okay so ive been wanting to get into drones for like a year now and every time i start researching i just get completely overwhelmed. theres so many options and everyone online seems to have a different opinion. my budget is somewhere around 300 bucks maybe a little more if its worth it. i dont really know what im doing yet, just want to fly around outside and maybe take some decent video. do i need to register it? do i need a license? i genuinely have no idea where to start and i dont want to spend money on something i'll crash in a week and hate. any help appreciated

honestly for that budget the DJI Mini 2 SE is probably the most common recommendation you'll see and theres a reason for that. its under 250 grams so you dont have to register it in most countries, the stabilization is really good for a beginner, and its hard to crash because of the obstacle sensing... well sort of, the mini 2 se is a bit limited on that front compared to the more expensive ones but still. the controller is straightforward. i started on one and still use it occasionally even though i have other stuff now. just stay away from the really cheap amazon stuff, those are mostly garbage and wont help you actually learn anything useful

im in the same boat as you basically, just got a mini 3 a couple months ago and its my first drone. registration thing depends where you live, in the US if its under 250g you dont need to register for recreational flying i think but you should double check that because i might be wrong. i definitely crashed mine a few times in the first week lol but its surprisingly tough. the dji fly app makes it pretty approachable. one thing nobody told me is that the wind will mess you up way more than you expect when youre starting out so try to fly on calm days first