Drones are getting more popular every day. The drone market is expected to quadruple in the next couple years, and has grown fast in the past couple years.
It’s already valued at over 13 billion, and is expected to increase at over 50% a year according to a study by grandviewresearch.
One great benefit of such a fast growing market for drones is that new, bigger, and better drones are being made every year!
Drones are delivering packages, carrying giant cameras, flying people around, and more!
Along with the big list of fun new features, some of these new drones pack a huge price tag. Here’s ten of the most expensive drones in the world that you could buy in 2022.
Most Expensive Manned Drones
EHang 184 Commercial Manned Drone
Coming in at $300,000 USD, the EHang 184 is a beast of a drone and the most expensive drone.
The EHang 184 drone was released in 2016 as a working prototype. It could hold one passenger, and has a flight time of 23 minutes, or about 10 miles.
Taxi or commercial transport is what this manned drone is targeting. It would be really hard to buy one, especially since they haven’t even released the full version to the public.
However, there’s another manned drone option that you could buy yourself, and fly around wherever you wanted!
Jetson ONE Personal Manned Drone
Jetson stepped up their game in the drone industry, releasing the Jetson ONE – a drone that you can buy for just $92,000, fly anywhere you want, and has even better specs than the EHang 184!
Being classified as an ultralight aircraft lets the Jetson ONE drone have the least regulations of any aircraft in the United States, even less than a camera drone!
Having such low regulations lets the pilot of the Jetson ONE drone truly experience the freedom of flight.
The Jetson ONE also has a very fast 63mph top speed, 20 minute flight time, and can be charged up in just an hour.
This personal manned drone is so special because anybody can buy their own. They’re completely sold out until the end of 2023 already, so if you want one make your move quick!
Most Expensive Camera Drones
Augmented Aerigon Drone
This drone is renown for being the best drone for specifically carrying heavy, movie-grade cameras. It comes in at $250,000 USD, which is the most expensive camera drone money can buy.
The Augmented Aerigon is often paired up with a Phanton Flex4K Camera or a RED camera, which by themselves are over $100,000.
Featuring 8 motors and a flight time of 7-15 minutes, this drone has the power and agility to fly at high speeds while maintaining control and stability.
FreeFly Alta 8
With a price tag of $20,000, the Alta 8 is a octacopter for carrying cameras up to 20lbs.
Some special features of the Alta 8 include the ability to be flown with a FPV setup, it’s folding arms for a smaller pack size.
What’s most special about this drone is that it can be unpacked and ready to fly in just 5 minutes, due to FreeFly’s quick-release mechanisms.
LanLan DJI S1000
The S100 can lift a camera weighing up to 22 pounds, and comes with DJI’s high definition video system.
Like the Alta-8, the arms fold in for easy transportation and fast deployment times, and the batteries are cheaper.
Coming in at a price of $5,000, the DJI S1000 is still an expensive drone, but one of the more reasonably-priced heavy camera carrying rigs we’ve seen.
DJI Inspire 2
The DJI Inspire 2 has been the industry standard of professional camera drones that can be controlled through an app.
The Inspire 2 base model can be bought for a price of $3,299 but if you want a fancier camera the Inspire 2 can be bought with a 5.2k-capable X7 camera for $9,399.
With a flight time of 27 minutes, this drone is great for longer shoots.
This drone is available to the public, and can be bought here on Amazon
Yuneec Tornado H920
The Yuneec Tornado H920 costs $1,000. It’s a great setup, but is missing some premium features.
The arms don’t fold down, so the Yuneec Tornado is hard to transport.
Weighing in at 11 pounds with six motors, this drone is optimized for flying with a Panasonic GH4 camera. It comes with a 7″ display, and comes ready to fly.
The Yuneec Tornado H920 is also available to the public, and can be bought here on Amazon
Most Expensive Work Drones
AEE F50
This drone is built specifically for police work, and costs an impressive $37,000.
It has a flight time of 40 minutes, and has an impressive range of over 10 miles.
The camera is one of the best available, and is often used for search and rescue missions.
MULTIROTOR Eagle
Designed specifically for heavy lifting, the MULTIROTOR Eagle doesn’t have much for range, but can fly for 30 minutes, lift 12 pounds, and costs $35,000.
There are a lot of different attachments for the MULTIROTOR Eagle, which is why it’s such a unique drone.
Lockheed Martin Indago 3
Tactical missions are what the Lockheed Martin drone excels at. It’s created specifically for the government and military, and costs $2,500.
Multiple cameras can be used on this drone, and even an infrared camera.
When the Lockheed Martin flies above you, it’s so quiet that it’s undetectable above 300 feet. It has an impressive flight time of over an hour.
Final Thoughts
The most expensive drone of 2022 award goes to the EHang 184, costing $300,000. My personal favorite manned drone is the Jetson ONE, it would be a blast to fly!
Most of these expensive drones are used for commercial purposes, like filming movies, search and rescue missions, or government work.
With the rising popularity of drones, the features that are seen in these expensive premium drones are coming slowly into drones that anybody can buy for a reasonable price!
Let us know in the comments what drone surprised you the most!