so my friend who flies drones wont stop telling me to just get a dji mini something. i trust him but i also kind of want to do my own research and not just copy whatever he has. i saw some autel stuff mentioned somewhere and also some cheaper brands on amazon. is there actually a reason to look at alternatives or is he right and dji really is just the move for a first drone. i dont want to spend more than like 400 and i mostly just want to get out of the house and have something fun to fly on weekends, maybe film some hikes and stuff

your friend is probably right tbh. look i get the impulse to find alternatives and autel does make decent stuff, the evo nano plus is actually a solid bird and its competitive with the mini 3 in some ways, better in a couple. but the dji ecosystem is just more mature, more accessories, more tutorials when something goes wrong, more people who can help you troubleshoot. for a first drone that matters more than people think. the autel app has come a long way but its still not quite there. if you were buying your third drone id say branch out, but first drone just go dji and stop overthinking it, the mini 3 at your budget range is a no brainer

the amazon ones are mostly trash, i bought a potensic thing a while back just to mess around with and it was fine for like indoor flying but outside in any real conditions it was useless. i wouldnt touch those for actual hiking footage you want to keep. between autel and dji i think dji wins for the reasons most people say but ive never actually owned an autel so take that with a grain of salt. one thing nobody mentions is that you should factor in what happens when you crash it because you will crash it, and dji care refresh is actually pretty great for beginners who are gonna have accidents