*UPDATED* Best drone under $200 – photography, FPV, Racing
Get flying for less with the best drones under $200
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So, you’re looking for the best drone under $200? This is a great way to get into the drone piloting hobby.
Additionally, it means you won’t blow 3 months’ rent on something fancy from the likes of DJI just to discover that you don’t enjoy flying around.
You won’t be able to get the best drone for this money, but you can get a fun, budget-oriented flying machine. If you can stretch your budget a bit more, our best FPV drone and best drone for photography pages might be able to sort you out.
Well, we’re happy to help, so let’s go over what you’ll need to keep in mind when shopping, then we’ll decide what the best drone under $200 is.
What to consider when buying the best drone under $200
Getting a decent drone for under $200 is pretty tricky and it means you’ll have to make some considerable concessions in terms of features, specs, and perhaps most importantly, build quality. Here are the big things you’ll need to remember before pulling the trigger.
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Flight modes
Multiple flight modes are particularly important features, especially at the sub-$200 price. Working on the assumption that this $200 price cap is due to you being new to the hobby, we consider them crucial.
Flight modes change the limits of your drone’s performance, allowing you to make the inevitable mistakes that are a part of learning with less risk to your drone, yourself, and other crap you might crash into.
At the very least, you’ll get a ‘beginner’ mode that will limit the drone’s top speed, acceleration, and usually the maximum altitude too. This is a very important feature that will be in any of the drones we recommend for you here
Flight time
This just means how long you can fly between battery changes or recharging breaks. This is less vital for new fliers, but it’s a quality-of-life improvement that we still want to see.
Generally speaking, around 20 minutes is a decent flight time for an average-sized drone, but as the size of the drone gets smaller, so does the flight time, usually.
Repairability
much of the first few days of drone piloting will be disappointingly less-than-spectacular crashes, and unfortunately, build quality won’t be the best for this price.
However, there is a silver lining here: The cheaper the drone, the cheaper the replacement parts. Chances are that it’ll be easier and quicker to repair too.
Luckily, crashing is a constant and unavoidable experience if you’re a drone pilot. Even if you’re experienced, you’re going to crash somewhat frequently.
This means that drone companies, in order to make the hobby less infuriating, all stock spare parts for almost every single component of the drone. Essentially, unless you crack the main body in half, you’ll probably be up and running again for less than $100. That’s about 1 (one) video game these days, so that’s pretty good.
The camera
regardless of whether you’re trying to get into aerial photography, just want to zip around, or want to get into competitive drone racing, the camera is a vital aspect of the drone.
There are a few things we’re looking for here. We need a good resolution, a fast frame rate, and preferably, a gimbal. It’s worth noting here that the gimbal and resolution are more of a priority for photography drones.
It’s also worth noting that the frame rate and resolution might get lost in translation depending on the transmission quality/stability between the drone and the FPV goggles or screen.
We gimbal refers to the system that keeps the camera level and allows it to tilt and swivel. These vary considerably from drone to drone, so consider what capabilities you’ll be needing.
Will you be needing perfectly level shots? Or are you intending to shoot top down? These are all worthwhile questions to ask yourself, because the more features the gimbal has, the greater the overall expensive will be.
The best drones under $200
Let’s stop droning on and get to the good stuff.
Snaptain SP7100 with controller
Ah yes, a favorite of beginner drone pilots the world over, Snaptain. These guys are known for affordable quality drones that aren’t total garbage.
Funny name aside, we like the Snaptain SP7100 for its price (obviously). but that’s not where the positive aspects end.
One of the reasons that this drone is so affordable is the controller. Instead of making you pay for an integrated screen, you simply use your phone.
As this is something that you’ll have on you already, it saves money and space, allowing the Snaptain SP7100 to be a very compact, yet capable drone.
Additionally, you get a full 4K camera here, and while we can’t find the top speed anywhere, which is odd, we’ve been told the SP7100 performs very well.
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Potensic T25
Here we find a design that bares a suspicious resemblance to the DJI Phantom, in fact, it’s very similar in all areas, aside from price, and seeing as we’re going after the best drone under $200, that’s the bit that matters.
Potensic has cleverly cut costs here, outfitting the T25 with all the features you actually need, and only a few extraneous fun ones, allowing the price to be accessible, with the capabilities of the drone remaining decent.
One of the more interesting features is the ‘Follow Me’ mode. This makes the Drone track along as it records, matching your speed and staying at whatever altitude you set it to.
Additionally, it’s got a fun customizable flight path mode. Essentially, you use your phone to draw a line over the map of your surrounding area. Wherever the line is, the drone will follow.
This allows you limitless creativity in terms of the flight path, and, the line will only extend as long as the battery life of the drone will allow, thankfully. If you want the best drone under $200, this one is probably the easiest to control that fits within that price range
Potensic D58 4K
Oh, look, another drone from Potensic. Well, luckily, this one has a few differences from the previous T25 that make it worth a mention, specifically how it’s one of the more affordable drones out there with a full-on 4K camera.
Another benefit of the D85 is the underside skids. These will make landing a hell of a lot easier as they provide a little extra leeway in case you’re landing at an angle, or indeed on an angle. These are also a benefit of the T25, but we forgot to mention them there. Oops
The downside comes in the form of the controller. It works fine and utilizes a mobile phone just like some of the other drones on this list, however, the phone is mounted below the body of the controller. This means your hands could occlude the screen, which would obviously be annoying.
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Altair Aerial 818 Hornet
Next up we have a drone for the true beginners out there. Low cost, robust, and built to such a utilitarian standard that it’s almost not designed at all. Just pure functionality, after all, the only colorful bits are the propellers to make it more easily visible.
Despite the beginner-oriented price, the Altair Aerial 818 Hornet is not without some good features, one of which might be a bit surprising but it’s surprisingly worthwhile, and that’s the ability to pilot it without the use of a phone.
Whereas the other drones use phones as a core part of the controller, you can choose whether or not you want to do this with the 818. This is good as it makes it more accessible to children and more user-friendly in general.
Holy Stone HS510
- Sleek design
- Affordable
- comes with 2x batteries
- Low frame rate at 4K
Now we make like King Arthur and start going on about a Holy Stone. The Holy Stone HS510 specifically. Overall this is a drone that p[provides essentially the same performance and capabilities as the previous ones, but offers a different design that might just tempt you away.
The design takes advantage of folding prop shafts as we’ve seen from the less budget-friendly DJI Mavic Air. This clever design allows the drone to be stowed away in a compact form factor. Additionally, this also helps prevent damage to the otherwise outstretched props.
It utilizes a similar controller design as some of the other drones on this list too. This design allows you to use your phone as the screen, which lowers the overall cost of the overall package. You also get two batteries to extend the time between charges and a carry case that holds everything you need to pilot the drone.
Best drone under $200 FAQs
If you lack the time or the inclination to sift through a whole page looking for answers, here are some of the most common queries we get.
What drone should I buy for a beginner?
The Altair Aerial 818 Hornet is a great pick for the beginner pilot as it combines low-cost, decent performance, and accessibility.
What is the best drone under $200
Our pick is the Snaptain SP7100 as it has all the features you need, at as very low cost, and it’s hardy enough to survive a few ’emergency landings’
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