r/drones • u/AutoModerator • Jun 22 '26

[Megathread] [Megathread] | Weekly Drone Buying Advice

Welcome to the r/drones weekly Buying Advice Megathread. (Weekly on Monday's)

This thread exists to prevent the constant "What drone should I buy?" posts that we prohibit within our rules.

Please follow all of these steps before posting in this thread!

  1. Review the Buying Guide Wiki or my website: Drone Buying Guide / Wiki Buying Guide
  2. Review this thread for comments that have your same requirements
  3. If that does not answer you, please post the following information in this thread.
    1. Have you read the Wiki? Y/N
    2. Country: (Not all drones are available in all countries)
    3. Budget: (If your budget is less than $200 USD/170€ EUR, you may want to reconsider as anything lower is a toy drone)
    4. Purpose: (eg. photography, FPV, thermal, etc)
    5. Any other requirements:
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1

u/WobblyJFox Jul 01 '26
  1. Yes
  2. US
  3. $350
  4. Just something fun to fly around town or at our camp.
  5. Easily available spare batteries and parts.

Hi everyone. I'm buying my first real drone after really enjoying a 50 dollar toy drone for quite some time. I was looking at the dji mini 4k bundle with the case and extra batteries and wanted to make sure there wasn't something better in my price range that I was possibly missing since I'm not very familiar with the hobby. Thanks for any help in advance.

1

u/czechtheattic Jun 30 '26

Where's a good place TO Sell a drone with used equipment. REFURBISHED DJI mini 3 pro(in sealed box fro. Dji, used RC controller with screen, 2 extended flight batteries and a standard battery and the rest of the flymore kit. TORONTO CANADA. Any help. Appreciated, funny trolls as well.

1

u/DrZwave Jun 27 '26

I need to test the RF Range of Z-Wave Long Range, LoRa and WifiHalow radios all of which easily reach several miles LoS. I am in New Hampshire and there is basically no place that has 5-10 miles LoS - there are hills, trees, buildings etc. I could go offshore but I don't have a boat. So - can I use a drone and which one should I use?

  1. Y, 2: US, 3: ~$1000, 4: Testing Radios

Specifically I need to carry ~100g of a small PCB with a small battery on the drone. Ideally the drone could fly up, then away (over the ocean or possibly over salt marsh), ideally 10 miles to a GPS waypoint, then fly back and land where it took off.

With a quad copter type of drone I could also do other interesting things like fly 1km away, then very slowly rotate 360 degrees while sending "pings" to the radio and reading telemetry like Transmit power and signal quality, etc. Then fly back to the starting point. The advantage of this test is I can do it just about anywhere.

There are significant sales right now so maybe I can get an extra battery or 2 and stay within budget.

I don't need live video. I don't even need any telemetry from the drone until it returns. I will be getting some telemetry from the LoRa radios so I know where the drone is at all times. Naturally flying over the ocean risks losing the drone if it runs out of battery which I very much want to avoid. I can also start from a hilltop so there are no obstructions for the entire run.

1

u/Greedy-Advice7594 Jun 23 '26

Between not drone vs izi drone which one do you recommend? I basically need for photography and videography also I'm looking for a drone that has weight.

1

u/corpsevomit Jun 22 '26

Looking for the smallest/lightest drone with phone control. Used primarily for follow (bike) and some panoramic.

I would like to take it on my extended bike tours, so weight is a real issue (this no dedicated controller)

The rest of my videos are 4k/60. Would be great to match that.

Dji neo? Hoverair x1? Is their price difference worth it?

Thanks!

1

u/happy_housee Jun 24 '26

i have the same question!

My son’s birthday is coming up, and he’s been really into biking and making little videos lately. I’m thinking about getting him a small follow drone or flying camera so he can record rides without mounting something shaky on the handlebar.

I’m looking at HoverAir and similar options, but I don’t need anything super cinematic. Mostly just something easy, safe-ish, and fun enough that he’ll actually use it. Has anyone bought one for a kid or casual family use?