DJI Phantom Accessories: Worthy Additions to One of The Best Quadcopters in The Market

It’s no doubt that The DJI Phantom is one of the best drones to enter the market due to its great performance, decent battery life and just a ton of third-party accessories available. But as with many third-party accessories, there might be many parts that don’t live up to their claim, aren’t durable enough, or just won’t work. It is important to find out which accessories the DJI Phantom support without messing with anything important in the drone’s basic structure.

Thus, even if you are looking for a product or an accessory that is different from the list below, it’s important to stay away from scams. Hence, terms like “10000 mAh battery” or “super speedy propellers” are off the table, mainly because this is the kind of insane marketing done by manufacturers of faulty products. Nevertheless, we still have a bunch of genuine and supported accessories for the DJI Phantom drone. Let’s take a look below for the bets 5 additions.

Top 5 best accessories for DJI Phantom drones

DJI Phantom 3 Intelligent Flight Battery

It goes without saying that drones in general, are infamous for their limited battery life, providing only 15 to 20 minutes of maximum flight time on a 3000 mAh battery (this usually varies from drone to drone). This is due to the extreme amount of energy that the propellers and the engines have to use in order to levitate in the air.

For now, the only way to get a higher flight time out of a single charge is to go for a higher capacity battery and the DJI Phantom 3 Intelligent Flight Battery is exactly what the name suggests. It is an intelligent flight battery that calibrates itself and provides a balanced charging among all the 3 DJI Phantom quadcopter models (Standard, Advanced, and Professional). At 4,480 mAh capacity, it will provide more than 20 minutes of flight time. For a better insight on this model series, we suggest checking out our article about the DJI Phantom 3, your flying camera.

The battery has indicators that display the health of the battery and the charge left on it, which can be handy. Completely charging the battery take around 100 minutes on a 57W charger, and 60 minutes on a 100W charger. Since the battery needs 30 minutes to cool down after a flight anyway, it’s recommended to buy 2 of these and use one while charging the other during your long flight sessions.

Priced from around $150 to up to $200, it’s not the cheapest battery in the world, but we’d still recommend it simply because it doesn’t damage your quadcopter and works without any issues.

 

DJI Part 2 Propeller Guard

Let’s face it, if you are a beginner, you have definitely crashed a quadcopter at least once before learning how to fly; and this is completely fine. However, what isn’t fine, is the fact that propellers get damaged quite quickly when you crash it on the ground. Since they are the thinnest and fragile component among the entire quadcopter, it’s obvious that they can suffer from a lot of dents and cracks.

That’s why there are many beginner-friendly propeller guards out there, which go around the propeller to make sure that even when the quad crashes, the propellers survive to go for another flight.

The DJI Company has also included a safety cord in the package to prevent objects from entering the spaces between the guards. This one is safe for 9 inch propellers so we’d recommend that, if you are using any aftermarket propellers on your DJI Phantom quadcopter, make sure they are 9 inch in size or change the propellers to the factory ones.

The only downside to these guards is that they interfere a lot with the video/photo when recording/capturing so it’s best to take them off if you are looking to capture some footage or a take a great scenic picture.

If you like this product you can find and check its price on Amazon.

Carbon Reinforced Propellers

Even though drone enthusiasts and professionals rarely crash their drones, there are times when the drone refuses to respond due to a connection problem, the battery dies out, or just plain bad luck. This can lead to propeller damage and since most drone enthusiasts wouldn’t bother buying drone guards, having a set of replacement propellers or buying one after the stock ones are damaged is recommended.

Since these are made of reinforced carbon, you can expect a decent amount of durability. The strict quality system and precise manufacturing process (as stated by many users) lead to a pair of propellers that are just as good as the original set.

One thing to note is that the propellers are available only for DJI Phantom 2, 3 and Flame quadcopters with E310 / E305 / E300 tuned propulsion systems so any other drone is out of the question.

Many users have reported a better performance out of these propellers in terms of responsiveness and flight stability. The only downside to this product is that the cost is a bit higher at approximately $35, but still is a solid buy for what you pay. After all, the manufacturing materials and accuracy is so good that it almost seems like nitpicking to state a negative here.

Like this amazing product? Then you can buy it from Amazon.

ND16 Filter

Even though the camera on the DJI Phantom is very nice, there are times when you just strive to get the perfect shot and the photo just looks overexposed. Any photographer who has done some drone photo and videography must know the frustration of not being able to take a great photo because the camera lens on the drones can’t to filter light.

The ND16 filter is made for that exact purpose. It allows 1/16th of the incoming light to pass through the camera, making your photos look sharp and beautiful. This is equivalent to 4-stop filter length, which makes this lens a dream come true for drone photographers.

The lens also allows you to have better control over the camera’s aperture, sensor sensitivity and exposure time. It goes without saying that if you are not too deep into drone photo/videography, then the ND16 filter isn’t the accessory for you. The stock filter is just enough and takes good photos, but the ND16 just makes it better. Priced at about $30, it will seem like a rip-off, but it isn’t.

One more thing to note is that this isn’t an addition to the camera on the DJI Phantom drone. You actually have to replace the lens on the drone with this one.

If you think that this product could be useful for you, then you can buy it from Amazon.

Carrying case

Even though the DJI Phantom 3 drone is a quadcopter which you can easily put in a backpack, it’s best to have a decent carrying case so that you don’t accidentally damage any of the components. That happens more often than you might think; simply because our bags contain a lot more stuff than just the drone itself.

Laptop, headphones, books, other accessories can bump into the quadcopter and do some damage. Sure, spending $100 on a carrying case like the one we mentioned does sound expensive. However, we still say it’s worth it; mainly because you’re getting what you paid for: security.

First off, it supports all the 3 variants of the DJI Phantom 3 drones (Standard, Advanced and Professional), and has neat cutouts on a foam material. The cutouts are made in a way that you can fit in the drone, its accessories (such as propeller guard) and 4 more batteries into the case. This is really nice since you don’t have to fumble in your backpack every time you need that extra battery. It’s durable as well, taking all the damage while keeping the drone and its accessories safe, all within a slick black color package that looks just amazing.

Like this amazing product? Then you can buy it on Amazon.

Which accessory do you need?

This question has been asked by many people regarding any product out there. And the answer to it is really simple. You must take a look at the available options and know what you can actually make use of. However, don’t forget to consider your budget as well. But if you still cannot figure it out, the 5 types of accessories we just mentioned should get you covered.

The intelligent flight battery is obviously for someone who wants to get the most out of their quadcopter and a longer flight session. Sure, it won’t directly reflect the amount of the flight time when compared to the stock battery in terms of capacity, but it is still a decent increment. Since it costs quite a bit (about $150) we wouldn’t exactly give it a thumb up if you’re on a budget. Having another stock battery would be much more suitable in this case since it costs lesser but still, provides you with a good ‘price to performance’ ratio. If you want to get more familiar with how to choose the right battery for your drone, we suggest checking out our article about drone batteries.

Next is the propeller guard. This accessory is recommended for everyone, especially considering the fact that you can think about it as buying a case for your smartphone. We know; it’s not really a fair comparison, but the fact that it protects your propellers from damage at just about $10 is very cheap. It does interfere with the camera, but even the experts can take advantage of the extra protection when they are flying the drone in a cluttered area and not doing any photo/videography on it.

As far as carbon reinforced propeller goes, we all know that propellers are mainly associated with flight performance and stability and have minimal impact on battery life. The increased stability makes it feasible for beginners who want a more balanced flight and for enthusiasts who would prefer the durability of carbon fiber and its slight, yet appreciable impact on the flight speed. At about $35, it isn’t the cheapest thing in the world, but if you can afford it and actually would prefer a bit more balanced flight, then it isn’t a bad deal.

The ND16 Filter, as we mentioned earlier, is actually a great fit for someone who strives to get that perfect photo, capturing every detail and taking multiple shots to make sure that the picture comes out perfect. But, for a regular person who just wants to take a few drone selfies or some pictures to show it to their friends, the stock camera is more than capable of pulling it off without any hiccups.

At about $30, it would seem like a fair deal to some (even those who aren’t familiar with photography). However, if you ask us, it’s not worth the hassle and as a regular drone pilot, you’re better off without it.

Coming to a conclusion on whether or not you should buy the carrying case mentioned can actually be pretty difficult, because it goes both ways. You can pay about $100 for it and we’d say that it was worth it, or you can save some money and we’d still say that it was a wise decision. This is because even though the case has a price point at which you can pretty much buy another quadcopter, the security it offers is a great plus point to consider.

Since it is made for the DJI products, you can really make use of the carrying case with each type of drone from the family. So if you’re the proud owner of a DJI Phantom 3, which isn’t a cheap drone, this case might be a fantastic acquisition.

So it’s either paying $100 and getting extra security, or saving $100 and being a little more careful with it. Either way, we’d say great choice!

In the end, we feel you have to know that even buying accessories has its own set of pros and cons. We may sound like broken records, but there is a positive and negative side to almost everything, and accessories for a $600 quadcopter aren’t an exception either. Let’s have a look:

Pros:

• The functionality of the device is increased (better performance, better battery life, and more);
• Using the drone becomes a more pleasurable experience;
• Most of the parts are really cheap.

Cons:

• The overall cost of the drone increases
• Research is required in order to find out which product you should buy

In a nutshell, these accessories are totally worth it if you have the money. However, if you did just pay more than $600 to buy a drone like the DJI Phantom 3, which is already a great quadcopter, it’s good to save the money. As we mentioned earlier, great choice either way!