My 7 Best Micro Drones (in no order)
In this section we’ll have a look at my top micro drones this year as well as the individual uses of each for each of them and pluses and minuses of each.
In this article we’ll have a look at the best micro drones on the market, answer some questions about them, see which is the best micro drone with a camera and which ones are best for beginners.
Hell, we’ll even see which mini drone is best for cats (or kids for that matter) and if you’re a more advanced flier, I’ll introduce you to one of the best Micro FPV drones on the market.
A micro drone is a drone sized somewhere between a nano drone and a mini drone, small enough to be flown indoors as well as well as able to fly outdoors a bit.
Talking about indoor drones, I also made a list of the best drones you can fly inside your house.
Mini drones can be bigger and more powerful overall, making them more suited for outdoors flight, better cameras and longer flight times, while the micro and nano drones are mainly bought for indoors use and beginners flight.
Modern micro drones usually have stabilization systems like altitude hold and headless mode to make flying easier, but here’s the short guide on how to fly a drone:
In this section we’ll have a look at my top micro drones this year as well as the individual uses of each for each of them and pluses and minuses of each.
| Eachine | Makerfire | Potensic | Snaptain | Cheerson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8min | 5 min | 6 min | 6 min | 6 min |
| 100 m | 70 m | 60 m | 60 m | 60 m |
| 720p | FPV | None | None | None |
| Foldable | Goggles | Durable | cage | Durable |
| $ | $$ | $ | $ | $ |
| Check Price | Check Price | Check Price | Check Price | Check Price |
720 p
8 min
100 m
Foldable
The Eachine E61Hw is in my opinion the best micro drone with a camera that’s also foldable and pretty easy to even fit in your pocket.
It comes with a 720p camera, and for the price this is as good as it gets. The footage doesn’t feel HD, but it’s still better than others you can get at this size. It doesn’t have GPS or long flight times like the DJI Mini 2 drone has, but it’s definitely a great indoors and outdoors flyer.
This micro drone also comes with Gyro stabilization and altitude hold so it’s quite easy to keep it steady in the air.
It’s overall a tiny pocket drone that also comes with a camera and a very useful foldable design, we can’t be too picky for the price.
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
FPV
5 min
70 m
with Goggles
Call it whatever you want, a mini FPV drone, a micro FPV drone, but one thing is certain, this is a great beginner FPV flier with an outstanding package. It comes with 5.8ghz goggles, a pretty great transmitter and prop guards to make it safer when hitting walls… or your cat.
The Makerfire Micro FPV is a great gateway into actual FPV flight as it has 3 flight modes from beginner to more advanced that can adjust the drone speed to your level of confidence.
This drone also comes with headless mode for an even easier flight as a complete beginner.
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
No
6 min
60 m
3.5 inch
This beginner drone can do it both: fly safely indoors as well as in the park. Make sure not to fly it in very strong weather as powerful wind can still take it away. However, since it’s not that small it has enough power to give you confidence in those motors.
What’s best about it is that it comes with 2 or 3 batteries included in the package and you can also get a camera version if you so wish.
In regards to flight modes, it comes with things like altitude hold, headless flight and one-key takeoff that should make flight easier.
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
No
6 min
60 m
Protective Cage
Told you that I’ll be covering the best micro drone for cats in this article too. And this is it! This Snaptain drone will for sure allow you to have heaps of fun trolling your cats around the house while at the same time protecting their paws from the propellers spinning with the full surround cage.
This can also make a great drone for kids or people learning how to fly, but really cats is where it’s at.
It can do flips and has 3 speed adjustments so you have a lot of freedom to do tricks and stunts when you need them as well as go slow if that’s the case.
The 3 batteries it comes with also allows it to fly for about 20 minutes in total.
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
No
6 min
60 m
Durable
The Cheerson Cx 10 is a legendary drone as it was one of the first smallest commercially available quadcopters you could buy (and still can).
I also have it on my list with the best nano drones, but I simply felt like I had to include it on this list as well since it’s such a great flier and very very durable.
One thing about this drone is that it doesn’t have altitude hold so it’s going to be more difficult to keep it steady in the air, but it will certainly make you a better pilot.
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
No Cam
15 min
5 m
Waterproof
Now that I think of it, I should have included this in my list with the best underwater drones, but since it’s a tiny toy drone, it’s more suitable for playing in an aquarium inside your house.
You can just as well play in lakes or ponds with it or even at the pool, but having water that you can easily see through is a must.
It is of course water proof, and it comes with 2 LEDs in the front that makes it easier to see.
It can dive and surface on your command as well as go backwards and of course left and right.
It comes with just one rechargeable battery, but it lasts for quite a while since there’s plenty of time when the submarine just floats around, unlike a drone that has to use the motors permanently.
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
None
10 min
30 m
Sensors
I usually include this in my top lists with tiny drones since it’s such a different experience compared to typical quads.
It isn’t flown by a controller but rather by moving your hands. This tiny quadcopter comes with sensors all around it and it moves in the opposite direction of where you hold the drone. So for a team of kids this is like playing football with a drone and passing it around.
Sounds pretty cool, right? Especially since the price is quite affordable, imagine having a bunch of kids and 2 or 3 of these around the house. Mad fun.
ADVANTAGES
DISADVANTAGES
In this section we're looking at the main points you should focus on when picking the perfect underwater drone for you.
Choosing a micro drone is pretty much as difficult as choosing any other drone, but there are fewer things you should look at compared to a more expensive camera drone for example, that could come with lots of flight modes and requires a more in depth camera comparison.
This being said, here’s what to look for in a micro or any tiny drone for that matter:
Durability- This is an important factor as most of the times, such drones will be flown indoors and since they don’t have GPS they will certainly be crashed a lot. Being directed at beginners also makes this even more important. All the drones on this list are quite durable, some more than the others.
Prop Guards - This is a component that protects the propellers that helps with both durability as well as the safety of you and everyone around.It allows you to hit walls and still keep flying, while if the drone wouldn’t have had any, the motors will stop when hitting an object.
Flight time - This is pretty basic but quite important. Most drones of this size can’t fly longer than 10 minutes at most and for that reason, having more batteries is a must!
Beginner flight modes - Some of these drones come with things like altitude hold, multiple speed modes, headless mode, all which can make the drone more stable in the air and therefore easier to control.
In my long history of buying quadcopters for reviews I have pinpointed 2 really good places to get drones from. This extends to micro drones as well, and they are Amazon (if you have a local amazon) and Banggood, which is a chinese site with some of the most complete and abundant drone types available (including some produced by them).
If you want your package to arrive quicker, Amazon is definitely the better option, but if you are looking for the absolute cheapest price, or want a larger variety of drones, check out Banggood (delivery is about 2 weeks in my experience).
How small can a drone be?
A drone can be as small as 1.5 to 2 inches wide and some of these can also be found commercially available, being called nano drones.What is the smallest drone available?
The smallest drone Available commercially is the CHeerson CX10 with a width of 1.57 inches and a height of 0.79 inches.This drone is included in the list above.How much is a micro drone?
The cheapest micro drones can be as cheap as under $20 and coincide with some of the smallest drones you can buy.What is a nano drone?
A nano drone is the smallest category of drone, being even smaller than micro drones, fitting in the category of under 3 inches.
If you’re looking for a micro drone with camera or just to fly around the house, then choosing a cheap one is the best option. It’s preferred to get 2 or even three of these cheaper ones than pay more and still crash it. What’s more, cheaper drones actually tend to be more durable and less complex, with less functioning parts.
Usually these aren’t brushless drones since the size won’t allow it, so you’ll have to look at mini drones for that feat, as well as GPS.
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