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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. Their raison 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 3 Advanced
$999
BI Rating: 9/10
Flickr/Don McCulloughDJI is the monarch of the drone world, and its latest flagship, the Phantom 3, only strengthens its reign. Virtually every reviews site or enthusiast blog we could find says it’s the best you can buy, and we can’t disagree. It takes everything that was great about last year’s Phantom 2 Vision+, which was widely regarded as the best overall consumer drone after its launch, and smoothes out most of its little annoyances.
The only debate here is which the three P3 models you should get. The Phantom 3 Standard is the most affordable entry at $700, but it lacks a handful of the newer features found in its two siblings, including last year’s comparatively limited remote. If you can live with that, go for it, but we think it’s worth ponying up for the upgrades.
The Phantom 3 Professional, meanwhile, is the most technically capable of the trio. Its camera shoots at a gorgeous 4K resolution, at either 24 or 30 frames per second. That’s a cut above the 1080p, 60fps camera on the P3 model we're recommending (keep reading) — but only if you have a something capable of displaying Ultra HD content. Many people don’t. (And they’d chew through a whole lot of microSD cards if they did.) You can also livestream 720p video directly to YouTube, and while that’s cool, it’s not another $150 cool. Outside of that, our pick is virtually the same device. But again, if you’re all-in on 4K, take the plunge.
For most people, though, we recommend the Phantom 3 Advanced. It’s a sizable investment at $1,000, but when you consider everything it offers in the context of the wider drone market, it’s actually a good value. It retains the white, toy-like design of its predecessors, but it’s still sturdily built.
You shouldn’t go in blindly (see below), but the P3 is altogether accessible to fly indoors and (mostly) out, even if you aren’t terribly experienced. Setting it up only takes a few seconds, too. Just be sure to get some practice first, because this thing can move fairly quickly (up to 35 mph) and it’ll cut you up if you aren’t careful.
Once it’s in the air, it’s remarkably stable and responsive, thanks in large part to it using GPS and Russia’s GLONASS system to keep itself constantly connected to satellites. It goes where you want it to go. That’s helped by its much improved controller, which now uses a rechargeable battery instead of burning through replacement ones, and lets you directly hook in your phone or tablet to use as viewfinder instead of relying on WiFi. (Android support is relatively limited, however.)
The remote also includes a “Return to Home” button that, well, returns the P3 home, or at least some point close to your location. It’ll also go back to its launch point on its own if it loses contact with the controller, too. This all works, though it’s not the most accurate out there. It might be tough to see either way, though, since the P3 can fly more than a mile away before its connection starts to fade.
Crucially, the remote also has dedicated buttons for shooting with and adjusting the built-in camera, all of which make filming much more convenient.
About that camera: It’s not as robust as the Professional’s 4K unit, but it’s still great. You can get plenty of great footage from a 1080p shooter, and the P3’s cool profile in the air allows any imagery to stay exceptionally crisp and clear. In case of emergency, whatever video you take is automatically cached to your phone or tablet in 720p. The unit itself is hooked to the same 3-axis gimbal — the thing that holds the camera in place — of its predecessor, which allows it to be reasonably flexible as well.
The downside is that it’s still permanently attached to that gimbal. If you have a GoPro you’re aching to take to the skies, hooking it up here is more trouble than it’s worth. Besides, though, the P3 is largely open to having parts removed and replaced. Since this is the most popular drone brand in the world, finding those replacements is easy.
There are other downsides. Although the P3 recharges quickly, its battery only lasts about 20 minutes. That’s about average for this class, but inherently underwhelming. Extra batteries go for $150 a pop, too, so you’re looking at a high premium if you want to fly for longer sessions. You’ll probably want to invest in a carrying case as well.
There are other little things it doesn’t do as well as some competitors, but as an all-in-one package that’s both great for imaging and a blast to fly, the Phantom is still the drone to beat.
Pros:
Smooth and stable flying for all types
Excellent camera quality
Connects well with smart devices
Cons:
Extra batteries can jack up cost
Can’t remove camera
Battery life could be better
The best drone for beginners: Blade Nano QX
$89.99
BI Rating: 8/10
Flickr/Don McCulloughThe Phantom 3 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)
$33.39
BI Rating: 7/10
Flickr/Don McCulloughWhile $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 card first.
Pros:
Highly affordable
Compact
Great for indoors
Cons:
No propeller guard
Struggles with wind
Can be too sensitive at points
A larger trainer drone with an HD camera: UDI U818A-1
$84.99
BI Rating: 7/10
Flickr/Don McCulloughIf you want a better kind of beginner-camera quad, of if you’d just like an affordable trainer model that isn’t as tiny as the Blade or Hubsan, try the UDI U818A-1.
This is an upgraded version of UDI U818A, which is one of the most popular quadcopters listed on Amazon. The main difference between the two is that the U818A-1 comes with a 720p camera, which is a vast improvement over the U818A's grainy 640x480 resolution unit. It’s also a bit more sturdily put together. The original model is about $35 cheaper, however, so if you don’t need the higher-quality shots, feel free to save your cash.
Outside of that, the two share similar builds, with four thick propellers protected by big plastic loops. That frame allows the device to bounce off most things you’ll crash into, although you’ll still need to be careful with such inherently flimsy materials. If things do break, replacement units are neither pricey nor difficult to find.
Thankfully, flying the U818A-1 out of the box doesn’t take much effort. All that plastic makes it pretty lightweight, so again you’ll need to avoid heavy winds, but on clearer days (and indoors) it runs nice and smooth. It’s not especially fast in the air, and its effective range could be farther, but that can actually work in its favor if you’re, say, using it a trainer model for your kid. Its controller isn’t totally toy-like, and even includes a fun little button for doing 360-degree flips.
The whole thing lasts just 7-10 minutes in the air, depending on how much you’re using the camera, which is still nothing to be excited about. However, it does come with two batteries that are simple to pop in and out as needed.
But the real appeal here is that HD camera. Now, for $85, you can’t expect breathtaking quality, but it does take genuinely shareable video, and activating it is as easy as a couple of button presses on the remote. (It doesn’t capture audio, however.) The drone is stable enough in the air to keep shots from being as shaky as they could be, too. For someone new to the concept, it’s a great way to get accustomed to aerial imaging before stepping up to a higher-end option.
Pros:
Solid HD camera
Affordable
Comes with two batteries
Cons:
Doesn’t play nice with wind
Battery life isn’t great
Neither is flying range
A great drone for first-person flying: Blade Nano QX FPV
$419.97
BI Rating: 8/10
Flickr/Don McCulloughOne 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
$539.99
BI Rating: 8/10
Flickr/Don McCulloughChances 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’s a blast to fly. 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
$2,739
BI Rating: 10/10
Flickr/Don McCulloughYep, 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 3, the Inspire is surprisingly easy to fly for such an advanced device. Its controller is similar to that of the P3, and it uses the same robust app to stream a live video feed to a connected smartphone or tablet. Its effective flying range is just as excellent.
It can go noticeably faster, however, 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 big differences between the Inspire and the Phantom are twofold. First, the Inspire is built better. It’s a big, professional-looking machine made of carbon fiber and metal. It’s not a toy. Those materials make it bulkier to carry around, but also less susceptible to damages if things go south.
The second is the camera. Much like the Phantom 3 Professional, it can 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 P3, the Inspire’s camera can rotate 360 degrees, and is entirely user-replaceable. (DJI recently released an improved shooter in a newer, and pricier, 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 cruel given how much you’re shelling out upfront for this thing, but such is the cost of 4K.
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. You’ll pay an absurd premium to get a hold of it, but if your field calls for something brilliant, it’s a top choice.
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