The best drones for beginners and experts alike

Get comfortable with the idea of drones. No, not those ones. The gadgets formerly known as RC helicopters have undergone a massive renaissance in recent years, and now major company after major company has plans to implant them further into your everyday life. 

Whether that's a good thing depends on who you ask, but from a consumer standpoint, it’s easy to see why such a passionate community has developed around these little machines. Theirraison d’etre is aerial imaging — armed with YouTube and a GoPro, anyone can use a good drone to take sublime shots at angles that just aren’t possible any other way. With them, you can tell stories, gather research, or simply gawk at the world’s beauty. A smartphone camera and DSLR have their uses, but taking to the sky is its own kind of majestic. And even if amateur cinematography isn’t your thing, simply flying around is just pure fun.

Or at least, it can be, so long as you find the right one. To help you do that, prospective drone buyer, we’ve once again scoured the web and performed our own research to find the best drones for your needs.

There’s a few things to note before we jump in. First, yes, it’s totally possible to build a high-quality drone from scratch, and usually for cheaper than a pre-assembled equivalent. If you have that DIY spirit, we salute you. However, we’re only recommending “RTF,” or ready-to-fly, units here.

Second, while we looked at many drone reviewing outlets and enthusiast blogs to inform our picks, most of those sources do not score new drone launches on a regular basis. So we’re making an exception to our usual BI Rating procedure and basing those numbers on our opinions alone.

Third, this is a complex, fast-moving market, and new launches often fly under the radar. (Pun regrettably intended.) We’ve got a good crop of machines here, ones that are sturdy, intuitive, well-featured, and well-supported. But we can’t get everything, so we’ll update this post as new devices roll in and hidden gems come to light.

With those caveats of the way, here are our favorite drones on the market today, for the aerial photographer, hobbyist, total beginner, or curious consumer alike.

The best drone: DJI Phantom 4
$1,399

BI Rating: 9/10

DJI is the monarch of the drone world, and its latest flagship, the Phantom 4, should only solidify its reign. It isn’t a radical departure from the Phantom 3 series that came before it, and it remains a sizable investment, but its various refinements make it the rare high-level drone that anyone could feasibly fly.

Most notably, the Phantom 4 is the first consumer-grade quad to include an advanced obstacle avoidance system. If it senses it’s about to fly into something, it'll stop itself before impact. This isn’t idiotproof, since it can only sense larger objects that are directly in front of it, but given those limitations, it genuinely does work. (And you should probably take the time to learn how to fly these things before dropping $1,400 on one anyways.)

On the other end of the user spectrum, there’s a new “Sport mode.” That increases the Phantom 4’s maximum speed — pushing it close to a blazing 50 mph — and makes it more sensitive to control inputs. If you know what you’re doing, it’s a good time, and should make for some exciting footage. 

The rest of the Phantom 4 is largely devoted to tuning up the already excellent Phantom 3 Professional (which, like the P3 Advanced, remains a fantastic, 4K-ready buy if you can't afford the P4). It remains remarkably steady and responsive in the air, with a massive operating range (anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 feet depending on your surroundings), a dependable controller (which you substitute with your phone), and improved battery life (around 25 minutes, about five more than last year). 

It also has a number of automated flying modes, including an “Active Track” setting that follows a predefined subject from the air, a “TapFly” mode that lets you direct the drone by tapping points on its live feed, and the old “return to home” function, which does as its name suggests. There are others, and all of them make the device less intimidating if you’re just looking to have some fun.

The camera at the heart of all of this isn’t dramatically different, but that’s not really a bad thing. It can capture in multiple file types, in a 4K or 2.7K resolution at 24 or 25 frames per second, or in 1080p (or 720p) at up to 120 fps. It still can’t be swapped out for any of your GoPros, but it remains capable of taking perfectly solid shots and smooth video. It’s hard to imagine many people complaining about it. A slightly more flexible gimbal helps. 

Virtually every review we could find has lauded the Phantom 4, and we can’t disagree. There are still a few stray annoyances — extra batteries come at a premium, the design doesn’t exactly scream “I cost $1,400,” and again, it’s not a miracle worker if you’re clueless — but for now, the Phantom 4 is simply a step ahead of its competition. It’s a wonderful piece of tech, and the best drone you can buy today.

Pros:

• Smooth and stable flying for all types
• Great camera quality
• Can automatically avoid obstacles

Cons:

• Extra batteries jack up already high cost
• Camera can’t be removed
• Obstacle avoidance isn't flawless  

The best drone for beginners: Blade Nano QX
$89.99

BI Rating: 8/10

The Phantom 4 isn’t as hard on newbies as its price and feature set might suggest, but dropping four figures on a drone is still insane if you aren’t totally sure you can fly it. Thankfully, there’s a glut of simpler quadcopters out there that go for much less, and are ideal for beginners looking to get the hang of the hobby. They aren’t bad for enthusiasts just looking for a bit of fun either.

If we had to recommend one of these starter quads for most people, we’d pick the Blade Nano QX. That shouldn’t be too surprising: We’ve highlighted it before, and we’re far from the only ones to make such a recommendation.

There are plenty of reasons for that. As its name says, the Nano QX is nano, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and thus easy to fly indoors or out. It weighs about a half an ounce. At the same time, it’s tough, with a well-made frame and built-in prop guards for its little propellers. When you inevitably crash it into the pavement or your cat, it won’t fall apart. There's less risk here. If you do rip it up, though, spare parts are cheap.

The best thing about the Nano QX is that it flies much like a higher-grade quadcopter. It’s faster and easier to swoop around than most sub-$100 models, and its Xbox-style controller allows you to make surprisingly precise climbs, turns, and flips. There’s a level of accessible-yet-technical control here that’s just hard to find in this price range.When you’re first starting out, it has a stability mode that consistently keeps the quad upright, and also makes it hover if it senses you’ve let go of the remote. All the while it’s remarkably painless set up and get in the air.

This is still a cheap drone, so it doesn’t support any camera- or GPS-related features, and its battery lasts a paltry 8 minutes per charge. (In general, we recommend buying a few cheap backup batteries for simpler drones like this, just so you aren’t charging constantly.) And while it’s robust enough to use outside, its minuscule frame means that strong bursts of wind can still send it off-course. It also means you need to keep an eye on it as best you can.

But for what it is, it’s a fantastic trainer drone, and a fun little quad in its own right. If you keep with it, you’ll be able to fly the heavier-duty stuff soon enough. You’ll have a good time along the way.

Pros:

• Fast and fun to fly
• Durable
• Inexpensive

Cons:

• Short battery life
• Struggles with strong winds

An affordable indoor trainer drone: Hubsan X4 (H107L)
$46.99

BI Rating: 7/10

While $80 is a small investment relative to the drone market, it’s still a fair chunk of change for an absolute beginner. The Hubsan X4 is a cheap and worthwhile learner drone.

It isn’t as stable, speedy, or sturdy as the Nano QX, but for half the price, it’s close enough. It’s about the same size, and its controller is similarly simple to get around. Its battery is about the same, too. It’s another popular model, so replacement parts are plentiful and easily available. And while it can’t pull off sharp turns and dives as easily, its beginner and “advanced” flying modes get you something around the same idea as the Nano’s.

It also has a bunch of built-in LED lights on its top that are ostensibly for flying more easily at night, but those aren’t of much use when they’re in the air above you. That’s especially the case given how fidgety this thing gets when a breeze rolls through. Instead, the X4 is better suited to flying indoors, which is safer for a learner, toy-grade micro-drone like this anyways.

You’ll want to be careful in using it, though: This particular model doesn’t come with a propeller guard, and while it’s built well enough to avoid bursting apart at every collision, it’s probably going to lose something the more you use it. But again, it’s for beginners, and sticking with its safe mode is generally stable.

It’s worth noting there’s another version of the X4 that comes with a camera attached and usually isn’t much more expensive. It’s a shoddy camera, sure, and taking video with it shortens the X4’s already brief battery life, but it functions. Just be sure to buy a spare microSD cardfirst.

Pros:

• Highly affordable
• Compact
• Great for indoors

Cons:

• No propeller guard
• Struggles with wind
• Can be too sensitive at points

An alternative trainer drone with a camera: Syma X5C
$43.95

BI Rating: 7/10

Another affordable camera drone we like is the Syma X5C. We’re not alone — the toy quad has a 4.1 rating after a whopping 4,360 user reviews on Amazon, and it’s received praise from reviewers at CNET, Gizmodo, and MyFirstDrone, among others. 

The story here is similar to that of the Hubsan above: It isn’t super precise to control, you’re still best off keeping it away from any and all wind, and the battery only lasts 6-8 minutes on a charge. It looks and feels like the $45 toy it is.

That said, it’s perfectly usable given those limitations. It isn’t as difficult to keep steady as some of its peers, and the included propeller guards add a level of insurance when you inevitably hit the wall. And again, if things do go downhill, it isn’t hard to find replacement parts — Symasells them directly on its website, and even provides an assembly breakdown to help you get them into place.

The built-in 720p camera is the real attraction, though. It’s not a good camera, naturally, but that it’s even there makes this a great value; taking any sort of aerial video, however grainy it may be, should be a fun (and instructive) time for newbies. That there’s a microSD card in the box only helps.

Pros:

• Built-in camera
• Fairly durable for its class
• Flies steadier than price suggests

Cons:

• Short battery life
• Looks and feels cheap
• Better off indoors

A great drone for first-person flying: Blade Nano QX FPV
$399.99

BI Rating: 8/10

One of the most exciting trends in drone circles is the rise of FPV, or first-person view, flying. Just like it sounds, this has you strap on a headset and see through the eye of a camera attached to the drone itself. It’s like using a virtual reality helmet, except not virtual. 

If you want to try your hand at this sort of experience — and it’s nuts, so you really should — look to the Blade FPV Nano QX. Yes, it’s the same Blade Nano QX we praised a minute ago, just with a headset and camera included. That headset normally retails in the $200 to $250 range on its own, and it can be used with other devices, so although the FPV version is pricier than the camera-less model highlighted above, it isn’t an outrageous increase.

The downside is that those goggles aren’t very sharp, coming in at a meager 320x240 resolution. The built-in camera doesn’t have a wide field of view, either, and it’s not particularly vivid in displaying your surroundings. It also doesn’t capture video. Using the FPV function cuts the Nano’s battery life closer to 5 minutes, too, if not less.

But even with all those annoyances, hooking yourself in and seeing the world from the sky above is a thrill that no mediocre camera tech can fully drag down. All the nice things we said about the standard Nano QX above still apply here, so the quad is still approachable and surprisingly nimble at the same time. Its video feed rarely stutters or lags. And if the included goggles bother you too much, you can always grab a higher-res pair to replace them. Practice without the headset first, but for an instantly ready leap into FPV flying, this is a good get.

Pros:

• First-person flying
• Fast and agile
• Durable

Cons:

• Five-minute battery life
• Low resolution on bundled headset
• Camera isn’t the best either

A great drone for hobbyists: Lumenier QAV250
$421.37

BI Rating: 8/10

Chances are you already know about the Lumenier QAV250 if you consider yourself a drone enthusiast, but that doesn’t make it any less of a worthy choice for that crowd. We’re following our aforementioned guidelines and highlighting a RTF version here, but really this quad has earned its following for being so heavily customizable.

What hobbyists often do is pick up the Lumenier’s frame first, then modify that with their own propellers, motors, HD cameras, landing strips, and whatever else suits their desires at a given time. You can turn it into an FPV specialist, a stunt machine, a video capturer, or a total speed demon if you have the proper know-how. (It’s especially popular in the burgeoning quad-racing scene.)

In general, the QAV250’s like something of a middle ground for the those who want to get into DIY-style tinkering without going totally into the abyss to make a personalized machine.

If you want to start slow and buy a pre-assembled RTF model, you’ll find a drone that’s both speedy and wonderfully durable. It’s much too complicated for beginners, and you’ll need to bring your own receiver to pair it with a functioning controller, but once you get everything down it works as it should. Then, when you feel comfortable enough, you can make it even better.

Pros:

• Sturdy and fast
• Heavily customizable
• Active community of users to learn from

Cons:

• For experienced flyers only
• Modifications can be pricey
• RTF model doesn’t include camera or receiver

A great drone for professionals (or wealthy people): DJI Inspire 1$2,798

BI Rating: 9/10

Yep, that’s actually the price. And this is actually the cheapest model in DJI’s highest-end series. The DJI Inspire 1 costs a couple of rent checks, but it’s a better version of the Phantom, aimed at what some people call “prosumers.” In English, that means anyone grabbing this should be really into drones, really rich, or planning to make videos that’ll be presented in some sort of professional capacity. If that's you, though, this is a fantastic machine.

Like the Phantom 4, the Inspire is surprisingly easy to fly for such an advanced device. Its controller is similar, and it uses the same robust app to stream a live video feed to a connected smartphone or tablet. Its effective flying range is also excellent.

It's also fast, with max speeds in the high 40 mph range. You can have it automatically take off and land from the companion app without having to press anything. There’s also a Beginner Mode that effectively creates invisible barriers for the device — if you send it towards one of those “walls,” it’ll immediately slow down once it hits the threshold. It uses a blend of camera and sonar tech to stay especially stable indoors, too.

The Inspire is built better than the Phantom, though. It’s a big, professional-looking machine made of carbon fiber and metal. It's not toyish. Those materials make it bulkier to carry around, but also less susceptible to damages if things go south.

The other difference here is in the camera. The Inspire can also shoot up to a 4K resolution (with a max of 4096 x 2160) at 24, 25, or 30 frames per second, and it uses a sturdy 3-axis gimbal to keep your shots steady.

Unlike the P4, the Inspire’s camera can rotate 360 degrees, and is entirely user-replaceable. (DJI has an improved shooter in a more advanced, and more expensive, Inspire 1 Pro model, for instance.) If you can spare a few hundred dollars more, you can also pick up a second controller that lets one person directly control the camera while another controls the aircraft. It all adds up to consistently stunning shots that can reach cinematographer levels in the right hands.

The major negative here is a familiar one: battery life. The Inspire 1 usually lasts closer to 15 minutes on a charge, and spares are again expensive. That’s a bit cruel given how much you’re shelling out upfront for this thing.

It’s also worth noting that there’s been something of a history of customer service complaints directed at DJI over the years. Take a look at the user reviews on this model, for instance, and you’ll see 30% 1-star reviews, despite the device holding a 4.1 rating. Again, we'll just stress that you truly understand what you’re getting into before you make any huge investments in drone tech.

Nevertheless, the Inspire 1 is smart, well-built, and capable of truly beautiful pictures. If your field calls for something advanced, the premium might be worth it.

Pros:

• Exceptional build quality
• Brilliant 4K camera
• Support multi-user control

Cons:

• The number next to the dollar sign
• Underwhelming battery life
• Limited Android support