Today, thanks to various flight assistance systems, drones can virtually fly on their own and shoot amazing aerial footage. And all you have to do is push the button (or touch the screen), choose the mode you want, and let the drone do all the work! Some would say that these highly sophisticated models are taking the fun out of the hobby, but we say that they are just opening new horizons. Today we’ll focus our attention on drones that support the ‘Follow me’ Mode. This feature allows you to let the drone “Lock on you” and, for example, go down the mountain on your snowboard, while the drone follows you and films with you in the shot, all the time. The great thing about follow me drone mode is that you can choose if you want the drone to literally follow you and film behind you, to fly in front of you while you do whatever it is you’re doing, to fly on your sides (either left or right), or to circle around you while you run, ride a bike or anything else. Also, you can choose the distance between you and the drone which will be kept at all times.
So, these drones are amazing at creating adrenaline pumped sports videos like snowboarding, surfing, downhill mountain biking, skateboarding, and so on. Another great thing that these features provide, if you plan on shooting your own stunts, is the ability to pack your flight controller in the backpack and let the drone do all the flying and filming on its own. Or, with some models, you get an additional, watch-like controller, that only has a few buttons that allow you to simply switch between modes during the action.
Before you follow us into the best models reviews, we wanted to recommend an article about follow me drones, where you can get familiar with some of the models that we didn’t include in our article, and that are maybe a bit more budget friendly.
Now, it’s time for the best models on the today’s market. Enjoy!
TOP 5 DRONES THAT FOLLOW YOU
3DR Solo
One of the most popular models among adrenaline junkies is the 3DR Solo drone. The thing that keeps it above the other models, is the max speed it can achieve (55mph!). Also, it is one of the first smart and best follow me drone models on the market, offering an open source flight controller that allows adding your own codes and customizing its performance to your fitting.
The flight time of this model is around 25 minutes, which is basically the standard for high-end drones. As for the controller, it comes with a rather slick design, with only the basic buttons and control sticks. The magic starts when you add a smartphone with the installed 3DR app, where you can choose the flight and filming modes. Speaking of follow me drone mode, this is where this model shines. You can virtually let the drone have an autonomous flight, as well as the let it control the movement of the camera with its 3-axis gimbal, with its Follow Me, and Circle Around modes, and sit down and enjoy the show.
You can also choose the Cable flight mode, where the drone flies in a straight line from point A to point B, at a preset height and speed, which can actually be changed during the flight if you want to. This allows you to focus on the filming without worrying about the flight.
The only downside of the Solo drone is that it doesn’t come with a camera drone, but you have to buy a GoPro separately. But, with all it has to offer, this isn’t much of a deal breaker.
DJI Phantom 4
The king of the Phantoms, the P4! This is a highly sophisticated aerial filming platform that allows you to capture breathtaking 4K at 60fps footage. However, not only that you can have crystal clear videos, but, like with the Solo model, you will also be able to set it on autonomous flights, to record whatever you are doing at the moment, without worrying that it might hit something along the way, thanks to its Sensors and Avoidance systems (5-direction obstacle avoidance), something that the 3DR Solo lacks. The flight time is pretty much the standard, between 25 and 30 minutes, and the controller is nicely designed with minimal buttons, letting you choose all the modes and features through the app.
Now, when it comes to intelligent flight modes, you can choose the standard Circle Around, or you can simply tap on the screen where you want it to go, and it will go there and avoid any obstacles along the way. As for the follow me drone mode, in P4s case, it’s called the ActiveTrack. This means that you only have to highlight the subject you want to follow (yourself, for example) and the drone will effortlessly follow who or whatever you chose, with active collision avoidance.
There are more modes that are quite interesting, like the Sport mode, where the drone takes nearly a 45-degree angle to achieve the maximum speed of 45mph, but this mode requires manual flight control.
The only downside of this model is perhaps the price, but hey, for what it offers, we believe that the price is worth it.
AirDog Auto Follow me drone
This “I will follow you everywhere, no matter what” drone is a model designed to make the process of filming yourself easier than ever. The company that is behind this model is claiming that the Airdog drone is meant for action sport videos and that it can provide much better angles than the standard helmet-cam. This is actually true, but for a complete WOW video, you should also use action cams located on you and on your vehicle of choice.
This drone works by following the AirLeash signal, which you can wear on your wrist. This is the Smart Watch looking type of a drone controller we were talking about earlier, and it has a range of 300 meters, which is more than enough for a breathtaking video. In order to keep you in the shot all the time, the drone is constantly doing calculations and corrects its path.
A great thing is that the drone comes with 6 different Follow me modes, plus the circle and a few more, which you can choose through the AirLeash or the Android or iOS app. All in all, if you are looking for a drone that will take care of both flying and filming while you are free to enjoy your activity, the AirDog is definitely one of the best choices. However, you will have to buy a GoPro cam separately for follow me drone function.
DJI Mavic Pro Drone
The newest model from DJI is action-sports oriented more than any of their previous models. The design itself is made in a way that the drone is super-portable and can be folded down to a size that allows you to carry it with you in a backpack without worrying that it will get damaged along the way.
Source; Casey Neistat Youtube video
Besides its small size and portability, the drone comes packed with more features than any other drone on the today’s market. Furthermore, the drone comes with a 4K camera in the front, which is stabilized by a superb 3-axis gimbal, which makes digital stabilization needless, thus you get the full quality of the footage. As this wasn’t enough, DJI added their famous ActiveTrack and Optical Flow software, allowing the Mavic to lock on objects (or whatever you want) and even avoid any obstacle along the way by only using the camera. Neat, right?
The drone is reasonably priced, so for those who are looking a great follow me drone, the Mavic might actually be the best choice at the moment.
Yuneec Q500+ Typhoon
Another model from the Follow Me class, is the Yuneec’s Q500+ Typhoon model. Besides the great design and systems that allow it to be unbelievably stable and reliable, the drone comes with a camera that delivers Full HD at 60fps video and 16MP still images. Furthermore, alongside the standard intelligent modes like Circle Around and Point of Interest, the drone also comes with our desired mode, the follow me drone mode, which is quite precise and keeps you in the center of the frame all the time. But, we already knew that it has a follow me mode so why is this model worthy of our article? Well, what you won’t get with other mentioned models, is a handheld gimbal that allows you to get some new perspective in your action-sports videos with the drone’s camera.
Also worth mentioning is that the drone comes with an aluminum case, a pair of batteries and a charger, two sets of propellers, an ST10+ ground station for a much longer FPV range, and a bonus 32 micro SD card.
Overall, a great model for those who want to save some of their budget for things like extra batteries or spare parts.
Wrapping It Up
So, now that you know which Follow Me drone models are the best on the market, all you have to do is pick one and start shooting Pro Action-Filled Videos. But before you click on the “Buy” button, we suggest thinking about why you need the follow me feature, and if you plan on filming other people doing crazy acrobatics or yourself. This will help you in making the right choice. Happy flying folks, and let the drone be on your tail all the time!
