follow-me mode. This drone is also equipped with altitude hold, headless mode, one-touch take-off, and landing.
With the push of a single button, this drone can find its way back to its 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.
- One-touch return.
Yuneec Typhoon Q500
Having some of the most amazing features, Yuneec Typhoon Q500 is one of the best quiet drones. The manufacturers developed it to make drone flying easier for all. This drone has a lens screen protector that helps protect the screen when you are flying in the sun.
This drone has a 4K camera and a 3-axis gimbal that protects the camera from dust, dirt, and other debris. Yuneec Typhoon Q500 uses insulator materials on the body that helps reduce the vibration of the drone. It also has a one-key return home function and a follow-me mode.
DJI Mavic Pro Platinum
In comparison to other DJI drones, the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum is sixty percent quieter than others. It is one of the best quiet drones that you can get. It has a 4K 30p camera and weighs 2.2 pounds. The drone comes with two batteries and has a noise level of 70 decibels.
This drone has an obstacle avoidance feature that helps it detect obstacles and avoids them, preventing any form of collision or crashing. It has a maximum speed of 39.8 mph and a maximum range of 4.35 miles. DJI Mavic Pro Platinum has a flight time of thirty minutes and a charging time of 60-80 minutes.
This drone is one of the best quiet drones for hiking, and it can easily fit into a backpack due to its small size. 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.
How To Make Drones Quieter?
There are different ways you can make your drone quieter. These ways are not related to a particular type of drone so that you can use any of these ways for different drones. A drone's propellers are one of the major contributors to the noise produced by the drone. When you can find a way to reduce the noise of a drone's propeller, you will succeed in making the drone quieter.
Use Noise Reduction Shrouds
Using noise reduction shrouds for your drone works perfectly fine. The shrouds absorb the noise of a drone as they contain nanofiber sound dampening materials. When you use noise reduction shrouds for your drone, the noise the drones produce is directed upwards and away from people. These shrouds do not only reduce a drone's noise and make them quieter; they also serve as protection for the drone's propellers. You can get different models of these shrouds to suit your drone's model.
Use Large, Slow Spinning Propellers
Drones with small propellers tend to produce more noise as they do not displace enough air with each turn. Using large propellers is another way to make drones quieter. This is because they produce enough air when operating; hence they do not need to move fast. If you are flying at 500 feet above sea level with a large propeller, the drone is likely to be silent. When you use a slow spinning propeller with your drone, the noise decibels produced are lower. Hence the sound frequency is reduced, so you are flying a quiet drone.
Other things you can do to make drones quieter include:
- Adjusting the propellers to make fewer noises
- Adjusting the drone's main rotors
- Using more motors for your drone
- Smoothen the surface of the propellers with sandpaper.
Final Thoughts
You must know that there are no silent drones in production yet, but with time, the technology to produce silent drones will be developed. However, for now, we have to make do with quiet drones. These drones are called quiet drones because they produce less noise in comparison to other drones. In the end, you can make a loud drone quiet, or you can purchase a quiet drone.
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.