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What’s the best drone under $200? Right now it’s the Holy Stone HS175D.

It can be challenging to find the best drones for under 200 dollars, what with so many new drone models offered by small companies. Many of the more budget drones and quadcopters have poor image quality and are very difficult to fly.

Through extensive research and hands on testing, in this article I will cover full reviews for the best drones under $200, including the best beginner drones under $200, and some recommendations to upgrade to significantly better models, if you have a little more money to spend.

Most of these drones have GPS and all have cameras, although for the more budget models you are limited to recording video and taking pictures in 720p HD, whereas the best drones for under $300 mostly offer 4k video recording.

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What’s the Best Drone for Under $200?

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Best Drone for under $300

If you have a little more money to spend, then it is possible to get a significant upgrade, with the best 300 dollar drone, the Ruko F11 Pro Drone.

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Compare the Top Rated Drones Under $200

Quickly compare the main features for all of the top drones under 200 in the table below.

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Why Buy a Cheap Drone?

Cheap drones, here defined as those that cost less than $200, can be an excellent entry point for drone photography, thanks to their relative simplicity, limited speed, and excellent photo performance.

Although the more expensive drones will give better photos and videos, the difference is not massive, and for most home users and hobbyists, the cheaper drones will be more than good enough to take pictures that you would be happy to print and hang on your walls, or share on Facebook or Instagram.

Drones under 200 dollars also allow you to be more adventurous with your photography, as they often contain features to prevent crashes and loss, and in any case, the loss of a $200 drone is less painful than losing a $1000 drone!

Finally, they let you learn the flying techniques that you will need if you find that you enjoy this hobby, and want to graduate to more expensive, harder to fly drones.

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Things to Consider When Buying a Budget Drone

Over the last few years, the best camera drones under 200 have become more and more complex, and more varied in size and usability.

Below I have included a list of everything you need to consider when buying a drone for photography.

Feel free to use this list for any future research you may need – it explains all of the features you will need, and will make sure that you don’t inadvertently end up with something like a racing drone that is not suitable for photography.

• Local Regulations
• Your Experience of Drone Flying
• Image / Camera Quality
• Image Stabilization
• First Person View – FPV
• Battery Life
• Range
• Return to Home – RTH
• Size and Weight
• Follow Me Mode & Other Features

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Local Regulations

Drone regulations are not standardized around the world, meaning that you will have to research the laws in the country you intend to fly your drone. Some countries are much more strict on this than others, although laws seem to be changing worldwide to make drone owners more accountable for their devices.

If you are looking to fly your drone in the US, then the best $200 drone for you is likely to be a drone under 250 grams (.55 lb), as any drone under this weight is exempt from having to register with the FAA.

If you choose a drone that weighs over .55 lb, then you need to go through the FAA registration process, which consists of:

• Registering your drone, marking the registration number on the outside, and carrying proof of registration with you.

Regardless of whether you have to register your drone or not, you must still follow the below rules:

1. Ideally, only fly your drone in uncontrolled (Class G) airspace (you can download the B4UFLY app from the FAA to check any airspace designation in the US), no more that 400 feet from the ground.
2. You can get authorization to fly your drone in controlled airspace (Class B, C, D or E) from the FAA DroneZone site, but it is unlikely to be worth the time and effort for hobbyists.
3. Keep your drone within your visual line of sight, or within the visual line-of-sight of an observer who is co-located (physically next to) and in direct communication with you.
4. Do not fly at night unless your drone has lighting that allows you to know its location and orientation at all times.
5. Never fly over any person or moving vehicle.

I would advise you to fully read the FAA website, and take a look at the advisory circular for the full details, as the above list is not comprehensive.

Note that in the future, there is also likely to be an online aeronautical knowledge and safety test that you must pass (and carry proof of passing) before you can legally fly a drone.

For most Western countries, these drone laws are generally similar, eg. UK drone laws and EU drone laws.

Your Experience of Flying a Drone

Powerful drones can be difficult to control, and any drone can be tough to fly in strong winds or other bad weather conditions. This is part of the reason why it is better to start with a cheaper drone.

Please don’t overestimate your drone flying abilities, particularly if you have never tried one before, and stick with a drone marked in the reviews below as one of the best beginner drones under $200.

Image / Camera Quality

Camera quality is generally fairly similar in the price range we are looking at, although this is clearly one of the most important things to think about when choosing a drone.

When looking for the best drones with a camera under $200, you should think about:

• Camera Resolution: The best drone camera under $200 has a 2k resolution (2,048 horizontal pixels), although there are drones with 1080p cameras (HD drones with 1,920 horizontal pixels) reviewed here. You will struggle to find a 4k drone under $200, but the drone reviewed at the top of this article is the best 4k drone under $300. Getting the highest resolution possible is important, but not at the expense of other useful features, like image stabilization.
• Lens Field of View: Some drones have wide angle fields of view, like on a GoPro, while others are more constrained. Although a wider view is generally preferred by most users as it allows you to get more in the frame, and is more forgiving for composition, you will get more distortion, which requires greater Photoshop skills to fix.
• Camera Movement: Related to field of view is how much movement, both up and down and side to side, is afforded to the camera gimbal. A greater range of movement lets you more easily compose a photo, without having to reposition the drone, which is much more tricky to do accurately.
• Picture Frame Rate (FPS): It can be helpful, particularly in difficult flying conditions like high winds, to set the camera to take bursts of photos while you fly, then select the best composition afterwards. You should check how many frame per second (FPS) the camera can support for this. It is also useful to know the video FPS, as a higher frame rate will give you greater creative possibilities when it comes to editing videos taken on your video drone.

Image Stabilization

Drones can create a lot of camera shake from the motors, or from wind or weather, or even from your flying style. Image resolution or camera quality doesn’t matter if the end result is a blurry photo, so you have to consider the level of image stabilization present in the drone.

This falls into three main areas, largely depending on price, ordered from most effective to least effective below:

• Gimbal: The drone camera is mounted on a mechanical gimbal which moves by small amounts thanks to a gyro, to compensate for any movement of the drone, thereby keeping the camera stationary. It is difficult to find a drone with gimbal under $200, as these are generally reserved for the higher priced drones.
• Digital Image Stabilization: This is a software solution, present on a number of phone cameras, that re-positions and crops the image after it is taken to compensate for any movement frame to frame. This is really only used for video recording, and results in a smaller image frame.
• Auto Hover: Most top drones under $200 only feature an auto hover mode, where the drone will attempt to keep itself stationary. This can fail in higher winds, and doesn’t prevent vibrations from the motors from reaching the camera.

First Person View – FPV

First Person View (FPV) means that you can see exactly what the drone sees in a live video feed. The cheaper drone models, such as the best FPV drone under $200, the Holy Stone HS175D, use your smartphone as a screen, which reduces both cost, and the amount of equipment you have to carry.

More expensive video drones come with a dedicated video monitor, although in practice these are not appreciably better than just using your phone.

Battery Life

Battery life determines how long a drone can stay airborne before needing to recharge. The smaller the drone, the less batteries it will be able to carry, meaning mini drones tend to have the lowest flight times.

The time taken to recharge can vary considerably. If you are wanting to use your drone a lot in a short space of time, you will need additional batteries that are easy to swap out in the field. Recharge time and ease of battery changing are noted in the reviews below.

Range

Although you are limited by law to keep your drone within 400 feet of the ground, many drones have a longer range than this. This means that you can fly them at quite a considerable horizontal distance from yourself to access areas that you would otherwise struggle to reach on foot – like the other side of lakes, for example.

Bear in mind that battery life and flying time should always be considered alongside range to determine how practical the maximum stated range actually is.

Return to Home – RTH

A drone with auto return, or Return to Home (RTH), is a very useful feature for beginners, that tries to prevent you from losing your drone. These use GPS to mark their starting locations, which they can then return to if return home is activated, meaning that in your research, you are generally better to look at GPS drones under $200, rather than drones without GPS, but this of course depends on how you intend to use it.

RTH can be activated manually from your controller, or is activated automatically when your drone recognizes a low battery level, or loses signal from your controller. The best drone under $200 with GPS, the Holy Stone HS175D has RTH functionality.

There are a number of other GPS drones under 200 reviewed below, and they also all have return home features.

Size and Weight

We have already seen that you should aim for the best drone under 250 grams if you want to avoid having to register it in the US, but size and weight is more generally useful as a proxy for portability.

If you are flying your drone from your backyard, this may not matter to you, but if you will be carrying it in a backpack for a day, then you need something both small and light, ideally a foldable drone, or mini drone. The best foldable drone under $200 is the DEERC D20, which is also the best mini drone under $200, but many of the drones reviewed here are foldable, so check the full reviews before you make a decision of the best one to buy.

Follow Me Mode & Other Features

Drones being manufactured today can contain a wealth of features to improve your flying experience, such as:

• Auto Tracking Drone: A drone with auto follow, or follow me functionality, is able to track a person carrying the control unit, keeping them always in the field of view of the camera. This is useful if you want to film yourself while climbing, for example.
• Drone Auto Landing: Some drones offer a one button auto landing feature, where you don’t have to land the drone for yourself.
• Gesture Control: This is where your drone will recognize gestures you make to start and stop video recording or take pictures. This can be useful when combined with follow me.
• Tap to Fly: You can tap on your phone screen to fly the drone, rather than using a controller. The drone will fly in the direction you indicate.

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The Best 5 Drones Under $200

Before we get into the full reviews below, this is the list of the best 5 drones under $200:

1. THE WINNER – Holy Stone HS175D GPS Drone with Brushless Motor
2. DEERC D20 Mini Drone
3. Holy Stone HS100
4. Potensic D80
5. Holy Stone HS110G

To learn why each drone gets the position it does, you can read the full reviews below.

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Drone Reviews Under $200

Below are the drone reviews under 200, for the top nine rated drones, in no particular order. See the next section for a quick comparison of them all.

The Best Drone Under $200 – Holy Stone HS175D GPS Drone

Best Drone Under $200 with GPS

The Holy Stone HS175D is the best drone under $200 with GPS and is packed with features that make it an excellent choice for beginners. The 4K camera is much better than the resolution would suggest, with pictures clear and sharp, and videos consistently very good.

Being able to access FPV with the drone up to 1640 ft away is a real bonus, and is thanks to the 5G WiFi connection, which is now pretty standard on drones in this price range.

The additional features like GPS hover and one key takeoff and landing are very helpful for beginners to drone flying, along with the electric fence feature, that lets you set a safe flight area through the app, that the drone will not fly past. The headless mode helps beginners to more easily control the drone, as the transmitter itself will take care of the orientation of the drone.

There are also other standard features like Follow Me, Tap to Fly, and Return to Home, to prevent drone loss, and extras like Circle Fly, where the drone will orbit an object at a set distance.

Unlike most other drones, you get a spare battery to keep it in the air for longer, with up to 46 minutes total flight time.

If you want a quality drone suitable both for adults and kids, this comes highly recommended as the best drone for under $200.

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Holy Stone HS110G Drone

Best 1080p Drone

If you are looking for a cheap drone for kids and beginners, then the Holy Stone 110G is a good choice as one of the best compact drones under $200. This is a mini drone, which is not foldable but is inexpensive. It only has a short charging time of 45 minutes, and you should expect to get less than 26 minutes of flight time from this.

You can take pictures and videos, although the quality will not be as good as the more expensive models, as this only has a 1080p camera.

What you lose out with camera quality, you gain with extras that are less common on other models of drone: custome flight paths and follow me mode are particular useful. You can tell the drone where you want it to fly, and use a one-key landing and takeoff.

The one key start, landing and return is useful for those not accustomed to drone flying, and the inclusiong of GPS means this you get a true Return to Home functionality.

It can auto hover for image stabilization, but due to the small size and weight, you should not expect too much from this, as the wind can knock it off course.

As this drone weighs under 250g, it does not need to be registered with the FAA.

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DEERC D20 Mini Drone

Best Drone Under $100 with a Camera

If you demand a cheap, foldable drone that is perfect for your kids, then the DEERC D20 is one of the very best drones under $200. Picture quality is very good, although doesn’t match the more premium models.

The controls are designed for kids, so are easy to use, and it does have a number of beginner friendly features, such as Voice Control, Gesture selfies and Headless mode, where you don’t need to worry about which direction the drone is pointing in.

There is also a useful way point mode, where you draw the path you want the drone to take on the app in your phone, and the drone will then follow the route.

If you are looking for the best foldable drone under $200, then you will be pleased to know that this drone folds down to a relatively small size, and the transmitter itself is also quite compact, making this an excellent drone for traveling.

The restrained maximum control distance of 131 ft could be an issue, depending on how you intend to use the drone.

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Potensic T25

Quadcopter with Camera

Although this drone is relatively small and light, it has a 2K camera which you can use to take photos and videos that are easily good enough for internet uses, such as social media.

Despite to the compact size, and relatively simple architecture, the drone has a lot of beginner friendly features included, such as GPS auto-return using the dual GPS setup and a Follow Me mode.

If you want something basic for kids as a starter drone, then the Potensic T25 is a really good start.

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Holy Stone HS120D

Best Drone Under 250g

This is one of the lightest drones reviewed here, at only 221g (7.8 oz), making it far below the size limit that is required for registering in the US, and making it extremely portable.

The full HD 1080p camera is a novelty on a quadcopter of this size, and the high image quality makes this the best drone under 250g.

There are several beginner friendly features included, like headless mode, so you don’t have to worry about which way the drone is pointing, Tap to Fly, and GPS based Return to Home and Follow Me functions.

The range of nearly 1000 ft should be sufficient for most users, and the long flight time of 18 minutes means that you don’t have to worry too much about taking a spare battery.

Although the drone is not foldable, the transmitter is, making this drone much more convenient for travel.

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Holy Stone HS100

Best Drone Under $150

The Holy Stone HS100 must rank not only as one of the best quadcopters under 200, but also the best drone under $150, with it’s high quality 2k resolution camera, and the size and weight to resist strong winds.

Most drones of this weight suffer from a short flight time, but the included 3,500mAh battery gives you up to 18 minutes of flight, and the nearly 2000 ft range means you can cover a large distance in one go.

The GPS assisted Return to Home functionality should prevent the drone from getting lost due to running out of battery or losing signal, and the Follow Me mode is very useful if you want to record yourself.

The camera can tilted down by up to 90 degrees, meaning that you can take a variety of compositions with the drone in auto hover mode.

The app has features like intelligent geofence and beginner modes to help you out when first learning to fly one of these drones, and comes with removable propeller protectors, which should prevent the propellers from getting damaged if the drone is flown into a wall.

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Potensic D80

One of the Best 200 Dollar Drones for Power Users

If you are looking for the best HD drone under 200 that can travel over a very long range with a high speed, then the Potensic D80 might be perfect for you.

The control range of 3200 ft is outstanding, although you will only get first person video out to about 1000 ft. Traveling at up to 25mph, the drone will have enough time in it’s 16-20 minutes battery life to get to the maximum edge of its range and back to you.

As with several other drones, you can draw a way point for the drone to follow in the app, and set it to follow you using the dual GPS and GLONASS system.

Bear in mind that the drone is relatively heavy, at 3 lbs, and is not foldable, but does come with a pretty stylish carrying case if you do need to travel with it.

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DROCON DC-08

Quadcopter with Camera and GPS

If you are worried about the small amount of assembly needed for most drones, then the Drocon DC-08 should allay those fears with its screwdriver free assembly based on clip mounts, that takes about 15 minutes to assemble.

The camera records photos at 1080p full HD resolution, and can be tilted down by up to 60 degrees, which will aid composition when used with the altitude hold auto hover system.

There are a number of useful beginner features, like propeller guards to prevent propeller breakage in the event of a crash, and the controller has numerous buttons for things like one key takeoff, auto return and auto hover.

This drone is really only let down by the relatively short flight time of 12 – 15 minutes, combined with a long battery recharging time of about 4 hours. If you are willing to buy a couple of spare batteries though, this drone becomes one of the best quadcopters under 200.

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SIMREX X900

One of the Best Drones for Under 150

The Simrex X900 is one of the cheapest drones reviewed here, at only $70 currently, which is very impressive when you consider that it has a 1080p camera and useful features like auto hover, even though it does not have GPS. This is through an optical recognition system, which is not as good as GPS based altitude hold, but is good enough for most hobbyist uses. If you are on a strict budget, I would highly recommend this as one of the best drones under $100.

As you would expect with a cheaper drone, range is limited to about 100 ft, but this is still pretty reasonable for a drone with a flying time of 12 – 15 mins. The charging time of 90 minutes is one of the fastest of those reviewed here.

This drone is also foldable and very portable, which combined with the low cost, makes this an excellent choice for travel photography.

There are the regular, expected beginner features, like one key takeoff and landing, and headless mode, with a bonus feature being that the controller has a built in gravity sensor, meaning you can move the entire control unit to control the drone, rather than having to use the joysticks.

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Best Drones for Under $1000

Although all of the options above would make an excellent choice for a first drone, if you have a little more money to spend, it might be worth considering a 1000 dollar drone, which can be outstanding in terms of performance and very long lasting.

One of the best drones for under 1000 is the DJI Mavic Air 2, which takes absolutely rock solid photos at an extreme range.

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Best Drones Under 2000 Dollars

If you are looking for the best possible drone that is currently available, you will need deep pockets, but one of the best drones under 2000 dollars is the DJI Mavic 2 Pro, which amazingly contains a Hasselblad camera with 1″ sensor.