Recommendations for a sub-£200 drone

Thanks that’s great. So if I wanted to play footage back at top quality I need a laptop with card slot or card slot attachment accessory for laptop? Yes? Whilst we’re on the brand you talk of there I believe this is the market leader but lowest price mini with case is £450+

If I had £200 to spend on my first drone what would you recommend and why bearing in mind why I want to get involved in this in the first place is photography first gadgetry second!

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There are a few Sub £200 on Amazon that are good. I bought one. GPS, 4K, camera gimble etc.
I cannot fault the pictures recorded or the video except that there was very little stabilization so the video was jerky unless you were VERY smooth.
It flew well enough until I had an issue which made my mind up. I returned it and am waiting for a refund.

I bought a Mini 2 and the difference is like chalk and cheese. I cannot recommend a DJI high enough but that is my very limited experience. There are Mavic Minis for sale for a little more than your budget with the remainder of Refresh policy.
Choose your seller well and I don’t think you will go wrong.

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Hi DJ,

Personally for under £200 I would highly recommend the Holy Stone HS510 or HS720. Both great beginner drones (I have the 510) If your looking for a sub 250gms registration limit the HS510 is a cracking little unit (720 is 500gms and will require registration) although the static camera makes for some quite shaky video but if your not worried about that then as far as I can see there is little difference between the two. I got mine for £110.00 on an Amazon lightening deal but spent £60 on a second battery as the 12 minute flight time is a tad annoying when your out enjoying the flight.

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With a bit of patience you should be able to pick up a 2nd-hand Mavic Mini for £250 on eBay, so maybe worth hunting down the back of the sofa for the extra budget.

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I’d buy a Tello:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8055992

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Perhaps a personal thing - and I’m not even sure if it’s available <£200 new (and probably a stretch second-hand) … but a 3 axis gimbal. :+1:

I know years ago I wanted to get the Phantom 2 with a GoPro … but initially it was all just 2 axis.

I dived in (albeit for a lot more than £200) the moment the Zenmuse H3-3D gimbal was announced.

Hi, you can also download onto phone full quality after flight, it would save straight into photos album. As for £200 on a drone, personally I would not bother. I have mini 1 and Air 2, and both produce great pics. If i were to buy now and if it was my first drone, then Mini 2 would be an absolute minimum and would give great photos.

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Try potensic t35 mine seems to tick all the boxes for a beginner

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If you can stretch to £300 … Mavic Mini Flymore For Sale [SOLD]

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If you can stretch your budget to £400, I’ll shave the rest off the price for you. Very easy to master and with a 21megapixel 4k camera, your photography is sorted.

If size and that “new drone smell” is not an issue you could look at something second hand and a bit older.

Like cars drones depreciate as soon as you break the coveted seal on the box. To give a few examples here are some of my acquisitions.

Yuneec Q500 4K, boxed. These sold for around £1000+ when new. I paid £120 off eBay.

Blade Chroma. This is essentially the same as the Q500 above but with a smaller frame size. I bought two of these, one was included for spare parts but works fine, from a seller on Shpock for £150. Again these sold for between £800 to £1000 depending on the camera option.

DJI Phantom 2. Again off eBay. This came in a flight case and included the Zenmuse H3-3D GoPro gimbal, FPV transmitter and screen, spare props and stuff. I paid £55 for the complete kit. The battery was goosed but I bought some third party batteries for £40 each.

If you have some electronic experience buying a “Spares or Repair” drone can reap rewards. I bought a Parrot Anafi Extended Package, again off eBay, for £160. It was sold as Spares or Repair, the symptom being “Does not turn on, completely dead”. Once delivered I found that many of the supplied accessories were still sealed, so it was safe to say it hadn’t seen much action, if any, and had been returned back to Amazon. On opening up the Anafi the fault was obvious, a flat cable that connects the power distribution board to the main board was not connected. Since reconnecting the cable the Anafi has performed faultlessly ever since.

Even a naked Phantom 1 is still a good purchase at the right price. Batteries are dirt cheap and it’s a great platform to learn flying skills. I have five of these but four are out on extended loan to members of my flying club whom are wanting to make the transition from fixed wing LOS to multirotor FPV.

Nidge.

Or there’s now one for £250. :wink:

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Looks like I’ll be reviewing my price again…

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If you could save a little longer or stretch a little further the Mini or the Mini 2 will last you longer and do more (especiially if you want photography, I cannot fault the mini 2 I just bought!).

However like others have said, you could go older. There’s some great stuff on ebay thats a little older, like this Phantom 3?

But… were it my choice, I’d have to hold out for the DJI Mini2 if I could.

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