The top three must-have, truly useful drone accessories

Over the past few years, drones have gone from niche and expensive to mainstream and affordable — thanks, in part, to companies such as DJI. And along with the increase in popularity of drones, there's been a corresponding increase in the number of accessories you can buy for your drone.

Having spent a lot of time using and testing drone accessories, I'm here to tell you that most of them are pointless and unnecessary.

Everything from mounts for GoPro cameras to floats that supposedly allow you to take off and land from water (yeah, right, your drone will get soaked from the spray) to parachutes.

You'll buy them, lug them around with you, and ultimately never use them (or, worse still, you'll use them once, and they'll result in drone damage).

In my experience, there are only three accessories that make a real difference for the drone pilot, whether recreational or commercial. These are the things that I use all the time and contribute to making my flying more enjoyable if I'm flying recreationally, or productive if I'm flying commercially.

Looking for drone buying advice? Here's my take on which consumer drones are worth a look. I also recently shared my first impressions of the Autel EVO Nano Plus. But the very best drone for 2022 in my book is the DJI Mavic 3.

Think I've missed out on a must-have accessory? Let me know!