The drone industry has seen rapid growth over recent years. Whether you’re looking for a camera drone, a racing drone, or a toy drone, there are now countless options to choose from. One area that’s still in its relative infancy, however, is underwater drones.
Due to the obvious challenges that comes with creating machines for underwater use, the development of these types of drones has been much slower. After all, designing remote controlled drones that can move underwater, withstand pressure, and are capable of capturing high quality footage in submarine environments is a complex, expensive mission.
However, there are now several companies that are producing underwater drones. While most are much more expensive than most aerial drones, you can still get your hands on an underwater drone for under $500.
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Uses of Underwater Drones
Underwater drones have many uses. For example, they’re ideal for divers and marine photographers and videographers looking to capture dynamic footage underwater.
These drones are also useful to professions working across a wide range of industries. From fishing and marine biology to aquaculture and salvage work, more and more professions are now using underwater drones. They can even help with public safety and law enforcement by helping agencies crack down on issues like smuggling.
So, how do you go about finding the best underwater drone for you? Well, you need to go through the various options and way up the drone’s price, capabilities and applications to find the right option.
As this can be difficult – especially for beginners – we’ve picked out the very best underwater drones on the market to make your search that bit easier. Our list features drones suited for different uses and budgets, so we’re confident you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for.
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Chasing Innovation Dory – Best Cheap Underwater Drone with Camera
- Price: $499 — Available on Amazon here
Presumably named after the popular Finding Nemo character, the Chasing Dory Underwater Drone isn’t cheap by regular drone standards, but it is the most affordable underwater drone out there.
This is a great submersible drone for photography thanks to the HD 1080p camera that allows you to shoot high quality photos and video, as well as observe underwater environments in real time.
The Chasing Dory underwater drone has two 250-lumen headlights to help you see clearly underwater, and it also has a true color restoration algorithm that ensures your images and footage display true dynamic color.
You can explore up to 49ft deep with the Dory, and the 4800 mAh battery offers up to one hour of life. The drone connects to a small floating WiFi buoy and can stream live 720p video to your device and directly to social media.
This is also an ideal remote control (RC) underwater drone for beginners thanks to its easy controls. You can control it underwater with your smartphone using the Chasing Dory app, allowing you to direct the drone and even lock the depth so that it hovers while you capture footage.
As well as being the world’s cheapest underwater drone, the Dory is also one of the smallest. It is 9.7 x 7.4 x 3.6 inches and weighs less than 2.5lb, so it’s easily portable.
Chasing Innovation F1 Fish Finder – Best Underwater Drone for Fishing
- Price: $599 — Available on Amazon here
Chasing Innovation’s F1 Fish Finder is slightly different from some of the other underwater drones on this list as it’s designed specifically for fishing.
This drone is meant to help you find fish to catch and has some brilliant features to help you do so. For starters, it has a detection depth of 28m and can be used to help you grasp the temperature and bottom topography of surrounding waters.
This information is sent directly to your smartphone via the Chasing 2GO app and can help you determine where fish are likely to be located. You can also easily control the drone using the app to help find fishing spots.
The Fish Finder drone has a GPS position feature that supports multi-fishing point recording and automatic cruising between fishing points. You can also return it to home with just one key to help prevent the loss of equipment.
Like the Dory, the F1 Fishing Finder has a 1080p HD camera that allows you to clearly observe underwater environments in real time. What we really like is that it also has an infrared camera function that means you can even use it to explore waters at night. With the 2GO app, you can share your footage to social media with one click.
This underwater drone for fishing can be used in lakes, in the sea and even under ice, so it’s the perfect accessory for all types of fishers. It has a replaceable battery that can be used for up to six hours at a time.
PowerVision PRW10 PowerRay Wizard – Best VR Underwater Drone with Camera Under $1,000
- Price: $999 — Available on Amazon here
The PowerVision PowerRay is a really impressive drone that’s ideal for a wide variety of applications, including underwater videography and exploration, fishing visualization, boat inspection, marine research and more.
This subsea drone is capable of diving as deep as 30m and has a 70m long waterproof tether. It comes with a fully integrated 4K UHD camera that shoots 12MP still photos and has a burst mode that shoots up to five frames per second.
These capabilities open up a whole range of underwater possibilities. Photographers and videographers can capture stunning cinematic footage of marine life and environments, while boaters can use it to inspect vehicles from any angle under the surface.
Fishers can visualize fish behaviors in real time to help develop their technique. The drone even comes with a PowerSeeker fish finder sonar and magnetic bait drop to allow you to locate and place bait at any position you desire.
One of the stand out features of the PowerRay Wizard is the ZEISS VR One goggles it comes with. You can use these with your drone to experience a truly immersive underwater experience.
This submersible drone is easy to control, very responsive and has powerful headlamps for nighttime exploration. It can last up to two hours underwater and comes with a wheeled case to help you transport it.
Chasing Innovation Gladius Mini – Best Mini Underwater Drone
- Price: $999 — Available on Amazon here
The Gladius Mini is a small, compact drone that’s designed for optimum portability. This is one of the most popular underwater drones on the market.
Weighing less than 5.5lbs and with a size of 8.9 x 15 inches, the Gladius Mini is very well designed and easy to transport.
- See also: our ranking of the best mini drones
Whether you’re using the drone in lakes or the sea, you can capture stunning images thanks to the 4K UHD camera with a F3.0 lens. The camera is capable of recording 1080P videos and capturing 12MP images, and the drone has two x1200 LED lights to help you navigate clearly in underwater environments.
This RC underwater drone is very easy to get the hang of thanks to the simple and intuitive controller. You can easily change the speed and adjust the brightness of the headlights, and there are also some intelligent piloting features.
For example, the Depth Lock Mode makes the drone hover at a set depth with just one touch so you can focus on recording. You can use the Tilt Lock function to angle the drone at ±45°. You can also easily control the drone using the Chasing app for iPhone and Android.
The Gladius Mini underwater drone can dive up to 91m and can travel at up to 4 knots. This, along with the high quality camera, makes it ideal for fishing, diving, yachting and more.
Aquarobotman Nemo – Best Underwater Drone for Stabilized Recording
- Price: $1,799.00 — Available on Amazon here
The Nemo underwater drone, by Aquarobotman, is notable as it boasts the world’s first QAS-balance stabilizing system. This makes it easier than ever before to capture clear and steady footage with an underwater drone.
It also has a really impressive 4K UHD camera that allows you to capture 16MP underwater photos along with full HD 1080P 120fps video. You can live stream video directly to your phone via the Aquarobotman app.
The Nemo has 1000lm LED fill lights to illuminate submarine environments. This is another VR-compatible drone, meaning you can view underwater environments from a different perspective, although you’ll need to purchase a VR headset separately.
This drone has an impressive diving speed of 2m/s and can reach depths of 100m. It comes with a 100m long waterproof tether cable to ensure you don’t lose control in any challenging situations. The C-hyper helix battery is rechargeable and offers up to three hours of dive time.
The Nemo’s exceptional camera, unique stabilizing ability and power make it suitable for all types of applications, from scuba diving and boat maintenance to scientific exploration, mapping and marine life studying.
Geneinno 150M Tether Titan – Best Underwater Drone with Camera for Deep Diving
- Price: $2,999.00 — Available on Amazon here
If you’re looking for a drone that allows you to explore deeper and further than any other, the Tether Titan is the drone for you. This high anti-compression drone is capable of diving up to 150m deep, which is 50 meters deeper than most other drones in this price range!
With a 4K UHD camera and a 1/2.5 CMOS sensor, you can capture high quality pictures and videos even when over 100 meters deep with this drone. It has an integrated 160-degree wide-angle lens and a professional DSP image processor that supports 1080P live view recording.
The camera has red and purple dive filters that provide color correction up to 12m deep. This means you can even record quality footage in algae-contaminated waters.
As you can probably imagine given the depths the Tether Titan is able to dive to, it has six powerful propellers which are durable and reliable. This drone can last up to four hours underwater.
This RC underwater drone isn’t restricted to experts, as even beginners can get involved thanks to the user-friendly, intuitive controller. You can hover the drone at targeted depths, while the anti-current and high self-balance help keep it stable even in challenging conditions.
You can control the drone using the controller or the GeneROV smartphone and tablet app via the drone controller with BLE4.0 if you have a device that has at least Android 5.0 or iOS 10.0.
QYSEA FIFISH V6s – Best Underwater Drone with Camera for Professionals
- Price: $3,098 — Available on Amazon here
By far the most expensive drone on our list, the QYSEA FIFISH V6s is a high power submersible drone designed for professional use.
The exceptional quality and power of this drone mean it can be used for a wide variety of different applications. These include fishing, ocean exploration, boat inspection, professional photography, commercial diving aquaculture, law enforcement and even underwater rescue.
For starters, it has a powerful 166-degree ultra-wide-angle UDH camera with 4000lm headlights for capturing exceptionally clear underwater footage. Images and videos are made even cleaner and sharper thanks to the intelligent smart color reproduction technology that helps repair distortion caused by filming underwater.
With a maximum depth of 100 meters and a max speed of 2 m/s, this wireless underwater drone offers more exploration possibilities than most other drones out there. It boasts a bionic exterior design with a 100N clamping force and towing force, so it’s very powerful. The drone also has a larger milliampere battery which can be used for six hours in a single dive.
While it’s one of the most advanced underwater drones on the market, the FIFISH V6s is still very easy to operate using the remote control and FIFISH app. Directing the drone is simple, and you can easily lock at depths and tilt the drone ±45°. We also like that you can attach your phone to the controller so that you can immersively see through the drone as you pilot it.
This drone also comes with VR glasses to create a more immersive underwater experience. You can also easily share your photos and videos directly to social media via the FIFISH drone app.
