so ive been wanting to get into drones for a while now and i finally have some money saved up but honestly every time i start looking i just end up more confused than when i started. theres so many options and everyone online seems to have a different opinion. i dont really know if i want to do photography or just fly around for fun yet, probably just fun to start. my budget is somewhere around 200-300 dollars maybe a little more if something is really worth it. i just dont want to crash it immediately and waste my money. any suggestions would be really appreciated

honestly the DJI Mini 2 SE is probably the safest bet in that range, its hard to crash because the obstacle avoidance and the gps hold is solid. i gave one to my nephew last christmas and he had it flying fine in like 20 minutes with zero experience. the app walks you through everything. only thing id say is maybe spend a little extra on a second battery right away because the flight time is never as long as they advertise, like you get maybe 20-25 minutes realistically and then youre just standing around waiting for it to charge

mini 2 se is fine but if youre really just starting out and scared of breaking something expensive, the Holy Stone HS720 is way cheaper and flies surprisingly decent. i learned on something similar and honestly i think its better to beat up a cheap one first before you drop real money. learned a lot about how they handle wind and how not to panic when it drifts. then i upgraded after a few months and knew way more about what i actually wanted