What is the Best Drone Under $100?

You don’t have to break the bank to get a good drone under $100. We’ll show you five solid options and you can decide for yourself which one is best for you.

Best Beginner Drone: Ryze Tello

The Ryze Tello is probably the best drone you can buy for any beginner. It is small, lightweight and durable. It is incredibly stable, so much so it can mimic some of the impressive flight modes that more expensive GPS drones use. Its camera can take best-in-class 5-megapixel images and is capable of HD video. It even has electronic image stabilization to help smooth out your footage. With an impressive 13 minute flight time, you’ll love the Ryze Tello. The Tello may have been built by Ryze but was done in tandem with DJI and Intel and that clearly shows. Learn more about the Tello HERE.

Best FPV Drone: Eachine M80

The old Hubsan FPV used to be king here, but the Eachine M80 is the new champion for anyone that wants to get into flying first-person view (FPV). Flying FPV is what you see the drone pilots doing on TV with their goofy-looking goggles. This little quad is super durable and has the ability to fly in both traditional angle mode and in acro mode like the pros. The built-in camera gets the job  done and transmits a solid 5.8 GHz signal to your monitor. You’ll need to pick up your own monitor or goggles, but you won’t be disappointed with this quadcopter.

Best Aerial Photography Drone

The Syma X8 series of drones is one of our favorites. It is a larger quadcopter, roughly the size of a DJI Phantom 4 Pro. There are a bunch of different models. We recommend picking up the most inexpensive one and upgrade it later. You can add an inexpensive mount and GoPro and pick up some pretty impressive footage for a fraction of the price of a Phantom. As an added bonus this is one of the most durable drones on the market. Learn more about the Syma X8

MJX Bugs 3

Like the Syma X8 the MJX Bugs 3 is an excellent drone to carry an action camera. The Bugs 3 is a more powerful version in many ways. It has brushless motors that make it more efficient and powerful. We don’t recommend this drone for a beginner because the propellers spin pretty fast and could do some damage if you aren’t careful. The Bugs 3 can even be adapted to carry a lightweight Walkera gimbal for your action camera. It is even fast enough to throw on an FPV camera and race around. The Bugs 3 is typically cheaper coming from GearBest than Amazon, so keep that in mind when shopping. Learn more about the Bugs 3 HERE.

Best Unique Quadcopter

At first glance, the Force1 Halo 3000 doesn’t look all that different, but when you turn it on you’ll be greeted by some incredibly bright LEDs. This drone is a blast to fly in the dark. It is ultra durable and the ducted design allows it to bounce off of walls like you are flying a bumper car. The altitude hold feature makes this quad very stable. As an added bonus you can even create “light paintings” with this drone.

Best All-in-One Package

The Eachine E013 is similar to the M80 in design, but unlike the M80 it is a complete package. You’ll get the drone, camera, remote, battery and FPV goggles. You’ll have everything you’ll need to be able to fly FPV right away. The E013 is a small, light, durable, ducted quadcopter. It is a blast to fly and our go-to drone to fly around the house while we wait for the brutal Chicago winter weather to pass.

More Drones…

Every month we update what we believe are the best drones on the market. Check out Best Drones Now. We have also created the one-of-a-kind Half Chrome Drone Cipher™. You answer a few questions and we’ll pair you with the best drone for you.

Do you want to search by price? Click on your menu above or we can break it down for you. Check out drones under $50, from $50-100, from $100-200, from $200-500 or over $500. Maybe you like a good Top Ten list, we’ve got you covered.

Learn More…

If you want to learn more about taking great pictures or flying FPV then check out our comprehensive guides on those topics. Also take a look at our articles on how to choose the right drone for great aerial photos or for getting started flying race drones. Learn more about drones and how to get the most out of them in our Drone Academy. In the Academy we also detail some of the advanced testing we do, including our recent addition, drone thrust testing.

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