2022 CES in photos: the best of this year’s drone displays

While attendance at the 2022 CES conference in Vegas was predictably light, that doesn’t mean this year’s show was any less impressive. This year’s show had plenty of unique tech products. To no one’s surprise, we saw a bunch of coronavirus-related tech products, like glowing face masks. Speaking of colors, we got color-changing cars. And perhaps more utilitarian in the car world was a whole bunch of self-driving tech.

But this year, perhaps more than ever, is a time when the drone industry dominated. We got a load of new drones on display or revealed for the first time, including products from Autel, Skydio and Sony. We got an epic, in-person drone race on the Las Vegas Strip. We saw female drone industry leaders get well-deserved recognition at the 2021 Women To Watch awards (yes, that’s the right year! The awards were postponed due to COVID-19).

And with that, here’s a look at the best of the drone displays at 2022 CES:

Customers this year donned not just the usual badges, but face masks as well, which are required indoors in many states including Nevada.

Even on Day 1 of 2022 CES, attendance was relatively sparse. Many companies opted at the last minute to participate virtually, and some canceled completely, over concerns around the surge in COVID-19 cases.

As is the case at many tech conferences, there were plenty of panels to be had:

As far as actual products on display go…

The Autel display was large this year, in part because Autel had a ton of drones to show off. Those UAVs included the Autel EVO Nano and EVO Lite drones, which are available now for purchase from Amazon and Adorama.

Here was a rather unique (and pricy) product. The VETAL vertical takeoff and landing drone by HiveGround is a twin-rotor drone featuring the ability to swap out payloads and a magnetic battery. It retails for $20,000.

Even pricier is the $20,000 Doosan Mobility Innovation DS30W hydrogen fuel cell drone. This drone can fly for two hours, which can be useful for public safety and mapping large areas via Lidar.

One of the most special events at 2022 CES was the DRL Algorand World Championship Season 2021-22 finale. This epic, outdoor drone race from the Drone Racing League was held just outside T-Mobile arena on the Vegas strip. Do you think this topped the drone light show over the Bellagio fountains from 2018’s CES?

Here was another view of the DRL drone race:

Inside, T-Mobile also had a build your own drone display:

What stood out to you at this year’s CES? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!