Editor’s note: The following article is not intended to be a ranking, but is only to serve as a list of possible options. As the saying goes, your mileage may vary.
The best drones for beginners are typically reliable, safe, affordable, and most importantly, easy to fly. Whether the drone is intended for aerial videography or aerial photography, there are several options available for beginners.
Are you looking for the best drones to use as you start out flying them? Here, we review a few options with regards to pricing, ease of use, reliability, and other essential factors.
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Quicklook: Best Beginner Drones
- Best For Capturing 4K HDR Video: Parrot PF728000 Anafi
- Best For Low-Light Conditions: DroneEye 4DF6
- Best For Durability and Excellent Speed: Potensik T25
- Best For Both Indoor and Outdoor Capturing: Beta FPV
- Best For Taking Complex Shots: DJI Mini SE
- Best For Affordability: HolyStone HS110D
6 Best Drones for Beginners
Here’s a list of beginner drones that could be the perfect start to your drone flying journey.
Parrot PF728000 Anafi Drone
Parrot Anafi is a compact, well-priced drone for beginners and is excellent for shooting 4K HDR videos. It features a 180-degree tilting gimbal and a USB-C charging port. Parrot Anafi also offers optional first-person view (FPV) support. However, despite being a brilliant option for capturing detailed photos, the drone hides other amazing features behind in-app purchases.
Best For: Capturing 4K HDR video
Technical Specifications:
| Flight Time | 25 minutes |
| Weight | 550 Grams |
| Range | 2.5 miles |
| Camera | 4K HDR video |
| Camera Resolution | 4096 x 3072 pixels |
| GPS | Yes |
| Wifi Connection | Yes |
| Case | Hardshell case |
| Do you need a smartphone? | Yes |
Special Features:
- 4K HDR video
- Follow Me flight mode
- 3X digital zoom lens
- 180-degree gimbal tilt
Benefits:
- Provides sharp and detailed photos
- Compact and portable
- Includes a USB-C charging port
- Easy-to-use and user-friendly interface
- Relatively longer battery life, up to 25 minutes
Disadvantages:
- Zero obstacle detection
- You need a smartphone to operate
- Flimsy construction
DroneEye 4DF6
The DroneEye 4DF6 drone is a bold, high-quality quadcopter perfect for beginners and advanced pilots. It includes two bright LED lights on both sides, making it the best option for low-light conditions. The drone comes with two modular batteries and a plastic storage case.
Best For: Low-light conditions
Technical Specifications:
| Flight Time | 30 minutes |
| Weight | 1.52 lb. |
| Range | 100 meters |
| Camera | FHD 1080 pixels |
| Camera Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| GPS | Yes |
| Wifi Connection | Yes |
| Case | Plastic |
| Do you need a smartphone? | Yes |
Special Features:
- Compact and foldable drone
- 3D flip
- Headless mode
- Altitude-hold mode
- Fast charge time
Benefits:
- Relatively affordable
- Brilliant for use in low-light conditions
- Excellent speed control
- Offers FPV experience
Disadvantages:
- Inferior flight performance
- Misleading camera quality
Potensik T25
Potensik T25 is an easy-to-fly drone featuring multiple advanced features, such as an excellent HD camera, two intelligent flight modes, FPV feature, and others. Most importantly, Potensik T25 offers incredible speed; it is also very durable. Its FPV feature allows users to Livestream directly using their smartphones.
Best For: Durability and excellent speed
Technical Specifications:
| Flight Time | 10 Minutes |
| Weight | 1.3 lb. |
| Range | 300 meters |
| Camera | FHD 1080 pixels |
| Camera Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| GPS | Yes |
| Wifi Connection | Yes |
| Case | Aluminum |
| Do you need a smartphone? | Yes |
Special Features:
- Headless mode
- Altitude-hold mode
- Return-to-home (RTH) feature
- 3-speed modes
- FPV feature
Benefits:
- Very durable
- Live stream from your smartphone
- Easily replaceable parts
- Portable
- Excellent speed
Disadvantages:
- Doesn’t include a long-lasting battery
- Propellers aren’t protected
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Beta FPV
Due to its lightweight, compact size, and extreme safety of use, the Beta FPV drone is arguably the best drone beginners can use for both indoor and outdoor image capturing. Its small size allows users to capture images of tiny spaces that other drones can’t, without omitting any details. The downside, Beta FPV has relatively limited features; but at its best, it’s perfect for newbies.
Best For: Both indoor and outdoor capturing
Technical Specifications:
| Flight Time | 4 minutes |
| Weight | 10.6 ounces |
| Range | 80 meters |
| Camera | FHD 1080 pixels |
| Camera Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| GPS | No |
| Wifi Connection | No |
| Case | Semi-rigid zippered fabric case |
| Do you need a smartphone? | No |
Special Features:
- Normal mode
- Manual mode
- Sport mode
- BT 2.0 connector for stable current
- HD camera
Benefits:
- Very rigid and durable
- Safe for use both indoor and outdoor
- Very portable and lightweight
- Provides sharp and detailed videos and photos
Disadvantages:
- Underwhelming flight performance
- Poor battery performance
DJI Mini SE
Do you need to take complex shots with almost zero effort? The compact DJI Mini SE is the best available option. This drone will help you elevate the ordinary without necessarily breaking a sweat. The excellent wind resistance it also offers significantly enhances your overall experience.
Best For: Taking complex shots
Technical Specifications:
| Flight Time | 30 minutes |
| Weight | 242 grams |
| Range | 4,000 meters |
| Camera | 2.7K HD |
| Camera Resolution | 2704 x 1520 pixels |
| GPS | Yes |
| Wifi Connection | Yes |
| Case | N/A |
| Do you need a smartphone? | Yes |
Special Features:
- Quickshot modes
- GPS
- Wi-Fi connection
- Vision sensor
- 2 molecular batteries
Benefits:
- Portable and easy to carry
- Excellent battery life
- Stronger wind resistance
- Quieter blades
- Simplified recording and editing
Disadvantages:
- No case
HolyStone HS110D
HolyStone HS110D offers excellent money-for-value to its users. Apart from being easy to fly, it provides a decent battery life of about 20 minutes. Although the HS110D costs comparatively less than most drones for beginners, it still offers multiple hi-tech features that ensure good performance and an exciting overall experience.
Best For: Affordability
Technical Specifications:
| Flight Time | 20 Minutes |
| Weight | 149 Grams |
| Range | 100 meters |
| Camera | FHD 1080 pixels |
| Camera Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| GPS | Yes |
| Wifi Connection | Yes |
| Case | Plastic |
| Do you need a smartphone? | Yes |
Special Features:
- Autoland function
- FPV feature
- User-friendly interface
- HD camera
- Affordable
Benefits:
- Easy to operate
- Multiple safety features
- Excellent value for money
- Great battery performance
Disadvantages:
- Low wind resistance
- Long full-charge time
What Is a Drone?
Drones are unmanned aircraft remotely controlled using software-controlled flight plans. Technically, they are aerial robots flown autonomously using a GPS and onboard sensors.
How Does a Drone Work?
A drone offers two primary functions: navigation and flight mode. You need a power source, which is usually a battery, to fly a drone.
Drones also include propellers, rotors, a frame and a controller. The controller allows remote launching, navigating, and landing of the aircraft. Drones connect to the control using radio waves like wifi. The frames are typically lightweight to reduce the overall weight and enhance maneuverability.
What to Consider when Buying a Drone?
Before buying a drone, you must consider several factors, especially as a beginner. While your choice should primarily depend on your needs and perceived expertise, below is a comprehensive guide on other major factors you should consider.
Price
You must consider and choose the drone which best suits your budget. However, ensure you do not prioritize price over other essential factors. It is generally believed, though not entirely true, that low-priced drones are made of low-quality materials. Therefore, you should choose drones that are reasonably priced for the amount you are able to spend.
Camera
The primary use of a drone is to take amazing videos and images. Therefore, you must prioritize the camera quality, including the camera specifications, frame rate, shutter speed, image stabilization, and aperture. These factors and more are significantly instrumental to determining the quality of photos and videos you can take.
Resolution
Your drone’s camera resolution should be between 2.7K and 4K to achieve brilliant cinematic effects. Generally, full HD (FHD) 1080 pixels is just perfect for beginners. With that resolution, you can capture amazing holiday or home videos and photos.
Battery Life
The battery life of your drone is also an essential factor to consider. Even the best drones barely surpass 30 minute flight times. Therefore, you can also consider carrying an extra power source whenever needed. Consider the cost of spare batteries when making a drone purchase.
Licensing and Permits
Getting the correct licensing for flying a drone in the U.S. is extremely easy. All you have to do is be at least 16, read speak write, and understand English, be physically and mentally able to safely fly a drone, and pass the Unmanned Aircraft General – Small (UAG) test. That is not the end, however, because different states and even towns will have different rules and regulations regarding flying drones.
CAA, commonly regarded as a drone license, serves as formal permission to fly a drone in the United Kingdom. Before flying a drone, ensure that you are compliant with U.K. regulations, and most importantly, safety.
Where and how you want to use your drone also matters, as it determines the certification required. Regardless, ensure you are registered before choosing a drone to fly.
Availability of Spare Parts
Generally, it is easier to find the spare parts of more popular drones. Access to spare parts is important—you will always need them. Therefore, ensure you choose a drone with readily available spare parts. Besides reducing ownership costs, prioritizing this factor ensures your drone spends more time in the air than in repair shops. These spare parts include landing gear, propellers, batteries, motors, controllers, and others.
Make Flying Fun
Flying a drone can feel frustrating at first because it will take some practice. As strange as it may sound to some people, playing video games can help you improve your dexterity and hand-eye coordination. Take the time to learn how to fly safely to not somehow hurt yourself, others, and especially not your drone.
If drones and flying interest you but you don’t know where to start, subscribe to FLYING magazine to learn new about popular aviation topics and stay up to date with all the happenings in this industry.
FAQ
Several types of drones exist presently; on average, drones cost from as low as $20 to $300 and even higher. And this is just perfect for beginners. Professional drones cost even more, some have a price tag of thousands of dollars.
Although many people think it is hard to fly a drone, it’s actually not, especially for drones dedicated to newbies.
Many users fly their drones immediately after unboxing. You may also need to watch some YouTube videos, try a software simulator, or consult other online training materials.
