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In this article we are reviewing the top 10 drones that can be bought for less than $300. $200-$300 is a great price point for a drone, and in this price range, really cool devices can be purchased! You’re leaving most of the beginner nuances behind once you get into this range and you are trekking into more advanced features and flight capability.
The higher your budget, the better are the features and specifications of the drones. All the 10 drones under $300 are amazing aircrafts, and they come with some fantastic features. Most of the drones on this list are equipped with powerful motors capable of carrying a GoPro, durable batteries, good flight time, great quality cameras, and features you probably didn’t know drones could have.
There are a lot of great drones out there so we made two lists, one listed in the table below and the other is a classic list with a bit more detailed description of each model. Here is a quick tabular rundown of the best drones under $300:
Table of Top 10 Best Camera Drones under 300$:
Name | Camera | Range | Time | Best Price |
---|---|---|---|---|
Altair AA108 | 720p | 100m | 10min | See best offer |
UDI U818 | 720p | 150m | 13min | See best offer |
HStone HS120D | 1080p | 300m | 16min | See best offer |
MJX Bugs 2w | 2K | 800m | 18min | See best offer |
Potensic D85 | No | 1.2km | 20min | See best offer |
Contixo F20 | 1080p | 800m | 18min | See best offer |
HStone HS700D | 2K | 700m | 20min | See best offer |
Potensic D88 | 2K | 1.5km | 18min | See best offer |
HStone HS720 | 2K | 800m | 25min | See best offer |
Ruko F11 | 4K | 1.2km | 25min | See best offer |
Hubsan Zino | 4K | 1km | 23 min | See best offer |
What to Expect from Drones under $300?
The drones on this list can’t be as good as $1000 ones, so the key to appreciating entry level drones is to lower your expectations. You need to do a little research on what exactly can you expect from under $300 quads. It won’t take too long, don’t worry. In fact, here’s a fine list of 4 key features to look for when buying a drone under $300:
Flight Battery
Premium models have about 22 to 27 minutes of airtime. However, these little fellas can fly around for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Camera
It is important to note that you cannot really expect 1080p footage and hardware image stabilization on every single model. In fact, some drones on this list don’t even come with a camera, but that doesn’t make them obsolete. For example, MJX Bugs 3 doesn’t come with a camera. However, it sports a mount that fits lots of models. On the other hand, with drones that are equipped with cameras, you’ll most likely be looking at a mediocre CMOS sensor and 720p or 1080p footage.
Flight Range
When it comes to flight range, you should look for minimum 300 meters (985 feet), because anything less than 300 meters is a no-go for you if you want to enjoy exploring the area with your FPV goggles on. There are certain models which go as far as 500 meters (1640 feet) or even more. However, they’re usually bordering on the price range.
Other Features
It is important to note that many drones don’t come with GPS or other important features such as Return to Home and Altitude Hold. These features give a much better flying experience, and that’s the reason why I highly recommend you getting a drone that has them.
Are These Drones Reliable?
These drones are actually quite reliable. You see, first we have the fact that most of these drones are well-built and can endure quite the beating. However, this doesn’t mean that you can fly them full speed straight into concrete walls, because no drone would survive that.
Second, most of the drones listed below are equipped with brushless motors, which are more durable than brushed ones and will, in most cases, work much longer.
What Are These Drones Good for?
The drones under $300 can serve a lot of uses. It all depends on your imagination and creativity. One thing is for sure – they make great flying trainers, which is very important if you’re a beginner or a first-time flyer. Not only will you have fun with these drones no matter what, but you will also feel worry-free while doing so, because it wasn’t much of an investment even if you happen to crash it. On the other hand, you’d be on your way to Sadifornia in a matter of seconds if you crashed a $1000 drone.
But, besides worry-free flying, drones featured in the list below are also good for plenty other things, including:
- Amateur aerial photography – When it comes to aerial photography, a big portion of drones that are listed below are somewhat good. For example, 3DR Solo is stable and provides a dedicated 3-axis gimbal that works seamlessly with GoPro Hero cameras.
- Practice – These drones are great for your first “steps” into piloting, and they provide a worry-free experience. With them, you’ll be able to learn all the basics and fundamentals of flying a drone.
- Casual flying – You’ll be flying like a real champ and have lots of fun with your new toy, after you’ve mastered your first steps. Every single one of below listed drones provide responsive controls, one key flips, and possess a fair dose of flight stability, which means that they are insanely fun to casually fly around.
Potensic D88
The Potensic D88 is a decent foldable drone with a good-quality 2K camera with a 110-degree wide angle lens so it can see more within the frame and a modestly able 1 axis gimbal. It is not the best drone under $300 but it definitely deserves a high-ranked mention.
It has a 2MP CMOS sensor which will allow you to take awesome aerial photography and it comes with dual GPS modules and intelligent flight modes that will make it easier to fly the drone.
The feed from the camera can be streamed via Wi-Fi using the mobile app for real-time first-person videos. The transmission range is up to 984 feet.
The drone features a 3400mAh battery which is good enough to power it through 20-minute flights.
Ruko F11 – best drone under 300 dollars
We continue the drone reviews under $300 with another great drone that can fly up to 30 minutes, has a 4k camera and a 1.2km control range.
The drone features a 4K UHD camera that lets you to capture footage at high resolution. The camera can record 2.7K videos and stills at up to 8.3MP. It also has a 120-degree field of view, which enhances the extent of details in your footage.
The long flight time is powered by the 2500mAh intelligent batteries that it uses to give a pilot a whopping 30 minutes of flight time.
Two downsides are lack of obstacle detection sensors and gimbal stabilization.
Potensic D60
The Potensic D60 is a medium-sized HD camera drone that comes with GPS and smart flight modes. It’s a nice-looking drone with which you can shoot some decent videos and images with its 1080p camera and experience live video footage with its FPV feature.
It also has a 1-axis gimbal and a return to home button which is of immense utility to new pilots.
The battery that Potensic D60 GPS drone uses is packed with a powerful 7.4V 1800mAh capacity. It has enough charge to provide a flight time of 20 minutes, quite impressive for a quality smart camera drone at its price range.
Contixo F24 Pro
This foldable drone is an absolute steal for its price – it definitely can be considered the best drone with camera under $300. It features an excellent 4K Ultra HD Camera that is vertical adjustable with a 120° FOV lens.
You can take 4k images and 2.7k recordings with it.
Intelligent 25000 mAh batteries power the drone for a whopping 30 minutes of flight time.
The range is also impressive – 1,700 feet for live video and image transition.
The drone also comes with follow me mode, gesture control and orbit mode – three surprising features for this price range drones. But that is not all since the drone also has tap to fly option with 16 waypoints you can use to direct the drone on its fly path.
Holy Stone HS720
Another solid drone for this price range is Holy Stone HS720. It has a decent 2K FHD camera with image stabilization and 90 degrees vertical adjustability.
The drone features couple of intelligent mode flights like return to home, follow me, orbit mode and flying along the map set path.
The flight time is also representable with praiseworthy 26 minutes of flying fun.
Optical Flow Positioning makes great effect when GPS signal is lost or weak. Functions, like one key start/stop, emergency stop, altitude hold and electric fence, keep it simple to control for even beginners.
The control range of 2.4GHz transmitter reaches to 3000 feet high range, another stellar feature for this price range.
Holy Stone U818A
This is a bit more modest model from Holy Stone, but nonetheless worth of a consideration.
It has a passable HD Camera that can capture pristine HD aerial footage and photos – 720p HD / 30 fps.
With its 6 Axis Gyro Stability, the drone is great for handling and 360° flips.
Flying time is only 6 to 9 minutes and controlling range is also barely satisfactory with 30 meters.
Parrot Bebop
Specs and Features
- Weight: 400 grams (0.88 pounds)
- Size: 320 x 280 x 36 mm (12.6 x 11 x 1.4 inches)
- Flight Battery: 1200mAh Li-Po
- Flight Time: 10 minutes
- Camera: 14MP
- Stabilization: 3-axis gyro
- Flight Range: 200 meters (656 feet)
- Top Speed: 48 km/h (30 mph)
- Automatic return home
- GPS
- High altitude flight control
The Parrot Bebop is a great all-around camera drone, which is not yet (and won’t be in the near future) outdated. It’s one of the best drones for learning aerial photography and videography. The camera is very powerful. It captures crisp 14MP photographs and records video in 1080p with a 180-degree field of view. This feature allows an incredibly large viewing space. However, it also causes distortion which some people won’t like at all. The Bebop’s video is extremely stable and sturdy without a gimbal, and the 3-axis gyro provides a good stability for the drone during flying at the long range.
Features-wise, Parrot Bebop has automatic return home, GPS, flight map control (similar to waypoints), return to home, high altitude flight control, and cloud storage where all your flight data can be kept.
Specification-wise, Bebop has about 10 minutes of flight time and 200-250 meters (656-820 feet) of operating range. True, this drone can be connected to the Sky Controller Remote, which features an amplified Wi-Fi radio and four antennas allowing you to fly farther — up to 1.4 miles (2.3km). Its successor is making a fortune. However, the original Parrot Bebop strikes back with charm, much lower price tag and solid performance.
The Parrot Bebop is perfect for those who are looking for cheap drone under 300 bucks with the amazing camera feature and FPV.
Cheerson CX-20
Specs and Features
- Dimensions: 360 x 360 x 200 mm (14.2 x 14.2 x 7.9 inches)
- Weight: 980 grams (2.2 pounds)
- Flight Battery: 1.5V 2700mah 20C 3c Li-Po
- Flight Time: 10-15 minutes
- Charging Time: 180 minutes
- Camera: GoPro Camera Compatible
- Flight Range: 300 meters (984 feet)
- Top Speed: 29 km/h (18 mph)
- Handle Mode
- Height Hold Mode
- Flight Direction Locked Mode
- Position Hold Mode
The CX-20 is one of the best-selling drones out there in the market. It has quite an impressive performance and it’s great for any level of skill, whether you’re a beginner or a professional. This drone fully RTF as soon as you take it out of the box, and all you have to do is attach the propellers and ensure your batteries are charged and ready to go.
This is really an amazing drone with a lot of features, including IOC (Intelligent Orientation Control), GPS to remember its coordinates and recover from spins, Low-Battery safety function to allow the drone to automatically lands itself to avoid crashing when the battery runs low, Flight Direction Locked Mode, Height Hold Mode, Handle Mode, and Position Hold Mode.
The drone is equipped with a 1.5V 2700mah 20C 3c Li-Po battery that gives it enough power to fly about 30km/h during 15 minutes of maximum flight time. The CX-20 also offers a very respectable 300 meters of flight range. As far as the camera goes, the CX-20 is capable to carry a Go Pro camera, which is the camera of choice for many pro aerial photographers and videographers.
The Cheerson CX-20 is right up your alley if you are looking for a drone that is both under $300 and easy to carry around from place to place. The CX-20 is a surprisingly impressive drone for the price tag, which proves that even though some drones could be considered a budget model, it doesn’t mean they can’t have some amazing specs and features.
XIRO Xplorer
Specs and Features
- Dimensions: 399 x 399 x 137 mm (15.7 x 15.7 x 5.4 inches)
- Weight: 1220 grams (2.7 pounds)
- Battery: 11.1V 5200mAh Li-Po 3S
- Flight Time: 22 minutes
- Camera: GoPro camera compatible
- Top Speed: 55 km/h (34 mph)
- Flight Range: 500 meters (1640 feet)
- GPS Compatible
- Altitude Hold
- Position Hold
- Flight Planning
- Autonomous Flight
- Follow Me Capable
- Automatic Landing
- Return To Home
The XIRO Xplorer comes in many versions – with camera, without camera, with GoPro gimbal, and in this article, we’re referring to the version that lacks both gimbal and camera. Thanks to its futuristic design, XIRO gained a lot of media exposure when launched, and it is still one of the best-looking drones available on the market. However, when purchasing a drone, design is not only that matters.
Fortunately, this drone has a lot to offer outside the design department. Thanks to the powerful 5200 mAh Li-Po battery, the XIRO can fly up to a whopping 22-25 minutes on a single charge. The control range is also impressive with 500 meters (1640 feet) range. It provides you with a smooth, stable flight and a fair amount of wind resistance, and it’s incredibly easy to fly, even for a beginner.
Thanks to its modular design, the drone can be easily upgraded with Xiro’s official Full HD camera, which allows you to capture professional quality shots for less than half the price of the more expensive rigs. Also, the 3-axis camera stabilization system gives you smooth footage. Hurry up if you think XIRO Xplorer is a worthy match for you because only few drones are left in stock. And if you ask me – this drone is definitely for you!
Hubsan H501S
Specs and Features
- Weight: 1542 grams (3.4 pounds)
- Size: 328 x 150 x 328 mm (12.9 x 5.9 x 12.9 inches)
- Flight Battery: 2300mAh Li-Po
- Flight Time: 17 minutes
- Camera: 1080p
- Flight Range: 400 meters (1312 feet)
- Top Speed: 72.4 km/h (45 mph)
- GPS Hold
- Headless Mode
- Follow Me
- Return to Home
- One Key Return
- Altitude Hold
Hubsan has been a trusted brand in the drone industry for many years, and it is another prime example of a drone manufacturer that almost everyone knows and loves. Their drones are fun and durable, and they get the job done. The Hubsan H501S is no different, and it offers us great price / value ratio. This drone has got a stylish, sleek look that’s very easy on the eyes. The H501S has some very impressive and advanced features and specs that make it a definite choice for our review. I know that there are several other advanced drones on this list with similar price. However, keep in mind that they used to cost much more and that their price reduced after new models came out.
Hubsan H501S is equipped with brushless motors. This means that they should give you more than enough power for such a lightweight drone, and also you’ll be safe from replacing them for a fair amount of time. Furthermore, this little birdie features 5.8GHz FPV and there’s even a dedicated 4.3” LCD screen on transmitter. The H501S comes with a powerful 1080p camera and FPV capability, and both photo and video quality of it is bound to amaze you.
Specification-wise, advertised control range is 400 meters, and you should expect something about 16-18 minutes of flight time. The Hubsan H501S also comes with some surprisingly advanced features: Follow Me, GPS, Altitude Hold, Headleass Mode, 6-axis gyro stability, One Key Return, and Auto-Return Home.
Hubsan H501S is definitely an excellent little drone for the price you’re paying, and if you’re a fan of aesthetic value, GPS, and camera, this drone is definitely the one you are looking for.
UPair one
Specs and Features
- Dimensions: 470 x 231 x 340 mm (18.5 x 9.1 x 13.4 inches)
- Weight: 1350 grams (3 pounds)
- Battery: 5400mAh Lithium Ion
- Flight Time: 18 minutes
- Camera: 12MP 2K camera
- Top Speed: 50 km/h (31 mph)
- Flight Range: 1000 meters (3280 feet)
- GPS system
- Dual compass system
- Altitude Hold
- Failsafe Programming
- One Key Return
UPair One packs all the amazing features seen in a high-budget drone but for a very affordable price under $300, and if you are low on budget, this drone is great alternative to high-end models! It’s basically a copy of DJI Phantom models, but with a few aces up its sleeves.
You will be impressed with the 7-inch LED Screen Remote Controller, because it gives crystal clear images and FPV videos. It comes with a camera that captures video in ultra-crisp 2.7K, and you can even pay extra $50 and get yourself an upgraded 4K camera that shoots awesome videos. Live feed from camera is transmitted through 5.8GHz frequency. This should provide you decent image quality, much better than you’d experience with Wi-Fi based FPV. The control distance range is around 1000 meters (3280 feet) with the altitude of 300 meters (984 feet), which is quite good in this affordable price range.
The drone is powered by a powerful 5400mAh Lithium Ion battery, which should allow up to 22 minutes of flight time. This is amazing result if you ask me. All this greatness doesn’t stop here. It gets even better, because UPair One has a wide set of awesome features such as: Failsafe Return to Home on loss of signal or low battery, GPS with dual compass, GPS Position Hold, IOC (Headless Mode), Altitude Hold, and Return to Home.
It is also important to note that UpAir is fulfilled by Amazon. This means that you can get it shipped by Prime service. Also if any unexpected problems occur, you can easily return it.
As you can see, UPair One has all you need for an amazing flight right out of the box. This drone has astonishing specifications and amazing features that were only seen in high-budget drones, and at this price-to-features ratio, the UPair One is tough to beat.
AEE AP10
Specs and Features
- Dimensions: 370 x 370 x 140 mm (14.6 x 14.6 x 5.5 inches)
- Wingspan: 450 mm (17.7 inches)
- Weight: 1300 grams (2.9 pounds)
- Battery: 11V 5300mAh
- Flight Time: 25 minutes
- Camera: 16MP 1080p camera
- Payload Capacity: 300 grams (0.66 pounds)
- Top Speed: 90 km/h (56 mph)
- Maximum Flying Altitude: 500 meters (1640 feet)
- Flight Range: 500 meters (1640 feet)
- RTF Drone
- GPS Compatible
- Automatic Landing
- Return To Home
- Altitude Hold
- Flight Planning
- Position Hold
AEE is a leading manufacturer of recording and UAV equipment, and they are also well known for their high quality yet affordable drones. They don’t enjoy the same amount of popularity as the likes of DJI and Yuneec. However, AEE is still a respectable name in the industry. That’s why it comes as no surprise to see their AP10 has everything you need to start with flying drones. It is also great for learning basics of aerial photography and videography.
Aerial photography shouldn’t be a problem because AEE AP10 is equipped with 16MP (1080p, 60FPS) camera. It is also important to note that this drone uses Wi-Fi protocol for FPV transmission. This means that you can use your Smartphone as a live video feed receiver. FPV range should be somewhere around 100-150 meters (328-492 feet). In terms of battery, you are looking at what seems to be a 5300 mAh Li-Po battery, which gives about 22-25 minutes of flight time. Furthermore, the AP10 comes with a flight range of 500 meters, and it also incorporates autonomous flight and return to home. Both these features will come in handy more often than you think. All these amazing features make this drone perfect for aspiring aerial photographers and videographers, or anyone who wants to get in the air and view the world around them.
AEE is also producing and selling spare parts (camera, batteries, propellers, etc) on Amazon. This means that it shouldn’t be a problem to repair those parts if you crash it. All in all, I believe AEE AP10 is an amazing drone for under $300. If you buy this ‘baby’, it will definitely provide you with plenty of fun at a very low price.
Holy Stone HS700D
Specs and Features
- Item weight: 608g ( FAA Needed)
- Dimension: 8.66*8.66* 6.10in (Without protection guards)
- Flight Time: 22Mins
- Charging Time: 5-7Hours
- Camera: 2048*1152p / 2k
- Live Video Transmission Range: 1640-2600ft
- Max Control Range: 3280ft
- Battery Capacity: 2800 mAh
- Motor: 2204 1500KV Brushless Motor
Holy Stone is a familiar name in this price segment and this model makes HS especially proud with its flight time of 22 minutes and solid build. Be aware that the flight time is significantly shortened if you keep the camera on all the time – flight time is around 13-16 minutes with this flight style.
The drone is just what you would expect from a machine in this price range as it lacks live video transmission but camera is above average with 2048X1152P. It is also compatible with GoPro 5 and above.
The drone is controlled via its own remote controller but you can control certain functions via smartphone app as well. A phone with the Ophelia app installed can control return to home, automated modes like follow me and allows you to see through the camera mounted on the drone. You cannot fly the drone completely only with smartphone.
Conclusion
You need to do a little hard work to find your best drone if you are like to purchase a drone under $300. A lot of drones may seem way out of your budget range. However, we’ve just proved that there are still tons that are both reasonably priced and great quality! It is recommended to purchase a cheaper option if you are a beginner, because it will take you some time to learn the flying skills.
Here I listed the top 10 best drones under 300 dollars, and really cool drones can be purchased in this price range! All the 10 drones under $300 are amazing ones, and even at this intermediate price range most drones comes with durable batteries, good flight time, nice flight range, GoPro, HD camera, FPV, etc.
I really hope that this list was somewhat useful and interesting.
While you are here, have a look at other drones worth buying that cost a lot less than the ones we listed here. I made sure to break them down into price categories and if you go through them, you will be surprised what do some of these cheaper models offer.
- Best drones under $50
- Best drones under $100
- Best drones under $200
- Best drones under $300
- Best drones under $500
Also, take a look at the best cheap drones for beginners. And in case you are a more serious pilot, we did a detailed guide on the best professional drones as well.