Drones are not just a hobbyist affair any more as they have become so advanced and are available in all sizes, shapes, and budgets. Drones are cool toys that provide you a lot of fun time flying around, they are also very helpful in capturing stunning aerial footage, too. However, when it comes to choosing the best drones, you may find it a bit tricky as the market is filled with a lot of companies offering drones for every purpose at varying prices. To help you in your search for the perfect drone for you, we’ve come up with this list of the best drones for your money that will help you come to an informed decision. Equipped with a 3-axis gimbal, the recording is completely stable and the intelligent obstacle detection system helps it to avoid any kind of obstacles in its way. It’s foldable so you can easily fit it in your backpack and carry it along wherever you go. The controller that comes with the drone is completely redesigned, and you can even remove the joysticks when not in use for easy storage. The USB-C port helps in transferring the data stored in the drone onto your laptop. DJI is always working on improvising on its smart technology being offered with the drones, and as a result you can see the all-new obstacle detection system added in the Mavic Air drones. This largely helps in preventing crashes that could potentially cause damage to your drone. With the improvised gesture control feature, you can easily control these flying machines with just your hands. Just draw a frame or a rectangle in the air to notify the drone that you need to take a selfie or just extend you palm out to make your drone land on your palm. The DJI Mavic Air can reach a top speed of up to 40 mph and the maximum transmission range available is around 2.5 miles. The range can get reduced to just around 50 meters if you operate the drone using your mobile phone. When you look at the size of the drone, no one would believe that it is capable of recording 4K videos at an astonishing 100Mbps. It also features a 12MP cam that can capture some amazing HDR pictures, and if you’re fan of panorama pics, you also have the 36MP panorama to capture high-quality 36- degree angle pictures. The drones feature an ISO range of 100-1600 for videos and 100-3200 for pictures. These drones are equipped with batteries that can last for up to 21 minutes. It takes less than 50-55 minutes to fully recharge the battery and resume your drone play. The package comes with some added accessories as well including a 32GB memory card, a DJI Google FPV headset, along with a cleaning cloth etc. When compared with the Mavic Pro 1 and 2, the Mavic Air is a little bit smaller but is still slightly bigger than the Spark. The one thing we noticed with the Mavic Air is the noise it makes is on the higher side than its larger counterparts and can be a bit irritating sometimes. Overall, the Mavic Air is one of the best drones you can buy for such a budget price and still get a larger than life drone flying experience.
Product Highlights
Various preset modes make flying the drones a lot easier Best drones for beginners Sleek and Compact design Obstacle detection system Can reach a top speed of 40 mph
Pros
4K 100 Mbps Video Good battery life 3D Foldable Design 3-Axis Gimbal Camera
Cons
Limited storage Average image quality
Product Price: $729.99 The design is lightweight but comes with a solid build combining excellent aerodynamics and style. The Led lights seen at the rear shine with bright blue lights allowing you to easily know where the front portion of the drone is. It mostly incorporates the same design aesthetics of its predecessor and weighs just around 550g. The main feature that puts this drone in our second spot is because of its excellent air stability. Whether there is heavy rain, snow, or wind, the drone provides you with a spectacular flying experience. The drone offers you up to 25 minutes of flying and the compact and lightweight design makes it easy to carry it wherever you go. Bebop 2 also comes with a lot of safety features that in case of any accident, the propellers shuts down automatically. The return-home feature also ensures that the drone returns to the starting place safely. The Bebop 2 features a 14MP camera that allows you to capture some stunning pictures from above. Even while photographing at a 90-degree angle, the photo quality is never lost. With the inclusion of the all-new fish-eye lens, it provides enhanced exposure and clarity so even low-light pictures come with high quality. Bebop 2 is one of the few drones on the market that can fly in all kinds of weather conditions. Combining excellent flight experience and extra-ordinary stability, the Bebop 2 offers exceptional flying experience Flying the Bebop 2 is very easy even for beginners, thanks to the Free Flight 2 piloting app that can be easily downloaded onto iOS and Android phones. Once you have the app installed on your mobile phone, everything from take-off to landing can be easily controlled from the comfort of your mobile. Have extra fun mastering your tricks and mid-air flips. Stream all your videos and pictures from the Bebop2 to your mobile phone or tablet in real time and with just the swipe of your finger, alter your camera angle accordingly. Drone academy is a happening community of Parrot drone users where you can share your flying experiences, photos, and videos.
Product Highlights
Extended battery life Easy to fly with Free Flight 2 pilot app Sleek design
Pros
Lightweight and portable Automatic propeller shutdown during a crash Fun to fly with Good for both indoor and outdoor flying
Cons
Limited storage capacity Control range is dependent on your mobile phone
Product Price: $299.99 The DJI Spark is a very compact quad-copter that comes integrated with an excellent 12 MP camera with great motorized stabilization that allows you to take some stunning aerial shots and 1080 Full-HD videos. It is also termed as one of the “best selfie drone” as you can take some excellent aerial selfies with the DJI Spark. It provides you with a maximum of 16 minutes of flight time with a top speed of around 31mph. Equipped with GPS and vision-based navigation system, the drone is perfect for both indoor and outdoor flying. It comes with various flight modes allowing you to choose the best flight mode that suits your flying style. It also comes with a very useful 3D obstacle detection feature that helps in avoiding any obstacles in its path to prevent collisions. The Spark is also equipped with a gesture-recognition feature that allows you to control the drone with just your hand movements. Hence, even without a mobile phone or a remote controller, you can easily operate the drone during an emergency.
Product Highlights
Great selfie drone Comes at an affordable price Great flying experience
Pros
3D obstacle detection system Perfect for indoor and outdoor flying GPS and vision-based navigation system
Cons
Can’t fold the propeller arms Gesture mode doesn’t work as expected
Product Price: $329.09 One such example is the Ryze Tello. The drone is available just under $100 bucks but still provides you with a quality flying experience. Compared to other expensive drones available on the market, the Ryze Tello comes packed with a lot of features and functionality. When you look at the composition of the drone, you’ll be really surprised that it is available at a price of just $99. Yes, it comes packed with an excellent flight stabilization technology along with a 5MP camera capable of providing you some stunning pictures and 720p HD videos. There is also a 14-core intel vision processing chip, the brain behind the drone. Most importantly, the drone can offer you with a great flying experience of up to 13 minutes. It should be noted that there is no controller available, and you have to only use your mobile phone application to control the drone. However, they can be operated with 3rd party controllers (like the GameSir T1d controller) that you can easily hook up to the drone and get the best flying experience.
Product Highlights
13 minutes of flying experience 5 MP camera DJI flight technology
Pros
Best budget drone under $100 VR headset compatibility
Cons
Mobile app control is not average
Product Price: $99.99
Flight time
One of the important reasons that anyone will opt to buy a drone is to have the best flying experience. Hence, the critical factor that you need to look for while buying a drone is to look at the flight time the drone offers. Most of the drones offer you a minimum of 12-20 minutes of flight time, and if you want more flight time, then you need to be prepared with additional batteries and quick chargers.
Flying speed
Flying speed is another vital element when buying a drone as you don’t want a slow flying drone, but a drone that can zip through the sky. And if you are considering taking part in drone racing competitions, then definitely you may require drones that offer you greater speeds. Remember the speed the drone offers can directly impact the flight time as well, so when buying a hi-speed drone, don’t forget to check the flight time as well.
Camera and streaming
Another critical feature is the camera as people mostly use drones to take some stunning aerial shots and videos. So take a look at the camera that comes integrated with the drone, and if you are just a hobbyist, then a camera with ability to take videos between 480-720p will be more than enough. But if you are into professional photography, then better go for drones that offer HD videos and pictures. Also look to see if the drone supports real-time streaming of the videos and pictures from the drone to your laptop.
Accessories
Finally, you cannot miss checking out the accessories being offered along with the drone. Most of the drones nowadays come packed as a bundle that includes a lot of accessories like a memory card, VR headset, travel kit etc.
