10 Best Drones for Beginners, Kids, Racing, Photography & More

The Best Drones for Beginners – Do You Need Them?

It’s hard for anyone to have failed to notice the craze for consumer drones in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. Everyone wants to fly drones, or quadcopters, as they are called, adults and children alike.

Drones for beginners bring out the child in all of us – they are fun to play with but are more than just toys. They are serious pieces of machinery based on really advanced technology.

Flying drones is fun, but not easy. You will need to practice a lot when you get started. That is why you may want to start off with the best beginner drone. Beginner drones are generally cheap and you wouldn’t worry too much if they were to crash.

These quadcopters are easy to fly, can be controlled with a remote control, come with camera and GPS, have a robust build and are inexpensive. While not even the best drones for beginners are unbreakable, they are easy to repair and very cheap.

We have listed some of the very best starter drones, which are perfect for entry-level drone pilots, or for those of you who are just getting started with quadcopters. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s discuss what you can expect from drones for beginners.

 

What Should You Look For In The Best Beginner Drones?

You should certainly opt for a beginner drone if you have never operated a drone before and don’t know where to get started. The drones for beginners available in the market are of several different types, prices, and equipment.

Some of them are easier to fly than others. Some quadcopters are based on a better technology, while some of the other quadcopters are much cheaper. There are essentially a couple of things to consider when purchasing a beginner drone – the ease of flying and the cost.

So, how much do drones for beginners cost? It’s hard to tell, as there is a great variance in price when it comes to beginner drones. The best drones for beginners made by companies like DJI are very expensive, but they are pretty much worth the money. There are other drones that cost less than $50, but they are nowhere in the same league as the beginner drones made by top-rated brands such as DJI, Parrot and 3D Robotics.

However, you don’t really need to spend much on a drone for beginners. Your focus when you’re just getting started with drone flying should be to learn how to operate the quadcopter in your own time, without any pressure. You can learn about drone photography and advanced UAVs later – first, you need to learn how to operate a basic drone without crashing it every time.

9 Best Drones for Kids, Teens to Fly & Have Fun (Safe & Sturdy)

 

Keeping this in mind, here’s a look at the Best Drones For Beginners…

(1) Holy Stone F181 RC Quadcopter Drone with HD Camera RTF 4 Channel 2.4GHz 6-Gyro Headless System Black (Upgraded with Altitude Hold Function)

The Holy Stone F181 RC Quadcopter Drone costs $109.99, which is a decent price to pay for a beginner drone of a good quality. F181 comes with many useful features such as one key return, headless mode, altitude hold and is capable of performing 360-degree flips. This is as good as it gets when it comes to beginner drones. This quadcopter also comes with an HD camera which is capable of shooting great videos. It is capable of giving you a flight time of 9 minutes at a time and has a range of about 100 meters. You couldn’t go wrong with this quadcopter.

 

(2) Force1 U45W Blue Jay Wi-Fi FPV Drone w/ HD Camera, Altitude Hold & 1-Key Takeoff/Landing; VR Headset-Compatible Drone w/ Customizable Route Mode

The Force1 U45W Blue Jay Wi-Fi FPV Drone costs $129.99. It comes with many interesting features such as a simple and efficient first-person view (FPV) flight, headless mode and is surprisingly stable in the air. This drone provides you with an enhanced control with altitude hold. It is capable of taking videos and photos at 720 pixels and has a 2 MP drone camera which shoots with a 360-degree bird’s-eye view.

This drone comes with a 1-key takeoff and landing and has a custom route mode which allows you to trace the desired path on your smartphone. One of the best features of this drone is the flight time, which is much higher than what you get with many other beginner quadcopters. It also comes with a power bank.

 

(3) Force1 UDI U818A Wifi FPV Drone with HD Camera, Remote Control, VR Headset and Power Bank

Force1 UDI U818A Wifi FPV Drone costs $149.95. It is a slightly more expensive version of the Force1 U45W Blue Jay Drone and comes with a few additional features. This drone allows you to trace your desired flight path on your smartphone screen via a dedicated app. The drone flies along this path without any assistance.

It is capable of taking HD quality photos at 720P and has a 2MP camera that shoots photographs with a 360 degrees bird’s-eye view. This is the ideal drone for those who are just getting started with drone photography. Further, it comes with an extra UDI U818A battery and power bank.

It gives you surprising stability in the air despite its small size and is very good for beginners for this reason. It comes with features such as altitude hold. Controlling this drone is a pleasure. You don’t need to register this drone with the FAA since it is of such a small size. It is the perfect first-person’s view (FPV) drone for adults and children alike and is fun to play with.

 

(4) Syma X5C Quadcopter equipped with HD cameras, 2.4G 6 Axis Gyro

The Syma X5C Quadcopter costs just $39.77. This is one of the best drones for beginners available in this price category. This mini quadcopter is a lot of fun to fly. It performs flips in the air and can be flown outdoors and indoors. It does some fun things such as performing flips in the air.

The drone comes with a rudimentary camera. It comes with a gyro stabilization system but not a gimbal. It is also equipped with a 2GB memory card. This is really nothing more than a toy drone, so you shouldn’t expect too much from it, but it makes for a great gift for children.

 

(5) Hubsan H501S X4 FPV Brushless Quadcopter (White)

The Hubsan H501S X4 FPV Brushless Quadcopter costs $242.99. So this is certainly not a cheap drone but is very much worth the money as it comes with many great features, such as offering you a great live fed on first-person’s view.

It also has a Follow Me mode, which means the drone follows you even as you run, bike or drive. It captures your shots from mid-air even as it follows you. Generally drones with the Follow Me feature is far more expensive than this entry-level drone for beginners.

This drone provides you with a flight time of 20 minutes – which is actually as good as it gets. We can’t think of another beginner drone that gives you flight time that is this high. It also comprises an automatic return to home feature for extra safety.

 

(6) DJI Phantom P3-STANDARD Quadcopter Drone with 2.7K HD Video Camera

DJI is the Apple of the consumer drones industry. It makes the priciest quadcopters of a very good quality. DJI drones are easy to control and great to fly. They don’t crash easily and offer excellent drone photography. It is the same with The DJI Phantom P3-STANDARD Quadcopter Drone, which is not cheap, by the way – it costs $475.25.

This drone comes with an integrated camera that captures pictures at 12MP and shoots video in 2.7K and is stabilized with a 3-axis gimbal. This drone is specifically designed for entry level flyers and comes with many interesting features such as a live GPS tracking, return home mode and auto-hover. It features a Follow Me mode, which means the drone follows you even as you run, drive or surf and takes your pictures from above.

While The DJI Phantom P3-STANDARD Quadcopter is certainly not cheap, it is a great starter drone for beginners and can also be used by those with an intermediate drone flying abilities. It provides exceptional quality and is easily the best beginner drone you can buy right now.

 

(7) DBPOWER MJX X400W FPV Drone with Wifi Camera Live Video Headless Mode 2.4GHz 4 Chanel 6 Axis Gyro RTF RC Quadcopter, Compatible with 3D VR Headset

The DBPOWER MJX X400W FPV Drone costs $69.99 – which is a very reasonable price for an entry level quadcopter of a reasonable quality. This drone comes with many interesting features such as Wi-Fi HD camera and gives you complete control when you are taking photographs or shooting videos.

It comes with a headless mode using which the drone can fly by itself without requiring any effort on the part of the pilot’s – so you don’t have to worry about controlling the drone or losing it when in flight. It takes care of itself in this mode. It is also capable of doing exciting things such as a 360-degree flip and roll and can be controlled with a 2.4GHz remote control.

This drone operates at two different speed modes, one for beginners and another for experts. It flies well both indoors and outdoors and comes with LED lights which allows you to fly the drone in dim light or at night.

6 Best Drones under 500 USD Which You Can’t Ignore

 

(8) UDI U818A 2.4GHz 4 CH 6 Axis Gyro RC Quadcopter with Camera RTF Mode 2

The UDI U818A costs only $43.89, which is as low as it gets for a drone for beginners.  This is a simple quadcopter, more of a toy drone really, which is great for children. This drone is great for shooting videos for fun, but you shouldn’t expect to get high-quality footage from its mainly rudimentary 640×480 pixels camera.

This drone features a 6 axis gyro and a 3.7V Lithium polymer battery. It gives you a flight time of around 9 minutes, not more than that. The battery is rechargeable and takes about 2 hours to charge. As long as your expectations are not too high, the makes for a great buy – especially as a birthday gift for children.

 

(9) Hubsan X4 (H107L) 4 Channel 2.4GHz RC Quadcopter, Black

The Hubsan X4 only costs $30.86. This is a cheap quadcopter for beginners and nothing more than a simple and inexpensive toy drone. Hubsan, the manufacturer of this drone, is a Chinese company that is well known for making cheap quadcopters of a reasonable quality targeted at the entry-level segment of the consumer drones market.

This drone is great for flying indoors and can fly outdoors as well but within a limited range. It features a LiPO, high capacity battery which gives it a flight time of around 8 minutes. This drone is very small, of just 2.3×2.3×1 inches in size and weighs 4 ounces. It may not fly very well in windy conditions.

 

(10) DJI Mavic Pro Bundle with Shoulder Bag, Props, Car Charger and 2 Extra Batteries

The DJI Mavic Pro is a great drone for beginners from DJI that has been promoted heavily in the social media. DJI is the leading brand in the consumer drone industry and the DJI Mavic Pro has already made a mark as the smallest drone from the company. It is an excellent toy drone or mini-drone, so small that it can fit into a laptop backpack.

It has a range of 7 kilometers, which is amazing given its small size and gives you an outstanding 27 minutes of flight time. We can’t think of any other mini-drone that gives you this sort of range of flight time, which is why the DJI Mavic Pro is exceptional.