Tablets That Actually Work for Flying a Drone

Any phone will work to fly a drone.  So long as you only fly on cloudy days.  Or you have an assistant with an umbrella to stand over you while you try to see your iPhone screen in the sun.

Screen glare when flying a drone is a huge problem.  You can fly into things, because you can’t see what is on the screen on a sunny day.  Sunny days are the best time take photos, video, check the fence, find the bulls, see if the water tanks are full, etc.

Barger Drone staff have tested numerous devices when flying our drones.  These include iphones, ipads, samsung tablets and other android devices.  The latest is the Google Pixel 2.  It arguably has the most advanced reactive screen on the market.  The video shows how well it works in the direct sun.  Good luck on that.

Three android devices work wellin the sun.  Other devices are available, if you want to spend $2200 on a Panasonic Tough Tablet or $1200 a DJI Ultrabright Crystal Sky.  The three recommended tables are:

DJI Crystal Sky 7.8″.  Best Brightness. 1000 Nits (Screen Brightness).  2048 x 1536 Resolution.  Not Rugged and limited expansion for Non-DJI apps.

Huge Rock T71 7″.  Good Brightness.  400 Nits (Screen Brightness).  1024 x 600 Resolution.  Industrial Rugged, full Google Play access to apps.  Our most popular tablet.

Samsung Tab Active 8″.  Good Brightness.  400 Nits (Screen Brightness).  1280 x 800 Resolution.  Semi Rugged, full Google Play access to apps.  These tablets are pre-owned and come with a 2 year Square Trade warranty.  They are not available in North America.

We sell tablets that work for drones, so you can actually use it when you need it.

New Software

The real beauty of a drone is its ability to perform dull tasks, automatically.  Barger Drone is testing software which will allow ranchers to send the drone to check water sources, feed bunks or other locations.  Once the flight plan is created, the drone is launched.  It automatically takes photos or videos of the windmills, bunks, waste water pit, etc, and then returns and lands itself.  You check the pictures or videos it collected later, or while it conducts it flight.

The future of drones for livestock is described in this February, 2018 Nebraska Cattleman article.  And we are just getting started.