Best drones for Beginners in 2021
Top 7 easiest to fly drones
I had to think long and hard for what the best drones for beginners are, but I finally ended up with my top recommendations after my history of reviewing hundreds of them.
In this article we’ll cover what are the easiest drones to fly in different categories of price and specs, and not just recommend you some random things off of amazon (like others do).
From the best beginner camera drone to the cheapest but durable drone for sale, this article has them all, without having you taking too many decisions.
What should you look for in a Beginner drone
A beginner drone isn’t necessarily the cheapest drone out there, it all depends what you’re looking for, so that’s why in this article we’re looking at 7 different drones and their respective uses.
Here’s a few things to look for in a beginner drone:
- Easy to control – The responsiveness of the controls needs to be almost instant and without lag, and preferably not being controlled by a phone app as it makes it harder to get the basics right.
- GPS or Altitude hold – Having GPS is basically easy mode for flying a drone, but if you want to make things easy at a low budget, the altitude hold function will be enough to allow you to focus on four directions and less on the up and down axis.
- Durability – It’s obvious that a cheap beginner drone will crash over and over again, and that’s why I only recommend drones that have a history of durability and which I’ve tested myself the hard way.
- Camera – Completely not necessary if you just want to learn how to fly. However, if you do want a camera, the drones I recommend below are the best in terms of camera for the respective price.
Best drones for beginners (by category)
In this section we’re taking a look at my 6 best drones for beginners from different categories, so you know exactly which one fits better for you and you don’t find yourself choosing. They are separated by price too, so depending on your budget you might only like 1 or 2 of these drones.
| Potensic | Mini 2 | EZ Pilot | Simrex X11 | Mavic Air 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 6 min | 31 min | 6 min | 22 min | 33 min |
 | 60 m | 10 km | 100 m | 500 m | 10 km |
 | no cam | 4k | FPV | 1080p | 4k 60p |
 | Durable | under 250g | Durable | GPS | Pro |
| $ | $$$ | $ | $$ | $$$ | |
 | Check Price | Check Price | Check Price | Check Price | Check Price |
Best Beginner drone for learning how to fly - Potensic A20
No cam
6 min
60m
Durable
I had to stay and think hard for some time for what drone I would choose as the best beginner drone, since there are so many of them.
I wanted to have a durable, safe drone that’s small enough to fly indoors but still capable of some outdoor flying (as long as there’s no strong wind).
Two other important factors would be the ability to change batteries (some drones come with internal batteries) and availability. I see many people online recommending drones that aren’t even for sale anymore, because they were some no names.
Potensic A20 was the final answer to all of these. A simple to fly quadcopter that’s solid enough and can fill in the role of flying indoors and then outdoors when you get more experience.
It already comes in the package with 3 batteries and that means just shy of 20 min flight time in total.
It’s readily available as a beginner drone for sale on amazon and the company is reputable enough.
So if your main goal is to learn flying before getting a bigger drone, look no further than the Potensic A20, the best entry level drone.
ADVANTAGES
- Durable
- Cheap
- Works indoors and outdoors
- Altitude hold
- Easy to fly
- Changeable batteries
DISADVANTAGES
- Nothing for the price you pay
Best beginner drone with camera (DJI MIni 2)
4k
31 min
10 km
GPS
The DJI Mini 2 is by far the hottest drone of this year, my most used camera drone, and incidentally the best beginner camera drone that’s also at a professional level.
Don’t get tricked by its size, this beginner drone under 250g can record super stabilized footage comparable to the likes of the DJI Mavic Air 2 and fly for over 30 minutes for 10 km.
Since it has very stable GPS it’s a breeze to start learning how to fly with it, since the moment you leave the stick, it simply hovers on the spot (even in strong wind).
If you have a budget of around $500 there’s no more need to look further, unless you may want a drone that follows you, this being the only thing that the Mini 2 is actually missing.
It even comes with multiple flight modes like waypoints, orbit, dronie, and some other really cool automated shots that make it easy even for your grandparents to try it.
It could be considered one of the best drones for beginner photography since it takes stunning 4k images and includes many modes like panorama stitching.
Overall, the DJI Mini 2 is the best pro-level camera drone for beginners, even if we talk about an entry-level drone, it works just as well if you don’t even know how to fly.
ADVANTAGES
- 4k crisp footage
- 3 axis stabilized gimbal
- under 250g
- stable gps
- very easy to control
- return to home
- flight modes
- long battery life and range
DISADVANTAGES
- Doesn't have follow me option
Best Beginner FPV Drone - Emax EZ pilot
FPV cam
5 min
60 m
Durable
The Emax EZ pilot is my top recommendation as a racing drone for beginners. I’ve reviewed it on my youtube channel as well flown it for quite some time. It’s perfect for beginners who want to fly indoors and learn FPV flying at the same time.
The best thing about it is that it comes at such an affordable price, considering you get a very complete package, including a pair of pretty good goggles, charger, battery and remote controller. Even spare propellers.
The FPV goggles by themselves should be about that price.
Although this drone is made for adults primarily it can also be a good way to get your kids started into the FPV hobby.
It’s very simple to fly, as it comes with altitude hold and you don’t need to connect it to a smartphone or through an app. The FPV goggles are 5.8ghz analog and have no lag, compared to using a phone for example and it makes it much easier to fly with them in real-time.
The Emax EZ flight comes with 3 difficulty levels, from beginners to pros.
- Level 1 – One stick flight – where you only have to use one stick to move the drone around. I don’t really recommend trying this as it will teach you bad habits in flying.
- Level 2– Stabilized using both sticks. This is the perfect way for beginners to start flying, as it flies slow enough not to crash easily and it’s quite simple to control.
- Level 3– Allows for a more dynamic and aggressive flight which also allows you to do flips and such.
This drone doesn’t have an acro mode, so even level 3 is somewhat stabilized.
I recommend you buy a few spare batteries since drones of this size tend to go quickly through batteries.
This is a drone recommended by me and most YouTubers online as the perfect cheap beginner FPV drone and there’s really no way to go wrong with it.
ADVANTAGES
- 3 modes of dificulty
- complete package with FPV goggles
- good controls
- cheap price
- durable
DISADVANTAGES
- Doesn't have acro mode for expert FPV
Cheapest Drone For beginners (Cheerson CX10)
No cam
6 min
60 m
Durable
The Cheerson CX 10 is the best affordable drone for beginners if what you’re looking for is learning the basics of flying and simply want to have some fun flying indoors.
It’s as cheap as you can get, as durable as you can get and it’s more than a small drone, I've actually included it in my nano drones category, as it’s as small as drones can get pretty much.
The only downside is that it doesn’t have a removable battery, so you need to charge it every time after you use it, but that’s a condition for all drones of this size.
I would actually buy a few of these since they come in 4 colors and play with my friends or simply change them over when the battery is done for one of them.
ADVANTAGES
- nano drone
- can be flown indoors
- very durable
- super cheap
- easy controls
- can do flips
DISADVANTAGES
- No replaceable battery
Best Cheap Beginner Camera Drone (DJI Tello)
720p
12 min
100 m
Image Stabilization
I had to think a bit about this spot too, but the DJI Tello is quite difficult to beat currently on the market. I haven’t found another drone under $100 with electronically stabilized footage and such amazing features.
If you’re looking for a beginner selfie drone that can hover very stable on the spot, the Tello is by far the best answer.
It’s true that since it’s controlled with just the phone app, it doesn’t exactly match for the best drone to learn how to fly on. But a good thing is that you can get a Bluetooth transmitter to work with it for quite cheap.
Since it has bottom-facing sensors it’s way more stable than your basic cheap drone that can easily be taken by the weakest gust of wind.
ADVANTAGES
- Optical flow sensors for stable flight
- Electronic Image Stabilization
- Extra Bluetooth controller option
- Multiple flight modes
- Long battery life for the size
DISADVANTAGES
- Need to buy an aftermarket controller (if you're not happy with the phone controls)
Best GPS Camera drone for beginners (Simrex x11)
1080p
22 min
400m
GPS
I had to introduce a more capable camera drone for beginners that’s also cheap but has some of the features you’d look for if you want some good footage.
The Simrex X11 is really popular, and for a good reason: it comes with GPS, a 2 axis stabilized gimbal, and very good controllability, all for quite a bit under $200.
The 22 minutes of battery life are really hard to beat for the price and thanks to the good image stabilization, it’s really hard to get better video for a similarly priced drone.
Since it has GPS, it also comes with the return to home function and other benefits that make flying easier for first-timers.
ADVANTAGES
- Long battery life of 22min
- 2 axis stabilized camera
- Low price
- Good build quality
- GPS return to home
DISADVANTAGES
- Not very durable in case of crash
Best Professional Camera drone for beginners (DJI Mavic Air 2)
4k 60p
33 min
10km
GPS
This may not look and cost like what you’d expect from a beginner's camera drone, however, there’s no doubt it’s one of the safest and best drones to fly even if you don’t have any previous experience.
The fact that it comes with solid GPS and multiple sensors, in front, back and bottom, it comes with solid obstacle avoidance so you can’t crash it even if you try.
The camera is one of the best on the market, being able to take 48mp photos thanks to the Quad Bayer technology and the 4k 60p footage is unmatched for the price.
If you want to jump directly into the professional league and make money with your drone, get yourself this drone, buy the best drone videography course for $100 off and start hitting up those clients.
ADVANTAGES
- Best professional camera drone for the money
- Very safe to fly even for beginners (sensors)
- Super Stable GPS
- 4k 60p slow motion camera
- long range and battery life
- Zoom function
DISADVANTAGES
- Need a bit of researching online to learn the app.
FAQ (Frequently asked questions)
In this final section, we're taking a look at some specific questions that people ask me, which might also be useful to you.
Since most ready to fly drones come with their own binding to the controller, you won’t have any interference if flying more than one of the same type of drone in a room or place. This is why I actually recommend getting a few of the cheaper versions to have spare ones.
The cheapest drone on this list isn’t necessarily the worst or easy to break. It just has less functions and a completely different role for someone compared to a Mavic for example. So decide for yourself what exactly you need the quadcopter for.
If you’re reading online a bit to figure out the controls, it should take no longer than 5 flights to start mastering the controls of a drone.
Hi, I'm a long-time drone reviewer and I hope my articles and comparisons on this site as well as Dronesgator's youtube channel are of as much help as possible.
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