ok so i got a DJI Mini 4 Pro for my birthday last week and ive been just kind of staring at it in the box because honestly im scared to break it. its the most expensive thing ive ever owned that flies and i dont really know like... where do you even start. do i just go outside and turn it on? do i need to do something first? i watched like 4 youtube videos and they all kind of assume you already know stuff. one guy kept saying to calibrate but then another guy said dont bother with that on newer drones. im in a pretty suburban area, lots of houses and trees around my yard. should i go somewhere more open first or does it not really matter that much for a beginner

yeah the calibration thing depends on the drone tbh, with the mini 4 you dont really need to do compass cal unless the app is specifically asking you to. first thing id honestly say is just get yourself to a big open field or a park with not too many people around. your backyard is gonna stress you out more than it needs to when youre still figuring out which stick does what. the mini 4 has pretty good obstacle avoidance but i wouldnt rely on it when youre learning, just gives you false confidence and then suddenly a tree appears and the sensors didnt catch it in time

also make sure you do the firmware updates before you fly, sometimes they ship with older firmware and it can cause weird issues. the DJI fly app will walk you through it. just do that while youre sitting inside and then youre ready to go

i was in the exact same spot like 3 months ago lol. what helped me was just doing the beginner mode in the app, it limits how far and how high it goes so you cant really get into too much trouble. i spent like two weekends just hovering and doing slow circles in a soccer field near my house before i even tried anything else. felt boring at first but when i finally went somewhere cool i wasnt panicking the whole time trying to remember controls