When you want to buy a drone as a beginner, you first look at how easy the drone is for you. You can’t just put your hands on something very difficult and complex.
So, Today in this article, we will discuss the best drones that a beginner should buy.
There is a myth that beginners should always buy the cheapest drones, but that’s not always right as these cheap drones don’t have good stabilization and can be easily crashed.
Instead of covering the cheapest drone for beginners, we would be focusing more on affordable drones for beginners. So, before we jump into the best drone to learn on, let me first give you an idea about things you have to keep in mind before buying one.
Table of Contents
11 Things to Keep in Mind before Buying a Beginner Drone
1- Cheaper drones aren’t necessarily for beginners: Cheaper drones mostly come without GPS that makes drone controlling and flying stability worse.
So, if you think a beginner should only buy a cheaper drone, then it’s going to make your learning experience more difficult. If Budget is not an issue, you can go for some good DJI drones.
If you have a tight budget, consider spending at least $100 to $200.
2- Failsafe & Obstacle Avoidance Mode: If you buy a mini-drone, this feature is highly recommended. In the starting, when you are learning, you will see your drone getting lost many times.
This will allow your drone to return automatically whenever you lose connection. Some high-end drones come with advanced sensors that eliminate all the chances of crashing, and you never crash your drone. This makes your drone more safe and secure.
3- RTH(Return to Home) Feature: Return to Home is also an essential feature that allows you to get your drone back to the home point. But this feature you have to set correctly.
You have to set the home point properly before it takes off. Because sometimes drone returns to the position from where you started, and sometimes it returns where you exactly are. It works with a single tap on the screen but can be tricky sometimes.
4- Relatively Stable and Easy to Fly: Flight Stability is significant. GPS plays a considerable role in maintaining this feature. We also call it altitude hold.
The drone will hover in the same position when you stop using the controller. Some advanced drones remain stable even though it’s windy.
5- Flight Time: Your drone learning experience might become quite boring if you have less flight time. Go with the drone, which has at least 15minutes of flight time.
It is always recommended always to carry some spare batteries. If you don’t have extra batteries, charging time also plays a huge role. Some take a couple of hours to get fully charged, while others get juiced up in 4o minutes.
Suppose you have a spare battery and want to retake your drone into the skies. Let the drone cool down, only then hit the take-off button. It will increase the flight time.
6- Controller Option: Make sure your drone works with both hardware controller and mobile device. This gives you more flexibility, and you feel more comfortable operating it.
Also, make sure to check how comfortable the controller is. Using a controller often feels like using a joystick, like playing a game. Try practicing with both and then decide with which you are more comfortable.
7- Ready to Fly From the Box: If you buy your first drone, An RTF drone is highly recommended. They are easy to use, ready to fly out of the box.
Simple charge it, switch it on, and you are good to go. Don’t go for BNF drones, and they might be a bit overwhelming for a beginner.
8- Size & Weight: The drone’s size is mostly overlooked. But a small-sized compact drone is easier to fly, especially when you take it off indoors.
You will find a lot of copters that will fit in your palm. The weight might vary from 100g to 300g for these smaller drones. So, first decide where you will mostly fly your drones, then choose the drone wisely.
9- Personal Preference: Sometimes, people have a lot of personal preferences. What somebody else needs as a beginner, you might not need at the same time.
Here comes a lot of factors, some people prefer to go with a higher-end costly drone while others might be happy with the second one-time usable drone.
10- Cost: Drone cost varies from $50 to $2000, so before choosing the drone, don’t forget to look at your budget. Naturally, Costlier drones come with more features and better stability than cheaper drones.
Don’t spend too much money if you just buy it as a hobby. If you buy it for professional use, you might consider paying some extra bucks.
Most people start with cheaper drones, and gradually they upgrade them while getting better at flying. The benefits of cheaper drones are that you don’t regret it even though you crash it.
11- Availability of Spare Parts: There are more than 85% of chances that you will crash your drone at a certain point.
So, there are a lot of drones whose spare parts are not easily available. In that case, you have to buy the new drone once again.
So, better buy a drone that has parts available online, so if you crash the propeller or something else, you know exactly where to get it replaced.
Top 10 Drones for Beginners | Easy Drone to learn on
1- DJI Mavic Pro
This drone might seem pricey for a beginner, but I would still keep it at the top for one of the best drones to learn on as it comes with better stability and control.
This drone would cost you somewhere around $1000, but at the same time, you will get all the features that you need.
It comes with one of the best obstacle avoidance technology in the market that eliminates the chance of possible crashes. Suppose you want more batteries, propeller guards, and other accessories. You can buy the flying More Bundle.
The drone has solid build quality, is simple to use, and is compact at the same time. Once you get a good experience, you can use it for indoor flying.
You will find a lot of modes with this drone. But better if you stay away from advanced features in the starting. Once you get a hold of it, only start experimenting with other modes.
The beginner’s mode is specially built, keeping beginners into consideration. It is highly recommended for the novice. If you lose your drone by mistake, it has an RTH feature that will allow it to return to its set Home location.
If you master this drone, you can fly other drones conveniently and without glitches. Don’t rush while flying. Learning is a gradual experience, and it takes time.
Pros & Cons
- It is one of the best beginner drones but pricey at the same time.
- It is small foldable, and easy to carry wherever you go.
- Its long flight time makes your learning experience consistent. You don’t have to charge it every ten minutes.
- The drone is also very quiet, so you can also give it a try indoors.
- There are a lot of free features as well that allow a drone to take care of a lot of things by itself.
- It doesn’t launch well from the uneven surface and has a narrow FOV.
- You might also get overwhelmed by the features you get with the drone.
Technical Specifications
- Drone Weight: 735g
- Battery Power: 2970mAh
- Charging Duration: 60+ minutes
- Control range: 4.3 miles (7 km)
- flight time: 27 minutes
- Speed(Max): 18 m/s (40 mph)
2- Parrot Bebop 2
The Parrot BeBop 2 comes in second place in our easy-to-learn on the drone list. This drone is suitable for kids and adults.
You can start using it as a beginner and keep on using it once you become advanced in flying it. Every time you charge the batteries, you get 25 minutes of flight time, which provides you ample time to learn.
You have to assemble the drone properly before you take it off. The drone’s props come with color-coding, you can simply twist them, and they fit in the position.
It doesn’t come with the flight controller. Either you use it with your smartphone through its app or spend some extra bucks and buy a separate controller. If you have a budget and want to have all the accessories, consider investing in the full bundle.
You can have some excellent accessories with the kit, including FPV glasses, an Advanced controller, and much more. These items are recommended for advanced users.
The new version of this drone has done a lot of upgrades than the previous ones. Now, you have a better build quality and compact size. It comes with a 180-degree fisheye lens with a 14MP camera.
It can shoot good-quality videos. If you dream of becoming a professional drone flyer one day, this drone is highly recommended.
Pros & Cons
- The drone is great for beginners as it comes loaded with all the essential features.
- The drone is also small, which makes it portable.
- It is also fast that allows you to practice at a higher speed, and gives you a better learning experience.
- It is durable & stable and comes with easy controls.
- Motors are powerful and have a lot of autonomous features.
- The drone is also very affordable for keeping all the specs into consideration.
- You only get 8GB memory space, and you also have to pay extra bucks to buy some in-app features.
Technical Specifications
- Drone Weight: 500g (1.1 lb.)
- Battery Power: 2700 mAh battery
- Charging duration: 55 minutes
- Controller Range: 300 m (984 ft.)
- Max flight time: 24 Minutes
- Max speed: 36 mph
3- Altair AA818 Hornet
It is one of the best mid-range quadcopters and is recommended for beginners. It is better than a toy and lesser than a high-end drone.
It’s a good drone to start with. Its body is mostly made up of plastic and rubber to make it crash-resistant as possible.
As a beginner, you will have a hard time with landing, and that’s why the landing gear also comes with rubber damping that keeps the drone safe from touching down.
I appreciate many things about this drone that include durability, immersive FPV Experience, and the good quality camera that is capable of recording in a 720 HD Camera.
You get a lot of flight modes options as well, and settings can also be adjusted according to your experience level. There are three skill modes like Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced, that give you a lot of flexibility.
The drone comes with one-touch take-off and landing. You also get a warning once it goes out of range. Battery alarms keep you aware when you take your drone back. Altitude Hold Mode gives you better stability.
There’s no such thing as the perfect beginner drone. However, the 818 Hornet is as close to perfect as you can get for the price category. Still, there are a few negatives that may deter some folks.
The 100-minute (1:40) charging time is long. That means gaps between flying times even with the bonus battery unless you buy extras. There’s no GPS or Return to Home safety functions either.
Pros & Cons
- The company provides excellent support service in case you ever need them. The spare parts are also easily available online, allowing you room for a replacement. You don’t have to buy the whole drone again.
- It takes around one and a half hours for charging, which might turn you off. So, you might have to buy some extra batteries if you don’t want too much gap between the flights.
- It also has Night time LEDs that help you fly in the dark.
- It also doesn’t have RTH features and GPS that might make a flight more complex to handle. You have to control everything manually on this flight.
Technical Specifications
- Drone Weight: 2.82 lbs. (1279g)
- Battery Power: 2 7.4v LiPo Batteries
- Charging Duration: 100 minutes (1:40)
- Controller Range: 150m (490+ ft.)
- Flight time: 15 minutes
4- HUBSAN X4 (H107L)
This drone has received a really good rating online. The drone is very durable, cheap, and easy to fly.
It is a very small size drone; it fits in your palm perfectly. You won’t face any problem while flying it indoors or outdoor.
It has LEDs built on the arms. As soon as the battery getting gets low, you will see the blinking as a warning. You also get two flight modes as well for beginners and for advanced.
In the starting, fly the drone in beginner’s mode, and gradually you can shift to advance. You get around seven minutes of flight time, and you can also charge it with your laptop as well.
Pros & Cons
- The drone is fast and durable and comes in one frame.
- You can do a lot of acrobatic stunts as well.
- This is an RTF Drone, and you can start flying as soon as it is out of the box.
- You might not be happy with its short battery life.
- The drone also doesn’t have good safety measures.
Technical Specifications
- Drone Weight: 554 g
- Battery Power: 240mAh Li-Po Battery
- Charging Duration: 30 – 40 min
- Controller Range: 100 m (328 ft.)
- Max flight time: 6 – 9 minutes
5- Holy Stone F181 RC
This drone is around the $100 range and comes with durable plastic. It keeps the drone safe from minor crashes that you will see at the starting. It also has blade guards that make the propeller safe from crashes.
You get around eight minutes of flight time that is not an exception for the beginner drone, but it also comes with a spare battery so that as soon as you land, you are ready for your next flight.
Pros & Cons
- It gets heated after one flight, so you have to cool it down before taking it off for the next one.
- It also has a 2MP detachable camera. Better remove that camera and then practice. It will give you a better flight duration.
- It is good for beginners, has durable, intuitive controls, and comes with soft landing pads.
Technical Specifications
- Drone Weight: 400 g (14.1 oz.)
- Battery Power: 3.7V 750mAh Lipo (includes spare)
- Charging Duration: 90 min (1.5 hr.)
- Control range: 100 m (328 ft.)
- Max flight time: 8 – 9 minutes
- Max speed: 4.4 m/s (10 mph)
6- Ionic Stratus
This is again a medium-range drone, very popular among beginners. Though it doesn’t have a camera, it comes with a camera mount. The drone is super lightweight and easy to use.
There are many flight options too that you should only explore when you have a little bit of experience with it.
The build quality of the drone is pretty good. Propeller guards make it more durable though landing gear is not very strong. The drone is very inexpensive, and drone parts are easily available online.
So, fly it without fear and take it to new heights. The camera mount allows you to mount the camera on it.
You can mount the GoPro on it and have solid-quality footage. You won’t find a camera mount feature in any other drone at this range.
Pros & Cons
- It is a good beginner drone. Compatibility with GoPro makes it unique.
- The drone is fun and easy to fly.
- You also get features like headless mode.
- Propeller Guards, Landing Gear, and Solid Build Quality make the drone more durable.
- The battery takes a lot of time to charge.
- Flight Time is very short.
- Many users said that it is too fast and difficult for beginners to handle.
Technical Specifications
- Drone Weight: 1724 g
- Battery Power: 7.4V 1200mAh Li-Po
- Charging Duration: 150 min
- Range: 150m (492 ft.)
- Max flight time: 9 minutes
7- Parrot Rolling Spider
This is one of the most fun online drones at an affordable price. It has wheels on it. It flies and climbs the wall and can do some cool stuff.
The drone is pretty small and fits into your palm. Unlike other conventional drones, you won’t be getting any controller over here. You have to use the Parrot app and control it through the smartphone.
You should start learning it with its basic setting. You can start with the beginner’s tap to fly and land mode. It will allow the drone to take off and land autonomously.
There are a lot of other cool features that you can try once you get the hang of it. You can use features like control acceleration, climbing & turning rates, and heigh limits.
Wheels, apart from making it cool, also work as propeller guards. Most beginner-level drones are not suitable for indoor flying, but this one, you can fly inside your bedroom without fear; the giant wheels protect the drone from crashing into furniture or other vulnerable items indoors.
After every charge, you get around eight minutes of flight time. If you remove the wheels, the flight time will increase.
The Bluetooth connection affects how the Parrot Rolling Spider performs. The nearer you are to the outer limits of the flight range, the more chance there is of a sluggish experience.
Pros & Cons
- It doesn’t have much Bluetooth range. So, you always have to be near the drone, so it doesn’t go out of the range.
- The drone has a unique design and looks, making it durable and sturdy.
- The drone is also dirt cheap and highly recommended if you don’t have much budget to spend on it.
Technical Specifications
- Drone Weight: 55 g
- Battery Power: 3.7v 550 mAh
- Charging Duration: 90 min
- Control range: 20 m
- Max flight time: 7minutes
- Max speed: 11 mph
8 – Force1 U45W Drone
This drone has a lot of features. It’s kind of an advanced drone at the beginner level. This drone allows you to have FPV with VR Headset Compatibility.
Once the WiFi is connected, you can see the live feed of your drone. The drone comes with altitude hold mode that makes it easy to fly. Beginners and kids can both use the drone without a glitch.
This is an ideal drone with a lot of features. You also get stabilized photography and videography with this.
In the beginning, the landing and take-off are the most critical things to do. But, these autonomous features make it easy to use.
It can capture 720p high-definition aerial photos and videos with the 2megapixel camera; Sync it to your controller to bring life to your flights!
Pros and Cons
- A custom route mode allows the drone to follow a specific path. You can do it with a mobile app path assistance app.
- You also get a 720P HD Camera to click photos and videos.
- Altitude Hold Mode makes the drone more stable and easy to fly. You can do a lot of tricks with the drone also.
- VR Headset Compatibility and Custom Route Mode make this drone stand out from the crowd.
- The range is only 100m, and there is no RTH feature.
- You can’t pivot the camera.
Technical Specifications
- Flight Duration: 7-8 min
- Environment: Outdoor
- Camera Quality: 720p HD 2MP
- Battery Power: 3.7V 500mAh LiPo
- Weight: 4.2 oz
- Size: 14.4 x 4 x 13.8 inches
9- UDI 818A HD+
This drone has a lot of good reviews on Amazon. The drone has a solid build quality, and it is specially built to keep beginners in mind. Its elasticated plastic blades can bear the minor crash.
The company claims a crash-resistant design that can stand minor collisions with the walls, trees, and other objects. It’s a great drone to learn on, and you can fly it without fear of getting crashed.
The drone is ready to fly. Just unpack it, charge the batteries, and you are prepared for your first flight.
What I love about this drone is that you can do a lot of simple maneuvers with this drone. It can easily do 360 degrees flipping in any direction. It clicks pictures and records video with sound.
Comes with a small 2MP, forward-facing camera already attached. The quality of the optics is great for a drone in this price range. I’d say it’s one of the best in its class.
There’s a decent remote control with two joysticks and a roll button for performing those instant 360˚rolls. There’s also a nice LCD screen that shows your current flight status.
Pros & Cons
- The UDI 818A HD+ comes with a 2MP Camera which gives you decent quality pictures at this price range.
- Instant 360-degree roll is easy and fun to use.
- The drone is affordable and has decent build quality.
- You also get the controller with the kit once you make the purchase.
- Though short battery life, a limited flight range could give you a slight turn-off.
Technical Specifications
- Drone Weight: 130 g
- Battery Power: 2 x 3.7v 500mAh Li-Po Battery
- Charging time: 90+ min
- Control range: 32 m
- Max flight time: 8 minutes
10- DJI SPARK
You might be wondering why I have put this drone at last. It is far better than the drone I have mentioned above regarding features, but most beginners are not willing to spend much time starting. So, its higher price is a bit turn-off for newbies.
This is one of the smallest drones by DJI. If you are willing to spend a little bit of extra money, this could be a perfect fit for you. It is simple to use and fun to fly.
There are many cool things you can do with this drone, and you can operate it with gestures, take-off and landing on your palm, and much more.
You get around 16 minutes of flight time, and the camera can record in 1080P. There are a lot of intelligent flight modes that you can try as well.
Pros and Cons
- You won’t find this much Compact design drone loaded with these many features.
- It has gimbal support that provides you with smooth, stabilized footage.
- Autonomous Flight Modes let drones control many things by themselves.
- Many Beginners might get overwhelmed by these many features.
Technical Specifications
- Camera: 12 MP
- Takeoff Weight: 300 g
- Dimensions: 143×143×55 mm
- Battery: 2970 mAh
How to fly a drone | Watch till End
Read More:
- Best DJI Drone that money can buy
- Smallest DJI Drone that you never heard of
- Make Your Own Hexacopter in 30 Mins
- Best Racing Drone in 2020
- Drones for Real Estate Photography