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10 Best Drones Under $300 – 2018 Buyer’s Guide

$200-$300 is a great price point for a drone.

Once you get into this range, you’re leaving most of the beginner nuances behind and are trekking into more advanced features and flight capability.

This article breaks down 10 of the best drones under $300 in 2018.

These quadcopters come with some fantastic features, and one of the most advanced drones on the market has finally dropped into this price range (the 3DR Solo).

These drones are in the $200-$300 price range. If you’re looking for a drone that’s less than $2oo or more than $300, check out the links below.

You can get an overview of each drone in this list using the table below. Or scroll down to start from the beginning.

This is the third post in our “Best Drones Under $” series:

Table of the Best Drones for Under $300

#

Model

Price

Description

1

UPair One with 2.7K Camera

2

Hubsan H501S FPV Quad

3

3DR Solo

4

Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 Elite

5

Parrot Bebop

6

Cheerson CX-20 Professional

7

Potensic F183DH with Carrying Case

8

AP10 Pro with 16MP Camera

9

Riviera Raptor FPV Drone

10

XIRO Xplorer for GoPro


1. UPair One with 2.7K Camera



The UPair One is arguably the best camera drone under $300 in this list.

It comes with a camera that shoots video in ultra-crisp 2.7K. This is comparable to the DJI Phantom 3 Advanced and Standard.

The quadcopter also comes with a large 7-inch LED screen attached directly to the controller. This allows you to get a first-person-view of what your drone is seeing in real time.

And the 5400mAh enables up to a solid 18 minutes of flight time.

At this price-to-features ratio, the UPair One is tough to beat.


2. Hubsan H501S FPV Quadcopter

Hubsan has been a trusted brand in the drone/quadcopter industry for years now. And rightly so.

They’re products are fun, durable, and they get the job done.

The Hubsan H501S is no different.

This quadcopter is on the smaller end of the spectrum, yet it still comes with a powerful 1080p camera and FPV capability. The drone’s remote control comes with a 4.3 Inch LCD screen built in that gives you a real time view of what your drone is seeing.

The H501S also comes with some surprisingly advanced features:

  • GPS Hold
  • Headless Mode
  • Return to Home
  • Altitude Mode
  • Follow Me Autonomous Flight Mode — The drone will lock onto your position and follow you as you conduct an activity
  • 19 minutes flight time

The H501S is a compact FPV drone that’s great for having fun and getting quality shots at the same time.


3. 3D Robotics Solo

The 3D Robotics Solo is one of the most technologically advanced drones available. And it has come down drastically in price.

The drone allows in-flight access to your GoPro, giving you the ability to adjust camera settings, start recording, and stop recording while flying. Solo also comes with four autonomous flight modes that differ slightly from DJI’s — Follow Me, Orbit, Cable Cam, and Selfie.

The quadcopter’s controller is manufactured in a video game design to make it easier to handle, and it offers one-touch takeoff and landing.

This is one of the few drones that beginners and veterans alike can fly to get professional quality shots.

Note: 3D Robotics, as a company, is struggling right now. This could explain the price drop. So be forewarned that this could result in a discontinuation of the drone at some point, which could also mean discontinued support/accessories. 


4. Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 Elite

The Parrot AR.Drone was one of the first drones to gain widespread appeal, and there’s a reason why their 2.0 model has maintained that popularity.

The AR.Drone 2.0 shoots video in 720p, and using their their AR.FreeFlight app you can get a live video feed to your smartphone, see your battery level, adjust settings, and even control the drone itself.

You can record videos and take photos then share them immediately through the app. And its propeller guard comes standard, making it a durable quadcopter and a safer investment.


5. Parrot Bebop

The Parrot Bebop is a great all-around camera drone.

It’s one of the best quadcopters for learning aerial photography and videography because you get a powerful camera at an affordable price point.

The camera takes crisp 14 megapixel photos and shoots video in 1080p with a 180-degree field of view. And just like the Parrot AR.Drone, you can use their Free Flight app to control the drone, adjust settings, view battery level, and get a first person view.

The Parrot Bebop is a great quad for aspiring photographers and videographers on a budget.


6. Cheerson CX-20 Professional

The CX-20 Professional is one of the higher-end rigs in the Cheerson quadcopter line.

The camera mount supports a GoPro, the camera of choice for many pro aerial photographers and videographers (no matter the drone model). The CX-20 also offers a very respectable 15-minute flight time.

It’s ready to fly right out of the box with a max speed of 10 meters per second, and the quadcopter’s Auto-Pathfinder has GPS Attitude and Attitude Control Mode to customize your flight experience.

If you’re a GoPro user or want to become one, the CX-20 Professional is an affordable path for you to get in sky and start taking expert quality shots.


7. Potensic F183DH with Carrying Case

The Potensic F183DH comes read-to-fly with a nice set of additional accessories.

The drone itself comes with a 2MP camera, a 5.8GHz wireless transmission system, and an LCD screen to get a live FPV stream of your camera’s view in real time. It also comes with four propeller guards to protect it during crashes.

And this particular version comes with Altitude Hold. The push of a button keeps the quadcopter hovering at your desired altitude.

The package also comes with extra propellers, extra batteries, a USB card reader, a carrying case, and more.

The Potensic F183DH is a great setup for experiencing first-person-view drone flight.


8. AEE Technology AP10 Pro with 16MP Camera

This quadcopter is jam-packed with features:

  • 1080P video recording at 60 FPS
  • 16 megapixel still photos
  • 90-degree vertical tilt camera
  • First-person-view capability
  • 44 MPH maximum speed and 22-33 MPH cruising velocity
  • Up to 25 minutes flight time
  • Mobile app for FPV, flight telemetry data (battery life, etc), camera zoom, and other settings/features
  • Automatic position hold and hover
  • And more

The AP10 Pro is a feature-rich drone for aspiring aerial photographers and videographers, or anyone who wants to get in the air and view the world around them.


9. Riviera Raptor FPV Drone

The Riviera Raptor is a sleek camera drone.

It comes with FPV capability standard through its built-in monitor and 2MP camera.

The package includes a 4GB SD card and a USB reader to record and save your flights, and it can do 360-degree flips with the push of a button.

It also comes with LED light for flying in low-light conditions.


10. XIRO Xplorer for GoPro

The XIRO Xplorer comes in many versions, but this is the Xplorer G.

It comes fully ready to house a GoPro camera. If you’re a GoPro user, this allows you to take professional quality shots for less than half the price of the more expensive rigs.

The 3-axis camera stabilization system gives you smooth footage, and the drone comes with “Follow Me” and “Circle Around Me” autonomous flight modes.

It can also fly up to a whopping 25 minutes on a single charge.

The XIRO Xplorer is fantastic quadcopter for GoPro users.


Did we miss any rigs in the $200-$300 range? Let us know in the comments below.

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