12 Drones That Can Return To Home Automatically

In the sea of extra features that today’s drones come with, one of the most important ones (safety-wise) is surely the return to home function AKA one key return. This function is quite common in modern drones, but there are still entry level ones that don’t have it. Today, we’ll find out what’s the best drone with return home function. If you are buying a drone without this function, keep in mind that its safety might be on the line because, if you happen to lose track of it and the connection breaks, you might have a whole heap of trouble finding your precious drone again. Believe me, this happens way more than we’d like to admit, so for the sake of not losing your drone, here’s a list of top 10 drones with return home function (aka “return to home drones”).

Name	Image	Flight time	Control range	Price
UDI 818A		8 minutes	60 meters	Show me!
HS110W		7 minutes	100 meters	Show me!
Falcon		8 minutes	80 meters	Show me!
CHEERSON CX-20		15 minutes	500 meters	Show me!
UPAIR ONE		18 minutes	800 meters	Show me!
AP10 PRO		23 minutes	500 meters	Show me!
HUBSAN H109S		28 minutes	1000 meters	Show me!
XIRO XP. V		22 minutes	1000 meters	Show me!
3DR SOLO		23 minutes	500 meters	Show me!
BLADE CHROMA		25 minutes	400 meters	Show me!
TYPHOON H		23 minutes	1000 meters	Show me!
DJI Phantom 4		26 minutes	2000 meters	Show me!

Under $200

UDI 818A HD

UDI-818A-HD

First drone with return home function on our list is UDI 818A HD. This is a fairly good entry level drone equipped with 2 awesome features that we rarely see at this price range. It has headless mode along with one key home return function. As you can tell by their names, both of these functions are designed for beginner pilots and come in quite handy more often than not. When it comes to the camera, the UDI 818A sports a 720p HD built in camera capable of shooting 720p at 30 frames per second. This is, by no means, a top quality camera, but for this price you can’t expect to get a better one. In addition to all of the things mentioned above, you will get 2 extra batteries included in the packaging so you’ll get a total flight time of cca 25 minutes if you switch through all of them.

 

Holy Stone HS110W

Holy-Stone-HS110W

Holy Stone’s newest model is another drone with auto return, it also sports a 720p HD camera, but it has a huge plus over the previous one. It is capable of providing you with live feed via your smartphone. You simply attach your smartphone to the controller, connect it to your drone and you’re good to go. Other than that, this bad boy also has altitude hold function, gravity sensors, headless mode and one key home return. All things considered, this is a small upgrade over the previous model featured above (a couple of extra functions and the smartphone powered FPV mode), thus it’s being priced at just a couple of bucks higher.

 

Helizone FPV Drone

Helizone-FPV-Drone

This is an exceptionally looking drone with auto return function equipped with plenty of additional features than the previous 2 drones that were featured in this list. The Helizone FPV Drone is also equipped with an FPV capable HD camera (works via smartphones just like the previous model) and has all the standard features that were seen on the first two. But, in addition to those, Helizone’s drone also has anti shock protection, one key 3D flips and rolls and throttle limit mode for an extra bit of safety for first time pilots. When we take all these features into consideration, it is safe to say that Helizone’s drone is one hell of a bargain.

 

$200 to $400

Cheerson CX-20

Cheerson CX-20

CX-20 is another drone with home button on our list. Cheerson is one of the most known budget drone manufacturers. Every now and then, they release a new model that sweeps the market by storm due to its quality and, above all, extremely competitive price. Nothing different cannot be said about CX20 which is a rather small but still quite attractive drone with great specifications and features to back it up. Unfortunately, it does not come with a camera by default but compensates for it with a mount that is included in the package. With a flight range of up to 300 meters and approximate flight duration of around 15 minutes, the CX20 might be the right drone for you if you already own a quality action camera.

 

Upair One

Upair One

This bad boy comes with a fully-fledged 2K camera capable of recording amazing aerial footage. Another thing that will amaze you is its sleek looking controller that comes with a huge 7 inch LED screen for FPV live feed. Its equipped with all the standard features such as one key return to home, headless mode, failsafe auto return (in case your battery drops dangerously low your drone will hurry back to ground to avoid any potential fall damage) and GPS systems that will allow better positioning. Of course, it’s drone with home button. When it comes to the specifications, you will be happy to find out that it can reach up to 300 meters without any lags (with the live video feed running) and can last up to 18 minutes on a single charge. Those are quite good specifications for a mid-tier drone, and we just had to include in our return to home drone list. Don’t you agree?

 

AP10 Pro

AP10-Pro

AEE Tech has made yet another awesome drone. Their AP10 Pro is surely going to make quite a name for itself on the market due to the fact it’s packed with quality features accompanied by an excellent overall build quality. It sports a full HD camera capable of recording aerial footage in 60 frames per second. Combine this with an awesome range of up to 500 meters and cca 25 minutes of flight time and you got yourself quite the aerial video platform for $400. It’s also important to add that it sports a lot of extra functions such as dedicated GPS systems for better stability and automatic position hold, semi-autonomous flight, one key return to home and failsafe auto return. When we take all those things mentioned above into considerations it becomes quite clear that AEE Tech did their job with this model… and they did it good!

 

$400 to $600

Hubsan H109S X4 Pro

Hubsan-H109S-X4-Pro

This beast of a drone will set you back for just over $400 but it has everything you’ll need for an awesome flying experience. It is packed with a full HD camera mounted on 1-axis gimbal for ultimate recording stability. It’s a 4 channel device that connects to a 2.4Ghz transmitter (included in the package). H109S X4 Pro supports FPV and transmits the live feed via separate 5.8Ghz frequency which annihilates interference issues that are commonly seen on devices which use 2.4 Ghz for both drone controllers and FPV transmitters. Additionally, this bad boy supports headless mode, altitude hold, automatic return and follow me function that come in handy not only to first time but to more experienced pilots as well.

 

XIRO Xplorer V

Xiro Xplorer

When it comes to looks, it doesn’t get much better than Xplorer Aerial V. It’s a beautiful, bulky, black drone with green finishing touches that is equipped with a full HD, FPV capable camera mounted on a 3-axis gimbal. There is no doubt that it can produce extraordinary aerial shots with just a few button presses. When it comes to the features, Xplorer Aerial V is equipped with follow me, circle around me, return to base and failsafe auto home return… All of which are useful in different scenarios of various activities. It also comes with a range extender that is able to increase the default 500 meters range significantly. All things considered, Xplorer Aerial V is a big improvement over its predecessor which sports the G Version mark in its name.

 

$600 to $1000

3DR Solo

3DR Solo

This bundle will set you back for almost $900 but it’s a real bargain considering the fact it comes with a bunch of extra accessories that would cost a ton of money if bought separately. When it comes to the drone itself, it does not come with an action camera, but it does have a 3-axis motorized gimbal compatible with GoPros. Additionally, this bundle includes an extra battery, propeller set, 32GB micro SDHC card, controller with a huge LED FPV monitor and a whole heap of other stuff that might come in handy eventually. All things considered, 3DR Solo is becoming one of the best-selling drones in its price range, and when you take into consideration all those things I mentioned above, this comes as no surprise!

 

BLADE Chroma

Blade Chroma

Even though the standard BLADE Chroma version has a much lower price tag, this one comes with a top notch CGO3 4K camera along with an ST-10+ transmitter for the ultimate flying (and shooting) experience. With its stabilized gimbal, the new Chroma is able to capture smooth and steady aerial footage in crisp clear 4K resolution. You won’t notice any distortion on the wide angle camera lens because it’s made to eliminate fisheye effect. Among other things, it is important to add that Chroma can last up to half an hour in air on a single full charge. That’s not bad when u take into consideration that it’s able to record 4K video during this time.

 

Over $1000

Yuneec Typhoon H

yuneec-typhoon-h

If you don’t want to agree on any sort of compromise when it comes to buying drones, then this one might be just the right drone for you. The Yuneec Typhoon H is a unique looking hexacopter (yup, this one has 6 propellers while all others featured in this list have 4) sporting a 4K UHD action camera that is bound to make AMAZING aerial footage. It is mounted on a 360 degree gimbal that annihilates all vibration and stuttering in order to provide you with a smooth video time in and time out. When it comes to special features this bad boy has, it’s important to mention its collision avoidance systems that will prevent crashes and keep your drone as safe as it can be. Another surprising thing about this drone is the fact that its beginner friendly, which is quite a rare occurrence in this price range. Its flight is automatically stabilized with the help of its GPS system and 8 smart flight modes including auto home return, auto takeoff, auto land and many more.

 

DJI Phantom 4

DJI-Phantom-4

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I am afraid that you’ve all come to the last drone in this list… But don’t be sad because it is the best (and most expensive of course) drone that is currently available on the market… and that has the one key return to home function. DJI, the most known drone manufacturer in the world has been making a lot of new drones recently, but not one of them stands out of the crowd as much as the new Phantom. This everything you need kit comes with… well pretty much everything you might need, including strap carry system, card reader, snap on guards, 3 extra batteries, 2 64 gigs micro SD cards and that’s just a small part of what comes within the package. When it comes to the actual specifications and features of this drone, I believe you already know everything there is to know. It’s a professional aerial platform that can reach up to 6 kilometers of lag free control range and can be in midair for almost half an hour (on a single battery). In other words, if you buy this kit you’ll get a total of 3 batteries, meaning you’ll get more than an hour worth of flying time if you fully charge all of them. With all of this in mind, it’s also important to add that it comes with a dedicated transmitter and a brilliant 4K camera capable of providing you with professional image/video quality. If we take all its features and specifications into consideration, there is no doubt that DJI Phantom 4 will remain on its throne for quite some time.

Conclusion

I hope that, after reading this article, you have a much better picture on the drone you want to purchase. As you could see above, this feature is of great importance if you find the safety of your drone of utter importance. It keeps it safe and returns it to its take off location in case it loses connection, without you having to worry about it.

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