Top 5 Camera Drones for Beginners - Compared & Ranked by Drone Expert
Updated: Sep 25th, 2024
We get a lot of comments here that are looking for cheap remote control camera drones. Before you upgrade to a professional level drone that captures amazing footage and performs professional maneuvers, it can be a good idea to practice with one of these budget drones that did not cost you nearly as much.
Now that we’re into the last few months of the year, many consumers are searching for the affordable remote control drones, and the offerings as of late are much more plentiful then they were just a year or two ago. We’ve recently changed our strategy when it comes to analyzing drones. We used to recommend drones based primarily on their attributes and pricing, but we’ve had a ton of feedback showing us that the company you choose to buy your drone from is the most important consideration when you’re shopping for a quadcopter.
The thing about affordable drones is that there are a TON of products on that market that are really similar and it’s really hard to distiguish between them. That’s why we’ve decided to start promoting drones according to how we evaluate the company selling them. We try to stick with companies that you can TRUST will support you before and after the sale. We reserve the top spots in our list for companies like DJI, Black Falcon and Holy Stone who we have experience with and know you can trust.
Our top recommendations are from a small company out of Nebraska called Black Falcon. We like to recommend their products because they give the best customer service of any quadcopter company. The last thing you want to do when you’re having trouble learning your new drone is call someone in China, and with Black Falcon Drone that never happens!
- Most popular beginner drone in USA
- Ultra-lightweight
- Foldable design
- HD video and photo
- Easy to control
- Compatible with smartphone
- Built-in anti-collision technology
- High-quality materials
- Durable, hard casing
- Great value for money
- 360-degree camera
- Stable, smooth video
- Fast delivery
- Frequently Sells Out Due to High Demand
- Only ships to USA
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9.8
"Excellent"
3,623 Reviews
- Most popular camera drone in USA
- Stunning 1080P HD video & photo
- Crystal clear 360-degree video
- Avoid Crashes With Anti-Gravity Sensor
- Long flying time up to 60 minutes
- Over 3,000 foot range
- Compact, lightweight, and foldable
- Weather & wind resistant
- Wi-Fi app control
- Easy to Use
- Money Back Guarantee
- 96% Verified customer reviews
- Only Available for Online Purchase
- Ships to USA/Canada Only
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9.5
"Amazing"
1,601 Reviews
- Equipped with a high-quality image processor
- No registration cost
- Crisp stabilized video and stills
- Ideal for kids
- Well known brand
- Beginner-friendly app
- Susceptible to crosswind
- Noise in low light
- Not budget friendly
9.2
"Great but expensive"
3,913 Reviews
- HD Camera to Take High Quality Pictures
- Strong GPS Signal
- Wind resistant
- Fast charging
- Camera Stabilization
- Compact & Portable
- Built-in Sensors
- Expensive
- No side sensors
- Unclear policy
9.1
"Great for kids"
801 Reviews
- Amazing Design
- Smart Construction and a Stylish Design
- Various Flight Modes
- Wireless Controls Made Simple
- Smart Sensors, Fewer Collisions
- High-level Durability
- Wi-Fi App Control
- Short flying time
- New brand
- Horrible customer service
8.9
"Cheap build"
89 Reviews
- Most popular beginner drone in USA
- Ultra-lightweight
- Foldable design
- HD video and photo
- Easy to control
- Compatible with smartphone
- Built-in anti-collision technology
- High-quality materials
- Durable, hard casing
- Great value for money
- 360-degree camera
- Stable, smooth video
- Fast delivery
- Frequently out of stock
- Only ships to USA
Save Up to 60% Today
9.8
"Excellent"
3,623 Reviews
Things to Consider When Buying a Beginner Drone
Whatever the intended purpose of your drone, you need to consider a variety of factors first to make sure it lives up to what you expect it to do. We purchased and tested lots of different drones and the difference between the best one we found, Starship drone, and the worst quality drone, IDEA 12PRO, was massive. Our top one had all of the bells and whistles required of a professional drone while many of the others felt like nothing more than a child’s toy.
The first thing to consider is flight time and battery charge. Some of the drones we trialed took hours to charge but only gave a flight time of 10 minutes, but others charged quickly and gave 15+ minutes of flight time which is just enough to capture some great footage and images. These kinds of small and compact beginner drones aren’t designed to fly for hours, and anything that has more than 15 minutes will suffice. Anything under that, we feel, is a waste of time and money.
Camera and video quality is important too, and some models we trialed like the FlightElf only has a low megapixel camera which is worse than most modern smartphones. To get a decent video you need 1080p or higher which is classed as High Definition. A drone with this quality will give you amazing pictures and video too.
By far one of the most important factors we found was the quality and durability of the drone. Some were larger and had a tough outer casing, such as the Starship and the StealthWing4k, but others were really poorly constructed. In fact, one of the drones we tested landed a little too hard on the ground and the casing cracked. Not what you want if you need the drone to work for many months and years.
One final thing to note was the stabilization as some of the drones would flip upside down or get knocked off course easily by the slightest bit of wind.
Test Results
We have to admit that testing drones has been a really fun experience for the team, and flying them for hours on end has given us a useful insight into exactly what is needed for a beginner drone. The Starship drone came out on top for every metric we tested it for.
Compared to the rest, the Starship is sleek, lightweight and can be controlled very easily from the rechargeable controller. Other foldable drones were just too large and clunky to use and carry, but with the Starship we could literally fold it up and put it in our pocket and head out to test it.
We were very surprised at the quality of the camera on this drone. You’d think that something so small and compact would have a poor camera but we took some awesome snaps from 20 meters above and it was still high definition. When you combine this great quality video footage with how easy the Starship is to control, you can imagine the huge potential for its use in a number of ways. We took a video of it following one of us on a bicycle and the stability was perfect even as it maneuvered around corners and down a hill.
That brings us to the amazing aerodynamics of the drone as we flew fast, it must have been at least 25-30mph, and it was able to stabilize itself even in windy conditions. This kept the camera from taking shaky, unusable video footage. The technology inside this product is high-class and we were very impressed by the anti-collision technology that it has which many other models do not to prevent it from crashing and breaking.
Something that we noticed right away about the Starship was how quiet it was compared to the other models. This makes it great for stealth mode when you want to remain undetected and isn’t going to disturb people or animals as you’re flying it around.
What’s more, there is a full refund guarantee on this product when you return before the 30 day period. It was delivered quickly and from the time we placed the order to the time we had it flying above us was less than 72 hours.
So, no matter what you plan to use the Starship drone for you can be sure it’s a reliable piece of equipment that will satisfy your requirements for a drone which is tough, takes high-quality videos and images and is easy to control straight from your smartphone. Click the link above to purchase from the official site as right now there’s a huge 69% off!
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