If you are trying to get into the droning world and are looking for a drone that does not need a smartphone in order for you to fly it, then I’ve got all the information you’ll need!
Most drone controllers are reliant on smartphones as a display, although it is not necessary. There are drones with built-in screens that allow you to fly the drone without a smartphone. Drones such as:
| Drone Name: | Range: | Flight Time: | Price: | Purchasing Link: | |
| 1. | Phantom 4 Pro | 4 miles | 30 minutes | $1,200 | VIEW |
| 2. | Autel EVO | 4 miles | 30 minutes | $1,050 | VIEW |
| 3. | Hubsan H501S | 984 feet | 20 minutes | $150 | VIEW |
| 4. | Potensic U36D | 328 feet | 10 minutes | $200 | VIEW |
| 5. | HStone F181F | 328 feet | 10 minutes | $120 | VIEW |
01. Phantom 4 Pro
The DJI Phantom 4 Pro is the leading drone in the DJI series and one of the most popular consumer drones. This comes as no surprise as the DJI drones basically put drones on the mainstream map.
Camera Quality. The Phantom 4 Pro has a 4k, 12MP camera that is attached to a Gimbal.
Flight time. This amazing drone with its iconic quadcopter design has a flight time of around 30 minutes with a range of 7km.
Cost. At a cost price of just over $1000, it is still a great drone to buy as it still has the leading stats compared to other drones that do not need smartphones for the controllers.
02. Autel EVO
The EVO by Autel drones is a compact folding drone designed by the company to go wherever you want it to go.
Camera Quality. The Autel EVO has a powerful 4k resolution camera that records video at 60 frames per second and a recording speed of about 100mbps. Using glass optics, it captures amazing photos at 12 megapixels with a wide dynamic range.
Flight time. The EVO has a flight time of around 30 minutes as well as rear obstacle detection and bottom sensors to help the drone with an accurate landing.
Control. The EVO has a 3.3-inch OLED screen on the remote controller which will provide the pilot with important flight information or a 720p live HD video feed so the pilot can see the camera feed without the need for a smartphone.
03. Hubsan H501S
The Hubsan company is a great company with some great choices when it comes to drones. They make drones of all shapes and sizes. The Hubsan H501S was one of the first drones by the company to be GPS enabled and offer a 1080p camera.
Being part of the toy drone market, this was a huge step for the Hubsan company. While the earlier drones from the company did not have the tools for navigation and object avoidance and in fact did not even have flight assistance.
Hover Ability. With the release of the H501S, all these features are now present and it even has the ability to hover in place and the drone pilot is able to set a GPS controlled route.
Flight Capabilities. This drone has a flight time of 20 minutes and can fly at a max speed of 45mph. Sadly it only has a range of 300 meters but it is still an amazing drone for beginners with a great price tag.
04. Potensic U36D
If you are looking for a drone that has very impressive frequency signals and a built-in camera, then look no further. With a 5.8GHz frequency signal, the Potensic U36D has all that and more for a very low price tag of $200.
This drone is perfect for new drone pilots looking to get into the hobby of droning but do not want to spend a lot of money quite yet.
Controller. The Potensic U36D has no need for a smartphone as a display screen as it has a built-in screen display.
Design. The U36D is perfect for any beginner as it has built-in propeller guards to act as shock absorbers, this can help with new pilots as they tend to crash their drones a lot. These propeller guards will protect the propeller blades from breaking on impact.
Camera Quality. The Potensic U36D has a built-in 720P HD camera that offers high-quality aerial images and videos. It also has a flight time of 10 minutes and a range of 100 meters which does not seem like much but for the price of $200 it is what you pay for.
05. HStone F181F
The Holly Stone F181F is a big contender from the Holly Stone drone company from China. This drone has become quite popular in recent times and was actually the drone that introduced the Holly Stone company to the Western market.
Design. Being a very portable drone but still boasting some amazing capabilities. This is a big bonus considering it has a price tag of $120 but compared to its more expensive counterparts, the stats might not seem all too impressive.
Range and Flight Time. You need to fly this drone close to you as it only has a range of 100 meters and a flight time of around 10 minutes.
Camera Quality. It also includes a 2MP camera that is able to record videos and also take photos with 720p resolution.
Even though these stats might be low in comparison to a Phantom 4 pro for example, but for the price it is a steal.
Why Drones Need a Display Screen
This is a big question among new drone pilots. Pilots often wonder why drones need a display or what a screen is used for exactly?
Well, this largely depends on the type of drone you have but generally, the drones controller display is used for telemetry and for the display of basic flight information.
Besides these two functions, another feature of the on-screen displays is the FPV or first-person view. This feature is amazing because it essentially allows the drone pilot to receive a live feed directly from the drone’s camera without sacrificing the things you usually would such as image quality.
This feature works really well when pairing it with the abilities of VR headsets and FPV headsets. This is used primarily in the sport of drone racing by RC plane pilots. There is no need for a smartphone in order to have a display for the drone you are flying because all the visuals are displayed through the headset.
To help make things easier for a lot of new drone pilots, most of the companies try and make their remote controls very simple. Many of the toy drone class controllers do nothing more than the standard up, down, left and right.
In fact, the more functionality that is given to a drone remote, the more complicated it is to operate the drone. the more complicated drones have all sort of buttons and knobs all over them to provide extra functionality.
Final Thoughts
So the drones I named above are the best drones to get if you want to be able to fly a drone without the need of using your smartphone. There is a wide range of these drones from the Phantom 4 Pro and Autel EVO all the way to the Potensic U36D and HStone F181F.
All of them have different specs and price tags which will have a big impact on which one you choose, but no matter which one you do choose I guarantee you will have fun flying any of them.
The Phantom 4 is my favorite out of them and is known for putting the drone hobby on to the radar of mainstream media but sadly it has been discontinued. The Autel EVO is still a very close contender and it is smaller so it’s more portable.
It doesn’t matter which one you end up choosing just remember to keep your eyes on your drone and have fun when flying!