The price of drones has plunged as they have become more common over the past few years but how can you make sure you don’t end up with a dud?!
You’ve come to the right place. By the time you finish reading this review you’ll be ready to tackle the market with good understanding of what to look for. We compare key features and break down the best drones on a budget.
Jump to our Buying Guide Comparison table to see our favourite budget drone.
Flying drones is an exciting hobby for kids and adults alike. Drones are on many kids wish list, buying them a cheaper entry-level drone to see if their passion persists is a good idea before splashing hundreds on an expensive model. Don’t make the mistake of using an expensive drone for learning the basics and end up crashing or even worse losing it! Piloting a drone well comes with experience so it’s great to try your hand at it on a cheaper drone to start with and develop these skills.
Budget drones tend to have smaller motors which makes them good to learn with but also means they are quieter making them ideal for indoors and rainy day entertainment. Whatever your reason for looking for a good drone under $50, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the quality and features available at this price.
A few things to understand about cheap drones
Cheaper drones usually don’t have all the features you see on the higher price drones so don’t assume specific features are included. For example, not all models have cameras so don’t let that be an oversight – check before you buy! They are light weight, less powerful and have a shorter range but this makes for great practice drones.
Flight time
The amount of play time you get is dependent on the battery. These small, light drones tend to have a short flight time in comparison.
Buyer tip – check the drone can have the battery swapped out rather than directly charging the drone for longer air time.
Battery life still has a long way to go in drone technology, the more expensive drones are limited to around half an hour at a stretch, it’s commonly reduced by the flying conditions. All of our top reviewed drones feature dismountable batteries but check if the motor has heated up if you’re swapping in fresh batteries. Continually flying the drone when running hot will wear down the parts faster so give it a few minutes to cool down.
Cameras
All the drones we feature in our buying guide have cameras. First person view (FPV) gives you real time footage from the drone. More expensive models come with reality goggles but at this price point they generally stream to your phone in real time. The LBLA FPV is one example of a budget drone that can pair with virtual reality goggles.
Some drones have the ability to mount a seperate camera so if you have a good quality camera like a GoPro that you want to take aerial photographs with, look for a cheaper drone with a camera mount.
Drone cameras at this price point allow you to capture stills suitable to view at smaller sizes such as social media. The resolution of the cameras featured in this review are all 720P. This means the photo is 1280×720 pixels which is classed high definition (HD) or full high definition (FHD). Higher price drones generally feature 2K or 4K cameras. To give you some idea of how 720P images look, a standard computer monitor is 1920×1080 pixels so the photos taken from these cameras would look grainy if displayed at this size. The drone shot below is taken with the Cheerwing CW4.
For more information on resolution and drone photography check out our page on the Best Drone Cameras. Now let’s get onto looking at the top drones under $50…with cameras.
Best Drones Under $50
Holy Stone F180C
The Holy Stone F180C is a super small drone that we recommend for little kids. The controller is compact and simple in design so it’s easy to operate for children’s hands. It comes with a straight forward LCD display so no need to attach your phone to the transmitter… a good feature when you know how oblivious kids can be with expensive, breakable tech.
We like that Holy Stone F180C Mini comes with a dual charger so both batteries can be charged at the same time, which takes about 50 minutes. It also comes with a protective cage and 8 replacement propellors which is better than the standard 4 spares.
It’s pretty straight forward to get started with, connect the wires on the under side of the drone and flick the controller joy stick up and down to pair the controller with the drone.
This mini drone measures 5.31 inches / 13 cm long and weighs 1 pound (450g) so no need to register with the FAA. If you want more information on this we have summarise drone flying rules on ‘Is it legal to fly a drone over private property’.
Features:
- 360° 4-Way flip (left, right, forward, backward)
- 1280×720 Pixel camera and video
- 4 Sensitivity modes
- Dismountable battery
- Hover function : Keep hovering at the current height once the throttle is released
- Lights for night flying
A few user notes if you decide to go with this drone. The Holy Stone Mini has been reported to loose transmission over water so best to keep flying to either indoors or over land. Also, when recording video and it flies out of transmission distance the camera will stop recording and video needs to be re-started once in reach, it doesn’t start recording again automatically. Lastly, be sure to stop the video before unplugging as you’ll loose your footage!
Snaptain A10
The Snaptain is a mini-foldable drone measuring up at 5.31 inches / 13 cm long and only weighing 1.08 pounds (490g). It’s packed with features for the low price including voice control, headless mode and throw to fly. These make getting started super easy for beginners but it also can do some really cool stunts like 360 degree flip once you’ve got the basics down.
Snaptain A10 has the quickest battery recharge time of 45 mins and a flight time of 8 minutes for each battery, which is fairly standard at this price bracket.
A very cool feature is the follow-path function. Using the app, draw a path on your smart phone for the drone to follow.
Snaptain A10 also has intelligent voice & gesture control. Just command your drone to “take off” to make it launch. Other voice controls include “land”, “left”, “right”, “forward” and “backward”. Trigger the camera with gesture controls to take photos and start video recording. It’s equipped with 720P HD Camera and FPV so you can watch the footage live from your smart phone in real time.
Other features include:
- Circle fly
- High-speed rotation
- Gravity sensor mode
- Altitude hold mode
- Headless mode : Fly the drone without worrying about what direction it is facing, especially when the drone is far away.
- Throw flying function
- One key start/landing/return
- Emergence stop
- 3 Speed modes
These features make Snaptain very beginner friendly but can still perform cool stunts once you get a grasp on the basics like 360 degree flips.
Sanrock U61W
The Sanrock A10 is great for younger kiddies, we’d say 7 years and under. The controller is more compact with a very simple design and the propellors are guarded to protect straying fingers. Keep in mind that adult supervision is advised for any ‘drone-small child’ combination 🙂 FYI the FAA requires drone pilots to be at least 13 years old to register.
The camera is 720P, like the other featured drones but the Sanrock A10 camera has a handy, adjustable angle. You can capture more of the surroundings with the 90° wide-angle setting. If taking awesome photos is a must then you’ll appreciate Altitude Hold. This maintains the drone at a certain height while you capture the scene making for better quality photos.
Operate the drone via the app (iOS and Android) via Wi-Fi to view the high-resolution images in Real-time Share. With this function, you can see from the sky with the live video feed through the smartphone app.
A good drone for beginners, kids, starters, or newbies to have an easy and stable flight experience.
Features :
- One-key start/landing
- Emergency stop
- Headless mode : Fly the drone without worrying about what direction it is facing, especially when the drone is far away.
- Altitude height hold mode
- Gravity induction
- FPV transmission
- APP specified flight route
The Sanrock A10 comes with 2 removable and chargeable batteries that give a combined flight time of 14 minutes.
Deerc D20 Mini Drone for Kids
Even though this drone is marketed for kids we think the ‘toy’ label doesn’t do it justice. The heights it can reach are impressive, around 98ft / 30m using FPV. The controller is a decent size for adult hands, a lot of these toy drone controllers are made smaller for kids hands.
The Deerc D20 has the longest flight time of these drones at 10 mins per battery allowing 20 mins of air time using the two modular batteries.
It’s fairly easy to get started with out of the box, the instructions are nice & clear with pictures. Download the free app to view the photos and video on your phone then using FPV you can see what camera sees in real time from the phone app. The controller can fit a fairly large phone I have a iPhone 10 and others have used their Galaxy note which is 3 inches / 7.7 cm wide which fits fine.
Deerc D20 has good control and manoeuvrability and comes with a compact case for storage as an added perk.
This model supports gesture commands, use a scissor or palm movements to activate the camera to take pictures or start recording.
The body is 7.7 inches /19.6 cm long and 2.4oz / 69g.
Deerc D20 Features :
- Auto hovering: Altitude Hold system, keep hovering at the current height once the throttle was released
- One Key Start/Stop
- 3 Speed modes
- Voice control (Up/Land/Forward/Backward/Left/Right/Stop)
- Design a flight path from the app
- 360 flips
- Headless mode : Fly the drone without worrying about what direction it is facing, especially when the drone is far away.
- Lights for night flying
LBLA FPV Drone
The stand out feature on this bird is that it can be paired with your FPV virtual reality goggles . It has a 720P HD camera to take aerial photos and video which can also stream to mobiles over WiFi. The lens rotates up and down to capture the view in front or below the drone body.
The LBLA is bigger than the others reviewed here, measuring a max length of 13.4inches / 34 cm but its still pretty light. It weighs 4.5oz / 127g so it’s more prone to being blown around by wind and deplete the battery. The battery is a bit fiddly to change, having a couple of wires in the way which connect the camera.
It comes with detachable propellor guards which protect the extent of the drone rather than surrounding each prop fully. This is intended for protecting the drone when flying into trees or walls rather than protecting little hands.
Features :
- Altitude hold function: Keep hovering at the current height once the throttle is released
- Headless mode: Fly the drone without worrying about what direction it is facing, especially when the drone is far away.
- One-key return feature: Wherever you are flying, hit the one-key return button and it will return straight to you
Cheerwing CW4
The sleek design of Cheerwing is comparable to much more expensive models such as the DJI Phantom 4 (more info on the Phantom 4 here). It has a light, delicate feel but not cheap. The camera is subtle, green lights help indicate the front of the drone. Size wise, the Cheerwing is 36 inches long / 10.08cm and 0.26lbs / 120g.
It’s quick to get started with out of the box , the instructions are easy to follow to calibrate. Beginners can start with the one button take off and work their way up to flips!
Features :
- One button take off & lower : the ‘drone-down’ feature helps protect the drone when it is out of control or low battery power.
- Auto hover: hover at current height to make it easier to control and more stable for aerial photography.
- One key 360 degree flip
- Headless mode: Fly the drone without worrying about what direction it is facing, especially when the drone is far away.
Best Drones Under $50 – Comparison Table
| Snaptain A10 | Sanrock U61W | DEERC D20 Mini (Our Pick) | LBLA FPV | Cheerwing CW4 | Holy Stone F180C | |
| Flying Time | 7 min | 7 min | 10 min | 8 min | 8 min | 8 min |
| Battery recharge time | 45 min | 80 min | 80 min | 120 min | 60 min | 50 min |
| Range | 262ft/ 80m | 328ft/ 100m | 131ft/ 40m | 164ft/ 50m | 164ft/ 50m | 164ft/ 50m |
| Camera | 720P | 720P | 720P | 720P | 720P | 720P |
Conclusion
Ok, so I had some trouble picking just one drone as the ‘Best’ under $50. Each of these drones have slightly different features targeting different use so here’s our take on which model would be best for you depending on who you’re buying for and what you want to get out of your new drone.
I like that the LBLA can be paired with virtual reality goggles, while the camera has average resolution, it gives beginners a taste of what this feature has to offer to test it out before investing in a more expensive virtual reality drone.
In terms of design, the Cheerwing is a winner. It looks far more sleek and expensive than it actually is. The propellor guides are subtle but still provide protection to the blades.
If buying for small kids, the best budget drone is the Sanrock U61W. It’s child friendly with its solid propellor guards, robust design and compact controller. It also actually has the most impressive range out of all the drones. The average distance from transmitter at this price bracket is 164ft / 50m but Sanrock doubles this! The Holy Stone mini comes in at a close second for kid friendly drones because of the built in screen on the transmitter so if you don’t want to handover your new iPhone to your kids then this is a good feature. We like that the Holy Stone Mini is adaptable for all ages, it has 4 speed modes and more advanced users can do cool tricks like 360 degree flips.
Our personal favourite? The Deerc D20 Mini. We’re suckers for a few extra minutes of flight time! With the two modular batteries we can get 20 minutes in the air and it packs in so many features like voice and gesture control, single button start / stop, 360 flips and headless mode.
In summary, you can still experience the fun of owning and flying a drone even if you have a limited budget. We hope this helps you choose the best inexpensive drone for you!
