my brother got a DJI mini 3 and it looks really fun but im wondering if there are cheaper alternatives that are just as good. ive seen autel mentioned a few times and some other ones i cant remember the name of. basically i want something that wont fall out of the sky but i also dont need like professional camera stuff. just recreational flying mostly. also i live in the US if that matters for the regulations side of things since i know theres some stuff about registration i think. anyway whats peoples experience with the non-DJI options for someone just starting out

ive flown both and honestly DJI just has the ecosystem figured out in a way the others havent caught up to yet. the app works, the controller connects fast, the flight modes are intuitive. autel makes decent stuff and i get why people go that route especially with all the noise around DJI and government contracts or whatever, but for a pure beginner experience DJI is hard to beat. the mini 3 your brother has is genuinely a great first drone. and yeah for the US you'll need to register with the FAA if its over 250g, the mini series is under that so you get a pass on that part which is nice

i swithed to autel evo nano last year and dont regret it but tbh if i was starting fresh id probably just go mini 2 SE because the tutorials and community support online is just so much bigger for DJI stuff. when something goes wrong and you need to troubleshoot, way easier to find answers. the autel forums are kind of dead comparatively