so ive been watching fpv content for like 6 months now and i finally want to pull the trigger on getting into it. my budget is somewhere around 300-400 dollars for the whole setup, quad + goggles + controller. i know thats kind of tight but its what i have to work with right now.

the main thing i cant figure out is whether to just buy something like a prebuilt or go the custom route. ive seen people say the iflight nazgul or the diatone roma are good starting points but then other people say you'll just be frustrated when you crash and dont know how to fix anything. so which is it. do i bite the bullet and learn to build or just get something thats ready to fly.

also not sure if this matters but im mostly interested in flying freestyle not racing, if that changes anything about what people would recommend

honestly for where you're at i'd say get a prebuilt. the iflight nazgul eco is solid and comes in under budget if you shop around, leaves you room for a decent radio at least. thing is when you're starting out you dont really know what you want in a build yet ? motor kv, frame stiffness, stack layout, none of it means much until you've actually flown and broken stuff. crashing a prebuilt and having to fix it is honestly how most people learn to solder and swap parts anyway. so you kind of get the learning experience either way, just with guardrails.

freestyle vs racing doesnt change much at the 5inch level tbh. most prebuilts in that category fly fine for both, just tune your rates and you're good.

i went prebuilt first (got a geprc mark4 on sale) and im glad i did. tried to build one after and honestly i underestimated how annoying motor soldering is when you dont have the right iron. prebuilt just made more sense to get flying fast. that said the nazgul everyone recommends is fine but check if it comes with a receiver or not because some versions dont and thats a hidden cost people forget about