When you’re first learning how to fly a drone, there are certain rigs that are best for training with and building your skills.
This article reviews 10 drones and quadcopters for beginners.
You will find remote control drones with cameras, FPV capability, and mini drones that are fun for any pilot to fly.
Use the table below to get an overview of each UAV, or scroll down to start from the beginning.
See Also: Our recommendations for the best drones under $100, under $200, and under $300.
The Best Beginner Drones
# | Model | Price | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Cheerson CX-10 | ||
2 | Hubsan X4 (H107C) | ||
3 | SKEYE Pico Drone | ||
4 | Syma X8G With 8MP Camera | ||
5 | Syma X5C | ||
6 | UDI U818A | ||
7 | Holy Stone F180C with Camera | ||
8 | Potensic Quad w/ Camera (FPV) | ||
9 | Blade Nano QX | ||
10 | Eachine Racer 250 FPV |
1. Cheerson CX-10
The Cheerson CX-10 is an awesome consumer drone. It’s one of the lowest priced quadcopters available and a fun one to fly.
It’s a micro drone, making it great for indoor flying. But with its three levels of speed (low, medium, high) the CX-10 can also handle outdoor flight in low to moderate winds.
It can do 360-degree flips in all directions, and you can buy a propeller guard to protect it when you crash.
For the money, the Cheerson CX-10 makes practicing your flying skills safe and affordable.
2. Hubsan X4 (H107C)
The Hubsan X4 is regarded as one of the most recommended UAVs for new pilots. This RC quadcopter is small enough to fly inside and strong enough to handle wind outdoors. The drone is also ridiculously cheap (under $50) for the features your get.
The Hubsan X4 H107C comes with a camera, it can do 360 degree flips in either direction, and the 6-axis stabilization system helps new pilots get in the air quickly and effectively.
This quadcopter is a great option for new pilots, and a fun one for experienced pilots to fly as well.
3. SKEYE Pico Drone
The SKEYE Pico is a great remote control drone.
It’s small yet powerful enough to handle moderate outdoor winds with its three speed settings. And it offers trim settings, allowing you to re-stabilize the quadcopter mid-flight if it’s off-center.
The SKEYE Pico also allows you to do flips in any direction, comes with a camera for taking aerial shots, and its controller doubles as a carrying case. It’s an excellent training quadcopter.
4. Syma X8G With 8MP Camera
The Syma X8G is an excellent quad to practice taking aerial photos and videos.
It’s one of the top drones for the money, because it offers a surprising set of features. The onboard camera shoots HD 720p and 1080p videos, and it takes 8 megapixel still photos.
The Syma X8G also comes with Intelligent Orientation Control (IOC). This gives you the option of maneuvering the drone based on where the front is facing or making the forward direction have nothing to do with the front of the quadcopter. This lowers the learning curve, and it can make taking certain aerial photos and videos a lot easier.
All in all, this is an excellent multirotor for aspiring aerial photographers and videographers.
5. Syma X5C
The Syma X5C is one of the most popular personal RC drones for sale on Amazon.
It’s cheap, so if you crash you aren’t risking a large investment. And it offers image capture with its built-in 2 megapixel camera.
You won’t get the best quality shots, but you will be able to learn how to fly indoors, outdoors, and practice the necessary skills to step up to a more advanced rig.
The Syma X5C is also one of the top options for kids to fly.
6. UDI U818A
The UDI 818A is another great quadcopter for building your flying skills. It’s on the lower-end in terms of price and image capture capability, and its propeller guards make it one of the sturdiest quadcopters in this price range.
The camera quality isn’t amazing, but it’s good enough to practice your aerial photography and help you know when it’s time to upgrade. Use this drone to get comfortable flying and taking photos/videos at the same time, or as a inexpensive quadcopter to have some fun with.
7. Holy Stone F180C with Camera
The Holy Stone F180C is a sweet rig. It comes with a 1280×720 pixel photo/video camera, and its controller has an LED screen for keeping track of flight telemetry data (battery percentage, etc).
The F180C also has a 15-minute flight time, which is longer than most drones in this price range. It’s small enough to fly indoors, and powerful enough to take videos and pictures outdoors. For less than $200, the F180C has an excellent price-to-features ratio.
8. Potensic Headless Quadcopter with WiFi Camera (FPV)
The Potensic Headless FPV Quadcopter is one of the only drones under $100 that comes with FPV (first person view) capability.
Using the built-in camera, you can get a live feed from the quadcopter’s camera to your smartphone. The controller also comes with a screen that shows you telemetry data (like battery life) and a phone holder that clips onto the top.
You can also use a virtual reality headset to get your first person view experience.
9. Blade Nano QX
The Nano QX is an excellent quadcopter for new pilots.
This recreational nano quadcopter comes with brushed motors that provide a powerful lift, while being smooth enough for newer pilots to handle. It also comes with propeller guards standard, as you will most likely crash quite a few times while you get the hang of flying.
The Blade Nano QX comes with two flight modes, Stability and Agility. You can switch between the two depending on your flight preference, and it prices in nicely at less than $100.
10. Eachine Racer 250 FPV Quadcopter
The Eachine Racer 250 is a ready-to-fly FPV racing quadcopter.
It comes with all of the features a custom-made racing drone would have, including LED lights, a transmitter/receiver system, and a monitor to see what your camera is seeing.
And it packs enough of a punch to make you a threat on the field.
However, this is not necessarily a drone for inexperienced pilots. Most pilots would be advised to build their skills with other recreational or prosumer drones (and test out FPV flight in a non-racing environment) before picking up first person view racing.
But when you’re ready, the Eachine Racer 250 is a solid beginner racing drone.
