13 Best DJI Drone Accessories

For the past few years, DJI has reigned supreme in the field of consumer and professional drones. By always being ahead of the curve in terms of technology and innovation, DJI has built a reputation of producing reliable and high-quality products.

Beyond just the drones, DJI’s commitment to consistent quality also extends to the accessories they are selling. Aside from being compatible with their drones, DJI accessories are manufactured with the same level of workmanship that have helped make their drones global best-sellers. In this list are some of the best and most reliable accessories that we recommend from DJI.

1. Drone Bag or Backpack

We start this list off with what we think is the first accessory that any drone owner should invest in. A properly designed bag will not just provide a space for your drone, but also for a comprehensive array of accessories that includes spare batteries, mobile devices, spare propellers, a remote controller, and several cables. DJI sells a variety of these custom-made bags and backpacks, each one especially designed to fit a specific drone model.

For smaller drones such as the Spark and the Mavic drones, you have the option of buying a sling bag which might be easier to carry around. For more rugged trips, there is an assortment of backpacks for every type of drone. Professional-grade drones, such as the Phantom 4 and Inspire 2, can even be carried in backpacks made with a hard-plastic exterior.

The drone bags and backpacks from DJI are both functional and fashionable. Aside from looking good, they come with well-designed storage spaces and comfortable straps for longs hours of use.

2. Pelican Hard Carrying Case

Backpacks and sling bags are great for portability and fast movement, but if you would like to bring your drone along on flights and long road trips, you are going to need a more rugged storage solution. DJI sells Pelican brand hard cases that come with customized compartments for their different drones. Pelican is the number one name when it comes to waterproof and shock-proof hard carrying cases, so you can rest assured that your drone is in good hands. Pelican cases are also dust-proof, crush-proof, and resistant to extreme temperatures – they are practically indestructible in most circumstances.

On top of being extremely durable, Pelican cases come with an automatic pressure equalization valve to ensure that your drone does not suffer pressure stress when brought aboard flights. They also have a provision for a padlock that is made of tough stainless steel as a measure against theft and tampering.

3. Intelligent Flight Batteries

A typical DJI drone has a flight time between 20 to 30 minutes. This is quite standard for most drones, so unless you will be perfectly happy going home after just half an hour of flying, then you are going to need several spare batteries. The great thing about the batteries of DJI drones is that they are intelligently designed. The batteries are fully incorporated into the form factor of their drones so that the battery packs do not disrupt the drones’ visual appeal.

DJI flight batteries have intelligent functions that distinguish them from many other flight batteries of other drone manufacturers. They come with LED displays that shows the remaining battery level, as well as the battery’s charging status. When plugged into the drone, the battery relays the remaining power level to the controller to keep the drone pilot constantly aware. The battery and the drone also work together to calculate the time it will take the drone to go back to its take-off point and will let the pilot know if the remaining battery level is just enough for the return trip.

4. Battery Charging Hub

With more batteries, charging them one by one starts to become a chore. If you have 3 or 4 batteries, then it may be time to invest in a battery charging hub. Unfortunately, the unique shapes and capacities of each type of drone battery also means that they have their own battery charging hubs. This means that your old Mavic Air battery charging hub cannot charge your brand-new Mavic 2 flight batteries.

Most of the DJI battery charging hubs can charge up to 4 intelligent flight batteries. They come with an integrated power management system that prioritizes charging of the batteries based on their remaining batter levels. They also come with a storage mode that charges batteries only up to 50% capacity, which is the recommended charge level for long-term battery storage.

5. DJI Hex Charger

If you find yourself with way too many batteries and remote controllers to charge even for a battery charging hub, then maybe you need to upgrade to the DJI Hex Charger. This is an expanded battery charging hub that can charge up to 4 intelligent flight batteries and 2 remote controllers simultaneously.

This product was made with professional drone pilots in mind, so it follows that it accommodates the batteries of professional-grade DJI drones including the Inspire 1, Matrice 100, and Matrice 600. It can also charge the remote controllers of the Inspire 1, Matrice 100, Matrice 600, Phantom 3, and Phantom 4. If you are running a drone business using an arsenal of drones, then the Hex Charger is an essential time-saver.

6. DJI Battery Safe Bag

LiPo batteries have become the standard material for drone batteries. They are incredibly lightweight and compact, especially in context of their capacities. However, they can also be incredibly unstable and volatile. There have been numerous cases of LiPo batteries exploding into flame when they get overcharged, overheated or experience some sudden impact.

For this reason, LiPo batteries are recommended to be transported or stored inside especially designed battery safe bags. These bags are made of fire-retardant material that will limit the damage should your LiPo battery combust for any reason. If you are traveling with LiPo batteries by plane, a fireproof bag is an absolute necessity and they will need to be taken as carry-on baggage.

7. Spare Propellers

Accidents and crashes are par for the course in drone flight. Even the most experienced drone pilots and most expensive drones can run into accidents by some combination of human error and mechanical failure. As any drone pilot can tell you, the propellers are usually the first part of the drone to break in a crash. This can be a disaster if you are out on a commercial gig, and you end up not finishing the job just because of a broken propeller.

Having a set or two of spare propellers ensures that your drone can get back up in the air even after a disastrous crash. The spare propellers from DJI are very cheap, so having several of them will not set you back by much. You can probably get after-market versions of these propellers, but we recommend getting original propellers, so you are sure that they will fit perfectly.

8. Propeller Guards

If you are still new to drone flight, chances are you will crash more often than someone who is more experienced. More crashes mean more broken propellers, so spare yourself the stress of having to buy new propellers every now and then and get propeller guards instead. They are not a guarantee that your propellers will no longer break, but they do reduce the chances of it happening as often. You can consider propeller guards as the “training wheels” you put on your drone until you get better at flying them.

The propeller guards sold by DJI for their different drones come with easy snap on connectors and are made of durable but lightweight material. They have been designed to not affect the flight performance of your drone in any way.

9. Remote Controller Monitor Hood

Flying your drone on a clear sunny day sounds like a great idea until you pull out your tablet and realize that you can’t see any video feed because of the glare. Give your poor eyes a break and get one of the many remote controller hoods or sunshades from DJI. There are a couple of variants of monitor hoods depending on the size of your mobile device: some are more appropriate for smart phones, while other are especially designed for full-size tablets. In any case, they are made with thick and durable polyurethane, and are designed to be foldable for easy storage and transport.

10. Neutral Density (ND) Filter Set

A natural part of being a drone photographer is the fact that there is no way you can predict or control lighting conditions when shooting outdoors. Under very low light, all you can do is crank up your camera’s ISO setting and hope for a crisp shot. On the other hand, drone photographers can be better prepared for harsh lighting conditions with one of many sets of ND filters that DJI sells for their camera drones.

An ND filter limits the amount of light that enters the camera’s lens, giving the drone pilot more room to play around with their ISO and shutter speed settings. This can be especially important when shooting in broad daylight, or in especially bright environments such as beaches and mountaintops.

A typical ND filter set will include at least 4 lens that correspond to different levels of light retention. Some sets also include a polarizing lens that minimizes entry of light reflected off other surfaces, such as the sunlight reflected from the sea when shooting a sunrise or sunset. Whichever set is available for your drone, ND filters are an essential part of a drone photographer’s toolkit.

11. PGYTECH Landing Pad

If there’s a single accessory in this list that is usable for any kind of drone, then it is the landing pad from PGYTECH. When flying outdoors, locating a perfectly smooth or dry landing surface can be a challenge. In the absence of such, water droplets or particles of sand and soil can get into the spaces of the camera and gimbal setup. Being one of the most sensitive parts of the drone, a stray particle can quickly be a problem either for the camera or the gimbal.

This landing pad can be secured to the ground using pegs, instantly providing a clean and perfectly flat landing surface. It comes in either bright orange or bright blue, so you should not lose track of it even when it gets dark. The landing pad folds up into a small bundle for convenient storage and transportation.

12. Seagate DJI FlyDrive

Keeping all your drone photos and videos in several microSD cards may not be a problem in the short-term, but you are going to have to consolidate and organize them eventually. The Seagate DJI FlyDrive provides on-the-go storage that is especially designed for the drone pilot. With its shockproof rubber lining, it can withstand the rugged conditions of the kind of adventures drone pilots can get into.

With integrated microSD card slots and a USB—C port, the FlyDrive also doubles as a card reader for the quick transfer of files from the microSD cards to your laptop. The FlyDrive has a 2TB capacity, enough to store up to 60 hours of 4K videos.

13. DJI Goggles

For the ultimate immersive experience, nothing can beat watching your drone’s live feed through the DJI Goggles. With high quality and low latency video, the DJI Goggles will make you feel like you’re onboard the drone’s cockpit. The DJI Goggles even have a head tracking feature that will make the drone move along with the motions of your head. Video quality of up to 1080p can be viewed through the DJI Goggles, although 720p is the more recommended setting for a smoother experience.

Take note that FPV flight will require that you have a visual observer to keep visual line of sight with the drone. Wearing the goggles will make you unaware of your drone’s surroundings, and not having a visual observer is practically a certain way for you to get into a crash.

BONUS: DJI Care Refresh

The DJI Care Refresh drone insurance program is technically not an accessory but may be one of the best things that you can buy with your drone. With DJI Care Refresh, DJI will cover all costs of repair and parts replacement of your drone should they get accidentally damaged. Best of all, DJI will offer you a brand-new unit for a fraction of the drone’s price should your drone get damaged beyond repair.

If you are a commercial drone pilot and you rely on your drone for your livelihood, then the DJI Care Refresh is an invaluable back-up plan. There is no other insurance policy like the DJI Care Refresh, so this may be one of the best deals you can get from DJI.

Final thoughts

Time and again, DJI has proven that they are the market leaders when it comes to drones for casual and professional drone use. Their drones remain the standard by which all other drones are measured against, and they keep raising these standards year after year.

Fortunately for DJI fans, their level of excellence and quality extends even to their drone accessories. These accessories address a lot of the usual problems encountered by drone pilots: charging multiple batteries, looking for good landing surfaces, and even having a good drone insurance policy. It seems that DJI has thought of everything. As long as DJI continues to answer the needs of their customer base, they will probably maintain their position as drone market leaders.