ok so im coming from flying tiny whoops on a simulator for maybe 3 months and im ready to get my first real outdoor quad. my budget is around $200 maybe a bit more. everywhere i look people recommend staying away from betafpv and emax but when i actually read reviews on the products they seem fine? like the betafpv meteor75 pro gets decent reviews and the emax tinyhawk 3 looks pretty solid too.

is this just experienced pilots being snobby or is there actual reasons to avoid them. i dont really want to spend $350+ on my first real build when i know im gonna crash it constantly learning. someone in another thread said something about parts availability being bad for betafpv but i couldnt find more info on that

the hate is like 60% snobbery and 40% legitimate. betafpv makes fine stuff for beginners, the meteor75 pro is actually a decent little whoop. where people run into trouble is when they try to push betafpv gear harder than its designed for or try to upgrade parts and find out the frame uses weird standoff sizes or the FC has limited uart ports. emax is similar - tinyhawk stuff works, its just not gonna last as long as a more premium option and if something specific breaks you might just be buying a whole new quad.

for where youre at though honestly who cares. youre gonna learn on it and crash it. grab the meteor75 pro or even just an emax tinyhawk 3 and fly the hell out of it. when you actually know what you want different you'll have enough experience to build something properly

the parts thing is real with betafpv, not gonna lie. i had a beta85x and cracked a motor mount and the replacement frame took like 6 weeks to ship from china and was out of stock half that time. with something like a mobula7 from happymodel you can usually find parts faster. just something to keep in mind