What first drone to buy

J

Jerome

Member
I've been watching a lot of drone videos on YouTube recently and I've grown pretty jealous. I want to get into flying drones as a semi- serious hobby. I have ZERO experience. Don't need the best of the best like the phantoms, but at the same time I don't want something that feels like a child's toy.

Features I need:
- decent flight time of around 15 or more minutes
- something that can fly somewhat fast
- good build quality
- reliable
- decently sized, not a small drone
- looks cool
- flies steadily
- camera that takes good quality scenic videos. This one isn't as urgent. I don't expect anything in this price range to take good videos. As long as I'm able to mount my Xiaomi yi camera I'll be happy.

Somewhat important features:
- can fly high and far
- can return
- fpv

Would prefer to stay between $150 and $200 but willing to add another $100 to my budget if something is leaps and bounds better.

Already looked at Hubsan x4 pro and the tarantula x6.

Thanks guys
 
Welcome Jerome,
I would say that depends a lot on your budget. Basically there are 4 categories of drones, Mini Drones, Toy Drones, Video / Photograpy semi autonomous drones, and racing drones. Mini's are great for flying indoors like empty warehouses ect... Toy drones require the most hands on, but can be a lot of fun flying once you gain a little experience, semi autonomous drones are capable of hands free flying, pretty much can handle greater wind rates, they have many smart features that employ GPS, Waypoints, RTH ( Return to home ), have a much greater flying radius and quality camera equipment on board and offer FPV (Forward Person View ) a completely immersible flight experience.

DJI is one of the most advanced manufactures and put out a great Product, I fly thr DJI Phantom Pro and absolutely love the how smart it is, and the quality of video.

I would suggest an upper end Toy drone to start $100-$200 US, but remember most toy drones you will only get 5-8 minutes fly time before you need to swap out the battery, and to flay for an hour you will need 7-10 batteries and the can cost just as much as the drone.

Racing Drones are FPV and are awsome, you tube DRL ( Drone Racing League) to view some of the racing videos

Give it a try no matter what drone you choose, it's a great hobby and relatively inexpensive to get into as other RC hobbies are much more expensive.

This is the one I fly for fun, very stable as it has 6 rotors, video isn't to bad, it doesn't come with a camera buy they are only $10 as an accessory .
WLtoys V323 Skywalker hexacopter

 
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Thanks for the reply Quadkid. I would like to spend up to $200, but would like prefer to spend under $150. I would like to get something that's the best value for money.
 
What would be really cool is for the multi-copter to fly upside down. That would take a flip and instantaneous change of rotor rotation so that there is a seamless changeover. Figure that one out guys...
 
Best thing you could do IMO is get the tried and tested tough as old boots Syma X5C1 http://www.banggood.com/Syma-X5C-Ex...h-Camera-p-913827.html?p=2O21111526893201504H

Add some spare props and extra batteries. Make all your beginner errors on a craft that cant do damage to people or property. As you learn cobble up more funds for moving on in the hobby. The X5C1 is a lot of fun. Even now i still take to the skies with mine frequently with my trusty 808 camera strapped to the undercarriage. I wasted a fortune while learning to fly buying foolishly. If i did it all again i would just have bought the X5C1 and had a nice pot of cash to spend once competent on really cool stuff !. A better trainer bird you will not find.

Good luck
 
I just recently got my first multirotor, a Syma X5SC. One sale it only cost me $30 or so. It definitely gets heavily affected by wind, and flight time is approx 6 - 7 minutes (from personal experience). However, I've crashed it into basically everything possible and have yet to need to replace a motor, or blade, or anything at all. The prop guards did kinda snap at some points on the middle prong, but some electrical tape fixed that.

Considering my limited budget, the Syma X5SC works great. Going to get one for my brother for X-Mas too. If you can afford better, though, I'm sure there are a lot of solid options.
 
Hi LoneRCrange the inverted quads are already done look at the invertx 400 dose reverse motors the other is the stingray 500
 
Thanks for the reply guys! I ended up getting the Syma X5C-1 and it should be coming in any day now. Besides batteries, what accessories should I get and how well does it work in slightly windy weather? My brother had a little drone and it didn't do too well in the wind, it was the q-fly w606
 
The X5C1/SW is the one that had the serious wind bug. The X5C1 original can actually handle light bordering on moderate wind. This is me zipping around WW2 bunkers with my 808 camera strapped to the undercarriage in a fairly stiff breeze. She handled it pretty well.
 
It looks like you already picked up the Syma X5c-1 (a great quad to learn to fly on) but I'll cast another vote for the JJRC H31. Really a fun little quad, easy to fly, and the price is right. Check them out.

I bought 3 of them last week to give as gifts!
 
My advice is to look on eBay for a lightly-used Phantom. It doesn't necessarily have to be a super new one either. I guarantee you that you will be impressed if you buy a DJI. You can also look at the Yuneec drones, though they are fairly expensive. If I was in your place, I'd try to get a Phantom 2 (either with live feed, or one without that you can connect your camera to). Here's a link to one on eBay that looks like a good deal: http://www.ebay.com/itm/DJI-Phantom-2-Vision-/152350660597?hash=item2378ce97f5:g:PyoAAOSwImRYQFVa
Keep in mind, it's all just advice.
 
Also, I see your budget as borderlining on being able to buy something really good. If you don't think you can afford one now, you may consider waiting a little while. But, seriously, think about the lightly-used drones that can be found on eBay.
 
I have not read other replies c'os we all have different opinions - below are my comments rather than suggestions.
You do not say what experience you have - you have not really explained just what aspect of being a quad/drone/multi rotor flyer is your primary aim.
Do you want to fly around and make movies - take Hi Res shots of Sunsets or fields of rolling hay!! OR do you want to go as fast as possible and hopefully get it back in one piece.

When - IF you are buying from China - most of the stores have problems in that they think nothing of sending you a quad that has been returned to them and maybe cleaned up a bit.
There virtually NO quality control, there is no warranty other than what the store offers - ie return it at your cost and lots of delaying stuff.
Many suggest GearBest - which is also associated with ( all in the same office I found"!) EverBuying and TinyDeals - all have bad reputations. BangGood has its detractors - but after 48 orders - a couple lost in post and refunded - a couple sent me junk and was refunded or replaced.... but refunds to Paypal or source of payment. And I am not an affiliate or get anything from them - I tell what I have experienced. Ditto with eBay - its pot luck. AliExpress is getting a good name and in the US - there is Amazon.

Decide which aspect of our hobby/sport attracts you and don't look for something that races and is a steady camera ship.
If you buy a plastic cheapo - it will not - in most cases - have brushless motors you mentions - Tarantula x6. - wizz this too fast for too long and hope you have a spare set of motors.

My suggestion is enrol at the free Univercity of Muti-Rotor/Drone/ quad copter flying and study what YOU want to know to get you flying - youTube is the best you can join!


I offer:-


Features I need: or PREFER?

- decent flight time of around 15 or more minutes - depends on what battery you use - how you fly your quad - weather - (head wind!)

- something that can fly somewhat fast - Any of the "Racer class - 180 - 280 size frames and also what motors you want to use, what ESC you want to use, what Battery you will use and how high up you push the throttle stick

- good build quality - and- reliable - depends on what you deem is good quality and IF you get a good one - even DJI send out crap at times.

- decently sized, not a small drone - Bigger the frame - bigger everything else has to be and depends on what you are really trying to achive.

- looks cool - they all look crap after the first serious crash.... usually cause by flying too fast before the pilot is capable of doing so..

- flies steadily - depends of all the above

- camera that takes good quality scenic videos. This one isn't as urgent. I don't expect anything in this price range to take good videos. As long as I'm able to mount my Xiaomi yi camera I'll be happy. A fast camera ship? one defeats the other. Camera quads have gimbals that iron out the shaky stuff - flying fast is not really a good thing if you are filming...BUT FPV like on a racer is not for movies...

Somewhat important features:
- can fly high and far limit is usually 400 feet high in moist countries - range is Line of Sight( LOS) although I think in the USA it is not the case - so this depends on
- can return - most cheapo Chinese plastic stuff purports to allow this... most fail... so you need a more upmarket quality to be sure.


Would prefer to stay between $150 and $200 but willing to add another $100 to my budget if something is leaps and bounds better.

Already looked at Hubsan x4 pro and the tarantula x6.
_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)________
 
Quadcopter102 said:
I have not read other replies c'os we all have different opinions - below are my comments rather than suggestions.
You do not say what experience you have - you have not really explained just what aspect of being a quad/drone/multi rotor flyer is your primary aim.
Do you want to fly around and make movies - take Hi Res shots of Sunsets or fields of rolling hay!! OR do you want to go as fast as possible and hopefully get it back in one piece.

When - IF you are buying from China - most of the stores have problems in that they think nothing of sending you a quad that has been returned to them and maybe cleaned up a bit.
There virtually NO quality control, there is no warranty other than what the store offers - ie return it at your cost and lots of delaying stuff.
Many suggest GearBest - which is also associated with ( all in the same office I found"!) EverBuying and TinyDeals - all have bad reputations. BangGood has its detractors - but after 48 orders - a couple lost in post and refunded - a couple sent me junk and was refunded or replaced.... but refunds to Paypal or source of payment. And I am not an affiliate or get anything from them - I tell what I have experienced. Ditto with eBay - its pot luck. AliExpress is getting a good name and in the US - there is Amazon.

Decide which aspect of our hobby/sport attracts you and don't look for something that races and is a steady camera ship.
If you buy a plastic cheapo - it will not - in most cases - have brushless motors you mentions - Tarantula x6. - wizz this too fast for too long and hope you have a spare set of motors.

My suggestion is enrol at the free Univercity of Muti-Rotor/Drone/ quad copter flying and study what YOU want to know to get you flying - youTube is the best you can join!


I offer:-


Features I need: or PREFER?

- decent flight time of around 15 or more minutes - depends on what battery you use - how you fly your quad - weather - (head wind!)

- something that can fly somewhat fast - Any of the "Racer class - 180 - 280 size frames and also what motors you want to use, what ESC you want to use, what Battery you will use and how high up you push the throttle stick

- good build quality - and- reliable - depends on what you deem is good quality and IF you get a good one - even DJI send out crap at times.

- decently sized, not a small drone - Bigger the frame - bigger everything else has to be and depends on what you are really trying to achive.

- looks cool - they all look crap after the first serious crash.... usually cause by flying too fast before the pilot is capable of doing so..

- flies steadily - depends of all the above

- camera that takes good quality scenic videos. This one isn't as urgent. I don't expect anything in this price range to take good videos. As long as I'm able to mount my Xiaomi yi camera I'll be happy. A fast camera ship? one defeats the other. Camera quads have gimbals that iron out the shaky stuff - flying fast is not really a good thing if you are filming...BUT FPV like on a racer is not for movies...

Somewhat important features:
- can fly high and far limit is usually 400 feet high in moist countries - range is Line of Sight( LOS) although I think in the USA it is not the case - so this depends on
- can return - most cheapo Chinese plastic stuff purports to allow this... most fail... so you need a more upmarket quality to be sure.


Would prefer to stay between $150 and $200 but willing to add another $100 to my budget if something is leaps and bounds better.

Already looked at Hubsan x4 pro and the tarantula x6.
_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)_)________
Click to expand...
gearbest and banggood are both from China.
 
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