Underwater drones are unlocking a whole new world beneath the surface for sub sea exploration, underwater cinematography and fishing. In this article I’ll go through the overall best underwater drone, the best budget underwater drone and the best underwater drone for fishing.
You may also be interested in this article on the 101 of Fishing Drones which goes through the basics of how drone fishing works.
#1 Overall Best Underwater Drone
V6 Fifish
PROS
- Speed: 3 Knots (5′ per second, 457m/hr)
- Lighting: 400 lumen LED
- Camera : UHD 4k 12mp
- Max Depth : 100m
CONS
- Large , protruding design can get stuck in small spaces
Did you know over 80% of our ocean is unexplored ?!
This is because of body crushing pressures, the insane expense of submarines and the lack of light.
Light only penetrates the ocean to a visible quality to about 200m and the deepest human scuba dive on record is only 332.35 m (1,090 ft 4.5 in).
Underwater drones have been aiding subsea exploration and missions since the 1950s known as ROVs (remotely operated vehicles), UUVs (unmanned underwater vehicles) or AUVs (automated underwater vehicles).
Right: Only the top 200m of the ocean is penetrated by sunlight.
Image credit : Seasky.org
In this article I review the top 3 underwater drones, below is the comparison table with the main stats.
| Best Budget Underwater Drone Chasing Dory |
Overall Best Underwater Drone QSEA Fifish |
Best Underwater Drone for Fishing PowerVision |
|
| Camera Resolution | 2mp (1820×1080) | UHD 4k 12mp | UHD 4K 12 mp |
| Video | 30fps | 30fps | 30fps |
| Lighting | Two 250 lumen headlights | 400 lumen LED | 450 lumen LED |
| Depth | 49 ft (15m) | 330ft (100m) | 262ft (80m) |
| Battery life | 1 hour | 6 hours | 4 hours |
| Check Price on Amazon | Check Price on Amazon | Check Price on Amazon |
Overall Best Underwater Drone :
Fifish v6
Fifish is built for professional use with a UHD camera and 400 lumen LED light. It moves at 2m per second..pretty impressive. The battery lasts 6 hours and having a 64 GB memory card means ample storage for video footage. These are usually sold with virtual reality goggles as well… very cool if you have the budget!
This underwater drone is corded (radio-waves used to control normal drones can’t be transmitted through water).
This ROV comes with a controller so I like that the screen space isn’t taken up by controller icons (like in the Chasing Dory app).
Best Budget Underwater Drone
The best budget underwater drone is Chasing Dory. Chasing Dory is the smallest underwater drone on the market and easily fits in a backpack for offshore adventures.
Using the accompanying app, this drone can be controlled by your phone… but we’re not so sure this is a good thing unless your phone is waterproof.
Chasing Dory : Best Budget Underwater Drone
PROS
- 1 Hour run time
- Small and compact
- Slim design doesn’t get snagged or stuck
- Max depth 15m
CONS
- Requires a mobile to use as a controller
Does the Chasing Dory underwater drone come with a controller?
No, The underwater drone just comes with the cable and the floating wifi buoy.
On the plus side, I like that I didn’t have to pack a bulky remote, the whole kit is pretty compact.
How to control this underwater drone
The app displays two joy stick looking buttons on your mobile to control the tilt and direction, overall its pretty easy to control for a beginner.
*Side note ; Some people have reported that they’ve needed to turn on airplane mode on their mobile to get the Chasing Dory app to work properly but I didn’t have this issue.
How long does the Chasing Dory underwater drone last?
The battery life is about 1 hour, jump to the Underwater Drone Comparison table see how this compares.
Is the camera on the Chasing Dory underwater drone any good?
The video footage is pretty clear but by default the app turns on the company watermark or logo every time it’s launched. This can be turned off in settings… but it’s just a bit annoying.
The camera is 2mp HD so if your wanting to capture higher quality photos, read on to find out about the FiFish v6 and the PowerVision PRW10 which both have 4mp cameras and stronger lighting.
Is the Chasing Dory underwater drone difficult to control?
As a budget underwater drone Chasing Dory is difficult to control in water with a current, its more suited to still water like lakes.
To make it easier to control, Chasing Dory has a handy feature to maintain the depth of the drone for stability while exploring called ‘depth lock’. Stability is an important factor for controlling underwater ROVs due to the push and pull of currents and waves.
When comparing the Chasing Dory and Fifish v6 underwater drones the range in price reflects the capabilities of the ROVs but ultimately Chasing Dory is impressive for the considerably smaller price tag and functionality.
The QYSEA Fifish‘s strong lighting and ultra-high resolution camera make it valuable for commercial use such as checking boat hulls and professional photography in low light environments like underwater caves.
The Best Underwater Drone for Fishing
The PowerVision PRW10 was designed with fishing specifically in mind. This drone takes that exciting hunting feeling to the next level with sonar and VR goggles (in the power vision edition).
PowerVision PRW10 : The Best Underwater Drone for Fishing
PROS
- Good quality video
- Good maneuverability
- 4K UHD Camera
- VR Goggles
- 98ft max depth (29 meters)
- Magnetic bait drop
- Good quality controller with a mobile or tablet holder
- Sonar fitted to the bottom
CONS
- Limited roll stability in rough water
- Horizontal motor not centered so the cameral tilts up or downwards when reversing
- Can’t view the sonar and video at the same time
Underwater ROVs allow sneaky investigation of new fishing spots but areal drones can also be used to look from above to get a birds eye view of reef locations and hunt out schools of fish.
The PowerVision PRW10 uses Sonar. Sonar stands for SOund NAvagation Ranging, it images objects like fish and measures how deep the sea floor is by emitting sound waves and detecting the waves that bounce back (like bats or dolphins).
If you’re considering the best drone for fishing from an areal perspective then this article on the best beginner drones from $50 to $500 is a good place to start.
Also, this drone camera article breaks down what to look for with drone camera resolution which important for being able to spot fish from above; Do I need high camera resolution for my drone ?
What is the deepest an underwater drone can go?
In 2009 Nereus, an underwater ROV, reached 10,902m in the deepest ocean trench known on Earth. This is the Mariana Trench which is in the Pacific ocean between Japan and Paupa New Guinea. Nereus sustained pressures 1000 times greater than what we experience at Earth’s surface. This underwater ROV met it’s fate in 2014 when it imploded from high pressure while exploring the Kermadec Trench!
Nereus was designed as a research vehicle to capture video from the depths of our unexplored ocean.
Submarine ROVs started becoming popular from 2015. They were previously used for military and navy purposes but thanks to commercialisation and lowering prices they are becoming much more available for civilian use.
Today they complement a wide variety of commercial purposes such as scientific research, filmmaking, fishing, underwater exploration and ship inspections but are becoming increasing popular for taking incredible video footage and photos that are beyond our reach.
