Can A Drone Lift A Phone?

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (or uncrewed aerial vehicle, commonly known as a drone and rarely as an uninhabited aerial vehicle or unoccupied aerial vehicle) is an aircraft without a human pilot on board and a type of unmanned vehicle. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS); which include a UAV, a ground-based controller, and a system of communications between the two. The flight of UAVs may operate with various degrees of autonomy: either under remote control by a human operator, autonomously by onboard computers  or piloted by an autonomous robot.

Compared to crewed aircraft, UAVs were originally used for missions too “dull, dirty or dangerous” for humans. While they originated mostly in military applications, their use is rapidly expanding to commercial, scientific, recreational, agricultural, and other applications, such as policing and surveillance, product deliveries, aerial photography, infrastructure inspections, smuggling, and drone racing. Civilian UAVs now vastly outnumber military UAVs, with estimates of over a million sold by 2015.

So can a drone lift a phone?

Although some tiny drones cannot lift a phone, all drones can lift a phone as long as the phone weighs less than the drone itself. Other drones can carry items that even weigh over 100 pounds. 

If you want to see the best drones for carrying a phone, you can find them by clicking here. 

If you would like to know more about a drone lifting a phone, you will want to keep reading this article. You can also check out this video if you do not like to read. 

History Of Drones

The earliest recorded use of an unmanned aerial vehicle for warfighting occurred in July 1849, serving as a balloon carrier (the precursor to the aircraft carrier) in the first offensive use of air power in naval aviation. Austrian forces besieging Venice attempted to launch some 200 incendiary balloons at the besieged city. The balloons were launched mainly from land; however, some were also launched from the Austrian ship SMS Vulcano. At least one bomb fell in the city; however, due to the wind changing after launch, most of the balloons missed their target, and some drifted back over Austrian lines and the launching ship Vulcano.

UAV innovations started in the early 1900s and originally focused on providing practice targets for training military personnel. UAV development continued during World War I, when the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company invented a pilotless aerial torpedo that would explode at a preset time.

Phone Lifting Drones

Several years ago, the first handheld cellular phone was the DynaTAC8000x by Motorola. It weighed 2 pounds. It offered 30  minutes of straight-talking per battery. Can you imagine how weird that is compared to the phones of today? Phones are so much better now. Thanks to the advancement of technology today we have phones that are a lot bigger, better faster and longer lasting as well as only weighing a few ounces! Why do I need to talk about phones when this article is about drones? Well, drones are usually smaller in size today, but they are still powerful.  Therefore, they can still carry a phone that weighs less than the drone weighs. Luckily, this generation has made phones that do not weigh much.

Here are a few drones that can carry a phone without any issues

Yuneec Tornado H920 Plus

This is a drone that can fly for about 24 minutes with an altitude of about 2.5 miles above sea level. However, it can only fly about .50 a mile from the ground. It rotates at a speed of 100 rotations per second. It can be operated using an android system. Its flight time is thanks to its battery with 8700 mAh Lithium-Ion 1S. With its whole package, it weighs 44.6 pounds. But what the most important feature about this drone is, it can carry a phone that weighs 3.5 pounds or lower. Even at this payload, it has a maximum speed of 50 mph.

DJI Matrice 100

It weighs from 10-11 pounds depending on what battery is used. Its battery is an Intelligent Flight Battery with a capacity of 5700 mAh. In terms of its performance, it can be tilted up to a 35-degree angle. Its ascending speed is around 11 miles per hour while ascending is 10 miles per hour. Its maximum speed while flying is 49 miles per hour, that is if there is no payload and no wind. This drone can carry 6.5 pounds at maximum. However, of course you do not want to overuse this toy. At a 1 pound payload, it can hover around 17 minutes while with a 2 pound payload is around 13 minutes. So now, we can imagine if it’s our phone. It may be hovering for more than 15 minutes. This drone will cost you nearly $3000

DJI S900

Their propellers are made out of plastics that are foldable. Its total weight with the battery and propeller is just  7.3 pounds. Its battery should be a Lithium Polymer Battery with 10,000 to 15000 mAh. It can hover for 18 minutes given that the battery used is at 12,000 mAh. It can carry a maximum payload of 10.8 pounds. It has a maximum range of 3.11 miles.

DJI Matrice 600

This drone is quite heavy, for it weighs around 21 pounds. Its maximum takeoff weight is around 33 pounds. You will need 6 Intelligent Flight Batteries. Each battery has a capacity of 5700 mAh. It can fly as high as 1.5 miles above sea level at a speed of 18 mph given that there is no wind occurring. The most important part is that it can carry more than the weight of a phone. It has a maximum payload capacity of 132 pounds but can only hover for 16 minutes. Without its payload, it can hover for 30 to 35 minutes. It is unique because its battery is built-in.

DJI S1000

It only weighs 9.25 pounds and it can fly for up to 15 minutes. Just like the previous drones from DJI innovation, the design is not that super impressive. However, it can carry your phone even if it weighs up to 15 pounds. It has carbon fiber frames that are retractable. What is the true asset of this drone is it has a payload capacity that is much better than the S900 and the S600. Completing this drone with accessories and others, you’ll be needing at least 5,000 dollars but for the drone itself, it will only cost you around 1,200 dollars.

Conclusion

Now that you know about all the different drones that can carry a phone, you can see that most drones can carry a phone. Because most drones have a camera built in, they no longer need a drone that can carry a phone.

If you are looking for a drone that can carry items or a phone, you can purchase any of the drones listed above.

These drones are very powerful and can carry anywhere from a couple of pounds all the way up to nearly 100 pounds! No matter what drone you purchase to carry a phone or other items, you will want to make sure you learn how to use it properly as these drones are normally very expensive.