New drones are coming! CES 2019 kicks off officially on January 8th, but we’re elbow deep in pre-briefs and meetings already. Brands like UVify and GDU have big news for us, other brands are coming to the show in other big ways, and the full drone experience on the show floor is destined to be a full week of walking to see it all.
We normally do not see many official drone launches at CES, but 2019 is destined to change that a little. We’re super excited to see at least two brand new drones, several iterative updates to existing drones and plenty of accessories to enhance your flights.
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Best drones of CES 2019
We are specifically heading to CES 2019 to find the very best drones and drone technology around. We have six categories we’ll be lumping all drones into, from which we’ll choose one winner in each group.
Feel free to share your thoughts as we go, we’ll be looking for the best camera drone, commercial drone, drone accessory, racing drone, submersible and toy-class drone.
We’ll share the winners before the week is out.
Related reading: Best drones of CES 2018
More than drones
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UVify
Racing drone enthusiasts and folks with commercial drone business ambitions are in for a treat, UVify has new drones for you. We’ve already talked about the new UVify Draco-4×4 monster racing drone, as well as the business potential of the IFO, a flying light bulb for drone swarm light shows.
Keeping it brief, the Draco-4×4 is a sixteen motor racing drone, designed in partnership with the DR1 Racing league. This powerful machine looks like a blast to fly, which we’ll experience on the show floor at CES.
The UVify IFO is the home-version of the Intel Shooting Star business. How it works, if you work with Intel for a drone light show, you commission them for a presentation, they handle almost all of the things to make it happen. With IFO, you contract out 20 or more IFO drones from Uvify, then you play the part of Intel to host a light show for others.
While the IFO drone itself is a precise flying quad with a huge LED light on the bottom, it is one of the most advanced connected drones around. GPS precision is a must for drone swarms, and the IFO program starts you off with at least twenty machines for your presentation.
Again, stay tuned for more info and some imagery from our hands-on experience at CES.
GDU
We have news coming for you from GDU. I can tell you there is more than one new drone to be announced, but, sorry to say, we’re under embargo until show time, we can’t say more. Stay tuned.
Submersibles
More than any type of drone, the PR emails we received leading into CES 2019 were for submersible drones. Remote controlled submarines. I know, this is not a new segment of the market, many of the same vendors and drones from CES 2018 will be back for more this year, and many more as well.
PowerVision may be the first submersible you think of, but they are just a small part of the experience on the show floor this year. Stay tuned for plenty more drone coverage coming soon.
Other expectations
We’ll be visiting AEE on the floor, they always have something new to talk about. Don’t forget about their ~$100 Selfly camera case drone, that was fun last year and could be again this year.
DJI is not expected to launch any new consumer drones like we like to fly at home, but there is rumor of possible release of long expected commercial drone remotes. That was a mouthful. It’s maybe time for some new accessories for the Ronin-S and Osmo Pocket. It may be early for a new Zenmuse camera, but there is room for new cameras and accessories for the Mavic 2 Enterprise.
In the end, we’ll be spending a fair amount of time with DJI, but if you are up on all the latest DJI news, our discussion with them to talk about drone laws may be what you want to see. That’s later in the week.
Yuneec has been recognized for the Mantis Q. They have been awarded 2019 CES Innovation Awards Honoree for the fun little quadcopter.
We will be sitting with Yuneec, of course, and we are truly hoping to be surprised by the announcement of a Mantis Q 2, or pro, whatever they name it, we want a stabilized camera. We also support new camera options for the Typhoon line, and maybe a price drop on the Typhoon H Plus, but we don’t have any confirmation on any new drones, sorry.
Wrap up
There is so much to do and see at CES 2018. Truth is, we won’t be able to visit each and every vendor on the floor, but we’ll absolutely be walking the halls to see them all, at least in passing. There are dozens of vendors on the show floor, many with flight cages, so stay tuned for our fun drone round videos and more from the show floor.
What’s next?
We’ve got all the Best drones here, or check out our master Drone Rush drones list!
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