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Best Drones under $50 in 2023 (My top 7 cheap quadcopters)

Updated in 2023 by Paul Posea
drones under 50 image section

The best drones under $50 is a category where there's A LOT of abundance, especially coming from Chinese companies.

This means it's even harder to choose. 

But since I tested probably over a hounded of these and even reviewed some on my youtube channel, I'll try to help you make a decision instead of letting you waste your time researching.

If you have a slightly higher budget, I recommend you go for my top drones under $100.

My winner:Eachine E010

eachine E010 dron

In a hurry? Just pick my best recommended drone in this price category and you can't really go wrong!

  1. Very durable
  2. Well protected
  3. Safe for kids
  4. Can do flips
  5. Super cheap
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My top drones under $50 (table comparison)

This is a quick Ranking of my top picks for the best camera drones I’d recommend for different people with different needs, all considering your budget is under 200 dollars.

This list is in order of what I consider to be better overall AND what value for money that drone has. 

All these quadcopters are super high quality and you can’t really go wrong. It’s up to you to decide!

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6min5 x 2 min5min8min8min
50m50m50m100m100m
IndoorIndoorIndoorOutdoorOutdoor

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My video with details about these drones

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My final drone ranking (in detail)

This is a more in depth view on each of the drones we looked at before and my personal experience with them. Have a look at all of them, as each is great in it's own way.

Specs alone aren't enough to tell a story, testing a drone and seeing how it actually shoots video is what's more important.

1.Eachine E010 (Best Cheap Beginner Drone)

camera-icon-spec

No Cam

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6 min

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50 meters

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Indoors

eachine E010 dron

My top drone for beginners, simply because it works, it's resilient, well protected and can do flips.

What more can you want?

It comes in multiple colors and it's super safe to let even kids play with it.

PROS

  1. super durable
  2. well protected and safe
  3. very cheap
  4. can do flips

CONS

  1. None

2.JJRC H345 (double drone for beginners)

camera-icon-spec

No Cam

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2 x 5 min

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50 meters

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Indoors

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The perfect package for people who want to have 2 drones instead of one, in case you crash (you certainly will).

Having two drones also helps by doubling the battery life. They are controlled with the same transmitter though.

The main advantage of these drones is that the package is super cheap.

PROS

  1. 2 drones for cheap
  2. foldable design
  3. great LED lights
  4. can do flips

CONS

  1. No Prop Guards

3.Eachine E013(best FPV drone under $50)

camera-icon-spec

FPV

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5 min

range-icon-spec

50 meters

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Indoors

eachine e013 drone review 1

The Eachine E 013 is a really cheap drone for the package it comes in.

You get a pair of 5.8 ghz FPV goggles, the controller and the drone.

It's a great way to experience lag free First person View flying with goggles.

It's a perfect indoors drone, although I wouldn't recommend it for total beginners though.

PROS

  1. comes with goggles
  2. great quality transmitter
  3. no lag camera
  4. guarded propellers

CONS

  1. low battery life

4.Eachine e58 (best camera drone under $50)

camera-icon-spec

720p

battery-icon-spec

7 min

range-icon-spec

100 meters

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Outdoor Drone

eachine e58 drone review

This drone makes it on my list not because it's one of the most popular quadcopters in 2020, but because it actually has what it takes.

It even comes with a 720p camera!

It's foldable and looks a lot like the very expensive DJI Mavic Pro.

It flies pretty well and the footage is not half bad, at least for a toy drone.

For a very small additional price you can get up to 3 batteries, so the charging time will get irrelevant at some point.

PROS

  1. manually tiltable camera
  2. foldable design
  3. good controller
  4. multiple batteries available in the package

CONS

  1. Prop guards aren't great

5. Hubsan X4 (great camera for $50)

camera-icon-spec

720p

battery-icon-spec

8 min

range-icon-spec

100 meters

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Outdoor Drone

eachine e58 drone review

The Hubsan X4 is in fact an entire series of small beginner drones, some with camera and others without one.

Although quite old on the market, these are extremely well-made drones and quite durable too.

If you're looking for a camera drone under $50, I think the Hubsan X4 with a camera is what you're looking for.

PROS

  1. great video
  2. very durable
  3. good for indoors and outdoors

CONS

  1. none
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What to look for in a drone (and FAQ)

This is a more in depth view on each of the drones we looked at before and my personal experience with them. Have a look at all of them, as each is great in it's own way.

Specs alone aren't enough to tell a story, testing a drone and seeing how it actually shoots video is what's more important.

Why do cheap drones have short battery life?

Drones this cheap have a short battery life because batteries are expensive and heavy.

You won't find a big drone for under $50 so it makes sense that such a small battery won't be able to keep the rotation of the propellers for too long.

Even though the drones are weighing less, the props must spin at about the same rate, so size isn't directly proportional to battery life, but rather it decreases more, the smaller the drone is.

Another thing you should consider is the drone’s range, as it depends on what you plan to do with the drone.

I have also compiled my ultimate list with long range drones, if you want to focus more on this specific trait.

The range of a drone can greatly vary depending on the wifi interference, whether you bought it from Europe (CE mode has lower range usually) or USA(typically the best range).

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Drone durability - The most important feature

On this list I only chose the most durable and high quality drones I experienced flying myself, as you'll definitely smash into walls as a beginner.

Having prop guards is mandatory, especially for larger drones. If your drone is smaller, you can go past that, but it would still be helpful if you don't want to destroy tons of propellers.

This would be it for the best drones under $50 and what to look for in terms of specs.

author-paul-posea-picture
Hi, I'm Paul.
A big drone enthusiast, reviewing, comparing and writing about drones since 2015. I'm all about helping people enjoy and even monetize their hobby.

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paul posea
Paul Posea
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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